team. cambridge university press c.f. clay, manager london: fetter lane, e.c. new york: the macmillan co. bombay } calcutta} macmillan and co., ltd. madras } toronto: the macmillan co. of canada, ltd. tokyo: maruzen-kabushiki-kaisha history of holland by george edmundson d. litt., f.r.g.s., f.r.hist.s. sometime fellow of brasenose college, oxford hon. member of the dutch historical society, utrecht foreign member of the netherland society of literature, leyden cambridge at the university press general preface _the aim of this series is to sketch the history of modern europe, with that of its chief colonies and conquests, from about the end of the fifteenth century down to the present time. in one or two cases the story commences at an earlier date; in the case of the colonies it generally begins later. the histories of the different countries are described, as a rule, separately; for it is believed that, except in epochs like that of the french revolution and napoleon i, the connection of events will thus be better understood and the continuity of historical development more clearly displayed. the series is intended for the use of all persons anxious to understand the nature of existing political conditions. 'the roots of the present lie deep in the past'; and the real significance of contemporary events cannot be grasped unless the historical causes which have led to them are known. the plan adopted makes it possible to treat the history of the last four centuries in considerable detail, and to embody the most important results of modern research. it is hoped therefore that the series will be useful not only to beginners but to students who have already acquired some general knowledge of european history. for those who wish to carry their studies further, the bibliography appended to each volume will act as a guide to original sources of information and works of a more special character. considerable attention is paid to political geography; and each volume is furnished with such maps and plans as may be requisite for the illustration of the text_. g.w. prothero. * * * * * prologue the title, "history of holland," given to this volume is fully justified by the predominant part which the great maritime province of holland took in the war of independence and throughout the whole of the subsequent history of the dutch state and people. in every language the country, comprising the provinces of holland, zeeland, utrecht, friesland, gelderland, overyssel and groningen, has, from the close of the sixteenth century to our own day, been currently spoken of as holland, and the people (with the solitary exception of ourselves) as 'hollanders[ ].' it is only rarely that the terms the republic of the united provinces, or of the united netherlands, and in later times the kingdom of the netherlands, are found outside official documents. just as the title "history of england" gradually includes the histories of wales, of scotland, of ireland, and finally of the widespread british empire, so is it in a smaller way with the history that is told in the following pages. that history, to be really complete, should begin with an account of mediaeval holland in the feudal times which preceded the burgundian period; and such an account was indeed actually written, but the plan of this work, which forms one of the volumes of a series, precluded its publication. the character, however, of the people of the province of holland, and of its sister and closely allied province of zeeland, its qualities of toughness, of endurance, of seamanship and maritime enterprise, spring from the peculiar amphibious nature of the country, which differs from that of any other country in the world. the age-long struggle against the ocean and the river floods, which has converted the marshes, that lay around the mouths of the rhine, the meuse and the scheldt, by toilsome labour and skill into fertile and productive soil, has left its impress on the whole history of this people. nor must it be forgotten how largely this building up of the elaborate system of dykes, dams and canals by which this water-logged land was transformed into the holland of the closing decades of the sixteenth century, enabled her people to offer such obstinate and successful resistance to the mighty power of philip ii. the earliest dynasty of the counts of holland--dirks, floris, and williams--was a very remarkable one. not only did it rule for an unusually long period, to , but in this long period without exception all the counts of holland were strong and capable rulers. the fiefs of the first two dirks lay in what is now known as north holland, in the district called kennemerland. it was dirk iii who seized from the bishops of utrecht some swampy land amidst the channels forming the mouth of the meuse, which, from the bush which covered it, was named holt-land (holland or wood-land). here he erected, in , a stronghold to collect tolls from passing ships. this stronghold was the beginning of the town of dordrecht, and from here a little later the name holland was gradually applied to the whole county. of his successors the most illustrious was william ii ( to ) who was crowned king of the romans at aachen, and would have received from pope innocent iv the imperial crown at rome, had he not been unfortunately drowned while attempting to cross on horseback an ice-bound marsh. in the male line of this dynasty became extinct; and john of avennes, count of hainault, nephew of william ii, succeeded. his son, william iii, after a long struggle with the counts of flanders, conquered zeeland and became count henceforth of holland, zeeland and hainault. his son, william iv, died childless; and the succession then passed to his sister margaret, the wife of the emperor lewis of bavaria. it was contested by her second son william, who, after a long drawn-out strife with his mother, became, in , count of holland and zeeland with the title william v, margaret retaining the county of hainault. becoming insane, his brother albert in took over the reins of government. in his time the two factions, known by the nicknames of "the hooks" and "the cods," kept the land in a continual state of disorder and practically of civil war. they had already been active for many years. the hooks were supported by the nobles, by the peasantry and by that large part of the poorer townsfolk that was excluded from all share in the municipal government. the cods represented the interests of the powerful burgher corporations. in later times these same principles and interests divided the orangist and the states parties, and were inherited from the hooks and cods of mediaeval holland. the marriages of albert's son, william, with margaret the sister of john the fearless, duke of burgundy, and of john the fearless with albert's daughter, margaret, were to have momentous consequences. albert died in and was succeeded by william vi, who before his death in caused the nobles and towns to take the oath of allegiance to his daughter and only child, jacoba or jacqueline.[ ] jacoba, brave, beautiful and gifted, for eleven years maintained her rights against many adversaries, chief among them her powerful and ambitious cousin, philip the good, duke of burgundy. her courage and many adventures transformed her into a veritable heroine of romance. by her three marriages with john, duke of brabant, with humphry, duke of gloucester, and, finally, with frans van borselen, she had no children. her hopeless fight with philip of burgundy's superior resources ended at last in the so-called "reconciliation of delft" in , by which, while retaining the title of countess, she handed over the government to philip and acknowledged his right of succession to the countship upon her death, which took place in . g.e. _november_, table of contents pages general preface v prologue vii-ix chap. i. the burgundian netherlands - ii. habsburg rule in the netherlands - iii. the prelude to the revolt - iv. the revolt of the netherlands - v. william the silent - vi. the beginnings of the dutch republic - vii. the system of government - viii. the twelve years' truce - ix. maurice and oldenbarneveldt - x. from the end of the twelve years' truce to the peace of munster, - . the stadholderate of frederick henry of orange - xi. the east and west india companies. commercial and economic expansion - xii. letters, science and art - xiii. the stadholderate of william ii. the great assembly - xiv. rise of john de witt. the first english war - xv. the administration of john de witt, - , from the peace of westminster to the out-break of the second english war - xvi. the last years of de witt's administration, - . the second english war. the triple alliance. the french invasion - xvii. war with france and england. william iii, stadholder. murder of the brothers de witt, - xviii. the stadholderate of william iii, - - xix. the king-stadholder, - - xx. the war of the spanish succession and the treaties of utrecht, - - xxi. the stadholderless republic, - - xxii. the austrian succession war and william iv, - - xxiii. the regency of anne and of brunswick, - - xxiv. william v. first period, - - xxv. stadholderate of william v (_continued_), - . the english war. patriot movement. civil war. prussian intervention - xxvi. the orange restoration. downfall of the republic, - - xxvii. the batavian republic, - - xxviii. the kingdom of holland and the french annexation, - - xxix. the formation of the kingdom of the netherlands, - - xxx. the kingdom of the netherlands--union of holland and belgium, - - xxxi. the belgian revolution. the separation of holland and belgium, - - xxxii. william i abdicates. reign of william ii. revision of the constitution, - - xxxiii. reign of william iii to the death of thorbecke, - - xxxiv. the later reign of william iii, and the regency of queen emma, - - xxxv. the reign of queen wilhelmina, - - epilogue - bibliography - index - maps the netherlands, _about_ the netherlands, _after_ after p. chapter i the burgundian netherlands the last duke of the ancient capetian house of burgundy dying in without heirs male, the duchy fell into the possession of the french crown, and was by king john ii bestowed upon his youngest son, philip the hardy, duke of touraine, as a reward, it is said, for the valour he displayed in the battle of poictiers. the county of burgundy, generally known as franche-comté, was not included in this donation, for it was an imperial fief; and it fell by inheritance in the female line to margaret, dowager countess of flanders, widow of count louis ii, who was killed at crécy. the duchy and the county were soon, however, to be re-united, for philip married margaret, daughter and heiress of louis de male, count of flanders, and granddaughter of the above-named margaret. in right of his wife he became, on the death of louis de male in , the ruler of flanders, mechlin, artois, nevers and franche-comté. thus the foundation was laid of a great territorial domain between france and germany, and philip the hardy seems from the first to have been possessed by the ambitious design of working for the restoration of a powerful middle kingdom, which should embrace the territories assigned to lothaire in the tripartite division of the carolingian empire by the treaty of verdun ( ). for this he worked ceaselessly during his long reign of forty years, and with singular ability and courage. before his death he had by the splendour of his court, his wealth and his successes in arms and diplomacy, come to be recognised as a sovereign of great weight and influence, in all but name a king. the burgundian policy and tradition, which he established, found in his successors john the fearless (murdered in ) and john's son, philip the good, men of like character and filled with the same ambitions as himself. the double marriage of john with margaret, the sister of william vi of holland, and of william vi with margaret of burgundy, largely helped forward their projects of aggrandisement. philip the good was, however, a much abler ruler than his father, a far-seeing statesman, who pursued his plans with a patient and unscrupulous pertinacity, of which a conspicuous example is to be found in his long protracted struggle with his cousin jacoba, the only child and heiress of william of holland, whose misfortunes and courage have made her one of the most romantic figures of history. by a mixture of force and intrigue philip, in , at last compelled jacoba to abdicate, and he became count of holland, zeeland and hainault. nor was this by any means the end of his acquisitions. joanna, duchess of brabant ( - ) in her own right, was aunt on the mother's side to margaret of flanders, wife of philip the hardy. dying without heirs, she bequeathed brabant, limburg and antwerp to her great-nephew, anthony of burgundy, younger brother of john the fearless. anthony was killed at agincourt and was succeeded first by his son john iv, the husband of jacoba of holland, and on his death without an heir in , by his second son, philip of st pol, who also died childless in . from him his cousin philip the good inherited the duchies of brabant and limburg and the marquisate of antwerp. already he had purchased in the territory of namur from the last count john iii, who had fallen into heavy debt; and in he likewise purchased the duchy of luxemburg from the duchess elizabeth of görlitz, who had married in second wedlock anthony, duke of brabant, and afterwards john of bavaria, but who had no children by either of her marriages. thus in philip had become by one means or another sovereign under various titles of the largest and most important part of the netherlands, and he increased his influence by securing in the election of his illegitimate son david, as bishop of utrecht. thus a great step forward had been taken for the restoration of the middle kingdom, which had been the dream of philip the hardy, and which now seemed to be well-nigh on the point of accomplishment. the year , the date of the incorporation of holland and zeeland in the burgundian dominion, is therefore a convenient starting-point for a consideration of the character of the burgundian rule in the netherlands, and of the changes which the concentration of sovereign power in the hands of a single ruler brought into the relations of the various provinces with one another and into their internal administration. the netherlands become now for the first time something more than a geographical expression for a number of petty feudal states, practically independent and almost always at strife. henceforward there was peace; and throughout the whole of this northern part of his domains it was the constant policy of philip gradually to abolish provincialism and to establish a centralised government. he was far too wise a statesman to attempt to abolish suddenly or arbitrarily the various rights and privileges, which the flemings, brabanters and hollanders had wrung from their sovereigns, and to which they were deeply attached; but, while respecting these, he endeavoured to restrict them as far as possible to local usage, and to centralise the general administration of the whole of the "pays de par deçà" (as the burgundian dukes were accustomed to name their netherland dominions) by the summoning of representatives of the provincial states to an assembly styled the states-general, and by the creation of a common court of appeal. the first time the states-general were called together by philip was in for the purpose of obtaining a loan for the war with france and the recognition of his son charles as his successor; and from this time forward at irregular intervals, but with increasing frequency, the practice of summoning this body went on. the states-general (in a sense) represented the netherlands as a whole; and it was a matter of great convenience for the sovereign, especially when large levies of money had to be raised, to be enabled thus to bring his proposals before a single assembly, instead of before a number of separate and independent provincial states. nevertheless, it must be borne in mind that the states-general had, as such, no authority to act on behalf of these several provincial states. each of these sent their deputies to the general assembly, but these deputies had to refer all matters to their principals before they could give their assent, and each body of deputies gave this assent separately, and without regard to the others. it was thus but a first provisional step towards unity of administration, but it did tend to promote a feeling of community of interests between the provinces and to lead to the deputies having intercourse with one another and interchanging their views upon the various important subjects that were brought before their consideration. the period of disturbance and the weakening of the authority of the sovereign, which followed the death of charles the bold, led to the states-general obtaining a position of increased importance; and they may from that time be regarded as forming a regular and necessary part of the machinery of government in the burgundian netherlands. the states-general however, like the provincial states, could only meet when summoned by the sovereign or his stadholder; and the causes for which they were summoned were such special occasions as the accession of a new sovereign or the appointment of a new stadholder, or more usually for sanctioning the requests for levies of money, which were required for the maintenance of splendid courts and the cost of frequent wars. for not only the burgundian princes properly so-called, but even charles v, had mainly to depend upon the wealth of the netherlands for their financial needs. and here a distinction must be drawn. for solemn occasions, such as the accession of a new sovereign, or the acceptance of a newly appointed governor, representatives of all the provinces (eventually seventeen) were summoned, but for ordinary meetings for the purpose of money levies only those of the so-called patrimonial or old burgundian provinces came together. the demands for tribute on the provinces acquired later, such as gelderland, groningen, friesland and overyssel, were made to each of these provinces separately, and they jealously claimed their right to be thus separately dealt with. in the case of the other provinces the states-general, as has been already stated, could only grant the money after obtaining from each province represented, severally, its assent; and this was often not gained until after considerable delay and much bargaining. once granted, however, the assessment regulating the quota, which the different provinces had to contribute, was determined on the basis of the so-called _quotisatie_ or _settinge_ drawn up in on the occasion of a tribute for years, which charles the bold, as his father's stadholder in the "pays de par deçà," then demanded. the relative wealth of the provinces may be judged from the fact that at this date flanders and brabant each paid a quarter of the whole levy, holland one sixth, zeeland one quarter of holland's share. as regards the provincial government the burgundian princes left undisturbed the local and historical customs and usages, and each province had its individual characteristics. at the head of each provincial government (with the exception of brabant, at whose capital, brussels, the sovereign himself or his regent resided) was placed a governor, with the title of stadholder, who was the representative of the sovereign and had large patronage. it was his duty to enforce edicts, preserve order, and keep a watchful eye over the administration of justice. he nominated to many municipal offices, but had little or no control over finance. the raising of troops and their command in the field was entrusted to a captain-general, who might not be the same person as the stadholder, though the offices were sometimes united. in the northern netherlands there was but one stadholder for the three provinces of holland, zeeland and utrecht, and one (at a somewhat later date) for friesland, groningen, drente and overyssel. the desire of the burgundian princes to consolidate their dominions into a unified sovereignty found itself thwarted by many obstacles and especially by the lack of any supreme tribunal of appeal. it was galling to them that the _parlement_ of paris should still exercise appellate jurisdiction in crown-flanders and artois, and the imperial diet in some of the other provinces. already in philip had erected the court of holland at the hague to exercise large powers of jurisdiction and financial control in the provinces of holland and zeeland; and in charles the bold set up at mechlin the body known as the great council, to act as a court of appeal from the provincial courts. it was to be, in the netherlands, what the _parlement_ of paris was in france. the great council, which had grown out of the privy council attached to the person of the prince, and which under the direction of the chancellor of burgundy administered the affairs of the government, more particularly justice and finance, was in , as stated above, re-constituted as a court of appeal in legal matters, a new chamber of accounts being at the same time created to deal with finance. these efforts at centralisation of authority were undoubtedly for the good of the country as a whole, but such was the intensity of provincial jealousy and particularism that they were bitterly resented and opposed. in order to strengthen the sovereign's influence in the towns, and to lessen the power of the gilds, philip established in holland, and so far as he could elsewhere, what were called "vaste colleges" or fixed committees of notables, to which were entrusted the election of the town officials and the municipal administration. these bodies were composed of a number of the richest and most influential burghers, who were styled the twenty-four, the forty, the sixty or the eighty, according to the number fixed for any particular town. these men were appointed for life and their successors were chosen by co-option, so that the town corporations gradually became closed hereditary aristocracies, and the mass of the citizens were deprived of all voice in their own affairs. the _schout_ or chief judge was chosen directly by the sovereign or his stadholder, who also nominated the _schepens_ or sheriffs from a list containing a double number, which was submitted to him. the reign of philip the good was marked by a great advance in the material prosperity of the land. bruges, ghent, ypres and antwerp were among the most flourishing commercial and industrial cities in the world, and when, through the silting up of the waterway, bruges ceased to be a seaport, antwerp rapidly rose to pre-eminence in her place, so that a few decades later her wharves were crowded with shipping, and her warehouses with goods from every part of europe. in fact during the whole of the burgundian period the southern netherlands were the richest domain in christendom, and continued to be so until the disastrous times of philip ii of spain. meanwhile holland and zeeland, though unable to compete with brabant and flanders in the populousness of their towns and the extent of their trade, were provinces of growing importance. their strength lay in their sturdy and enterprising sea-faring population. the hollanders had for many years been the rivals of the hanse towns for the baltic trade. war broke out in and hostilities continued for three years with the result that the hanse league was beaten, and henceforth the hollanders were able without further let or hindrance more and more to become the chief carriers of the "eastland" traffic. amsterdam was already a flourishing port, though as yet it could make no pretension of competing with antwerp. the herring fisheries were, however, the staple industry of holland and zeeland. the discovery of the art of curing herrings by william beukelsz of biervliet (died ) had converted a perishable article of food into a marketable commodity; and not only did the fisheries give lucrative employment to many thousands of the inhabitants of these maritime provinces, but they also became the foundation on which was to be built their future commercial supremacy. the burgundian dukes were among the most powerful rulers of their time--the equals of kings in all but name--and they far surpassed all contemporary sovereigns in their lavish display and the splendour of their court. the festival at bruges in in celebration of the marriage of philip the good and isabel of portugal, at which the order of the golden fleece was instituted, excited universal wonder; while his successor, charles the bold, contrived to surpass even his father in the splendour of his espousals with margaret of york in , and at his conference with the emperor frederick iii at trier in . on this last occasion he wore a mantle encrusted all over with diamonds. the foundation of the order of the golden fleece in was an event of great importance, as marking a step forward on the part of philip in its assumption of quasi-regal attributes. the title was very appropriate, for it pointed to the wool and cloth trade as being the source of the wealth of flanders. the order comprised thirty-one knights, chosen from the flower of the burgundian nobles and the chief councillors of the sovereign. the statutes of the order set forth in detail the privileges of the members, and their duties and obligations to their prince. they had a prescriptive claim to be consulted on all matters of importance, to be selected for the chief government posts, and to serve on military councils. the knights were exempt from the jurisdiction of all courts, save that of their own chapter. philip died in and was succeeded by his son, charles, who had already exercised for some years authority in the netherlands as his father's deputy. charles, as his surname _le téméraire_ witnesses, was a man of impulsive and autocratic temperament, but at the same time a hard worker, a great organiser, and a brilliant soldier. consumed with ambition to realise that restoration of a great middle lotharingian kingdom stretching from the north sea to the mediterranean, for which his father had been working during his long and successful reign, he threw himself with almost passionate energy into the accomplishment of his task. with this object he was the first sovereign to depart from feudal usages and to maintain a standing army. he appeared at one time to be on the point of accomplishing his aim. lorraine, which divided his southern from his northern possessions, was for a short time in his possession. intervening in gelderland between the duke arnold of egmont and his son adolf, he took the latter prisoner and obtained the duchy in pledge from the former. uprisings in the flemish towns against heavy taxation and arbitrary rule were put down with a strong hand. in september, , the duke, accompanied by a splendid suite, met the emperor frederick iii at trier to receive the coveted crown from the imperial hands. it was arranged that charles' only daughter and heiress should be betrothed to maximilian of austria, the emperor's eldest son, and the very day and hour for the coronation were fixed. but the burgundian had an enemy in louis xi of france, who was as prudent and far-seeing as his rival was rash and impetuous, and who was far more than his match in political craft and cunning. french secret agents stirred up frederick's suspicions against charles' designs, and the emperor suddenly left trier, where he had felt humiliated by the splendour of his powerful vassal. the duke was furious at his disappointment, but was only the more obstinately bent on carrying out his plans. but louis had been meanwhile forming a strong league (league of constance, march ) of various states threatened by charles' ambitious projects. duke sigismund of austria, baden, basel, elsass, and the swiss cantons united under the leadership of france to resist them. charles led an army of , men to aid the archbishop of cologne against his subjects, but spent eleven months in a fruitless attempt to take a small fortified town, neuss, in which a considerable portion of his army perished. he was compelled to raise large sums of money from his unwilling subjects in the netherlands to repair his losses, and in he attacked duke réné of lorraine, captured nancy and conquered the duchy, which had hitherto separated his netherland from his french possessions. it was the first step in the accomplishment of his scheme for the restoration of the lotharingian kingdom. in elsass, however, the populace had risen in insurrection against the tyranny of the burgundian governor, peter van hagenbach, and had tried and executed him. finding that the swiss had aided the rebels, charles now, without waiting to consolidate his conquest of lorraine, determined to lead his army into switzerland. at the head of a splendidly equipped force he encountered the confederates near granson (march , ) and was utterly routed, his own seal and order of the golden fleece, with vast booty, falling into the hands of the victors. a few months later, having recruited and reorganised his beaten army, he again led them against the swiss. the encounter took place (june , ) at morat and once more the chivalry of burgundy suffered complete defeat. charles fled from the field, half insane with rage and disappointment, when the news that duke réné had reconquered lorraine roused him from his torpor. he hastily gathered together a fresh army and laid siege to nancy. but in siege operations he had no skill, and in the depth of winter (january , ) he was attacked by the swiss and lorrainers outside the walls of the town. a panic seized the burgundians; charles in person in vain strove to stem their flight, and he perished by an unknown hand. his body was found later, stripped naked, lying frozen in a pool. charles left an only child, mary, not yet twenty years of age. mary found herself in a most difficult and trying situation. louis xi, the hereditary enemy of her house, at once took possession of the duchy of burgundy, which by failure of heirs-male had reverted to its liege-lord. the sovereignty of the county of burgundy (franche-comté), being an imperial fief descending in the female line, she retained; but, before her authority had been established, louis had succeeded in persuading the states of the county to place themselves under a french protectorate. french armies overran artois, hainault and picardy, and were threatening flanders, where there was in every city a party of french sympathisers. gelderland welcomed the exiled duke, adolf, as their sovereign. everywhere throughout the provinces the despotic rule of duke charles and his heavy exactions had aroused seething discontent. mary was virtually a prisoner in the hands of her flemish subjects; and, before they consented to support her cause, there was a universal demand for a redress of grievances. but mary showed herself possessed of courage and statesmanship beyond her years, and she had at this critical moment in her step-mother, margaret of york, an experienced and capable adviser at her side. a meeting of the states-general was at once summoned to ghent. it met on february , , mary's th birthday. representatives came from flanders, brabant, artois and namur, in the southern, and from holland and zeeland in the northern netherlands. mary saw there was no course open to her but to accede to their demands. only eight days after the assembly met, the charter of netherland liberties, called the great privilege, was agreed to and signed. by this act all previous ordinances conflicting with ancient privileges were abolished. the newly-established court of appeal at mechlin was replaced by a great council of twenty-four members chosen by the sovereign from the various states, which should advise and assist in the administration of government. mary undertook not to marry or to declare war without the assent of the states-general. the states-general and the provincial states were to meet as often as they wished, without the summons of the sovereign. all officials were to be native-born; no netherlander was to be tried by foreign judges; there were to be no forced loans, no alterations in the coinage. all edicts or ordinances infringing provincial rights were to be _ipso facto_ null and void. by placing her seal to this document mary virtually abdicated the absolute sovereign power which had been exercised by her predecessors, and undid at a stroke the results of their really statesmanlike efforts to create out of a number of semi-autonomous provinces a unified state. many of their acts and methods had been harsh and autocratic, especially those of charles the bold, but who can doubt that on the whole their policy was wise and salutary? in holland and zeeland a council was erected consisting of a stadholder and eight councillors (six hollanders and two zeelanders) of whom two were to be nobles, the others jurists. wolferd van borselen, lord of veere, was appointed stadholder. the great privilege granted, the states willingly raised a force of , men to resist the french invasion, and adequate means for carrying on the war. but the troubles of the youthful mary were not yet over. the hand of the heiress of so many rich domains was eagerly sought for ( ) by louis of france for the dauphin, a youth of years; ( ) by maximilian of austria to whom she had been promised in marriage; ( ) by adolf, duke of gelderland, who was favoured by the states-general. adolf, however, was killed in battle. in flanders there was a party who favoured the french and actually engaged in intrigues with louis, but the mass of the people were intensely averse to french domination. to such an extent was this the case that two influential officials, the lords hugonet and humbercourt, on whom suspicion fell of treacherous correspondence with the french king, were seized, tried by a special tribunal, and, despite the tears and entreaties of the duchess, were condemned and beheaded in the market-place of ghent. maximilian became therefore the accepted suitor; and on august , , his marriage with mary took place at bruges. this marriage was to have momentous consequences, not only for the netherlands, but for europe. the union was a happy one, but, unfortunately, of brief duration. on march , , mary died from the effects of a fall from her horse, leaving two children, philip and margaret. * * * * * chapter ii habsburg rule in the netherlands maximilian, on the death of mary, found himself in a very difficult position. the archduke was a man of high-soaring ideas, chivalrous, brave even to the point of audacity, full of expedients and never daunted by failure, but he was deficient in stability of character, and always hampered throughout his life by lack of funds. he had in set himself to the task of defending flanders and the southern provinces of the netherlands against french attack, and not without considerable success. in , as guardian of his four-year old son philip, the heir to the domains of the house of burgundy, he became regent of the netherlands. his authority however was little recognised. gelderland and utrecht fell away altogether. liège acknowledged william de la marck as its ruler. holland and zeeland were torn by contending factions. flanders, the centre of the burgundian power, was specially hostile to its new governor. the burghers of ghent refused to surrender to him his children, philip and margaret, who were held as hostages to secure themselves against any attempted infringement of their liberties. the flemings even entered into negotiations with louis xi; and the archduke found himself compelled to sign a treaty with france (december , ), one of the conditions being the betrothal of his infant daughter to the dauphin. maximilian, however, found that for a time he must leave flanders to put down the rising of the hook faction in holland, who, led by frans van brederode, and in alliance with the anti-burgundian party in utrecht, had made themselves masters of leyden. beaten in a bloody fight by the regent, brederode nevertheless managed to seize sluis and rotterdam; and from these ports he and his daring companion-in-arms, jan van naaldwijk, carried on a guerrilla warfare for some years. brederode was killed in a fight at brouwershaven ( ), but sluis still held out and was not taken till two years later. meanwhile maximilian had to undertake a campaign against the flemings, who were again in arms at the instigation of the turbulent burghers of ghent and bruges. entering the province at the head of a large force he compelled the rebel towns to submit and obtained possession of the person of his son philip (july, ). elected in the following year king of the romans, maximilian left the netherlands to be crowned at aachen (april, ). a war with france called him back, in the course of which he suffered a severe defeat at bethune. at the beginning of ghent and bruges once more rebelled; and the roman king, enticed to enter bruges, was there seized and compelled to see his friends executed in the market-place beneath his prison window. for seven months he was held a prisoner; nor was he released until he had sworn to surrender his powers, as regent, to a council of flemings and to withdraw all his foreign troops from the netherlands. he was forced to give hostages as a pledge of his good faith, among them his general, philip of cleef, who presently joined his captors. maximilian, on arriving at the camp of the emperor frederick iii, who had gathered together an army to release his imprisoned son, was persuaded to break an oath given under duress. he advanced therefore at the head of his german mercenaries into flanders, but was able to achieve little success against the flemings, who found in philip of cleef an able commander. despairing of success, he now determined to retire into germany, leaving duke albert of saxe-meissen, a capable and tried soldier of fortune, as general-in-chief of his forces and stadholder of the netherlands. with the coming of duke albert order was at length to be restored, though not without a severe struggle. slowly but surely duke albert took town after town and reduced province after province into submission. the hook party in holland and zeeland, and their anti-burgundian allies in utrecht, and robert de la marck in liège, in turn felt the force of his arm. an insurrection of the peasants in west friesland and kennemerland--the "bread and cheese folk," as they were called--was easily put down. philip of cleef with his flemings was unable to make head against him; and, with the fall of ghent and sluis in the summer of , the duke was able to announce to maximilian that the netherlands, except gelderland, were pacified. the treaty of senlis in ended the war with france. in the following year, after his accession to the imperial throne, maximilian retired to his ancestral dominions in germany, and his son, philip the fair, took in his hands the reins of government. the young sovereign, who was a netherlander by birth and had spent all his life in the country, was more popular than his father; and his succession to the larger part of the burgundian inheritance was not disputed. he received the homage of zeeland at roemerswaal, of holland at geertruidenburg, and seized the occasion to announce the abrogation of the great privilege, and at the same time restored the grand council at mechlin. in utrecht the authority of bishop david of burgundy was now firmly re-established; and on his death, philip of baden, an obsequious adherent of the house of austria, was elected. these results of the pacification carried out so successfully by duke albert had, however, left maximilian and philip deeply in debt to the saxon; and there was no money wherewith to meet the claim, which amounted to , guilders. after many negotiations extending over several years, compensation was found for albert in friesland. that unhappy province and the adjoining territory of groningen had for a long time been torn by internal dissensions between the two parties, the _schieringers_ and the _vetkoopers_, who were the counterparts of the hooks and cods of holland. the schieringers called in the aid of the saxon duke, who brought the land into subjection. maximilian now recognised albert as hereditary podesta or governor of friesland on condition that the house of austria reserved the right of redeeming the territory for , guilders; and philip acquiesced in the bargain by which frisian freedom was sold in exchange for the cancelling of a debt. the struggle with charles of egmont in gelderland was not so easily terminated. not till was philip able to overcome this crafty and skilful adversary. charles was compelled to do homage and to accompany philip to brussels (october, ). it was, however, but a brief submission. charles made his escape once more into gelderland and renewed the war of independence. before these events had taken place, the marriage of philip with juana, the daughter of ferdinand of aragon and isabel of castile, had brought about a complete change in his fortunes. maximilian, always full of ambitious projects for the aggrandisement of his house, had planned with ferdinand of aragon a double marriage between their families, prompted by a common hatred and fear of the growing power of france. the archduke philip was to wed the infanta juana, the second daughter of ferdinand and isabel; the infante juan, the heir to the thrones of aragon and castile, philip's sister, margaret. margaret had in , aged then three years, been betrothed to the dauphin charles, aged twelve, and she was brought up at the french court, and after the death of louis xi (august , ) had borne the title of queen and had lived at amboise with other children of the french royal house, under the care of the regent, anne de beaujeu. the marriage, however, of charles viii and margaret was never to be consummated. in august, , the male line of the dukes of brittany became extinct; and the hand of the heiress, anne of brittany, a girl of twelve, attracted many suitors. it was clearly a matter of supreme importance to the king of france that this important territory should not pass by marriage into the hands of an enemy. the bretons, on the other hand, clung to their independence and dreaded absorption in the unifying french state. after many intrigues her council advised the young duchess to accept maximilian as her husband, and she was married to him by proxy in march, . charles viii immediately entered brittany at the head of a strong force and, despite a fierce and prolonged resistance, conquered the country, and gained possession of anne's person (august, ). the temptation was too strong to be resisted. margaret, after residing in france as his affianced wife for eight years, was repudiated and finally, two years later, sent back to the netherlands, while anne was compelled to break off her marriage with margaret's father, and became charles' queen. this double slight was never forgiven either by maximilian or by margaret, and was the direct cause of the negotiations for the double spanish marriage, which, though delayed by the suspicious caution of the two chief negotiators, ferdinand and maximilian, was at length arranged. in august, , an imposing fleet conveyed the infanta juana to antwerp and she was married to philip at lille. in the following april margaret and don juan were wedded in the cathedral of burgos. the union was followed by a series of catastrophes in the spanish royal family. while on his way with his wife to attend the marriage of his older sister isabel with the king of portugal, juan caught a malignant fever and expired at salamanca in october, . the newly-married queen of portugal now became the heiress to the crowns of aragon and castile, but she died a year later and shortly afterwards her infant son. the succession therefore passed to the younger sister, juana; and philip the fair, the heir of the house of austria and already through his mother the ruler of the rich burgundian domain, became through his wife the prospective sovereign of the spanish kingdoms of ferdinand and isabel. fortune seemed to have reserved all her smiles for the young prince, when on february , , a son was born to him at ghent, who received the name charles. but dark days were soon to follow. philip was pleasure-loving and dissolute, and he showed little affection for his wife, who had already begun to exhibit symptoms of that weakness of mind which was before long to develop into insanity. however in , they journeyed together to spain, in order to secure juana's rights to the castilian succession and also to that of aragon should king ferdinand die without an heir-male. in november, , isabel the catholic had died; and philip and his consort at once assumed the titles of king and queen of castile, in spite of the opposition of ferdinand, who claimed the right of regency during his life-time. both parties were anxious to obtain the support of henry vii. already since the accession of philip the commercial relations between england and the netherlands had been placed on what proved to be a permanently friendly basis by the treaty known as the _magnus intercursus_ of . flanders and brabant were dependent upon the supply of english wool for their staple industries, holland and zeeland for that freedom of fishery on which a large part of their population was employed and subsisted. in reprisals for the support formerly given by the burgundian government to the house of york, henry had forbidden the exportation of wool and of cloth to the netherlands, had removed the staple from bruges to calais, and had withdrawn the fishing rights enjoyed by the hollanders since the reign of edward i. but this state of commercial war was ruinous to both countries; and, on condition that philip henceforth undertook not to allow any enemies of the english government to reside in his dominions, a good understanding was reached, and the _magnus intercursus_, which re-established something like freedom of trade between the countries, was duly signed in february, . the treaty was solemnly renewed in , but shortly afterwards fresh difficulties arose concerning yorkist refugees, and a stoppage of trade was once more threatened. at this juncture a storm drove philip and juana, who had set sail in january, , for spain, to take refuge in an english harbour. for three months they were hospitably entertained by henry, but he did not fail to take advantage of the situation to negotiate three treaties with his unwilling guest: ( ) a treaty of alliance, ( ) a treaty of marriage with philip's sister, the archduchess margaret, already at the age of a widow for the second time, ( ) a revision of the treaty of commerce of , named from its unfavourable conditions, _malus intercursus_. the marriage treaty came to nothing through the absolute refusal of margaret to accept the hand of the english king. philip and juana left england for spain, april , to assume the government of the three kingdoms, castile, leon and granada, which juana had inherited from her mother. owing to his wife's mental incapacity philip in her name exercised all the powers of sovereignty, but his reign was very short, for he was suddenly taken ill and died at burgos, september , . his hapless wife, after the birth of a posthumous child, sank into a state of hopeless insanity and passed the rest of her long life in confinement. charles, the heir to so vast an inheritance, was but six years old. the representatives of the provinces, assembled at mechlin (october ), offered the regency of the burgundian dominions to the emperor maximilian; he in his turn nominated his daughter, margaret, to be regent in his place and guardian of his grandson during charles' minority, and she with the assent of the states-general took the oath on her installation as _mambour_ or governor-general of the netherlands, march, . margaret was but years of age, and for twenty-four years she continued to administer the affairs of the netherlands with singular discretion, firmness and statesmanlike ability. the superintendence and training of the young archduke could have been placed in no better hands. charles, who with his three sisters lived with his aunt at mechlin, was thus both by birth and education a netherlander. one of the first acts of margaret was a refusal to ratify the _malus intercursus_ and the revival of the _magnus intercursus_ of . this important commercial treaty from that time forward continued in force for more than a century. the great difficulty that margaret encountered in her government was the lack of adequate financial resources. the extensive privileges accorded to the various provinces and their mutual jealousies and diverse interests made the task of levying taxes arduous and often fruitless. margaret found that the granting of supplies, even for so necessary a purpose as the raising of troops to resist the raids of charles of gelderland, aided by the french king, into utrecht and holland, was refused. she fortunately possessed in a high degree those qualities of persuasive address and sound judgment, which gave to her a foremost place among the diplomatists and rulers of her time. such was the confidence that her brilliant abilities inspired that she was deputed both by the emperor maximilian and by ferdinand of aragon to be their plenipotentiary at the peace congress that assembled at cambray in november, . chiefly through her exertions the negotiations had a speedy and successful issue, and the famous treaty known as the league of cambray was signed on december . by this treaty many of the disputes concerning the rights and prerogatives of the french crown in the burgundian netherlands were amicably settled; and it was arranged that charles of egmont should be provisionally recognised as duke of gelderland on condition that he should give up the towns in holland that he had captured and withdraw his troops within his own borders. the extant correspondence between maximilian and margaret, which is of the most confidential character, on matters of high policy, is a proof of the high opinion the emperor entertained of his daughter's intelligence and capacity. in nothing was his confidence more justified than in the assiduous care and interest that the regent took in the education of the archduke charles and his three sisters, who had been placed in her charge. in charles, on entering his sixteenth year, was declared by maximilian to be of age; margaret accordingly handed over to him the reins of government and withdrew for the time into private life. her retirement was not, however, to be of long continuance. on january , , king ferdinand of aragon died, and charles, who now became king of castile and of aragon, was obliged to leave the netherlands to take possession of his spanish dominions. before sailing he reinstated his aunt as governess, and appointed a council to assist her. this post she continued to hold till the day of her death, for charles was never again able to take up his permanent residence in the netherlands. during the first years after his accession to the thrones of ferdinand and isabel he was much occupied with spanish affairs; and the death of maximilian, january , , opened out to him a still wider field of ambition and activity. on june charles was elected emperor, a result which he owed in no small degree to the diplomatic skill and activity of margaret. just a year later the emperor visited the netherlands, where charles of gelderland was again giving trouble, and his presence was required both for the purpose of dealing with the affairs of the provinces and also for securing a grant of supply, for he was sorely in need of funds. margaret had at his request summoned the states-general to meet at brussels, where charles personally addressed them, and explained at some length the reasons which led him to ask his loyal and devoted netherland subjects for their aid on his election to the imperial dignity. the states-general on this, as on other occasions, showed no niggardliness in responding to the request of a sovereign who, though almost always absent, appealed to their patriotism as a born netherlander, who had been brought up in their midst and spoke their tongue. charles was crowned at aachen, october , , and some three months later presided at the famous diet of worms, where he met martin luther face to face. before starting on his momentous journey he again appointed margaret regent, and gave to her council, which he nominated, large powers; the council of mechlin, the court of holland and other provincial tribunals being subjected to its superior authority and jurisdiction. by this action the privileges of the provinces were infringed, but charles was resolute in carrying out the centralising policy of his ancestors, the dukes of burgundy, and he had the power to enforce his will in spite of the protests that were raised. and so under the wise and conciliatory but firm administration of margaret during a decade of almost continuous religious and international strife--a decade marked by such great events as the rapid growth of the reformation in germany, the defeat and capture of francis i at pavia, the sack of rome by the troops of bourbon and the victorious advance of the turks in hungary and along the eastern frontier of the empire--the netherland provinces remained at peace, save for the restless intrigues of charles of egmont in gelderland, and prospered. their wealth furnished indeed no small portion of the funds which enabled charles to face successfully so many adversaries and to humble the power of france. the last important act of margaret, like her first, was connected with the town of cambray. in this town, as the representative and plenipotentiary of her nephew the emperor, she met, july, , louise of savoy, who had been granted similar powers by her son francis i, to negotiate a treaty of peace. the two princesses proved worthy of the trust that had been placed in them, and a general treaty of peace, often spoken of as "the ladies' peace," was speedily drawn up and ratified. the conditions were highly advantageous to the interests of spain and the netherlands. on november of the following year margaret died, as the result of a slight accident to her foot which the medical science of the day did not know how to treat properly, in the th year of her age and the th of her regency. charles, who had a few months previously reached the zenith of his power by being crowned with the iron crown of lombardy and with the imperial crown at the hands of pope clement vii at bologna (february and , ), appointed as governess in margaret's place his sister mary, the widowed queen of louis, king of hungary, who had been slain by the turks at the battle of mohacs, august , . mary, who had passed her early life in the netherlands under the care of her aunt margaret, proved herself in every way her worthy successor. she possessed, like margaret, a strong character, statesmanlike qualities and singular capacity in the administration of affairs. she filled the difficult post of regent for the whole period of twenty-four years between the death of margaret and the abdication of charles v in . it was fortunate indeed for that great sovereign that these two eminent women of his house should, each in turn for one half of his long reign, have so admirably conducted the government of this important portion of his dominions, as to leave him free for the carrying out of his far-reaching political projects and constant military campaigns in other lands. two years after mary entered upon her regency charles appointed three advisory and administrative bodies--the council of state, the council of finance and the privy council--to assist her in the government. the council of state dealt with questions of external and internal policy and with the appointment of officials; the council of finance with the care of the revenue and private domains of the sovereign; to the privy council were entrusted the publication of edicts and "placards," and the care of justice and police. when charles succeeded philip the fair only a portion of the netherlands was subject to his sway. with steady persistence he set himself to the task of bringing all the seventeen provinces under one sovereign. in george of saxe-meissen sold to him his rights over friesland. henry of bavaria, who in opposition to his wishes had been elected bishop of utrecht, was compelled ( ) to cede to him the temporalities of the see, retaining the spiritual office only. charles thus added the upper and lower _sticht_--utrecht and overyssel--to his dominions. he made himself ( ) master of groningen and drente after a long and obstinate struggle with charles of gelderland, and seven years later he forced charles' successor, william of jülich and cleves, to renounce in his favour his claims to gelderland and zutphen. during the reign of charles v the states-general were summoned many times, chiefly for the purpose of voting subsidies, but it was only on special and solemn occasions, that the representatives of all the seventeen provinces were present, as for instance when philip received their homage in and when charles v announced his abdication in . the names of the seventeen provinces summoned on these occasions were brabant, limburg, luxemburg, gelderland, flanders, holland, zeeland, artois, hainault, namur, lille with douay and orchies, tournay and district, mechlin, friesland, utrecht, overyssel with drente and groningen. the bishopric of liège, though nominally independent, was under the strict control of the government at brussels. the relations of charles' burgundian domains to the empire were a matter of no small moment, and he was able to regulate them in a manner satisfactory to himself. several times during his reign tentative attempts were made to define those relations, which were of a very loose kind. the fact that the head of the house of habsburg was himself emperor had not made him any less determined than the burgundian sovereigns, his ancestors, to assert for his netherland territories a virtual independence of imperial control or obligation. the various states of which the netherlands were composed were as much opposed as the central government at brussels to any recognition of the claims of the empire; and both margaret of austria and mary of hungary ventured to refuse to send representatives to the imperial diets, even when requested to do so by the emperor. at last in , when all the netherland provinces had been brought under the direct dominion or control of one sovereign prince, a convention was drawn up at the diet of augsburg, chiefly by the exertions of the regent mary and her tried councillors viglius and granvelle, by which the unity of the netherland territories was recognised and they were freed from imperial jurisdiction. nominally, they formed a circle of the empire,--the burgundian circle--and representatives of the circle were supposed to appear at the diets and to bear a certain share of imperial taxation in return for the right to the protection of the empire against attacks by france. as a matter of fact, no representatives were ever sent and no subsidy was paid, nor was the protection of the empire ever sought or given. this convention, which in reality severed the shadowy links which had hitherto bound the netherlands to the empire, received the sanction of the states-general in october, ; and it was followed by the issuing, with the consent of the estates of the various provinces, of a "pragmatic sanction" by which the inherited right of succession to the sovereignty in each and every province was settled upon the male and female line of charles' descendants, notwithstanding the existence of ancient provincial privileges to the contrary. in the emperor's only son philip was acknowledged by all the estates as their future sovereign, and made a journey through the land to receive homage. the doctrines of the reformation had early obtained a footing in various parts of the netherlands. at first it was the teaching of luther and of zwingli which gained adherents. somewhat later the anabaptist movement made great headway in holland and friesland, especially in amsterdam. the chief leaders of the anabaptists were natives of holland, including the famous or infamous john of leyden, who with some thousands of these fanatical sectaries perished at münster in . between and a more moderate form of anabaptist teaching made rapid progress through the preaching of a certain menno simonszoon. the followers of this man were called mennonites. meanwhile lutheranism and zwinglianism were in many parts of the country being supplanted by the sterner doctrines of calvin. all these movements were viewed by the emperor with growing anxiety and detestation. whatever compromises with the reformation he might be compelled to make in germany, he was determined to extirpate heresy from his hereditary dominions. he issued a strong placard soon after the diet of worms in condemning luther and his opinions and forbidding the printing or sale of any of the reformer's writings; and between that date and a dozen other edicts and placards were issued of increasing stringency. the most severe was the so-called "blood-placard" of . this enacted the sentence of death against all convicted of heresy--the men to be executed with the sword and the women buried alive; in cases of obstinacy both men and women were to be burnt. terribly harsh as were these edicts, it is doubtful whether the number of those who suffered the extreme penalty has not been greatly exaggerated by partisan writers. of the thousands who perished, by far the greater part were anabaptists; and these met their fate rather as enemies of the state and of society, than as heretics. they were political as well as religious anarchists. in the time of charles the trade and industries of the netherlands were in a highly prosperous state. the burgundian provinces under the wise administrations of margaret and mary, and protected by the strong arm of the emperor from foreign attack, were at this period by far the richest state in europe and the financial mainstay of the habsburg power. bruges, however, had now ceased to be the central market and exchange of europe, owing to the silting up of the river zwijn. it was no longer a port, and its place had been taken by antwerp. at the close of the reign of charles, antwerp, with its magnificent harbour on the scheldt, had become the "counting-house" of the nations, the greatest port and the wealthiest and most luxurious city in the world. agents of the principal bankers and merchants of every country had their offices within its walls. it has been estimated that, inclusive of the many foreigners who made the town their temporary abode, the population of antwerp in was about , . five hundred vessels sailed in and out of her harbour daily, and five times that number were to be seen thronging her wharves at the same time. to the north of the scheldt the condition of things was not less satisfactory than in the south, particularly in holland. the commercial prosperity of holland was in most respects different in kind from that of flanders and brabant, and during the period with which we are dealing had been making rapid advances, but on independent lines. a manufactory of the coarser kinds of cloth, established at leyden, had indeed for a time met with a considerable measure of success, but had fallen into decline in the time of mary of hungary. the nature of his country led the hollander to be either a sailor or a dairy-farmer, not an artisan or operative. akin though he was in race to the fleming and the brabanter, his instincts led him by the force of circumstances to turn his energies in other directions. subsequent history has but emphasised the fact--which from the fourteenth century onwards is clearly evident--that the people who inhabited the low-lying sea-girt lands of dyke, canal and polder in holland and zeeland were distinct in character and temper from the citizens of bruges, ghent, ypres, brussels or mechlin, who were essentially landsmen and artisans. ever since the discovery of the art of curing herrings (ascribed to william beukelsz), the herring fishery had acquired a great importance to the hollanders and zeelanders, and formed the chief livelihood of a large part of the entire population of those provinces; and many thousands, who did not themselves sail in the fishing fleets, found employment in the ship and boat-building wharves and in the making of sails, cordage, nets and other tackle. it was in this hazardous occupation that the hardy race of skilled and seasoned seamen, who were destined to play so decisive a part in the coming wars of independence, had their early training. the herring harvest, through the careful and scientific methods that were employed in curing the fish and packing them in barrels, became a durable and much sought for article of commerce. a small portion of the catch served as a supply of food for home consumption, the great bulk in its thousands of barrels was a marketable commodity, and the distribution of the cured herring to distant ports became a lucrative business. it had two important consequences, the formation of a dutch mercantile marine, and the growth of amsterdam, which from small beginnings had in the middle of the sixteenth century become a town with , inhabitants and a port second only in importance in the netherlands to antwerp. from its harbour at the confluence of the estuary of the y with the zuyder zee ships owned and manned by hollanders sailed along the coasts of france and spain to bring home the salt for curing purposes and with it wines and other southern products, while year by year a still larger and increasing number entered the baltic. in those eastern waters they competed with the german hanseatic cities, with whom they had many acrimonious disputes, and with such success that the hollanders gradually monopolised the traffic in grain, hemp and other "eastland" commodities and became practically the freight-carriers of the baltic. and be it remembered that they were able to achieve this because many of the north-netherland towns were themselves members of the hanse league, and possessed therefore the same rights and privileges commercially as their rivals, hamburg, lübeck or danzig. the great industrial cities of flanders and brabant, on the other hand, not being members of the league nor having any mercantile marine of their own, were content to transact business with the foreign agents of the hanse towns, who had their counting-houses at antwerp. it will thus be seen that in the middle of the sixteenth century the trade of the northern provinces, though as yet not to be compared in volume to that of the flemings and walloons, had before it an opening field for enterprise and energy rich in possibilities and promise for the future. such was the state of affairs political, religious and economical when in the year the emperor charles v, prematurely aged by the heavy burden of forty years of world-wide sovereignty, worn out by constant campaigns and weary of the cares of state, announced his intention of abdicating and retiring into a monastery. on october , , the act of abdication was solemnly and with impressive ceremonial carried out in the presence of the representatives of the seventeen provinces of the netherlands specially summoned to meet their sovereign for the last time in the great hall of the palace at brussels. charles took an affecting farewell of his netherland subjects and concluded by asking them to exhibit the same regard and loyalty to his son philip as they had always displayed to himself. much feeling was shown, for charles, despite the many and varied calls and duties which had prevented him from residing for any length of time in the netherlands, had always been at pains to manifest a special interest in the country of his birth. the netherlands were to him throughout life his homeland and its people looked upon him as a fellow-countryman, and not even the constant demands that charles had made for financial aid nor the stern edicts against heresy had estranged them from him. the abdication was the more regretted because at the same time mary of hungary laid down her office as regent, the arduous duties of which she had so long and so ably discharged. on the following day, october , the knights of the golden fleece, the members of the councils and the deputies of the provinces took the oath of allegiance to philip, the emperor's only son and heir; and philip on his side solemnly undertook to maintain unimpaired the ancient rights and privileges of the several provinces. * * * * * chapter iii the prelude to the revolt philip at the time of his accession to the sovereignty of the netherlands was already king of naples and sicily, and duke of milan, and, by his marriage in to mary tudor, king-consort of england, in which country he was residing when summoned by his father to assist at the abdication ceremony at brussels. a few months later (january , ) by a further act of abdication on the part of charles v he became king of castile and aragon. it was a tremendous inheritance, and there is no reason to doubt that philip entered upon his task with a deep sense that he had a mission to fulfil and with a self-sacrificing determination to spare himself no personal labour in the discharge of his duties. but though he bore to his father a certain physical likeness, philip in character and disposition was almost his antithesis. silent, reserved, inaccessible, philip had none of the restless energy or the geniality of charles, and was as slow and undecided in action as he was bigoted in his opinions and unscrupulous in his determination to compass his ends. he found himself on his accession to power faced with many difficulties, for the treasury was not merely empty, it was burdened with debt. through lack of means he was compelled to patch up a temporary peace (february , ) with the french king at vaucelles, and to take steps to reorganise his finances. one of philip's first acts was the appointment of emmanuel philibert, duke of savoy, to the post vacated by his aunt mary; but it was a position, as long as the king remained in the netherlands, of small responsibility. early in he summoned the states-general to brussels and asked for a grant of , , florins. the taxes proposed were disapproved by the principal provinces and eventually refused. philip was very much annoyed, but was compelled to modify his proposals and accept what was offered by the delegates. there was indeed from the very outset no love lost between the new ruler and his netherland subjects. philip had spent nearly all his life in spain, where he had received his education and early training, and he had grown up to manhood, in the narrowest sense of the word, a spaniard. he was as unfamiliar with the laws, customs and privileges of the several provinces of his netherland dominions as he was with the language of their peoples. he spoke and wrote only castilian correctly, and during his four years' residence at brussels he remained coldly and haughtily aloof, a foreigner and alien in a land where he never felt at home. philip at the beginning of his reign honestly endeavoured to follow in his father's steps and to carry out his policy; but acts, which the great emperor with his conciliatory address and flemish sympathies could venture upon with impunity, became suspect and questionable when attempted by the son. philip made the great mistake of taking into his private confidence only foreign advisers, chief among whom was anthony perrenot de granvelle, bishop of arras, a burgundian by birth, the son of nicholas perrenot, who for thirty years had been the trusted counsellor of charles v. the opening of philip's reign was marked by signal military successes. war broke out afresh with france, after a brief truce, in . the french arms however sustained two crushing reverses at st quentin, august , , and at gravelines, july , . lamoral, count of egmont, who commanded the cavalry, was the chief agent in winning these victories. by the treaty of cateau-cambresis peace was concluded, in which the french made many concessions, but were allowed to retain, at the cost of philip's ally, the town of calais which had been captured from the english by a surprise attack in . by the death of queen mary, which was said to have been hastened by the news of the loss of calais, philip's relations with england were entirely changed, and one of the reasons for a continuance of his residence in the netherlands was removed. peace with france therefore was no sooner assured than philip determined to return to spain, where his presence was required. he chose his half-sister margaret, duchess of parma, to be regent in place of the duke of savoy. in july he summoned the chapter of the order of the golden fleece--destined to be the last that was ever held--to ghent in order to announce his intended departure. a little later the states-general were called together, also at ghent, for a solemn leave-taking. on august , philip embarked at flushing, and quitted the netherlands, never again to return. philip's choice of margaret as governess-general was a happy one. she was a natural daughter of charles v. her mother was a fleming, and she had been brought up under the care of her aunts, margaret of austria and mary of hungary. she resembled those able rulers in being a woman of strong character and statesmanlike qualities, and no doubt she would have been as successful in her administration had she had the same opportunities and the same freedom of action as her predecessors. philip, however, though henceforth he passed the whole of his life in spain, had no intention of loosening in any way his grasp of the reins of power or of delegating any share of his sovereign authority. on his return to madrid he showed plainly that he meant to treat the netherland provinces as if they were dependencies of the spanish crown, and he required from margaret and her advisers that all the details of policy, legislation and administration should be submitted to him for supervision and sanction. this necessitated the writing of voluminous despatches and entailed with a man of his habits of indecision interminable delays. margaret moreover was instructed that in all matters she must be guided by the advice of her three councils. by far the most important of the three was the council of state, which at this time consisted of five members--anthony granvelle, bishop of arras; baron de barlaymont; viglius van zwychem van aytta; lamoral, count of egmont; and william, prince of orange. barlaymont was likewise president of the council of finance and viglius president of the privy council. by far the most important member of the council of state, as he was much the ablest, was the bishop of arras; and he, with barlaymont and viglius, formed an inner confidential council from whom alone the regent asked advice. the members of this inner council, nicknamed the _consulta_, were all devoted to the interests of philip. egmont and orange, because of their great influence and popularity with the people, were allowed to be nominally councillors of state, but they were rarely consulted and were practically shut out from confidential access to the regent. it is no wonder that both were discontented with their position and soon showed openly their dissatisfaction. egmont, a man of showy rather than of solid qualities, held in the important posts of stadholder of flanders and artois. the prince of orange was the eldest of the five sons of william, count of nassau-dillenburg, head of the younger or german branch of the famous house of nassau. members of the elder or netherland branch had for several generations rendered distinguished services to their burgundian and habsburg sovereigns. this elder branch became extinct in the person of réné, the son of henry of nassau, one of charles v's most trusted friends and advisers, by claude, sister of philibert, prince of orange-châlons. philibert being childless bequeathed his small principality to réné; and réné in his turn, being killed at the siege of st dizier in , left by will all his possessions to his cousin william, who thus became prince of orange. his parents were lutherans, but charles insisted that william, at that time eleven years of age, should be brought up as a catholic at the court of mary of hungary. here he became a great favourite of the emperor, who in conferred on him the hand of a great heiress, anne of egmont, only child of the count of buren. anne died in , leaving two children, a son, philip william, and a daughter. at the ceremony of the abdication in , charles entered the hall leaning on the shoulder of william, on whom, despite his youth, he had already bestowed an important command. philip likewise specially recognised william's ability and gave evidence of his confidence in him by appointing him one of the plenipotentiaries to conclude with france the treaty of cateau-cambresis in . he had also made him a knight of the golden fleece, a councillor of state and stadholder of holland, zeeland, utrecht and burgundy (franche-comté). nevertheless there arose between philip and orange a growing feeling of distrust and dislike, with the result that william speedily found himself at the head of a patriotic opposition to any attempts of the spanish king to govern the netherlands by spanish methods. the presence of a large body of spanish troops in the country aroused the suspicion that philip intended to use them, if necessary, to support him in overriding by force the liberties and privileges of the provinces. it was largely owing to the influence of orange that the states-general in refused to vote the grant of supplies for which philip had asked, unless he promised that all foreign troops should be withdrawn from the netherlands. the king was much incensed at such a humiliating rebuff and is reported, when on the point of embarking at flushing, to have charged william with being the man who had instigated the states thus to thwart him. thus, when margaret of parma entered upon her duties as regent, she found that there was a feeling of deep dissatisfaction and general irritation in the provinces; and this was accentuated as soon as it was found that, though philip had departed, his policy remained. the spirit of the absent king from his distant cabinet in madrid brooded, as it were, over the land. it was soon seen that margaret, whatever her statesmanlike qualities or natural inclination might be, had no real authority, nor was she permitted to take any steps or to initiate any policy without the advice and approval of the three confidential councillors placed at her side by philip--granvelle, viglius and barlaymont. of these granvelle, both by reason of his conspicuous abilities and of his being admitted more freely than anyone else into the inner counsels of a sovereign, as secretive in his methods as he was suspicious and distrustful of his agents, held the foremost position and drew upon himself the odium of a policy with which, though it was dictated from spain, his name was identified. orange and egmont, with whom were joined a number of other leading nobles (among these philip de montmorency, count of hoorn, his brother the lord of montigny, the counts of meghem and hoogstraeten and the marquis of berghen), little by little adopted an attitude of increasing hostility to this policy, which they regarded as anti-national and tending to the establishment of a foreign despotism in the netherlands. the continued presence of the spanish troops, the severe measures that were being taken for the suppression of heresy, and a proposal for the erection of a number of new bishoprics, aroused popular discontent and suspicion. orange and egmont, finding that they were never consulted except on matters of routine, wrote to philip (july, ) stating that they found that their attendance at the meetings of the council of state was useless and asked to be allowed to resign their posts. meanwhile, feeling that the presence of the spanish troops was a source of weakness rather than of strength, margaret and granvelle were urging upon the king the necessity of their withdrawal. neither the nobles nor the regent succeeded in obtaining any satisfactory response. orange and egmont accordingly absented themselves from the council, and margaret ventured on her own authority to send away the spanish regiments. the question of the bishoprics was more serious. it was not a new question. the episcopal organisation in the netherlands was admittedly inadequate. it had long been the intention of charles v to create a number of new sees, but in his crowded life he had never found the opportunity of carrying out the proposed scheme, and it was one of the legacies that at his abdication he handed on to his son. one of the first steps taken by philip was to obtain a bull from pope paul iv for the creation of the new bishoprics, and this bull was renewed and confirmed by pius iv, january, . up to this time the entire area of the seventeen provinces had been divided into three unwieldy dioceses--utrecht, arras and tournay. the see of utrecht comprised nearly the whole of the modern kingdom of the netherlands. nor was there any archiepiscopal see. the metropolitical jurisdiction was exercised by the three foreign archbishops of cologne, rheims and treves. philip now divided the land into fourteen dioceses (charles had proposed six) with three metropolitans at mechlin, utrecht and 'shertogenbosch[ ]. granvelle, who had obtained the cardinal's hat, february, , was appointed archbishop of mechlin, and by virtue of this office primate of the netherlands, december, . this new organisation was not carried out without arousing widespread opposition. the existing bishops resented the diminution of their jurisdiction and dignity, and still louder were the protests of the abbots, whose endowments were appropriated to furnish the incomes of the new sees. still more formidable was the hostility of the people generally, a hostility founded on fear, for the introduction of so many new bishops nominated by the king was looked upon as being the first step to prepare the way for the bringing in of the dreaded spanish inquisition. already the edicts against heretics, which charles v had enacted and severely enforced, were being carried out throughout the length and breadth of the land with increasing and merciless barbarity. both papal and episcopal inquisitors were active in the work of persecution, and so many were the sentences that in many places the civil authorities, and even some of the stadholders, declined to carry out the executions. public opinion looked upon granvelle as the author of the new bishoprics scheme and the instigator of the increased activity of the persecutors. he was accused of being eager to take any measures to repress the ancient liberties of the netherland provinces and to establish a centralised system of absolute rule, in order to ingratiate himself with the king and so to secure his own advancement. that the cardinal was ambitious of power there can be no question. but to men of granvelle's great abilities, as administrator and statesman, ambition is not necessarily a fault; and access to the secret records and correspondence of the time has revealed that the part played by him was far from being so sinister as was believed. the bishop of arras was not consulted about the bishoprics proposal until after the papal bull had been secured, and at first he was unfavourable to it and was not anxious to become archbishop and primate. it was his advice which led margaret to send away the hated spanish regiments from netherland soil; and, far from being naturally a relentless persecutor, there is proof that neither he nor the president of the privy council, the jurist viglius, believed in the policy of harsh and brutal methods for stamping out heretical opinions. they had in this as in other matters to obey their master, and allow the odium to fall upon themselves. to orange and egmont, the two leaders of the opposition to granvelle, a third name, that of philip de montmorency, count of hoorn and admiral of flanders, has now to be added. these three worked together for the overthrow of the cardinal, but their opposition at this time was based rather on political than on religious grounds. they all professed the catholic faith, but the marriage of orange in august, , with a lutheran, anne daughter of maurice of saxony and granddaughter of philip of hesse, was ominous of coming change in william's religious opinions. in the discontent of the nobles led to the formation of a league against the cardinal, of which, in addition to the three leaders, the counts of brederode, mansfeld and hoogstraeten were the principal members. this league, of which orange was the brain and moving spirit, had as its chief aim the removal of granvelle from office, and then redress of grievances. it found widespread support. the cardinal was assailed by a torrent of lampoons and pasquinades of the bitterest description. but, though margaret began to see that the unpopularity of the minister was undermining her position, and was rendering for her the task of government more and more difficult, philip was obdurate and closed his ears. the long distance between madrid and brussels and the procrastinating habits of the spanish king added immensely to the regent's perplexities. she could not act on her own initiative, and her appeals to philip were either disregarded or after long delay met by evasive replies. the discontented nobles in vain tried to obtain redress for their grievances. in the autumn of montigny was sent on a special mission to madrid, but returned without effecting anything. orange, egmont and hoorn thereupon drew up a joint letter containing a bold demand for the dismissal of granvelle, as the chief cause of all the troubles in the land. the king replied by asking that one of them should go in person to spain to discuss the grievances with him, and suggesting that egmont should be sent. egmont however was averse to the proposal, and another and stronger letter signed by the three leaders was despatched to madrid. finding that both margaret and granvelle himself were in agreement with orange, egmont and hoorn in their view of the situation, margaret advising, with the cardinal's acquiescence, the necessity of the minister's removal from his post, philip determined at last that granvelle should leave the netherlands. but in accordance with the counsel of alva, who was opposed on principle to any concession, he characteristically employed circuitous and clandestine means to conceal from the world any appearance of yielding to the request of his subjects. in january, he sent a letter to the duchess of parma expressing his displeasure at the lords' letter, and saying that they must substantiate their complaints. the same messenger (armenteros, the duchess' secretary) carried another letter for granvelle headed "secret," in which the cardinal was told that "owing to the strong feeling that had been aroused against him, he was to ask permission from the regent to go away for a short time to visit his mother." about a week after these letters had reached their destination another courier brought a reply to the three nobles, which, though written on the same day as the others, bore a date three weeks later, in which they were bidden to take their places again in the council of state, and a promise was given that the charges against granvelle after substantiation should be maturely considered. this letter was delivered on march , after granvelle had already, in obedience to the king's orders, asked for leave of absence to visit his mother in franche-comté. the cardinal actually left brussels on march , to the great joy of every class of the people, never to return. with the departure of granvelle, the nobles once more took their seats on the council of state. the _consulta_ disappeared, and the regent herself appeared to be relieved and to welcome the disappearance of the man whose authority had overshadowed her own. but the change, though it placed large powers of administration and of patronage in the hands of netherlanders instead of foreigners, did not by any means introduce purer methods of government. many of the nobles were heavily in debt; most of them were self-seeking; offices and emoluments were eagerly sought for, and were even put up for sale. armenteros, margaret's private secretary (to whom the nickname of _argenteros_ was given), was the leading spirit in this disgraceful traffic, and enriched himself by the acceptance of bribes for the nomination to preferments. it was an unedifying state of things; and public opinion was not long in expressing its discontent with such an exhibition of widespread venality and greed. all this was duly reported to philip by granvelle, who continued, in his retirement, to keep himself well informed of all that was going on. meanwhile by the efforts of orange, egmont and hoorn, chiefly of the former, proposals of reform were being urged for the strengthening of the powers of the council of state, for the reorganisation of finance, and for the more moderate execution of the placards against heresy. while discussion concerning these matters was in progress, came an order from philip (august, ) for the enforcing of the decrees of the recently concluded council of trent. this at once aroused protest and opposition. it was denounced as an infringement of the fundamental privileges of the provinces. philip's instructions however were peremptory. in these circumstances it was resolved by the council of state to despatch egmont on a special mission to madrid to explain to the king in person the condition of affairs in the netherlands. egmont having expressed his willingness to go, instructions were drawn up for him by viglius. when these were read at a meeting of the council convened for the purpose, orange in a long and eloquent speech boldly expressed his dissent from much that viglius had written, and wished that philip should be plainly told that it was impossible to enforce the decrees and that the severity of religious persecution must be moderated. the council determined to revise the instructions on the lines suggested by orange, whose words had such an effect upon the aged viglius, that he had that very night a stroke of apoplexy, which proved fatal. egmont set out for spain, january , , and on his arrival was received by philip with extreme courtesy and graciousness. he was entertained splendidly; presents were made to him, which, being considerably in debt, he gladly accepted; but as regards his mission he was put off with evasions and blandishments, and he returned home with a reply from the king containing some vague promises of reform in financial and other matters, but an absolute refusal to modify the decrees against heresy. rather would he sacrifice a hundred thousand lives, if he had them, than concede liberty of worship in any form. for some months however no attempt was made to carry out active persecutions; and the regent meanwhile did her utmost to place before the king urgent reasons for the modification of his policy, owing to the angry spirit of unrest and suspicion which was arising in the provinces. she begged philip to visit the netherlands and acquaint himself personally with the difficulties of a situation which, unless her advice were taken, would rapidly grow worse and pass beyond her control. philip however was deaf alike to remonstrance or entreaty. on november , , a royal despatch reached brussels in which the strictest orders were renewed for the promulgation throughout the provinces of the decrees of the council of trent and for the execution of the placards against heretics, while the proposals that had been made for an extension of the powers of the council of state and for the summoning of the states-general were refused. as soon as these fateful decisions were known, and the inquisition began to set about its fell work in real earnest, the popular indignation knew no bounds. a large number of the magistrates refused to take any part in the cruel persecution that arose, following the example of orange, egmont, berghen and others of the stadholders and leading nobles. a strong spirit of opposition to arbitrary and foreign rule arose and found expression in the action taken by a large number of the members of the so-called "lesser nobility." many of these had come to brussels, and at a meeting at the house of the count of culemburg the formation of a league to resist arbitrary rule was proposed. the leaders were lewis of nassau, brother of the prince of orange, nicolas de harnes, philip de marnix, lord of sainte aldegonde, and henry, viscount of brederode. other meetings were held, and a document embodying the principles and demands of the confederates was drawn up, known as _the compromise_, which was widely distributed among the nobles and quickly obtained large and constantly increasing support. the signatories of the compromise, while professing themselves to be faithful and loyal subjects of the king, denounced the inquisition in its every form "as being unjust and contrary to all laws human and divine"; and they pledged themselves to stand by one another in resisting its introduction into the netherlands and in preventing the carrying-out of the placards against heresy, while at the same time undertaking to maintain the royal authority and public peace in the land. at first the great nobles stood aloof, doubtful what course to pursue. at the instigation of orange conferences were held, at which, by his advice, a petition or _request_, setting forth the grievances and asking for redress, should be made in writing for presentation to the regent. the original draft of this document was the work of lewis of nassau. these conferences, however, revealed that there was a considerable divergence of views among the leading nobles. egmont and meghem were indeed so alarmed at the character of the movement, which seemed to them to savour of treason, that they separated themselves henceforth from orange and hoorn and openly took the side of the government. the duchess after some demur agreed to receive the petition. a body of confederates under the leadership of brederode and lewis of nassau marched to the palace, where they were received by margaret in person. the petitioners asked the regent to send an envoy to madrid to lay before the king the state of feeling among his loyal subjects in the netherlands, praying him to withdraw the inquisition and moderate the placards against heresy, and meanwhile by her own authority to suspend them until the king's answer had been received. the regent replied that she had no power to suspend the inquisition or the placards, but would undertake, while awaiting the royal reply, to mitigate their operation. on the last day of their stay at brussels, april , the confederates under the presidency of brederode, to the number of about three hundred, dined together at the hotel culemburg. in the course of the meal brederode drew the attention of the company now somewhat excited with wine to a contemptuous phrase attributed by common report to barlaymont. margaret was somewhat perturbed at the formidable numbers of the deputation, as it entered the palace court, and it was said that barlaymont remarked that "these beggars" (_ces gueux_) need cause her no fear. brederode declared that he had no objection to the name and was quite willing to be "a beggar" in the cause of his country and his king. it was destined to be a name famous in history. immediately loud cries arose from the assembled guests, until the great hall echoed with the shouts of _vivent les gueux_. from this date onwards the confederates were known as "les gueux," and they adopted a coarse grey dress with the symbols of beggarhood--the wallet and the bowl--worn as the _insignia_ of their league. it was the beginning of a popular movement, which made rapid headway among all classes. a medal was likewise struck, which bore on one side the head of the king, on the other two clasped hands with the inscription--_fidèles au roy jusques à la besace_. thus was the opposition to the tyrannical measures of the government organising itself in the spring of . it is a great mistake to suppose that the majority of those who signed "the compromise" or presented "the request" were disloyal to their sovereign or converts to the reformed faith. among those who denounced the methods of the inquisition and of the blood placards were a large number, who without ceasing to be catholics, had been disillusioned by the abuses which had crept into the roman church, desired their removal only to a less degree than the protestants themselves, and had no sympathy with the terrible and remorseless persecution on spanish lines, which sought to crush out all liberty of thought and all efforts of religious reform by the stake and the sword of the executioner. nevertheless this league of the nobles gave encouragement to the sectaries and was the signal for a great increase in the number and activity of the calvinist and zwinglian preachers, who flocked into the land from the neighbouring countries. such was the boldness of these preachers that, instead of being contented with secret meetings, they began to hold their conventicles in the fields or in the outskirts of the towns. crowds of people thronged to hear them, and the authority of the magistrates was defied and flouted. the regent was in despair. shortly after the presentation of the request it was determined by the advice of the council to send special envoys to lay before the king once more the serious state of things. the marquis of berghen and baron montigny consented with some demur to undertake the mission, but for various reasons they did not reach madrid till some two months later. they were received with apparent courtesy, and after several conferences the king, on july , despatched a letter to margaret in which he undertook to do away with the papal inquisition and offered to allow such moderation of the placards as did not imply any recognition of heretical opinions or any injury to the catholic faith. he refused to consent to the meeting of the states, but he sent letters couched in most friendly terms to orange and egmont appealing to their loyalty and asking them to support the regent by their advice and influence. these demonstrations of a conciliatory temper were however mere temporising. he was playing false. a document is in existence, dated august , in which philip states that these concessions had been extorted from him against his will and that he did not regard himself as bound by them, and he informed the pope that the abolition of the papal inquisition was a mere form of words. meanwhile events were moving fast in the netherlands. the open-air preachings were attended by thousands; and at antwerp, which was one of the chief centres of calvinism, disorders broke out, and armed conflicts were feared. orange himself, as burgrave of antwerp, at the request of the duchess visited the town and with the aid of brederode and meghem succeeded in effecting a compromise between the catholic and protestant parties. the latter were allowed to hold their preachings undisturbed, so long as they met outside and not within the city walls. the regent in her alarm was even driven to make overtures to the confederates to assist her in the maintenance of order. there was much parleying, in which orange and egmont took part; and in july an assembly of the signatories of the compromise was called together at st trond in the district of liège. some two thousand were present, presided over by lewis of nassau. it was resolved to send twelve delegates to margaret to lay before her the necessity of finding a remedy for the evils which were afflicting and disturbing the land. they offered to consult with orange and egmont as to the best means by which they could work together for the country's good, but hinting that, if no redress was given, they might be forced to look for foreign aid. indeed this was no empty threat, for lewis had already been in communication with the protestant leaders both in france and in the rhinelands, as to the terms on which they would furnish armed assistance; and orange was probably not altogether in ignorance of the fact. the regent was angry at the tone of the delegates, whom she received on july , but in her present impotence thought it best to dissemble. she promised to give consideration to the petition, and summoned a meeting of the knights of the golden fleece to meet at brussels on august , when she would decide upon her answer. but, when that date arrived, other and more pressing reasons than the advice of counsellors compelled her to yield to the confederates a large part of their demands. on august she agreed, in return for help in the restoration of order, to concede liberty of preaching, so long as those who assembled did not bear arms and did not interfere with the catholic places of worship and religious services. further an indemnity was promised to all who had signed the compromise. the reasons which influenced her were, first the receipt, on august , of the conciliatory letter from the king, to which reference has already been made, in which he consented to a certain measure of toleration; and secondly a sudden outburst of iconoclastic fury on the part of the calvinistic sectaries, which had spread with great rapidity through many parts of the land. on august , at st omer, ypres, courtray, valenciennes and tournay, fanatical mobs entered the churches destroying and wrecking, desecrating the altars, images, vestments and works of art, and carrying away the sacred vessels and all that was valuable. on august and the cathedral of antwerp was entered by infuriated and sacrilegious bands armed with axes and hammers, who made havoc and ruin of the interior of the beautiful church. in holland and zeeland similar excesses were committed. such conduct aroused a feeling of the deepest indignation and reprobation in the minds of all right-thinking men, and alienated utterly those more moderate catholics who up till now had been in favour of moderation. of the great nobles, who had hitherto upheld the cause of the national liberties and privileges against the encroachments of a foreign despotism, many now fell away. among these were aremberg, meghem and mansfeld. egmont hesitated. as might have been expected, the news of the outrages, when it reached philip's ears, filled him with rage and grief; and he is reported to have exclaimed, "it shall cost them dear. i swear it by the soul of my father." from this time forward he was determined to visit with exemplary punishment not only the rioters and the protestant sectaries, but more especially the great nobles on whose shoulders he laid the whole blame for the troubles that had arisen. he was in no hurry to act, and announced that it was his intention to go to the netherlands in person and enquire into the alleged grievances. so he told his councillors and wrote to margaret. no one seems to have suspected his deep-laid scheme for allaying the suspicions of his intended victims until the right moment came for laying his hands upon them and crushing all opposition by overwhelming force. orange alone, who had his paid spies at madrid, had a presage of what was coming and took measures of precaution betimes. an intercepted letter from the spanish ambassador at paris to the regent margaret, specifically mentioned orange, egmont and hoorn as deserving of exemplary punishment; and on october the prince arranged a meeting at dendermonde to consider what should be their course of action. in addition to egmont and hoorn, hoogstraeten and lewis of nassau were present. william and lewis urged that steps should be taken for preparing armed resistance should the necessity arise. but neither egmont nor hoorn would consent; they would not be guilty of any act of disloyalty to their sovereign. the result of the meeting was a great disappointment to orange, and this date marked a turning-point in his life. in concert with his brothers, john and lewis, he began to enter into negotiations with several of the german protestant princes for the formation of a league for the protection of the adherents of the reformed faith in the netherlands. now for the first time he severed his nominal allegiance to the roman church, and in a letter to philip of hesse avowed himself a lutheran. during these same autumn months philip furnished his sister with considerable sums of money for the levying of a strong mercenary force, german and walloon. possessed now of a body of troops that she could trust, margaret in the spring of took energetic steps to suppress all insurrectionary movements and disorders, and did not scruple to disregard the concessions which had been wrung from her on august . the confederate nobles, satisfied with her promises, had somewhat prematurely dissolved their league; but one of the most fiery and zealous among them, john de marnix, lord of thoulouse, collected at antwerp a body of some calvinists and attempted to make himself master of that city. at austruweel he was encountered (march ) by a walloon force despatched by margaret with orders to "exterminate the heretics." thoulouse and almost the whole of his following perished in the fight. in the south at the same time the conventicles were mercilessly suppressed and the preachers driven into exile. margaret now felt herself strong enough to demand that the stadholders and leading nobles should, on pain of dismissal from their posts, take an oath "to serve the king and to act for and against whomsoever his majesty might order." egmont took the oath; hoorn, hoogstraeten and brederode declined to do so and resigned their offices. orange offered his resignation, but margaret was unwilling to accept it and urged him to discuss the matter first with egmont and meghem. the three nobles met accordingly at willebroek, april . william used his utmost powers of persuasion in an attempt to convince egmont that he was courting destruction. but in vain. he himself was not to be moved from his decision, and the two friends, who had worked together so long in the patriot cause, parted, never to meet again. orange saw that he was no longer safe in the netherlands and, on april , he set out from breda for the residence of his brother john at dillenburg. here in exile he could watch in security the progress of events, and be near at hand should circumstances again require his intervention in the affairs of the netherlands. orange did not take this extreme step without adequate cause. at the very time that he left the netherlands philip was taking leave of the duke of alva, whom he was despatching at the head of a veteran force to carry out without pity or remorse the stern duty of expelling heresy from the provinces and punishing all those, and especially the leaders, who had ventured to oppose the arbitrary exercise of the royal authority. he had for some time been preparing this expedition. he still kept up the pretence that he was coming in person to enquire into the alleged grievances, but he never had the slightest intention of quitting madrid. alva sailed from cartagena (april ) for genoa, and proceeded at once to draw together from the various spanish garrisons in italy a picked body of some , men. with these he set out in june for his long march across the alps and through burgundy, lorraine and luxemburg. his progress, jealously watched by the french and swiss, met with no opposition save for the difficulties of the route. he entered the netherlands on august , with his army intact. a number of notables, amongst whom was egmont, came to meet him on his way to brussels. he received them, more particularly egmont, with every appearance of graciousness. alva as yet bore only the title of captain-general, but the king had bestowed on him full powers civil and military; and the duchess of parma, though still nominally regent, found herself reduced to a nonentity. alva's first step was to place strong spanish garrisons in the principal cities, his next to get the leaders who had been marked for destruction into his power. to effect this he succeeded by fair and flattering words in securing the presence of both egmont and hoorn at brussels. under the pretence of taking part in a consultation they were (september ) invited to the duke's residence and on their arrival suddenly found themselves arrested. at the same time their secretaries and papers were seized, and antony van stralen, the burgomaster of antwerp, was placed under arrest. these high-handed actions were the prelude to a reign of terror; and margaret, already humiliated by finding herself superseded, requested her brother to accept her resignation. on october the office of governor-general was conferred upon alva; and shortly afterwards the duchess left the netherlands and returned to parma. alva had now the reins of power in his hand, and with a relentless zeal and cold-blooded ferocity, which have made his name a by-word, he set about the accomplishment of the fell task with which his master had entrusted him. he had to enforce with drastic rigour all the penalties decreed by the placards against heretics and preachers, and to deal summarily with all who had taken any part in opposition to the government. but to attempt to do this by means of the ordinary courts and magistrates would consume time and lead to many acquittals. alva therefore had no sooner thrown off the mask by the sudden and skilfully planned arrest of egmont and hoorn, than he proceeded to erect an extraordinary tribunal, which had no legal standing except such as the arbitrary will of the duke conferred upon it. this so-called council of troubles, which speedily acquired in popular usage the name of the council of blood, virtually consisted of alva himself, who was president and to whose final decision all cases were referred, and two spanish lawyers, his chosen tools and agents, juan de vargas and louis del rio. the two royalist nobles, noircarmes and barlaymont, and five netherland jurists also had seats; but, as only the spaniards voted, the others before long ceased to attend the meetings. the proceedings indeed were, from the legal point of view, a mere travesty of justice. a whole army of commissioners was let loose upon the land, and informers were encouraged and rewarded. multitudes of accused were hauled before the tribunal and were condemned by batches almost without the form of a trial. for long hours day by day vargas and del rio revelled in their work of butchery; and in all parts of the netherlands the executioners were busy. it was of no use for the accused to appeal to the charters and privileges of their provinces. all alike were summoned to brussels; _non curamus privilegios vestros_ declared vargas in his ungrammatical latin. hand in hand with the wholesale sentences of death went the confiscation of property. vast sums went into the treasury. the whole land for awhile was terror-stricken. all organised opposition was crushed, and no one dared to raise his voice in protest. the prince of orange was summoned to appear in person before the council within six weeks, under pain of perpetual banishment and confiscation of his estates. he refused to come, and energetically denied that the council had any jurisdiction over him. the same sentence was passed upon all the other leaders who had placed themselves out of reach of alva's arm--sainte aldegonde, hoogstraeten, culemburg, montigny, lewis of nassau and others. unable to lay hands upon the prince himself, the governor-general took dastardly advantage of william's indiscretion in leaving his eldest son at louvain to pursue his studies at the university. at the beginning of philip william, count of buren in right of his mother, was seized and sent to madrid to be brought up at the court of philip to hate the cause to which his father henceforth devoted his life. already indeed, before the abduction of his son, orange from his safe retreat at dillenburg had been exerting himself to raise troops for the invasion of the netherlands. he still professed loyalty to the king and declared that in the king's name he wished to restore to the provinces those liberties and privileges which philip himself had sworn that he would maintain. the difficulty was to find the large sum of money required for such an enterprise, and it was only by extraordinary efforts that a sufficient amount was obtained. part of the money was collected in antwerp and various towns of holland and zeeland, the rest subscribed by individuals. john of nassau pledged his estates, orange sold his plate and jewels, and finally a war-chest of , florins was gathered together. it was proposed to attack the netherlands from three directions. from the north lewis of nassau was to lead an army from the ems into friesland; hoogstraeten on the east to effect an entrance by way of maestricht; while another force of huguenots and refugees in the south was to march into artois. it was an almost desperate scheme in the face of veteran troops in a central position under such a tried commander as alva. the last-named french force and that under hoogstraeten were easily defeated and scattered by spanish detachments sent to meet them. lewis of nassau was at first more successful. entering groningen at the head of eight or nine thousand undisciplined troops he was attacked, may , in a strong position behind a morass by a spanish force under the count of aremberg, stadholder of friesland, at heiligerlee. he gained a complete victory. aremberg himself was slain, as was also the younger brother of lewis, adolphus of nassau. the triumph of the invaders was of short duration. alva himself took in hand the task of dealing with the rebels. at the head of , troops he drove before him the levies of nassau to jemmingen on the estuary of the ems, and here with the loss of only seven men he completely annihilated them. lewis himself and a few others alone escaped by throwing themselves into the water and swimming for their lives. the action at heiligerlee, by compelling the governor-general to take the field, had hastened the fate of egmont and hoorn. after their arrest the two noblemen were kept in solitary confinement in the citadel of ghent for several months, while the long list of charges against them was being examined by the council of troubles--in other words by vargas and del rio. these charges they angrily denied; and great efforts were made on their behalf by the wife of egmont and the dowager countess of hoorn. appeals were made to the governor-general and to philip himself, either for pardon on the ground of services rendered to the state, or at least for a trial, as knights of the golden fleece, before the court of the order. the emperor maximilian himself pleaded with philip for clemency, but without avail. their doom had been settled in advance, and the king was inflexible. alva accordingly determined that they should be executed before he left brussels for his campaign in the north. on june , the council, after refusing to hear any further evidence in the prisoners' favour, pronounced them guilty of high treason; and alva at once signed the sentences of death. egmont and hoorn the next day were brought by a strong detachment of troops from ghent to brussels and were confined in a building opposite the town hall, known as the broodhuis. on june , their heads were struck off upon a scaffold erected in the great square before their place of confinement. both of them met their death with the utmost calmness and courage. the effect of this momentous stroke of vengeance upon these two patriot leaders, both of them good catholics, who had always professed loyalty to their sovereign, and one of whom, egmont, had performed distinguished services for his country and king, was profound. a wave of mingled rage and sorrow swept over the land. it was not only an act of cruel injustice, but even as an act of policy a blunder of the first magnitude, which was sure to bring, as it did bring, retribution in its train. * * * * * chapter iv the revolt of the netherlands the complete failure of the expeditions of hoogstraeten and of lewis of nassau was a great discouragement to the prince of orange. nevertheless after receiving the news of jemmingen he wrote to his brother, "with god's help i am determined to go on." by great exertions he succeeded in gathering together a heterogeneous force of german and walloon mercenaries numbering about , men, and with these in the beginning of october he crossed the frontier. but to maintain such a force in the field required far larger financial resources than william had at his disposal. alva was aware of this, and, as the prince made his way into brabant, he followed his steps with a small body of veteran troops, cutting off supplies and stragglers, but declining battle. the mercenaries, debarred from plunder and in arrears of pay, could not be kept together more than a few weeks. in november orange withdrew into france and disbanded the remnants of his army. in disguise he managed to escape with some difficulty through france to dillenburg. his brothers, lewis and henry, joined the huguenot army under coligny and took part in the battles of moncontour and jarnac. alva was now apparently supreme in the netherlands; and crowds of refugees fled the country to escape the wholesale persecutions of the council of blood. alva however, like his predecessor and indeed like all spanish governors engaged in carrying out the policy of philip ii, was always hampered by lack of funds. the spanish treasury was empty. the governor-general's troops no less than those of orange clamoured for their regular pay, and it was necessary to find means to satisfy them. the taxes voted for nine years in had come to an end. new taxes could only be imposed with the assent of the states-general. alva, however, after his victory at jemmingen and the dispersion of the army of orange, felt himself strong enough to summon the states-general and demand their assent to the scheme of taxation which he proposed. the governor-general asked for ( ) a tax of five per cent., the "twentieth penny," on all transfers of real estate, ( ) a tax of ten per cent., the "tenth penny," on all sales of commodities. these taxes, which were an attempt to introduce into the netherlands the system known in castile as _alcabala_, were to be granted in perpetuity, thus, as the duke hoped, obviating the necessity of having again to summon the states-general. in addition to these annual taxes he proposed a payment once for all of one per cent., "the hundredth penny," on all property, real or personal. such a demand was contrary to all precedent in the netherlands and an infringement of time-honoured charters and privileges; and even the terror, which alva's iron-handed tyranny had inspired, did not prevent his meeting with strong opposition. the proposals had to be referred to the provincial estates, and everywhere difficulties were raised. all classes were united in resistance. petitions came pouring in protesting against impositions which threatened to ruin the trade and industries of the country. alva found it impossible to proceed. the "hundredth penny" was voted, but instead of the other taxes, which were to provide a steady annual income, he had to content himself with a fixed payment of , , guilders for two years only. the imposition of these taxes on the model of the _alcabala_ had been part of a scheme for sweeping away all the provincial jurisdictions and rights and forming the whole of the netherlands into a unified state, as subservient to despotic rule as was castile itself. a greater centralisation of government had been the constant policy of the burgundian and habsburg rulers since the time of philip the good, a policy to be commended if carried out in a statesmanlike and moderate spirit without any sudden or violent infringement of traditional liberties. the aim of philip of spain as it was interpreted by his chosen instrument, the duke of alva, was far more drastic. with alva and his master all restrictions upon the absolute authority of the sovereign were obstacles to be swept remorselessly out of the way; civil and religious liberty in their eyes deserved no better fate than to be suppressed by force. alva's experience was that of many would-be tyrants before and since his day, that the successful application of force is limited by the power of the purse. his exchequer was empty. philip was himself in financial difficulties and could spare him no money from spain. the refusal of the provincial estates of the netherlands to sanction his scheme of taxation deprived him of the means for imposing his will upon them. his reign of terror had produced throughout the land a superficial appearance of peace. there were at the beginning of no open disturbances or insurrectionary movements to be crushed, but the people were seething with discontent, and the feeling of hatred aroused by the presence of the spanish inquisition and the foreign soldiery and by the proceedings of the council of blood was, day by day, becoming deeper and more embittered. this condition of affairs was duly reported to the king at madrid; and there was no lack of councillors at his side who were unfriendly to alva and eager to make the most of the complaints against him. among these enemies was ruy gomez, the king's private secretary, who recommended a policy of leniency, as did granvelle, who was now at naples. philip never had any scruples about throwing over his agents, and he announced his intention of proclaiming an amnesty on the occasion when anne of austria, his intended bride and fourth wife, set sail from antwerp for spain. the proclamation was actually made at antwerp by the governor-general in person, july , . it was a limited declaration of clemency, for six classes of offenders were excepted, and it only extended to those who within two months made their peace with the catholic church and abjured the reformed doctrines. during the years - there were however few outward signs of the gradual undermining of alva's authority. there was sullen resentment and discontent throughout the land, but no attempt at overt resistance. the iron hand of the governor-general did not relax its firm grasp of the reins of power, and the fear of his implacable vengeance filled men's hearts. he ruled by force, not by love; and those who refused to submit had either to fly the country or to perish by the hands of the executioner. nevertheless during these sad years the prince of orange and lewis of nassau, in spite of the apparent hopelessness of the situation, were unremitting in their efforts to raise fresh forces. william at dillenburg exerted himself to the uttermost to obtain assistance from the protestant princes of the rhineland. with the calvinists he was, however, as yet strongly suspect. he himself was held to be a lukewarm convert from catholicism to the doctrines of augsburg; and his wife was the daughter and heiress of maurice of saxony, the champion of lutheranism. william's repudiation of anne of saxony for her repeated infidelities (march, ) severed this lutheran alliance. the unfortunate anne, after six years' imprisonment, died insane in . at the same time the closest relations of confidence and friendship sprang up between orange and the well-known calvinist writer and leader, philip de marnix, lord of sainte aldegonde. this connection with sainte aldegonde ensured for william the support of the calvinists; and secret agents of the prince were soon busily at work in the different parts of the provinces promising armed assistance and collecting levies for the raising of an invading force. foremost among these active helpers were jacob van wesenbeke, diedrich sonoy and paul buys; and the chief scene of their operations were the provinces of holland and zeeland, already distinguished for their zeal in the cause of freedom. the amount of cash that was raised was, however, for some time very small. there was goodwill in plenty, but the utter failure of the prince's earlier efforts had made people despair. these earlier efforts had indeed, on land, been disastrous, but they had not been confined entirely to land operations. orange, in his capacity as a sovereign prince, had given _letters of marque_ to a number of vessels under the command of the lord of dolhain. these vessels were simply corsairs and they were manned by fierce fanatical sectaries, desperadoes inflamed at once by bitter hatred of the papists and by the hope of plunder. these "beggars of the sea" (_gueux de mer_), as they were called, rapidly increased in number and soon made themselves a terror in the narrow seas by their deeds of reckless daring and cruelty. william tried in vain to restrain excesses which brought him little profit and no small discredit. it was to no purpose that he associated the lord of lumbres in the chief command with dolhain. their subordinates, william de blois, lord of treslong, and william de la marck, lord of lumey, were bold, unscrupulous adventurers who found it to their interest to allow their unruly crews to burn and pillage, as they lusted, not only their enemies' ships in the open sea, but churches and monasteries along the coast and up the estuaries that they infested. the difficulty was to find harbours in which they could take refuge and dispose of their booty. for some time they were permitted to use the english ports freely, and the huguenot stronghold at la rochelle was also open to them as a market. queen elizabeth, as was her wont, had no scruple in conniving at acts of piracy to the injury of the spaniard; but at last, at the beginning of , in consequence of strong representations from madrid, she judged it politic to issue an order forbidding the sea-beggars to enter any english harbours. the pirates, thus deprived of the shelter which had made their depredations possible, would have been speedily in very bad case, but for an unexpected and surprising stroke of good fortune. it chanced that a large number of vessels under lumbres and treslong were driven by stress of weather into the estuary of the maas; and finding that the spanish garrison of brill had left the town upon a punitive expedition, the rovers landed and effected an entry by burning one of the gates. the place was seized and pillaged, and the marauders were on the point of returning with their spoil to their ships, when at the suggestion of treslong it was determined to place a garrison in the town and hold it as a harbour of refuge in the name of the prince of orange, as stadholder of holland. on april , , the prince's flag was hoisted over brill, and the foundation stone was laid of the future dutch republic. william himself at first did not realise the importance of this capture, and did not take any steps to express his active approval; but it was otherwise with his brother lewis, who was at the time using his utmost endeavours to secure if not the actual help, at least the connivance, of charles ix to his conducting an expedition from france into the netherlands. lewis saw at once the great advantage to the cause of the possession of a port like brill, and he urged the beggars to try and gain possession of flushing also, before alva's orders for the strengthening of the garrison and the defences had been carried out. flushing by its position commanded the approach by water to antwerp. when the ships of lumbres and treslong appeared before the town, the inhabitants rose in revolt, over-powered the garrison, and opened the gates. this striking success, following upon the taking of brill, aroused great enthusiasm. the rebels had now a firm foothold both in holland and zeeland, and their numbers grew rapidly from day to day. soon the whole of the island of walcheren, on which flushing stands, was in their hands with the exception of the capital middelburg; and in holland several important towns hoisted the flag of revolt and acknowledged the prince of orange as their lawful stadholder. from holland the rebellion spread into friesland. finally on june an assembly of the estates of holland was, at the instance of dordrecht, convened to meet in that town. there was but one representative of the nobility present at this meeting, whose legality was more than doubtful, but it included deputies of no less than twelve out of the fourteen towns which were members of the estates. the prince sent ste aldegonde as his plenipotentiary. the step taken was practically an act of insurrection against the king. william had resigned his stadholdership in and had afterwards been declared an outlaw. bossu had been by royal authority appointed to the vacant office. the estates now formally recognised the prince as stadholder of the king in holland, zeeland, west friesland and utrecht; and he was further invested with the supreme command of the forces both by land and sea and was charged with the duty of protecting the country against foreign oppression or invasion by foreign troops. ste aldegonde in the name of the prince announced his acceptance of the posts that had been conferred on him and declared that he desired, as a condition of such acceptance, that the principle of religious freedom and liberty of worship should be conceded to catholics and protestants alike. to this the estates assented. orange took an oath to maintain the towns in the rights and privileges of which they had been deprived by alva and not to enter into any negotiations or conclude any treaty with spain without their consent. the court of holland for the administration of justice was reconstituted and a chamber of finance erected. the question of finance was indeed crucial, for the new stadholder asked for a subsidy of , crowns a month for the support of the army he had raised for the invasion of brabant; and the estates agreed to take measures for appropriating certain taxes for the purpose, an undertaking which had, however, in this time of present distress small likelihood of effectual result. the course of events indeed in the months which followed this historic gathering at dordrecht was not encouraging to those who had thus dared somewhat prematurely to brave the wrath of philip and the vengeance of alva. lewis of nassau had for some time been engaged in raising a huguenot force for the invasion of the southern netherlands. the news of the capture of brill and flushing stirred him to sudden action. he had collected only a small body of men, but, with characteristic impetuosity he now led these across the frontier, and, before alva was aware of his presence in hainault, had captured by surprise valenciennes and mons (may ). it was a rash move, for no sooner did the news reach the governor-general than he sent his son, don frederick of toledo, at the head of a powerful force to expel the invader. don frederick quickly made himself master of valenciennes and then proceeded (june ) to lay siege to mons, where lewis, in hopes that relief would reach him, prepared for an obstinate defence. these hopes were not without foundation, for he knew that, beyond the rhine, orange with a considerable army was on the point of entering the netherlands from the east, and that the huguenot leader, genlis, was leading another force from france to his succour. william at the head of , german and walloon mercenaries actually entered gelderland (july ), captured roeremonde and then marched into brabant. here (july ) the news reached him of the complete defeat and annihilation of the raw levies of genlis by toledo's veteran troops. hampered by lack of funds william now, as throughout his life, showed himself to be lacking in the higher qualities of military leadership. with an ill-paid mercenary force time was a factor of primary importance, nevertheless the prince made no effort to move from his encampment near roeremonde for some five weeks. meanwhile his troops got out of hand and committed many excesses, and when, on august , he set out once more to march westwards, he found to his disappointment that there was no popular rising in his favour. louvain and brussels shut their gates, and though mechlin, termonde and a few other places surrendered, the prince saw only too plainly that his advance into flanders would not bring about the relief of mons. all his plans had gone awry. alva could not be induced to withdraw any portion of the army that was closely blockading mons, but contented himself in following orange with a force under his own command while avoiding a general action. and then like a thunderclap, september , the news of the massacre of st bartholomew was brought to the prince, and he knew that the promise of coligny to conduct , arquebusiers to the succour of lewis could not be redeemed. in this emergency william saw that he must himself endeavour to raise the siege. he accordingly marched from flanders and, september , encamped at the village of harmignies, a short distance from mons. in the night six hundred spaniards, each of whom to prevent mistakes wore a white shirt over his armour, surprised the camp. the prince himself was awakened by a little dog that slept in his tent and only narrowly escaped with his life, several hundred of his troops being slain by the _camisaders_. he was now thoroughly discouraged and on the following day retreated first to mechlin, then to roeremonde, where on september the ill-fated expedition was disbanded. the retirement from harmignies decided the fate of mons. favourable conditions were granted and lewis of nassau, who was ill with fever, met with chivalrous treatment and was allowed to return to dillenburg. william now found himself faced with something like financial ruin. mercenary armies are very costly, and by bitter experience he had learnt the futility of opposing a half-hearted and badly disciplined force to the veteran troops of alva. he resolved therefore to go in person to holland to organise and direct the strong movement of revolt, which had found expression in the meeting of the estates at dordrecht. his agents had long been busy going about from town to town collecting funds in the name of the prince and encouraging the people in their resistance to the inquisition and to foreign tyranny. william's declaration that henceforth he intended to live and die in their midst and to devote himself with all his powers to the defence of the rights and liberties of the land met with willing and vigorous support throughout the greater part of holland, west friesland and zeeland; and contributions for the supply of the necessary ways and means began to flow in. it was, however, a desperate struggle to which he had pledged himself, and to which he was to consecrate without flinching the rest of his life. if, however, the prince's resolve was firm, no less so was that of alva. alva had his enemies at the spanish court, always ready to excite distrust against the duke in the mind of the suspicious king. in july, , the duke of medina-coeli had been sent from spain to enquire into the state of affairs in the netherlands; probably it was intended that he should take over the administration and supersede the governor-general. on his arrival, however, medina-coeli quickly saw that the difficulties of the situation required a stronger hand than his, and he did not attempt to interfere with alva's continued exercise of supreme authority. the governor-general, on his side, knew well what was the meaning of this mission of medina-coeli, and no sooner was the army of orange dispersed than he determined, while the reins of power were still in his hands, to visit the rebellious towns of the north with condign vengeance. at the head of a powerful force, frederick of toledo marched northwards. mechlin, which had received orange, was given over for three days to pillage and outrage. then zutphen was taken and sacked. naarden, which had, though without regular defences, dared to resist the spaniards, was utterly destroyed and the entire population massacred. amsterdam, one of the few towns of holland which had remained loyal to the king, served as a basis for further operations. although it was already december and the season was unfavourable, toledo now determined to lay siege to the important town of haarlem. haarlem was difficult of approach. it was protected on two sides by broad sheets of shallow water, the haarlem lake and the estuary of the y, divided from one another by a narrow neck of land. on another side was a thick wood. it was garrisoned by men, stern calvinists, under the resolute leadership of ripperda and lancelot brederode. an attempt to storm the place (december ) was beaten off with heavy loss to the assailants; so toledo, despite the inclemency of the weather, had to invest the city. another desperate assault, january , disastrously failed, and the siege was turned into a blockade. the position, however, of the besiegers was in some respects worse than that of the besieged; and toledo would have abandoned his task in despair had not his father ordered him at all costs to proceed. william meanwhile made several efforts to relieve the town. bodies of skaters in the winter, and when the ice disappeared, numbers of boats crossed over the haarlem lake from leyden and managed to carry supplies of food into the town, and resistance might have been indefinitely prolonged had not bossu put a stop to all intercourse between haarlem and the outside world by convoying a flotilla of armed vessels from the y into the lake. surrender was now only a question of time. on july , , after a relieving force of men, sent by orange, had been utterly defeated, and the inhabitants were perishing by famine, toledo gained possession of haarlem. the survivors of the heroic garrison were all butchered, and ripperda and brederode, their gallant leaders, executed. a number of the leading citizens were likewise put to death, but the town was spared from pillage on condition of paying a heavy fine. the siege had lasted seven months, and the army of toledo, which had suffered terribly during the winter, is said to have lost twelve thousand men. alva in his letters to the king laid great stress on the clemency with which he had treated haarlem. it had been spared the wholesale destruction of zutphen and naarden, and the duke hoped that by this exhibition of comparative leniency he might induce the other rebel towns to open their gates without opposition. he was deceived. on july alkmaar was summoned to surrender, but refused. alva's indignation knew no bounds, and he vowed that every man, woman and child in the contumacious town should be put to the sword. the threat, however, could not at once be executed. toledo's army, debarred from the sack of haarlem, became mutinous through lack of pay. until they received the arrears due to them, they refused to stir. not till august was don frederick able to invest alkmaar with a force of , men. the garrison consisted of some burghers with troops thrown into the town by sonoy, orange's lieutenant in north holland. two desperate assaults were repulsed with heavy loss, and then the spaniards proceeded to blockade the town. sonoy now, by the orders of the prince, gained the consent of the cultivators of the surrounding district to the cutting of the dykes. the camps and trenches of the besiegers were flooded out; and (october ) the siege was raised and the army of don frederick retired, leaving alkmaar untaken. within a week another disaster befell the spanish arms. between hoorn and enkhuizen the fleet of bossu on the zuyder zee was attacked by the sea-beggars and was completely defeated. bossu himself was taken prisoner and was held as a hostage for the safety of ste aldegonde, who fell into the hands of the spaniards about month later. this naval victory, following upon the retreat from alkmaar, strengthened greatly the efforts of orange and gave fresh life to the patriot cause. it likewise marked the end of the six years of alva's blood-stained rule in the netherlands. weary and disappointed, always hampered by lack of funds, angry at the loss of the king's confidence and chafing at the evidence of it in the presence of medina-coeli at his side, the governor-general begged that he might be relieved of his functions. his request was granted, october . the chosen successor was the grand commander, don luis de requesens, governor of milan. it was only with much reluctance that requesens, finding the king's command insistent and peremptory, accepted the charge. the grand commander was indeed far from being a suitable man for dealing with the difficult situation in the netherlands, for he was a spanish grandee pure and simple and did not even speak french. even the loyalists received him coolly. he knew nothing of the country, and whatever his ability or disposition it was felt that he would not be allowed a free hand in his policy or adequate means for carrying it out. that his temper was conciliatory was quickly shown. an amnesty was proclaimed for political offenders except three hundred persons (among these orange and his principal adherents), and pardon to all heretics who abjured their errors. he went even further than this by entering into a secret exchange of views with william himself through ste aldegonde as an intermediary, in the hope of finding some common meeting-ground for an understanding. but the prince was immovable. unless freedom of worship, the upholding of all ancient charters and liberties and the removal of spaniards and all foreigners from any share in the government or administration of the land were granted, resistance would be continued to the last. these were conditions requesens had no power even to consider. orange during this time was on his side using all his diplomatic ability to gain help for the oppressed netherlanders from france and england. but charles ix had his own difficulties and was in too feeble health (he died may, ) to take any decided step, and queen elizabeth, though she connived at assistance being given to the rebel cause on strictly commercial terms, was not willing either to show open hostility to philip or to support subjects in revolt against their sovereign. william's position appeared well-nigh desperate, for at the opening of the year his authority was only recognised in a few of the towns of holland and in some of the zeeland islands, and the spaniards had sent a large force to invest leyden. he had, however, made up his mind to cast in his lot with the brave hollanders and zeelanders in their gallant struggle against overwhelming odds. to identify himself more completely with his followers, the prince, october, , openly announced his adhesion to calvinism. there are no grounds for doubting his sincerity in taking this step; it was not an act of pure opportunism. his early catholicism had probably been little more than an outward profession, and as soon as he began to think seriously about religious questions, his natural bent had led him first to the lutheran faith of his family, and then to the sterner doctrines, which had gained so firm a foothold in the towns of holland and zeeland. nevertheless william, though henceforth a consistent calvinist, was remarkable among his contemporaries for the principles of religious toleration he both inculcated and practised. he was constitutionally averse to religious persecution in any form, and by the zealots of his party he was denounced as lukewarm; but throughout his life he upheld the right of the individual, who was peaceful and law-abiding, to liberty of opinion and freedom of worship. the year opened favourably. by a remarkable feat of arms the veteran spanish commander mondragon had, october, , reconquered several of the zeeland islands. his men on one occasion at ebb-tide marched across the channel which lies between south beveland and the mainland, the water reaching up to their necks. the patriot forces had since then recovered much of the lost ground, but middelburg was strongly held, and so long as the spaniards had command of the sea, was the key to the possession of zeeland. on january , , the sea-beggars under boisot attacked the spanish fleet near roemerswaal and after a bloody encounter gained a complete victory. the siege of middelburg was now pressed and mondragon surrendered, february . the prince at once set to work to create a patriot government in the province. four towns had representatives, middelburg, zierikzee, veere and flushing. william himself acquired by purchase the marquisate of flushing and thus was able to exercise a preponderating influence in the provincial estates, all of whose members were required to be calvinists and supporters of the rebel cause. the investment of leyden by the spaniards threatened however, now that haarlem had fallen, to isolate south holland and zeeland; and william did not feel himself strong enough to make any serious attempt to raise the siege. lewis of nassau therefore, with the help of french money, set himself to work with his usual enthusiastic energy to collect a force in the rhineland with which to invade the netherlands from the east and effect a diversion. at the head of foot and horse--half-disciplined troops, partly huguenot volunteers, partly german mercenaries--he tried to cross the meuse above maestricht with the intention of effecting a junction with the prince of orange. he was accompanied by john and henry of nassau, his brothers, and christopher, son of the elector palatine. he found his course blocked by a spanish force under the command of sancho d'avila and mondragon. the encounter took place on the heath of mook (april ) and ended in the crushing defeat of the invaders. lewis and his young brother, henry, and duke christopher perished, and their army was completely scattered. the death of his brothers was a great grief to william. lewis had for years been his chief support, and the loss of this dauntless champion was indeed a heavy blow to the cause for which he had sacrificed his life. he was only thirty-six years of age, while henry, the youngest of the nassaus, to whom the prince was deeply attached, was but a youth of twenty-four. the invasion of lewis had nevertheless the result of raising the siege of leyden; but only for a time. after the victory at mook the spanish troops were free to continue the task of reconquering rebel holland for the king. on may a strong force under valdez advanced to leyden and completely isolated the town by surrounding it with a girdle of forts. the attack came suddenly, and unfortunately the place had not been adequately provisioned. so strong was the position of the spaniards that the stadholder did not feel that any relieving force that he could send would have any chance of breaking through the investing lines and revictualling the garrison. in these circumstances he summoned, june , a meeting of the estates of holland at rotterdam and proposed, as a desperate resource, that the dykes should be cut and the land submerged, and that the light vessels of the sea-beggars under boisot should sail over the waters, attack the spanish forts and force an entrance into the town. after considerable opposition the proposal was agreed to and the waters were allowed to flow out upon the low-lying fields, villages and farms, which lie between the sea, the rhine, the waal and the maas. unfortunately the season was not favourable, and though the water reached nearly to the higher land round leyden on which the spanish redoubts were erected, and by alarming valdez caused him to press the blockade more closely, it was not deep enough even for the light-draught vessels, which boisot had gathered together, to make their way to the town. so the month of august passed and september began. meanwhile the prince, who was the soul of the enterprise, was confined to his sick-bed by a violent attack of fever, and the pangs of famine began to be cruelly felt within the beleaguered town. a portion of the citizens were half-hearted in the struggle, and began to agitate for surrender and even sent out emissaries to try to make terms with the spanish commander. but there were within leyden leaders of iron resolution, the heroic burgomaster pieter adriaanzoon van der werf; the commandant of the garrison, jan van der does; dirk van bronkhorst, jan van hout and many others who remained staunch and true in face of the appalling agony of a starving population; men who knew the fate in store for them if they fell into the enemy's hands and were determined to resist as long as they had strength to fight. at last in mid-september faint hopes began to dawn. william recovered, and a fierce equinoctial gale driving the flood-tide up the rivers gradually deepened the waters up to the very dyke on which the entrenchments of the besiegers stood. urged on by orange, boisot now made a great effort. anxiously from the towers was the approach of the relieving fleet watched. the town was at the very last extremity. the people were dying of hunger on every side. some fierce combats took place as soon as the sea-beggars, experts at this amphibious warfare, arrived at the outlying spanish forts, but not for long. alarmed at the rising of the waters and fearing that the fleet of boisot might cut off their escape, the spaniards retreated in the night; and on the morning of october the vessels of the relieving force, laden with provisions, entered the town. the long-drawn-out agony was over and leyden saved from the fate of haarlem, just at the moment when further resistance had become impossible. had leyden fallen the probability is that the whole of south holland would have been conquered, and the revolt might have collapsed. in such a narrow escape well might the people of the town see an intervention of providence on their behalf. the prince himself hastened to leyden on the following day, reorganised the government of the town and in commemoration of this great deliverance founded the university, which was to become in the th century one of the most famous seats of learning in europe. the successful relief of leyden was followed by a mutiny of the army of valdez. they were owed long arrears of pay, had endured great hardships, and now that they saw themselves deprived of the hope of the pillage of the town, they put their commander and his officers under arrest and marched under a leader elected by themselves into utrecht. other mutinies occurred in various parts of the southern provinces, for requesens had no funds, and it was useless to appeal to philip, for the spanish treasury was empty. this state of things led to a practical cessation of active hostilities for many months; and requesens seized the opportunity to open negotiations with orange. these were, however, doomed to be fruitless, for the king would not hear of any real concessions being made to the protestants. the position of william was equally beset with difficulties, politically and financially. in the month following the relief of leyden he even threatened to withdraw from the country unless his authority were more fully recognised and adequate supplies were furnished for the conduct of the war. the estates accordingly, november , asked him to assume the title of regent or governor, with "absolute might, authority and sovereign control" of the affairs of the country. they also voted him an allowance of , guilders a month; but, while thus conferring on the man who still claimed to be the "stadholder of the king" practically supreme power, the burgher-corporations of the towns were very jealous of surrendering in the smallest degree that control over taxation which was one of their most valued rights. the exercise of authority, however, by the prince from this time forward was very great, for he had complete control in military and naval matters, and in the general conduct of affairs he held all the administrative threads in his own hands. he had become indispensable, and in everything but name a sovereign in holland and zeeland. the first part of was marked by a lull in warlike operations, and conferences were held at breda between envoys of orange and requesens, only to find that there was no common ground of agreement. the marriage of the prince (june ) with charlotte de bourbon, daughter of the duke of montpensier, was a daring step which aroused much prejudice against him. the bride, who was of the blood-royal of france, had been abbess of jouarre, but had abjured her vows, run away and become a calvinist. this was bad enough, but the legality of the union was rendered the more questionable by the fact that anne of saxony was still alive. on all sides came protests--from charlotte's father, from john of nassau, and from anne's relations in saxony and hesse. but william's character was such that opposition only made him more determined to carry out his purpose. the wedding was celebrated at brill with calvinist rites. the union, whether legitimate or not, was undoubtedly one of great happiness. meanwhile the governor-general, unable to obtain any financial help from spain, had managed to persuade the provinces, always in dread of the excesses of the mutinous soldiery, to raise a loan of , , guilders to meet their demands for arrears of pay. requesens was thus enabled to put in the late summer a considerable army into the field and among other successes to gain possession of the zeeland islands, duiveland and schouwen. on september a force under the command of the veteran mondragon waded across the shallow channels dividing the islands, which fell into their hands. zierikzee, the chief town of schouwen, made a stout resistance, but had at length to surrender (july, ). this conquest separated south holland from the rest of zeeland; and, as haarlem and amsterdam were in the hands of the spaniards, the only territory over which the authority of orange extended was the low-lying corner of land between the rhine and the maas, of which delft was the centre. the situation again appeared well-nigh desperate, and the stadholder began to look anxiously round in the hope of obtaining foreign assistance. it was to the interest of both france and england to assist a movement which distracted the attention and weakened the power of spain. but henry iii of france was too much occupied with civil and religious disturbances in his own country, and elizabeth of england, while receiving with courtesy the envoys both of orange and requesens, gave evasive replies to both. she was jealous of france, and pleased to see the growing embarrassment of her enemy philip, but the tudor queen had no love either for rebels or for calvinists. while refusing therefore openly to take the side of the hollanders and zeelanders, she agreed to give them secret help; and no obstacle was placed in the way of the english volunteers, who had already since been enlisting in the dutch service. it was at this time that those english and scottish brigades were first formed which remained for nearly two centuries in that service, and were always to be found in the very forefront of the fighting throughout the great war of liberation. on march , , requesens died; and in the considerable interval that elapsed before the arrival of his successor, the outlook for the patriot cause became distinctly brighter. the estates of holland and zeeland met at delft (april , ); and the assembly was noteworthy for the passing of an act of federation. this act, which was the work of orange, bound the two provinces together for common action in defence of their rights and liberties and was the first step towards that larger union, which three years later laid the foundations of the dutch republic. by this act sovereign powers were conferred upon william; he was in the name of the king to exercise all the prerogatives of a ruler. it required all his influence to secure the insertion of articles ( ) extending a certain measure of toleration to all forms of religious worship that were not contrary to the gospel, ( ) giving authority to the prince in case of need to offer the protectorate of the federated provinces to a foreign prince. orange knew only too well that holland and zeeland were not strong enough alone to resist the power of spain. his hopes of securing the support of the other provinces, in which catholics were in the majority, depended, he clearly saw, on the numerous adherents to the ancient faith in holland and zeeland being protected against the persecuting zeal of the dominant calvinism of those provinces. in any case--and this continued to be his settled conviction to the end of his life--the actual independence of the whole or any portion of the netherlands did not seem to him to lie within the bounds of practical politics. the object for which he strove was the obtaining of substantial guarantees for the maintenance of the ancient charters, which exempted the provinces from the presence of foreign officials, foreign tribunals, foreign soldiery and arbitrary methods of taxation. as philip had deliberately infringed all those privileges which he had sworn to maintain, it was the duty of all patriotic netherlanders to resist his authority, and, if resistance failed to bring redress, to offer the sovereignty with the necessary restrictions to some other prince willing to accept it on those conditions and powerful enough to protect the provinces from spanish attack. in order to grasp the principles which guided william's policy during the next few years it is essential to bear in mind ( ) that he sought to bring about a union of all the netherland provinces on a basis of toleration, ( ) that he did not aim at the erection of the netherlands into an independent state. on the death of requesens the council of state had assumed temporary charge of the administration. there had for some time been growing dissatisfaction even amongst the loyalist catholics of the southern provinces at the presence and over-bearing attitude of so many spanish officials and spanish troops in the land and at the severity of the religious persecution. representations were made to the king by the council of state of the general discontent throughout the country, of the deplorable results of the policy of force and repression, and urging the withdrawal of the troops, the mitigation of the edicts, and the appointment of a member of the royal house to the governorship. to these representations and requests no answer was sent for months in accordance with philip's habitual dilatoriness in dealing with difficult affairs of state. he did, however, actually nominate in april his bastard brother, don john of austria, the famous victor of lepanto, as requesens' successor. but don john, who was then in italy, had other ambitions, and looked with suspicion upon philip's motives in assigning him the thankless task of dealing with the troubles in the low countries. instead of hurrying northwards, he first betook himself to madrid where he met with a cold reception. delay, however, so far from troubling philip, was thoroughly in accordance with the whole bent of his character and policy. for six months don john remained in spain, and it was a half-year during which the situation in the netherlands had been to a very large extent transformed. the position of orange and his followers in holland and zeeland in the spring of had again darkened. in june the surrender of zierikzee to mondragon was a heavy blow to the patriot cause, for it gave the spaniards a firm footing in the very heart of the zeeland archipelago and drove a wedge between south holland and the island of walcheren. this conquest was, however, destined to have important results of a very different character from what might have been expected. the town had surrendered on favourable terms and pillage was forbidden. baulked of their expected booty, the spanish troops, to whom large arrears of pay were due, mutinied. under their own "eletto" they marched to aalst, where they were joined by other mutineers, and soon a large force was collected together, who lived by plunder and were a terror to the country. the council declared them to be outlaws, but the revolted soldiery defied its authority and scoffed at its threats. this was a moment which, as orange was quick to perceive, was extremely favourable for a vigorous renewal of his efforts to draw together all the provinces to take common action in their resistance to spanish tyranny. his agents and envoys in all parts of the netherlands, but especially in flanders and brabant, urged his views upon the more influential members of the provincial estates and upon leading noblemen, like the duke of aerschot and other hitherto loyal supporters of the government, who were now suspected of wavering. his efforts met with a success which a few months earlier would have been deemed impossible. the conduct of the spanish troops, and the lack of any central authority to protect the inhabitants against their insolence and depredations, had effected a great change in public opinion. in brussels baron de héze (a god-child of the prince) had been appointed to the command of the troops in the pay of the estates of brabant. de héze exerted himself to arouse popular opinion in the capital in favour of orange and against the spaniards. to such an extent was he successful that he ventured, sept. , to arrest the whole of the council of state with the exception of the spanish member roda, who fled to antwerp. william now entered into direct negotiations with aerschot and other prominent nobles of flanders and brabant. he took a further step by sending, at the request of the citizens of ghent, a strong armed force to protect the town against the spanish garrison in the citadel. in the absence of any lawful government, the states-general were summoned to meet at brussels on september . deputies from brabant, flanders and hainault alone attended, but in the name of the states-general they nominated aerschot, viglius and sasbout as councillors of state, and appointed aerschot to the command of the forces, with the count of lalaing as his lieutenant. they then, sept. , approached the prince with proposals for forming a union of all the provinces. as a preliminary it was agreed that the conditions, which had been put forward by william as indispensable--namely, exclusion of all foreigners from administrative posts, dismissal of foreign troops, and religious toleration--should be accepted. the proposals were gladly received by william, and ghent was chosen as the place where nine delegates from holland and zeeland should confer with nine delegates nominated by the states-general as representing the other provinces. they met on october . difficulties arose on two points--the recognition to be accorded to don john of austria, and the principle of non-interference with religious beliefs. orange himself had always been an advocate of toleration, but the representatives of holland and zeeland showed an obstinate disinclination to allow liberty of catholic worship within their borders; and this attitude of theirs might, in spite of the prince's efforts, have led to a breaking-off of the negotiations, had not an event occurred which speedily led to a sinking of differences on the only possible basis, that of mutual concession and compromise. the citadel of antwerp was, during this month of october, garrisoned by a body of mutinous spanish troops under the command of sancho d'avila, the victor of mook. champagney, the governor, had with him a body of german mercenaries under a certain count oberstein; and at his request, such was the threatening attitude of the spaniards, the states-general sent havré with a reinforcement of walloon troops. on sunday, november , the garrison, which had been joined by other bands of mutineers, turned the guns of the citadel upon the town and sallying forth attacked the forces of champagney. the germans offered but a feeble resistance. oberstein perished; champagney and havré took refuge on vessels in the river; and the spaniards were masters of antwerp. the scene of massacre, lust and wholesale pillage, which followed, left a memory behind it unique in its horror even among the excesses of this blood-stained time. the "spanish fury," as it was called, spelt the ruin of what, but a short time before, had been the wealthiest and most flourishing commercial city in the world. the news of this disaster reached the states-general, as they were in the act of considering the draft proposals which had been submitted to them by the ghent conference. at the same time tidings came that don john, who had travelled through france in disguise, had arrived at luxemburg. they quickly therefore came to a decision to ratify the pact, known as the _pacification of ghent,_ and on november it was signed. the _pacification_ was really a treaty between the prince of orange and the estates of holland and zeeland on the one hand, and the states-general representing the other provinces. it was agreed that the spanish troops should be compelled to leave the netherlands and that the states-general of the whole seventeen provinces, as they were convened at the abdication of charles v, should be called together to decide upon the question of religious toleration and other matters of national importance. meanwhile the placards against heresy were suspended, and all the illegal measures and sentences of alva declared null and void. his confiscated property was restored to orange, and his position, as stadholder in holland and zeeland, acknowledged. don john was informed that he would not be recognised as governor-general unless he would consent to dismiss the spanish troops, accept the pacification of ghent, and swear to maintain the rights and privileges of the provinces. negotiations ensued, but for a long time to little purpose; and don john, who was rather an impetuous knight-errant than a statesman and diplomatist, remained during the winter months at namur, angry at his reception and chafing at the conditions imposed upon him, which he dared not accept without permission from the king. in december the states-general containing deputies from all the provinces met at brussels, and in january the pacification of ghent was confirmed, and a new compact, to which the name of the union of brussels was given, was drawn up by a number of influential catholics. this document, to which signatures were invited, was intended to give to the pacification of ghent the sanction of popular support and to be at the same time a guarantee for the maintenance of the royal authority and the catholic religion. the union of brussels was generally approved throughout the southern provinces, and the signatories from every class were numbered by thousands. don john, who was at huy, saw that it was necessary to temporise. he was willing, he declared, to dismiss the foreign troops and send them out of the country and to maintain the ancient charters and liberties of the provinces, provided that nothing was done to subvert the king's authority or the catholic faith. finally, on february , a treaty called "the perpetual edict," a most inappropriate name, was signed, and the states-general acknowledged don john as governor-general. the agreement was principally the work of aerschot and the loyalist catholic party, who followed his leadership, and was far from being entirely acceptable to orange. he had no trust in the good faith of either philip or his representative, and, though he recommended holland and zeeland to acquiesce in the treaty and acknowledge don john as governor-general, it was with the secret resolve to keep a close watch upon his every action, and not to brook any attempt to interfere with religious liberty in the two provinces, in which he exercised almost sovereign power and with whose struggles for freedom he had identified himself. the undertaking of don john with regard to the spanish troops was punctually kept. before the end of april they had all left the country; and on may the new governor-general made his state entry into brussels. it was to outward appearances very brilliant. but the hero of lepanto found himself at once distrusted by the catholic nobles and checkmated by the influence and diplomacy of the ever watchful william of orange. chafing at his impotence, and ill-supported by the king, who sent no reply to his appeals for financial help, don john suddenly left the capital and, placing himself at the head of a body of walloon troops, seized namur. feeling himself in this stronghold more secure, he tried to bring pressure on the states-general to place in his hands wider powers and to stand by him in his efforts to force orange to submit to the authority of the king. his efforts were in vain. william had warned the states-general and the nobles of the anti-spanish party in brabant and flanders that don john was not to be trusted, and he now pointed to the present attitude of the governor-general, as a proof that his suspicions were well-founded. indeed the eyes of all true patriots began to turn to the prince, who had been quietly strengthening his position, not only in holland and zeeland, where he was supreme, but also in utrecht and gelderland; and popular movements in brussels and elsewhere took place in his favour. so strongly marked was the orange feeling in the capital that the states-general acceded to the general wish that the prince should be invited to come in person to brussels. confidence was expressed by catholics no less than by protestants that only under his leadership could the country be delivered from spanish tyranny. a deputation was sent, bearing the invitation; but for a while william hesitated in giving an affirmative reply. on september , however, he made his entry into brussels amidst general demonstrations of joy and was welcomed as "the restorer and defender of the father-land's liberty." thus, ten years after he had been declared an outlaw and banished, did the prince of orange return in triumph to the town which had witnessed the execution of egmont and hoorn. it was the proudest day of his life and the supreme point of his career. * * * * * chapter v william the silent the position of william at brussels after his triumphant entry, september , , was by no means an easy one. his main support was derived from a self-elected council of eighteen, containing representatives of the gilds and of the citizens. this council controlled an armed municipal force and was really master in the city. in these circumstances the states-general did not venture upon any opposition to the popular wishes, in other words to william, whose influence with the masses was unbounded. the states-general, therefore, under pressure from the eighteen, informed don john, october , that they no longer recognised him as governor-general; and the estates of brabant appointed the prince to the office of _ruward_ or governor of the province. meanwhile a fresh factor of disturbance had been introduced into the troubled scene. certain of the catholic nobles opposed to spanish rule, but suspicious of orange, had invited the twenty year old archduke matthias, brother of the emperor, to accept the sovereignty of the netherlands. matthias, who was of an adventurous spirit, after some parleying agreed. he accordingly left vienna secretly, and at the end of october arrived in the netherlands. not content with this counter-stroke, aerschot went to ghent to stir up opposition to the appointment of william as ruward of brabant. the populace however in ghent was orangist, and, rising in revolt, seized aerschot and a number of other catholic leaders and threw them into prison. they were speedily released, but the breach between the catholic nobles and the calvinist stadholder of holland was widened. william himself saw in the coming of matthias a favourable opportunity for securing the erection of the netherlands into a constitutional state under the nominal rule of a habsburg prince. by his influence, therefore, the states-general entered into negotiations with the archduke; and matthias finally was recognised (december ) as governor on condition that he accepted the union of brussels, he was also induced to place the real power in the hands of orange with the title of lieutenant-general. matthias made his state entry into brussels, january , . his position appeared to be strengthened by a treaty concluded with the english queen (january ) by which elizabeth promised to send over a body of troops and to grant a subsidy to the states, for the repayment of which the towns of middelburg, bruges and gravelines were to be pledges. the news however of the step taken by matthias had had more effect upon philip ii than the despairing appeals of his half-brother. a powerful army of tried spanish and italian troops under the command of alexander farnese, prince of parma, son of the former regent margaret, was sent to flanders. farnese was don john's nephew, and they had been brought up together at madrid, being almost of the same age. already philip had determined to replace don john, whose brilliance as a leader in the field did not compensate for his lack of statesmanlike qualities. in farnese, whether by good fortune or deliberate choice, he had at length found a consummate general who was to prove himself a match even for william the silent in all the arts of political combination and intrigue. at gembloux, january , don john and parma fell upon the levies of the states and gained a complete and almost bloodless victory. had philip supplied his governor-general with the money he asked for, don john might now have conquered the whole of the southern netherlands, but without funds he could achieve little. meanwhile all was confusion. the states-general withdrew from brussels to antwerp; and william, finding that matthias was useless, began negotiations with france, england and germany in the hope of finding in this emergency some other foreign prince ready to brave the wrath of philip by accepting the suzerainty of the netherlands. the duke of anjou, brother of the french king, was the favoured candidate of the catholic party; and william, whose one aim was to secure the aid of a powerful protector in the struggle against spain, was ready to accept him. anjou at the head of an army of , men crossed the frontier at mons, july ; and, on the following august , a treaty was agreed upon between him and the states-general, by which the french duke, with the title of _defender of the liberties of the netherlands_, undertook to help the states to expel the spaniards from the low countries. but, to add to the complications of the situation, a german force under the command of john casimir, brother of the elector palatine, and in the pay of queen elizabeth, invaded the hapless provinces from the east. the advent of john casimir was greeted with enthusiasm by the calvinist party; and it required all the skill and sagacity of the prince of orange to keep the peace and prevent the rival interests from breaking out into open strife in the face of the common enemy. but don john was helpless, his repeated appeals for financial help remained unanswered, and, sick at heart and weary of life, he contracted a fever and died in his camp at namur, october , . his successor in the governor-generalship was alexander of parma, who had now before him a splendid field for the exercise of his great abilities. the remainder of the year saw a violent recrudescence of religious bitterness. in vain did orange, who throughout his later life was a genuine and earnest advocate of religious toleration, strive to the utmost of his powers and with untiring patience to allay the suspicions and fears of the zealots. john casimir at ghent, in the fervour of his fanatical calvinism, committed acts of violence and oppression, which had the very worst effect in the walloon provinces. in this part of the netherlands catholicism was dominant; and there had always been in the provinces of hainault, artois, and in the southern districts generally, a feeling of distrust towards orange. the upholding of the principle of religious toleration by a man who had twice changed his faith was itself suspect; and farnese left no means untried for increasing this growing anti-orange feeling among the catholic nobles. a party was formed, which bore the name of "the malcontents," whose leaders were montigny, lalaing and la motte. with these the governor-general entered into negotiations, with the result that an alliance was made between hainault, artois, lille, douay and orchies (january , ), called the union of arras, for the maintenance of the catholic faith, by which these walloon provinces and towns expressed their readiness to submit to the king on condition that he were willing to agree to uphold their rights and privileges in accordance with the provisions of the pacification of ghent. the union of arras did not as yet mean a complete reconciliation with the spanish sovereign, but it did mean the beginning of a breach between the calvinist north and the catholic south, which the statecraft of parma gradually widened into an impossible chasm. before this took place, anjou, matthias and john casimir had alike withdrawn from the scene of anarchic confusion, in which for a brief time each had been trying to compass his own ambitious ends in selfish indifference to the welfare of the people they were proposing to deliver from the spanish yoke. the opening of the year saw orange and parma face to face preparing to measure their strength in a grim struggle for the mastery. in the very same month as witnessed the signing of the union of arras, a rival union had been formed in the northern netherlands, which was destined to be much more permanent. the real author however of the union of utrecht was not orange, but his brother, john of nassau. in march, , john had been elected stadholder of gelderland. he, like william, had devoted himself heart and soul to the cause of netherland freedom, but his calvinism was far more pronounced than his brother's. from the moment of his acceptance of the stadholdership he set to work to effect a close union between holland, zeeland and utrecht with gelderland and the adjoining districts which lay around the zuyder zee. it was a difficult task, since the eastern provinces were afraid (and not unjustly) that its much greater wealth would give holland predominance in the proposed confederation. nevertheless it was accomplished, and an act of union was drawn up and signed at utrecht, january , , by the representatives of holland, zeeland, the town and district (_sticht_) of utrecht, gelderland and zutphen, by which they agreed to defend their rights and liberties and to resist all foreign intervention in their affairs by common action as if they were one province, and to establish and maintain freedom of conscience and of worship within their boundaries. william does not seem at first to have been altogether pleased with his brother's handiwork. he still hoped that a confederation on a much wider scale might have been formed, comprising the greater part of those who had appended their signatures to the pacification of ghent. it was not until some months had passed and he saw that his dreams of a larger union were not to be realised, that he signed, on may , the act of union drawn up at utrecht. by this time he was well aware that parma had succeeded in winning over the malcontent nobles to accept his terms. on may the walloon provinces, whose representatives had signed the union of arras, agreed to acknowledge, with certain nominal reservations, the sovereignty of philip and to allow only catholic worship. in fact the reconciliation was complete. thus, despite the efforts of orange, the idea of the federation of all the seventeen provinces on national lines became a thing of the past, henceforth unattainable. the netherlands were divided into two camps. gradually in the course of overyssel, drente and the greater part of friesland gave in their adherence to the union of utrecht, and groningen and the ommelanden allied themselves with their neighbours. in the rest of the low countries all fell away and submitted themselves to the king's authority, except antwerp and breda in brabant, and ghent, bruges and ypres in flanders. william felt that parma was constantly gaining ground. defection after defection took place, the most serious being that of george lalaing, count of renneberg, the stadholder of groningen. negotiations were indeed secretly opened with william himself, and the most advantageous and flattering terms offered to him, if he would desert the patriot cause. but with him opposition to spain and to spanish methods of government was a matter of principle and strong conviction. he was proof alike against bribery and cajolery, even when he perceived, as the year succeeded , that he had no staunch friends on whom he could absolutely rely, save in the devoted provinces of holland and zeeland. for things had been going from bad to worse. the excesses and cruelties committed by the calvinists, wherever they found themselves in a position to persecute a catholic minority, and especially the outrages perpetrated at ghent under the leadership of two calvinist fanatics, de ryhove and de hembyze, although they were done in direct opposition to the wishes and efforts of orange, always and at all times the champion of toleration, did much to discredit him in flanders and brabant and to excite bitter indignation among the catholics, who still formed the great majority of the population of the netherlands. william felt himself to be month by month losing power. the action he was at last compelled to take, in rescuing ghent from the hands of the ultra-democratic calvinist party and in expelling de ryhove and de hembyze, caused him to be denounced as "a papist at heart." indeed the bigots of both creeds in that age of intolerance and persecution were utterly unable to understand his attitude, and could only attribute it to a lack of any sincere religious belief at all. farnese, meanwhile, whose genius for machiavellian statesmanship was as remarkable as those gifts for leadership in war which entitled him to rank as the first general of his time, was a man who never failed to take full advantage of the mistakes and weaknesses of his opponents. at the head of a veteran force he laid siege in the spring of to the important frontier town of maestricht. he encountered a desperate resistance, worthy of the defence of haarlem or of leyden, and for four months the garrison held out grimly in the hope of relief. but, despite all the efforts of orange to despatch an adequate force to raise the siege, at last (june ) the town was carried by assault and delivered up for three days to the fury of a savage soldiery. by the possession of this key to the meuse, parma was now able to cut off communications between brabant and protestant germany. had he indeed been adequately supported by philip it is probable that at this time all the provinces up to the borders of holland might have been brought into subjection by the spanish forces. the position of william was beset with perils on every side. one by one his adherents were deserting him; even in the provinces of holland and zeeland he was losing ground. he saw clearly that without foreign help the national cause for which he had sacrificed everything was doomed. in this emergency he reopened negotiations with anjou, not because he had any trust in the french prince's capacity or sincerity, but for the simple reason that there was no one else to whom he could turn. as heir to the throne of france and at this time the favoured suitor of queen elizabeth, his acceptance of the sovereignty of the netherlands would secure, so orange calculated, the support both of france and england. it was his hope also that the limiting conditions attached to the offer of sovereignty would enable him to exercise a strong personal control over a man of weak character like anjou. the duke's vanity and ambition were flattered by the proposal; and on september , , a provisional treaty was signed at plessis-les-tours by which anjou accepted the offer that was made to him, and showed himself quite ready to agree to any limitations imposed upon his authority, since he had not any intention, when once he held the reins of power, of observing them. the first effect of william's negotiations with anjou was to alienate the calvinists without gaining over the catholics. anjou was suspect to both. the action of the spanish government, however, at this critical juncture did much to restore the credit of the prince with all to whom the spanish tyranny and the memory of alva were abhorrent. cardinal granvelle, after fifteen years of semi-exile in italy, had lately been summoned to madrid to become chief adviser to the king. granvelle spared no pains to impress upon philip the necessity of getting rid of orange as the chief obstacle to the pacification of the netherlands, and advised that a price should be placed upon his life. "the very fear of it will paralyse or kill him" was the opinion of the cardinal, who ought to have had a better understanding of the temper and character of his old adversary. accordingly at maestricht, march , , "a ban and edict in form of proscription" was published against the prince, who was denounced as "a traitor and miscreant, an enemy of ourselves and of our country"; and all and everywhere empowered "to seize the person and goods of this william of nassau, as enemy of the human race." a solemn promise was also made "to anyone who has the heart to free us of this pest, and who will deliver him dead or alive, or take his life, the sum of , crowns in gold or in estates for himself and his heirs; and we will pardon him any crimes of which he has been guilty, and give him a patent of nobility, if he be not noble." it is a document which, however abhorrent or loathsome it may appear to us, was characteristic of the age in which it was promulgated and in accordance with the ideas of that cruel time. the ban was a declaration of war to the knife, and as such it was received and answered. in reply to the ban the prince at the close of the year (december ) published a very lengthy defence of his life and actions, the famous _apology_. to william himself is undoubtedly due the material which the document embodies and the argument it contains, but it was almost certainly not written by him, but by his chaplain, pierre l'oyseleur, seigneur de villiers, to whom it owes its rather ponderous prolixity and redundant verbiage. historically it is of very considerable value, though the facts are not always to be relied upon as strictly accurate. the _apology_ was translated into several languages and distributed to the leading personages in every neighbouring country, and made a deep impression on men's minds. the combined effect of the _ban_ and _the apology_ was to strengthen william's position in all the provinces where the patriot party still held the upper hand; and he was not slow to take advantage of the strong anti-spanish feeling which was aroused. its intensity was shown by the solemn act of abjuration, july , , by which the provinces of brabant, flanders, holland, zeeland, utrecht and gelderland renounced their allegiance to philip ii on the ground of his tyranny and misrule. but after signing this act it never seems to have occurred to the prince or to the representatives of the provinces, that these now derelict territories could remain without a personal sovereign. orange used all his influence and persuasiveness to induce them to accept anjou. anjou, as we have seen, had already agreed to the conditions under which he should, when invited, become "prince and lord" of the netherlands. in the autumn of the position was an ambiguous one. the states-general claimed that, after the abjuration of philip, the sovereignty of the provinces had reverted to them, as the common representative of a group of provinces that were now sovereign in their own right, and that the conferring of that sovereignty on another overlord was their prerogative. the position of orange was peculiar, for _de facto_ under one title or another he exercised the chief authority in each one of the rebel provinces, but in the name of the states-general, instead of the king. his influence indeed was so great as to over-shadow that of the states-general, but great as it was, it had to be exerted to the utmost before that body could be induced to accept a man of anjou's despicable and untrustworthy character as their new ruler. william however had committed himself to the candidature of the duke, through lack of any fitter choice; and at last both the states-general and the several provincial estates (holland and zeeland excepted) agreed to confer the sovereignty upon the french prince subject to the conditions of the treaty of plessis-les-tours. william himself exercised the powers with which holland and zeeland had invested him in the name of the king, whose stadholder he was, even when waging war against him. after the abjuration this pretence could no longer be maintained. the estates of holland and zeeland had indeed petitioned orange to become their count, but he refused the title, fearing to give umbrage to anjou. finding, however, the two provinces resolute in their opposition to the valois prince, he consented, july , , to exercise provisionally, as if he were count, the powers of "high supremacy," which had already been conferred upon him. meanwhile anjou was dallying in england, but on receiving through ste aldegonde an intimation that the states could brook no further delay, he set sail and landed at flushing. lord leicester and a brilliant english escort accompanied him; and elizabeth asked the states to receive her suitor as "her own self." at antwerp, where he took up his residence, anjou was (february ) solemnly invested with the duchy of brabant, and received the homage of his new subjects. he was far from popular, and william remained at his side to give him support and counsel. on march (anjou's birthday) an untoward event occurred, which threatened to have most disastrous consequences. as orange was leaving the dinner-table, a young biscayan, juan jaureguy by name, attempted his assassination, by firing a pistol at him. the ball entered the head by the right ear and passed through the palate. jaureguy was instantly killed and it was afterwards found that he had, for the sake of the reward, been instigated to the deed by his master, a merchant named caspar anastro. anjou, who was at first suspected of being accessory to the crime, was thus exculpated. it was a terrible wound and william's life was for some time in great danger; but by the assiduous care of his physicians and nurses he very slowly recovered, and was strong enough, on may , to attend a solemn service of thanksgiving. the shock of the event and the long weeks of anxiety were however too heavy a strain upon his wife, charlotte de bourbon, who had recently given birth to their sixth daughter. her death, on may , was deeply grieved by the prince, for charlotte had been a most devoted helpmeet and adviser to him throughout the anxious years of their married life. during the whole of the summer and autumn william remained at antwerp, patiently trying to smooth away the difficulties caused by the dislike and suspicion felt by the netherlanders for the man whom they were asked to recognise as their sovereign. it was an arduous task, but william, at the cost of his own popularity, succeeded in getting the duke acknowledged in july as lord of friesland and duke of gelderland, and in august anjou was solemnly installed at bruges, as count of flanders. meanwhile he was planning, with the help of the large french force which anjou had undertaken to bring into the netherlands, to take the offensive against parma. the truth is that he and anjou were really playing at cross-purposes. orange wished anjou to be the _roi-fainéant_ of a united netherland state of which he himself should be the real ruler, but anjou had no intention of being treated as a second matthias. he secretly determined to make himself master of antwerp by a sudden attack and, this achieved, to proceed to seize by force of arms some of the other principal cities and to make himself sovereign in reality as well as in name. he resented his dependence upon orange and was resolved to rid himself of it. with shameless treachery in the early morning of january , , he paid a visit to the prince in antwerp, and, with the object of gaining possession of his person, tried to persuade him to attend a review of the french regiments who were encamped outside the town. the suspicions of william had however been aroused, and he pleaded some excuse for declining the invitation. at midday some thousands of anjou's troops rushed into the city at the dinner-hour with loud cries of "ville gagnée! tue! tue!" but the citizens flew to arms; barricades were erected; and finally the french were driven out with heavy loss, leaving some prisoners in the hands of the town-guard. many french nobles perished, and the "french fury," as it was called, was an ignominious and ghastly failure. indignation was wide and deep throughout the provinces; and william's efforts to calm the excitement and patch up some fresh agreement with the false valois, though for the moment partially successful, only added to his own growing unpopularity. the prince in fact was so wedded to the idea that the only hope for the provinces lay in securing french aid that he seemed unable to convince himself that anjou after this act of base treachery was impossible. his continued support of the duke only served to alienate the people of brabant and flanders. the protestants hated the thought of having as their sovereign a prince who was a catholic and whose mother and brothers were looked upon by them as the authors of the massacre of st bartholomew. the catholics, cajoled by parma's fair words, and alarmed by the steady progress of his arms, were already inclining to return to their old allegiance. the marriage of orange, april , , to louise, daughter of the famous huguenot leader admiral coligny, and widow of the sieur de téligny, added to the feelings of distrust and hostility he had already aroused, for the bride was a frenchwoman and both her father and husband had perished on the fatal st bartholomew's day. finding himself exposed to insult, and his life ever in danger, william, at the end of july, left antwerp and took up his residence again at delft in the midst of his faithful hollanders. they, too, disliked his french proclivities, but his alliance with louise de téligny seemed to be an additional pledge to these strong calvinists of his religious sincerity. meanwhile anjou had already returned to france; and parma had now a freer field for his advance northwards and, though sorely hampered by lack of funds, was rapidly taking town after town. in the spring of he took ypres and bruges, and a strong party in ghent was in traitorous correspondence with him. many nobles had fallen away from the patriot cause, among them william's brother-in-law, count van den berg, who had succeeded john of nassau as stadholder of gelderland. the hold of orange upon brabant and the scheldt was, however, still ensured by the possession of antwerp, of which strongly fortified town the trusty ste aldegonde was governor. meanwhile the prince, who was still striving hard to persuade the provinces that were hostile to spanish rule that their only hope lay in obtaining aid from france through anjou, was living at the old convent of st agatha, afterwards known as the prinsenhof at delft. his manner of life was of the most modest and homely kind, just like that of an ordinary dutch burgher. he was in fact deeply in debt, terribly worried with the outward aspect of things, and his position became one of growing difficulty, for on june , , the miserable anjou died, and the policy on which he had for so long expended his best efforts was wrecked. even his own recognition as count of holland and zeeland had led to endless negotiations between the estates and the various town councils which claimed to have a voice in the matter; and in july, , he had, though provisionally exercising sovereign authority, not yet received formal homage. and all this time, in addition to the other cares that weighed heavily upon him, there was the continual dread of assassination. ever since the failure of the attempt of jaureguy, there had been a constant succession of plots against the life of the rebel leader and heretic at the instigation of the spanish government, and with the knowledge of parma. religious fanaticism, loyalty to the legitimate sovereign, together with the more sordid motive of pecuniary reward, made many eager to undertake the murderous commission. it was made the easier from the fact that the prince always refused to surround himself with guards or to take any special precautions, and was always easy of access. many schemes and proposed attempts came to nothing either through the vigilance of william's spies or through the lack of courage of the would-be assassins. a youth named balthazar gérard had however become obsessed with the conviction that he had a special mission to accomplish the deed in which jaureguy had failed, and he devoted himself to the task of ridding the world of one whom he looked upon as the arch-enemy of god and the king. under the false name of francis guyon he made his way to delft, pretended to be a zealous calvinist flying from persecution, and went about begging for alms. the prince, even in his poverty always charitable, hearing of his needy condition sent to the man a present of twelve crowns. with this gift gérard bought a pair of pistols and on july , , having managed on some pretext to gain admittance to the prinsenhof, he concealed himself in a dark corner by the stairs just opposite the door of the room where william and his family were dining. as the prince, accompanied by his wife, three of his daughters and one of his sisters, came out and was approaching the staircase, the assassin darted forward and fired two bullets into his breast. the wound was mortal; william fell to the ground and speedily expired. tradition says that, as he fell, he exclaimed in french: "my god, have pity on my soul! my god, have pity on this poor people!" but an examination of contemporary records of the murder throws considerable doubt on the statement that such words were uttered. the nature of the wound was such that the probability is that intelligible speech was impossible. balthazar gérard gloried in his deed, and bore the excruciating tortures which were inflicted upon him with almost superhuman patience and courage. he looked upon himself as a martyr in a holy cause, and as such he was regarded by catholic public opinion. his deed was praised both by granvelle and parma, and philip bestowed a patent of nobility on his family, and exempted them from taxation. in holland there was deep and general grief at the tragic ending of the great leader, who had for so many years been the fearless and indefatigable champion of their resistance to civil and religious tyranny. he was accorded a public funeral and buried with great pomp in the nieuwe kerk at delft, where a stately memorial, recording his many high qualities and services, was erected to his memory. william of orange was but fifty-one years of age when his life was thus prematurely ended, and though he had been much aged by the cares and anxieties of a crushing responsibility, his physicians declared that at the time of his death he was perfectly healthy and that he might have been spared to carry on his work for many years, had he escaped the bullets of the assassin. but it was not to be. it is possible that he should be reckoned in the number of those whose manner of death sets the seal to a life-work of continuous self-sacrifice. the title of "father of his country," which was affectionately given to him by hollanders of every class, was never more deservedly bestowed, for it was in the holland that his exertions had freed and that he had made the impregnable fortress of the resistance to spain that he ever felt more at home than anywhere else. it was in the midst of his own people that he laid down the life that had been consecrated to their cause. as a general he had never been successful. as a statesman he had failed to accomplish that union of the netherlands, north and south, which at one triumphant moment had seemed to be well-nigh realised by the pacification of ghent. but he had by the spirit that he had aroused in holland and its sister province of zeeland created a barrier against spanish domination in the northern netherlands which was not to be broken down. * * * * * chapter vi the beginnings of the dutch republic at the moment of the assassination of william the silent it might well have seemed to an impartial observer that the restoration of the authority of the spanish king over the whole of the netherlands was only a question of time. the military skill and the statecraft of alexander farnese were making slow but sure progress in the reconquest of flanders and brabant. despite the miserable inadequacy of the financial support he received from spain, the governor-general, at the head of a numerically small but thoroughly efficient and well-disciplined army, was capturing town after town. in dunkirk, nieuport, lindhoven, steenbergen, zutphen and sas-van-gent fell; in the spring of ypres and bruges were already in spanish hands, and on the very day of william's death the fort of liefkenshoek on the scheldt, one of the outlying defences of antwerp, was taken by assault. in august dendermonde, in september ghent, surrendered. all west flanders, except the sea-ports of ostend and sluis, had in the early autumn of been reduced to the obedience of the king. the campaign of the following year was to be even more successful. brussels, the seat of government, was compelled by starvation to capitulate, march ; mechlin was taken, july ; and finally antwerp, after a memorable siege, in which parma displayed masterly skill and resource, passed once more into the possession of the spaniards. the fall of this great town was a very heavy blow to the patriot cause, and it was likewise the ruin of antwerp itself. a very large part of its most enterprising inhabitants left their homes rather than abjure their religious faith and took refuge in holland and zeeland, or fled across the rhine into germany. access to the sea down the scheldt was closed by the fleets of the sea beggars, and the commerce and industry of the first commercial port of western europe passed to amsterdam and middelburg. meanwhile there had been no signs of weakness or of yielding on the part of the sturdy burghers of holland and zeeland. on the fatal july , , the estates of holland were in session at delft. they at once took energetic action under the able leadership of paul buys, advocate of holland, and john van oldenbarneveldt, pensionary of rotterdam. they passed a resolution "to uphold the good cause with god's help without sparing gold or blood." despatches were at once sent to the estates of the other provinces, to the town councils and to the military and naval commanders, affirming their own determined attitude and exhorting all those who had accepted the leadership of the murdered prince of orange "to bear themselves manfully and piously without abatement of zeal on account of the aforesaid misfortune." their calm courage at such a moment of crisis reassured men's minds. there was no panic. steps were at once taken for carrying on the government in holland, zeeland and utrecht. stimulated by the example of holland, the states-general likewise took prompt action. on august a council of state was appointed to exercise provisionally the executive powers of sovereignty, consisting of eighteen members, four from holland, three each from zeeland and friesland, two from utrecht and six from brabant and flanders. of this body maurice of nassau, william's seventeen year-old son, was nominated first councillor, and a pension of , guilders per annum was granted him. at the same time louise de coligny was invited to take up her residence in holland and suitable provision was made for her. william lewis, son of count john of nassau, was elected stadholder of friesland. count nieuwenaar was stadholder of gelderland and shortly afterwards also of utrecht and overyssel. owing to the youth of maurice the question as to whether he should become count of holland and zeeland or be elected stadholder was left in abeyance until it should be settled to which of two foreign rulers the sovereignty of the provinces, now that anjou was dead, should be offered. in the revolted provinces the responsible leaders were at this time practically unanimous in their opinion that any attempt on their part to carry on the struggle against the power of spain without foreign assistance was hopeless; and it was held that such assistance could only be obtained by following in the footsteps of william and offering to confer the overlordship of the provinces on another sovereign in the place of philip ii. there were but two possible candidates, henry iii of france and elizabeth of england. there were objections to both, but the rapid successes of parma made it necessary to take action. the partisans of a french alliance were in the majority, despite the efforts of a strong opposition headed by paul buys; and an embassy (january, ) was despatched to paris to offer conditionally to the french king the protectorship of holland and zeeland and sovereignty over the other provinces. the negotiations went on for a couple of months, but henry iii finally declined the offer. another embassy was sent, july, , to england, but elizabeth refused absolutely to accept the sovereignty. she however was not averse to the proposal that she should despatch a body of troops to the armed assistance of the provinces, provided that adequate guarantees were given for the outlay. she was afraid of philip ii and, though she had no love for men who were rebels to their lawful sovereign, was quite willing to use them for her own ends. her motives therefore were mixed and purely self-interested; nevertheless it is doubtful if the negotiations would have led to any definite result, had not the news of the fall of antwerp made both parties feel that this was no time for haggling or procrastination. elizabeth therefore promised to send at once troops under the command of a "gentleman of quality," who should bear the title of governor-general. he was to co-operate with the council of state (on which two englishmen were to sit) in restoring order and in maintaining and defending the ancient rights and privileges of the provinces. the governor-general and all other officials were to take an oath of fealty both to the states-general and to the queen. the towns of flushing and brill with the fort of rammekens were to be handed over in pledge to elizabeth for the repayment of expenses and received english garrisons. they were known as "the cautionary towns." at the end of october the states were informed that the choice of the queen had fallen upon her favourite, robert dudley, earl of leicester, and that he would shortly set out for the netherlands. holland and zeeland, ever jealous of foreign interference with their rights and privileges, resolved now to forestall the arrival of the english governor-general by appointing maurice of nassau, with the title of "excellency," to the offices of stadholder and admiral and captain-general of both provinces; and the count of hohenlo was nominated (maurice being still little more than a boy) to the actual command of the state's forces. leicester set sail from harwich accompanied by a fleet of fifty vessels and landed at flushing on december . he met everywhere with an enthusiastic reception. the states-general were eager to confer large powers upon him. practically he was invested with the same authority as the former regent, mary of hungary, with the reservation that the states-general and the provincial estates should meet at their own instance, that the present stadholders should continue in office, and that appointments to vacant offices should be made from two or three persons nominated by the provincial estates. a new council of state was created which, as previously agreed, included two englishmen. on february , , leicester's government was solemnly inaugurated in the presence of maurice of nassau and the states-general, and he accepted the title of "excellency." elizabeth on hearing this was very angry and even threatened to recall leicester, and she sent lord heneage to express both to the states-general and the governor-general her grave displeasure at what had taken place. she bade leicester restrict himself to the functions that she had assigned to him, and it was not until july that she was sufficiently appeased to allow him to be addressed as "excellency." all this was galling to leicester's pride and ambition, and did not tend to improve his relations with the states. an english governor would in any case have had a difficult task, and leicester had neither tact nor capacity as a statesman, and no pretensions as a military leader. he possessed no knowledge of the institutions of the country or the character of the people, and was ignorant of the dutch language. the measures he took and the arbitrary way in which he tried to enforce them, soon brought him face to face with the stubborn resistance of the estates of holland under the leadership of oldenbarneveldt. in april, , he issued a very stringent placard forbidding all traffic with the enemy's lands and more especially the supplying of the enemy with grain. he meant it well, for he had been informed that the cutting-off of this commerce, which he regarded as illicit, would deprive the spaniards of the necessaries of life, and parma's position would become desperate. this carrying trade had, however, for long been a source of much profit to the merchants and shipowners of holland and zeeland; indeed it supplied no small part of the resources by which those two provinces had equipped the fleets and troops by which they had defended themselves against the efforts of the spanish king. two years before this the states-general had tried to place an embargo on the traffic in grain, but the powerful town-council of amsterdam had refused obedience and the estates of holland supported them in their action. the deputies of the inland provinces, which had suffered most from the spanish armies, were jealous of the prosperity of the maritime states, and regarded this trade with the spaniard as being carried on to their injury. but holland and zeeland supplied the funds without which resistance would long since have been impossible, and they claimed moreover, as sovereign provinces, the right to regulate their trade affairs. the edict remained a dead-letter, for there was no power to enforce it. the governor made a still greater mistake when, in his annoyance at the opposition of the hollanders, he courted the democratic anti-holland party in utrecht, which had as its leader the ultra-calvinist stadholder, nieuwenaar, and caused one of his confidants, a brabanter, gerard prounick, surnamed deventer, to be elected burgomaster of utrecht, although as a foreigner he was disqualified from holding that office. an even more arbitrary act was his creation of a chamber of finance armed with inquisitorial powers, thus invading the rights of the provincial estates and depriving the council of state of one of its most important functions. to make matters worse, he appointed nieuwenaar to preside over the new chamber, with a brabanter, jacques reingoud, as treasurer-general, and a fleming, daniel de burchgrave, as auditor. the estates of holland, under the guidance of oldenbarneveldt, prepared themselves to resist stubbornly this attempt to thrust upon them a new tyranny. as a military leader leicester was quite unfitted to oppose successfully such a general as parma. both commanders were in truth much hampered by the preparations that were being made by philip for the invasion of england. the king could spare parma but little money for the pay of his troops, and his orders were that the spanish forces in the netherlands should be held in reserve and readiness for embarkation, as soon as the great armada should hold command of the channel. england was the first objective. when its conquest was accomplished that of the rebel provinces would speedily follow. on the other hand elizabeth, always niggardly, was little disposed in face of the threatened danger to dissipate her resources by any needless expenditure. leicester therefore found himself at the head of far too small a force to deal any effective blows at the enemy. he succeeded in capturing doesburg, but failed to take zutphen. it was in a gallant effort to prevent a spanish convoy from entering that town that sir philip sidney met his death at the combat of warnsfeld (sept. , ). an important fort facing zutphen was however stormed, and here leicester left sir robert yorke with a strong garrison, and at the same time sent sir william stanley with men to be governor of deventer. these appointments gave rise to much criticism that proved later to be fully justified, for both these officers were catholics and had formerly been in the spanish service. leicester had also taken other steps that were ill-judged. west friesland had for many years been united to holland and was known as the north-quarter. the governor-general, however, appointed sonoy stadholder of west friesland, and was thus infringing the rights and jurisdiction of maurice of nassau. maurice also held the post of admiral-general of holland and zeeland, but leicester took it upon himself to create three distinct admiralty colleges, those of holland, zeeland, and the north-quarter, thus further dividing authority in a land where greater unity was the chief thing to be aimed at. leicester was equally unwise in the part he took in regard to religious matters. oldenbarneveldt, paul buys and the great majority of burgher-regents in holland belonged to the moderate or, as it was called, the "libertine" party, to which william the silent had adhered and whose principles of toleration he had strongly upheld. leicester, largely influenced by spite against oldenbarneveldt and the hollanders for their opposition to his edict about trade with the enemy and to his appointment of sonoy, threw himself into the arms of the extreme calvinists, who were at heart as fanatical persecutors as the spanish inquisitors themselves. these "precisian" zealots held, by the governor-general's permission and under his protection, a synod at dort, june, , and endeavoured to organise the reformed church in accordance with their strict principles of exclusiveness. by this series of maladroit acts leicester had made himself so unpopular and distrusted in holland that the estates of that predominant province lost no opportunity of inflicting rebuffs upon him. stung by the opposition he met and weary of a thankless task, the governor determined at the end of november to pay a visit to england. the council of state was left in charge of the administration during his absence. his departure had the very important effect of bringing the question of state-rights acutely to the front. the dislike and distrust felt by the hollanders towards the english governor-general was greatly increased by the treachery of yorke and stanley, who delivered the fort at zutphen and the town of deventer, with the defence of which they had been charged, into the hands of the spaniards. the town of gelder and the fort at wouw were likewise betrayed, and there can be small doubt that, had parma at this time been able to take advantage of the dissensions in the ranks of his adversaries, he would have met with little effectual resistance to his arms. his whole attention was, however, centred in preparations for the proposed invasion of england. leicester had no sooner left the country than the estates of holland, under the strong leadership of oldenbarneveldt, took measures to assert their right to regulate their own affairs, independently of the council of state. a levy of troops was made (in the pay of the province of holland), who were required to take an oath to the provincial estates and the stadholder. to maurice the title of "prince" was given; and sonoy in the north-quarter and all the commanders of fortified places were compelled to place themselves under his orders. the states-general, in which the influence of holland and its chief representative, oldenbarneveldt, was overpoweringly great, upheld the provincial estates in the measures they were taking. as a result of their action the trade restrictions were practically repealed, the council of state was reconstituted, and a strong indictment of leicester's conduct and administration was drawn up in the name of the states-general and forwarded to the absent governor in england. elizabeth was indignant at the language of this document, but at this particular time the dangers which were threatening her throne and people were too serious for her to take any steps to alienate the states. it was her obvious policy to support them in their resistance, and to keep, if possible, parma's forces occupied in the netherlands. accordingly leicester returned to his post, july , but in an altogether wrong spirit. he knew that he had a strong body of partisans in utrecht, friesland and elsewhere, for he had posed as the friend of the people's rights against the nobles and those burgher-aristocracies in the cities in whose hands all real power rested, and by his attitude in religious matters he had won for himself the support of the calvinist preachers. his agents, deventer in utrecht, aysma in friesland and sonoy in the north-quarter, were able men, who could count on the help of the democracy, whom they flattered. so leicester came back with the determination to override the opposition of the estates of holland and compel their submission to his will. but he found that he only succeeded in making that opposition more resolute. his attempts to overthrow the supremacy of the "regents" in amsterdam, leyden, enkhuizen and other towns were complete failures. oldenbarneveldt and maurice were supreme in holland and zeeland; and the power of the purse gave to holland a controlling voice in the states-general. the position of leicester was shaken also by his inability to relieve sluis, which important seaport fell after a long siege into parma's hands, august . its capture was attributed by rumour, which in this case had no foundation, to the treachery of the english governor and garrison. moreover it was discovered that for some months secret peace negotiations had been passing between the english government and parma; and this aroused violent suspicions that the netherlands were merely being used as pawns in english policy, and alienated from the governor-general the sympathy of the preachers, who had been his strongest supporters. humiliated and broken in spirit, leicester, after many bickerings and recriminations, finally left the netherlands (december ), though his formal resignation of his post did not reach the states-general until the following april. lord willoughby was placed in command of the english troops. the year was the beginning of a decade full of fate for the dutch republic. the departure of leicester left the seven provinces of the union of utrecht weak, divided, torn by factions, without allies, the country to the east of the yssel and to the south of the scheldt and the waal already in the hands of the enemy. moreover the armed forces of that enemy were far stronger than their own and under the command of a consummate general. but this was the year of the spanish armada, and parma's offensive operations were, by the strictest orders from madrid, otherwise directed. and elizabeth on her side, though highly offended at the treatment which her favourite, leicester, had received from the hollanders, was too astute to quarrel at such a moment with a people whose ships kept a strict blockade in the scheldt and before the flemish harbours. thus a respite was obtained for the states at this critical time, which was turned to good account and was of vital import for their constitutional development. the leicestrian period, despite its record of incompetence and failure, had however the distinction of being the period which for good or for evil gave birth to the republic of the united netherlands, as we know it in history. the curious, amorphous, hydra-headed system of government, which was to subsist for some two centuries, was in its origin the direct result of the confused welter of conflicting forces, which was the legacy of leicester's rule. as a preliminary to a right understanding of the political system, which was now, more by accidental force of circumstances than by design, developing into a permanent constitution, it will be necessary to trace the events of the years which immediately followed the departure of leicester, and which under the influence and by the co-operation of three striking personalities were to mould the future of the dutch republic. those three personalities were john van oldenbarneveldt, maurice of nassau and his cousin william lewis of nassau, the stadholder of friesland. born in , oldenbarneveldt, after studying jurisprudence at louvain, bourges and heidelberg, became a devoted adherent of william the silent and took part in the defence of haarlem and of leyden. his abilities, however, fitted him to take a prominent part as a politician and administrator rather than as a soldier; and his career may be said to have begun by his appointment to the post of pensionary of rotterdam in . in this capacity his industry and his talent speedily won for him a commanding position in the estates of holland, and he became one of the prince of orange's confidential friends and advisers. in he was appointed advocate of holland in succession to paul buys. this office included the duties of legal adviser, secretary and likewise in a sense that of "speaker" to the provincial estates. in addition to all this he was the mouthpiece in the states-general of the deputation representing the provincial estates, and exercised in that assembly all the authority attaching to the man who spoke in the name of holland. at this time of transition, by his predominance alike in his own province of holland and in the states-general, he was able to secure for the general policy of the union, especially in the conduct of foreign affairs, a continuity of aim and purpose that enabled the loosely-cemented and mutually jealous confederacy of petty sovereign states to tide-over successfully the critical years which followed the departure of leicester, and to acquire a sense of national unity. the brain and the diplomatic skill of the great statesman would, however, have been of little avail without the aid of the military abilities of maurice of nassau. maurice was twenty years of age when leicester left holland. he was a man very different from his father in opinions and in the character of his talents. maurice had nothing of his father's tolerance in religious matters or his subtle skill in diplomacy. he was a born soldier, but no politician, and had no wish to interfere in affairs of state. he had the highest respect for oldenbarneveldt and complete confidence in his capacity as a statesman, and he was at all times ready to use the executive powers, which he exercised by virtue of the numerous posts he was speedily called upon to fill, for the carrying out of oldenbarneveldt's policy; while the advocate on his side found in the strong arm of the successful general the instrument that he needed for the maintenance of his supremacy in the conduct of the civil government. already in maurice was stadholder of holland and zeeland. in he became captain-general and admiral-general of the union with the control and supervision of all the armed forces of the provinces by sea and by land. the death of nieuwenaar in the following year created a vacancy in the stadholderates of utrecht, gelderland and overyssel. maurice was in each province elected as nieuwenaar's successor. the advocate therefore and the prince, through the close accord which was for many years to subsist between them, gathered thus into their hands (except in friesland) practically the entire administrative, executive and military powers of the united provinces and by their harmonious co-operation with william lewis, the wise and capable stadholder of friesland, were able to give something of real unity to a group of states, each claiming to be a sovereign entity, and to give them the outward semblance of a federal republic. there was no "eminent head," but the sovereignty in reality, if not in name, was vested during the period with which we have now to deal in this triumvirate. circumstances provided a favourable field for the display of the youthful maurice's military abilities. in the assassination of henry iii placed henry of navarre on the throne of france. the accession of the brilliant huguenot leader led to civil war; and the catholic opposition was encouraged and supported by philip ii, who regarded henry iv as a menace and danger to the spanish power. parma, therefore, whose active prosecution of the war against the rebel provinces had been so long hindered by having to hold his army in readiness for the projected invasion of england, found himself, after the failure and destruction of the armada, in no better position for a campaign in the northern netherlands. disappointment and false charges against him brought on a serious illness, and on his recovery he received orders to conduct an expedition into france. william lewis of nassau had for sometime been urging upon the states-general that the time for remaining upon the strict defensive was past, and that, when the enemy's efforts were weakened and distracted, the best defence was a vigorous offensive. at first he spoke to deaf ears, but he found now a powerful supporter in maurice, and the two stadholders prevailed. they had now by careful and assiduous training created a strong and well-disciplined army for the service of the states. this army was made up by contingents of various nationalities, english, scottish, french and german as well as netherlanders. but the material was on the whole excellent, and the entire force was welded together by confidence in their leaders. in the capture of breda by a ruse (seventy men hidden beneath a covering of peat making their entrance into the town and opening the gates to their comrades outside) was a good omen for the campaign that was planned for . for the first time maurice had an opportunity for showing his genius for war and especially for siege warfare. by rapid movements he took first zutphen, then deventer and delfzijl, and relieved the fort of knodsenburg (near nijmwegen). thus successful on the eastern frontier, the stadholder hurried to zeeland and captured hulst, the key to the land of waas. he then turned his steps again to the east and appearing suddenly before nijmwegen made himself master of this important city. such a succession of brilliant triumphs established maurice's fame, and to a lesser degree that of william lewis, whose co-operation and advice were of the greatest service to the younger man. this was markedly the case in the following year ( ) when the two stadholders set to work to expel the spaniards from the two strongly fortified towns of steenwijk and coevorden, whose possession enabled a strong force under the veteran verdugo to retain their hold upon friesland. the states army was not at its full strength, for the english contingent under sir francis vere had been sent to france; and verdugo was confident that any attempt to capture these well-garrisoned fortresses was doomed to failure. he had to learn how great was the scientific skill and resource of maurice in the art of beleaguering. steenwijk after an obstinate defence capitulated on june . coevorden was then invested and in its turn had to surrender, on september . during this time parma had been campaigning with no great success in northern france. in the autumn he returned to the netherlands suffering from the effects of a wound and broken in spirit. never did any man fill a difficult and trying post with more success and zeal than alexander farnese during the sixteen years of his governor-generalship. nevertheless philip was afraid of his nephew's talents and ambition, and he despatched the count of fuentes with a letter of recall. it was never delivered. parma set out to meet him, but fell ill and died at spa, december , . he appointed the count of mansfeld to take his place, until the archduke ernest of austria, who had been appointed to succeed him, arrived in the netherlands. the campaign of was marked by the taking of geertruidenberg, a fortress which barred the free access of the hollanders and zeelanders to the inland waters. the science which maurice displayed in the siege of this town greatly increased his renown. in the following year the stadholders turned their attention to the north-east corner of the land, which was still in the possession of the spaniards. after a siege of two months groningen surrendered; and the city with the surrounding district was by the terms of the capitulation--known as "the treaty of reduction"--admitted as a province into the union under the name of _stad en landen._ william lewis was appointed stadholder, and drente was placed under his jurisdiction. the northern netherlands were now cleared of the enemy, and maurice at the conclusion of the campaign made a triumphal entry into the hague amidst general rejoicing. william lewis lost no time in taking steps to establish calvinism as the only recognised form of faith in his new government. his strong principles did not allow him to be tolerant, and to catholicism he was a convinced foe. everywhere throughout the united provinces the reformed religion was now dominant, and its adherents alone could legally take part in public worship. in january, , henry iv declared war against spain and was anxious for an alliance with the states against the common enemy. the archduke ernest, on whose coming into the netherlands great hopes had been placed, found himself now in a difficult position with hostile armies threatening from both sides and no hope of efficient financial or other support from spain. he was instructed therefore to enter into negotiations at the hague with a view to the conclusion of a peace, based upon the terms of the pacification of ghent. but there was never any prospect of an agreement being reached; and the sudden death of the archduke (february , ) brought the negotiations to an end. archduke ernest was succeeded by the count of fuentes as governor _ad interim._ fuentes proved himself to be a strong and capable commander; and the summer was marked by a series of successes against the hostile forces both of the french and the netherlanders. there was no decisive encounter, but the spanish forces foiled the efforts of their adversaries to effect an invasion or capture any towns. the cardinal archduke albert arrived at brussels to replace fuentes in january, . albert was the favourite nephew of king philip, and had been brought up at madrid. although an ecclesiastic, he proved himself to be a statesman and soldier of more than ordinary capacity. it was intended that he should, as soon as the pope's consent could be obtained, divest himself of his orders and marry his cousin the infanta isabel. the bankrupt condition of spain prevented philip from furnishing the archduke with adequate financial help on entering upon his governorship, but albert was provided with some money, and he found in the netherlands the well-disciplined and war-tried force of which fuentes had made such good use in the previous campaign. he was anxious to emulate that general's success, and as the veteran leaders, mondragon and verdugo, had both died, he gave the command to the seigneur de rosne, a french refugee. this man was a commander of skill and enterprise, and special circumstances enabled him by two brilliant offensive strokes to capture first calais and afterwards hulst. hulst was only taken after a severe struggle, in which de rosne himself fell. the special circumstances which favoured these operations were brought about by the conclusion of a treaty of alliance between france, england and the states. this treaty was the result of prolonged negotiations; it was of short duration and its conditions were far from favourable to the united provinces, but it was of great importance from the fact that for the first time the new-fledged republic was recognised by the neighbouring sovereigns of france and england as an independent state and was admitted into alliance on terms of equality. it was, however, only with difficulty and through the insistence of henry iv that elizabeth was induced to acknowledge the independent status of the rebel provinces. in return the republic was required to keep up a force of men for service in the netherlands, and to despatch men to act with the french army in northern france--this auxiliary force to include the five english regiments in the states' service. thus maurice was deprived of a considerable part of his army and obliged to act on the defensive. elizabeth also insisted upon the carrying out of leicester's placard forbidding trade with the enemy. this clause of the treaty was very unpalatable to amsterdam and the hollanders generally, and only a sullen acquiescence was given to it. from the first it was systematically evaded. the english government on their part undertook to support the french king with a force equal in strength to that furnished by the provinces, _i.e._ men, but at the same time a secret treaty was drawn up by which henry agreed to a reduction of the english troops by one-half. this piece of underhand work was in due time discovered by the states, who saw that their allies were not to be trusted and that they must be on the watch lest their interests should be sacrificed to the selfish policy of france. the issue showed that henry iv was in fact ready to make terms with spain, as soon as it was to his advantage to do so. meanwhile in the french king, by advancing in force into picardy, drew upon this frontier the chief attention of the spaniards; and maurice seized the opportunity that was offered to him to conduct an offensive campaign with signal success. he began the year brilliantly by surprising in january, while still in its winter quarters, a spanish force of near turnhout. more than half the force was destroyed. on the side of the netherlands eight men only fell. with the spring began a series of sieges; and, one after the other, rheinberg, meurs, groenloo, breedevoort, enschede, ootmarsum, oldenzaal and lingen were captured. gelderland, overyssel and drente were entirely freed from the presence of the enemy. with the opening of henry iv and philip ii entered upon negotiations for a peace. the french king felt the necessity of a respite from war in order to reorganise the resources of his country, exhausted by a long continuance of civil strife; and philip was ill and already feeling his end approaching. the states strove hard to prevent what they regarded as desertion, and two embassies were despatched to france and to england to urge the maintenance of the alliance. oldenbarneveldt himself headed the french mission, but he failed to turn henry from his purpose. a treaty of peace between france and spain was signed at vervins, may , . oldenbarneveldt went from paris to england and was more successful. elizabeth bargained however for the repayment of her loan by annual installments, and for armed assistance both by land and sea should an attack be made by the spaniards on england. the queen, however, made two concessions. henceforth only one english representative was to have a seat in the council of state; and all the english troops in the netherlands, including the garrisons of the cautionary towns, were to take an oath of allegiance to the states. this year saw the accomplishment of a project on which the spanish king had for some time set his heart--the marriage of the cardinal archduke albert to his cousin the infanta isabel clara eugenia, and the erection of the netherlands into an independent sovereignty under their joint rule. philip hoped in this way to provide suitably for a well-beloved daughter and at the same time, by the grant of apparent independence to the netherland provinces, to secure their allegiance to the new sovereigns. the use of the word "apparent" is justified, for provision was made in the deed of cession that the netherlands should revert to the spanish crown in case the union should prove childless; and there was a secret agreement that the chief fortresses should still be garrisoned by spanish troops and that the archdukes, as they were officially styled, should recognise the suzerainty of the king of spain. philip did not actually live to carry his plan into execution. his death took place on september , . but all the necessary arrangements for the marriage and the transfer of sovereignty had already been made. albert, having first divested himself of his ecclesiastical dignities, was married by proxy to isabel at ferrara in november. it was not until the end of the following year that the new rulers made their _joyeuse entrée_ into brussels, but their marriage marks the beginning of a fresh stage in the history of the netherlands. albert and isabel were wise and capable, and they succeeded in gaining the affection and willing allegiance of the southern provinces. the states-general of the revolted provinces of the north had, however, already enjoyed for some years a real independence won by suffering and struggle and they showed no disposition to meet the overtures of the archdukes. they were resolved to have no further connection with spain or with spanish rulers, and from this time forward the cleavage in character, sentiment, and above all in religion, between north and south was to become, as time went on, more and more accentuated. the dutch republic and the spanish netherlands were henceforth destined to pursue their separate course along widely divergent paths. the ten years which had elapsed between the departure of leicester and the advent of albert and isabel had witnessed a truly marvellous transformation in the condition of the rebel provinces, and especially of holland and zeeland. gradually they had been freed from the presence of the spaniard, while at the same time the spanish yoke had been firmly riveted upon flanders and brabant. these provinces were now devastated and ruined. the quays of antwerp were deserted, the industries of ghent and bruges destroyed. the most enterprising and skilful of their merchants and artisans had fled over the frontier into holland or across the sea into england. holland and zeeland were thronged with refugees, flemings and brabanters, french huguenots and numerous spanish and portuguese jews, driven out by the pitiless persecution of philip ii. the hollanders and zeelanders had long been a seafaring people, who had derived the chief part of their wealth from their fisheries and their carrying trade; and this influx of new and vigorous blood, merchants, traders, and textile workers, bringing with them their knowledge, skill and energy, aroused such a phenomenal outburst of maritime and commercial activity and adventure as the world had never seen before. the fleets of the hollanders and zeelanders had during the whole of the war of independence been the main defence of those provinces against spanish invasion; but, great as had been the services they had rendered, it was the carrying-trade which had furnished the rebel states with the sinews of war, and of this a large part had been derived from that very trading with the enemy which leicester had striven in vain to prevent. the spaniards and portuguese were dependent upon the dutch traders for the supply of many necessaries of life; and thus spanish gold was made to pay for the support of the war which was waged against the spanish king. the dues in connection with this trade, known as licences and convoys, alone furnished large sums to replenish the war-chest; and it is said that from , to , seamen found employment by it. amsterdam during this decade had been rapidly growing in importance and it was soon to be the first seaport in the world. it had become the _emporium_ of the baltic trade. in it is stated that between and ships left its quays in three days, carrying commodities to the baltic ports. they came back laden with corn and other "east-sea" goods, which they then distributed in french, portuguese and spanish havens, and even as far as italy and the levant. ship-building went on apace at enkhuizen, hoorn and other towns on the zuyder zee; and zaandam was soon to become a centre of the timber trade. in zeeland, middelburg, through the enterprise of an antwerp refugee of french extraction, by name balthazar de moucheron, was second only to amsterdam as a sea-port, while dordrecht and rotterdam were also busy with shipping. the energies of the dutch at this springtide of their national life were far from being confined to european, waters. dutch sailors already knew the way to the east-indies round the cape of good hope through employment on portuguese vessels; and the trade-routes by which the spaniards brought the treasures of the new world across the atlantic were likewise familiar to them and for a similar reason. the east-indies had for the merchants of holland and zeeland, ever keenly on the look-out for fresh markets, a peculiar attraction. at first the cape route was thought to be too dangerous, and several attempts were made to discover a north-west passage along the coast of siberia. balthazar de moucheron was the pioneer in these northern latitudes. he established a regular traffic with the russians by way of the white sea, and had a factory (built in ) at archangel. through his instances, aided by those of the famous geographer petrus plancius (likewise a refugee from antwerp), an expedition was fitted out and despatched in to try to sail round northern asia, but it was driven back after passing through the waigat by ice and storms. a like fate befell a second expedition in the following year. discouraged, but still not despairing, a third fleet set out in under the command of jacob van heemskerk with william barendtsz as pilot. forced to winter in spitsbergen, after terrible sufferings, heemskerk returned home in the autumn of with the remnant of his crews. barendtsz was one of those who perished. this was the last effort in this direction, for already a body of amsterdam merchants had formed a company for trafficking to india by the cape; and four ships had sailed, april , , under the command of cornelis houtman, a native of gouda. a certain jan huyghen van linschoten, who had been in the portuguese service, had published in a book containing a description from personal knowledge of the route to the east and the character of the portuguese commerce. it was the information contained in this work that led the amsterdam merchants to venture their money upon houtman's expedition, which linschoten himself accompanied as guide. they reached madagascar, java and the moluccas, and, after much suffering and many losses by sickness, what was left of the little fleet reached home in july, . the rich cargo they brought back, though not enough to defray expenses, proved an incentive to further efforts. three companies were formed at amsterdam, two at rotterdam, one at delft and two in zeeland, for trading in the east-indies, all vying with one another in their eagerness to make large profits from these regions of fabled wealth, hitherto monopolised by the portuguese. one expedition sent out by two amsterdam companies under the command of jacob van neck and wybrand van waerwyck was very successful and came back in fifteen months richly laden with east-indian products. the year was one of great commercial activity. two-and-twenty large vessels voyaged to the east-indies; others made their way to the coasts of guinea, guiana and brazil; and one daring captain, olivier van noort, sailing through the straits of magellan, crossed the pacific. it was in this year that philip ii prohibited by decree all trading in spain with the dutch, and all the dutch ships in the harbours of the peninsula were confiscated. but the spanish trade was no longer of consequence to the hollanders and zeelanders. they had sought and found compensation elsewhere. the small companies formed to carry out these ventures in the far-eastern seas continued to grow in number, and by the very keenness of their competition threatened each other's enterprises with ruin. in these circumstances the states-general and the estates of holland determined, under the leadership of oldenbarneveldt, to take a step which was to be fraught with very important consequences. the rival companies were urged to form themselves into a single corporation to which exclusive rights would be given for trading in the east-indies. such a proposal was in direct contradiction to that principle of free trade which had hitherto been dear to the netherlanders, and there was much opposition, and many obstacles had to be overcome owing to the jealousies of the various provinces, towns and bodies of merchants who were interested. but at length the patience and statesmanship of oldenbarneveldt overcame all difficulties, and on march , , a charter was issued creating the united east-india company and giving it a monopoly of the east-india trade (for years) with all lands east of the cape of good hope and west of the straits of magellan. the executive control was vested in a college known as the seventeen. extensive sovereign privileges were conferred upon the company and exercised by the seventeen in the name of the states-general. they might make treaties with native rulers and potentates, erect forts for the protection of their factories, appoint governors and officials with administrative and judicial functions, and enlist troops, but these officials and troops were required to take an oath of allegiance to the states-general. the states-general themselves became "participants" by investing the , pounds, which the company had paid them for the grant of the charter. the capital speedily reached the amount of six and a half million guilders. the warlike operations of the year were uneventful and in the main defensive, except on the eastern frontier where the spanish forces under the command of the admiral of aragon, mendoza, captured wesel and rheinberg. the new rulers of the netherlands, albert and isabel, did not make their entry into brussels until the end of ; and almost before they had had time to organise the new government and gain firm possession of the reins of power in the belgic provinces, they found themselves confronted with a serious danger. the seaport of dunkirk had for many years been a nest of pirates, who preyed upon dutch commerce in the narrow seas. the states-general, urged on by oldenbarneveldt, resolved in the spring of to despatch an expedition to besiege and capture dunkirk. both maurice and william lewis were opposed to the project, which they regarded as rash and risky. the states-general, however, hearing reports of the archduke's soldiery being mutinous for lack of pay, persisted in their purpose, and maurice, against his better judgment, acquiesced. a body of picked troops, , foot and horse, was assembled on the island of walcheren. a succession of contrary winds delaying the sailing of the force, it was determined to march straight through west flanders to nieuport and then along the shore to dunkirk. a deputation of the states-general, of which oldenbarneveldt was the leading member, went to ostend to supervise, much to maurice's annoyance, the military operations. the stadholder, however, reached nieuport without serious opposition and proceeded to invest it. meanwhile the archduke albert had been acting with great energy. by persuasive words and large promises he succeeded in winning back the mutineers, and at the head of a veteran force of , infantry and cavalry he followed maurice and, advancing along the dunes, came on july upon a body of men under the command of ernest casimir of nassau, sent by the stadholder to defend the bridge of leffingen. at the sight of the redoubtable spanish infantry a panic seized these troops and they were routed with heavy loss. the fight, however, gave maurice time to unite his forces and draw them up in battle order in front of nieuport. battle was joined the following afternoon, and slowly, foot by foot, after a desperate conflict the archduke's spanish and italian veterans drove back along the dunes the troops of the states. every hillock and sandy hollow was fiercely contested, the brunt of the conflict falling on the english and frisians under the command of sir francis vere. vere himself was severely wounded, and the battle appeared to be lost. at this critical moment the spaniards began to show signs of exhaustion through their tremendous exertions in two successive fights under a hot sun in the yielding sand-hills; and the prince, at the critical moment, throwing himself into the midst of his retreating troops, succeeded in rallying them. at the same time he ordered some squadrons of cavalry which he had kept in reserve to charge on the flank of the advancing foe. the effect was instantaneous. the spaniards were thrown into confusion, broke and fled. the victory was complete. the archduke only just escaped capture, and of his army perished and a large number were taken prisoners, among these the admiral of aragon. almost by a miracle was the states' army thus rescued from a desperate position. maurice's hard-won triumph greatly enhanced his fame, for the battle of nieuport destroyed the legend of the invincibility of the spanish infantry in the open field. the victorious general, however, was not disposed to run any further risks. he accordingly retreated to ostend and there embarked his troops for the ports from which they had started. the expedition had been very costly and had been practically fruitless. oldenbarneveldt and those who had acted with him were deeply disappointed at the failure of their plans for the capture of dunkirk and were far from satisfied with maurice's obstinate refusal to carry out any further offensive operations. from this time there arose a feeling of soreness between the advocate and the stadholder, which further differences of opinion were to accentuate in the coming years. the vigour and powers of leadership displayed by their new sovereigns in meeting the invasion of flanders by the states' army, though a defeat in the field had been suffered at nieuport, had inspired their subjects in the southern netherlands with confidence and loyalty. albert had proved himself a brave commander, and his efforts had at least been successful in compelling the enemy to withdraw within his own borders. ostend had long been a thorn in the side of the government at brussels and energetic steps were soon taken to besiege it. but the possession of ostend was important also to elizabeth, and she promised active assistance. the larger part of the garrison was, indeed, formed of english troops, and sir francis vere was governor of the town. the siege which ensued was one of the memorable sieges of history, it lasted for more than three years (july , , to september , ) and was productive of great feats of valour, skill and endurance on the part alike of besiegers and besieged. the states' army under maurice, though it did not march to the relief of ostend, endeavoured to divert the attention of albert from his objective by attacks directed elsewhere. in the fortresses of rheinberg and meurs on the rhine were captured, and an attack made upon hertogenbosch. in the important town of grave on the meuse was taken and a raid made into brabant and luxemburg. meanwhile the defenders of ostend had been making a desperate resistance, and little progress was made by the besiegers, with the result that a great drain was made upon the finances of the archdukes and there were threatenings of mutiny among the troops. but the situation was saved by the intervention of a wealthy genoese banker, ambrosio de spinola, who offered his services and his money to the archdukes and promised that if he, though inexperienced in warfare, were given the command, he would take ostend. he fulfilled his promise. without regard to loss of life he pressed on the siege, and though as fast as one line of defences was taken another arose behind it to bar his progress, little by little he advanced and bit by bit the area held by the garrison grew less. at last in the spring of , under the pressure of the states-general, maurice led an army of , men into flanders in april, , and laid siege to sluis on may . both maurice and william lewis were still unwilling to run the risk of an attack on spinola's army in its lines, and so the two sieges went on side by side, as it were independently. sluis fell at the end of august, and ostend was then at its last gasp. urged now by the deputies of the states to make a direct effort to relieve the heroic garrison, maurice and his cousin, after wasting some precious time in protesting against the step, began to march southward. it was too late. what was left of ostend surrendered on september , and spinola became the master of a heap of ruins. it is said that this three years' siege cost the spaniards , lives, to say nothing of the outlay of vast expenditure. whether maurice and william lewis were right or wrong in their reluctance to assail spinola's entrenched camp, it is certain that they were better judges of the military situation than the civilian deputies of the states. in any case the capture of sluis was an offset to the loss of ostend; and its importance was marked by the appointment of frederick henry, the young brother of the stadholder, as governor of the seaport and the surrounding district, which received the name of states-flanders. the tremendous exertions put forward for the defence of ostend had been a very serious drain upon the resources of the united provinces, especially upon those of holland. taxation was already so high that oldenbarneveldt and many other leading members of the states-general and provincial estates began to feel despondent and to doubt whether it were possible to continue the war. no longer could the states rely upon the assistance of england. james i had concluded peace with spain; and, though he made professions of friendship and goodwill to the dutch, wary statesmen, like the advocate, did not trust him, and were afraid lest he should be tempted to deliver up the cautionary towns into the hands of the enemy. reverting to the policy of william the silent, oldenbarneveldt even went so far as to make tentative approaches to henry iv of france touching the conditions on which he would accept the sovereignty of the provinces. indeed it is said that such was the despair felt by this great statesman, who knew better than any man the economic difficulties of the situation, that he even contemplated the possibility of submission to the archdukes. had he suggested submission, there would have been no question, however, that he could not have retained office, for maurice, william lewis and the military leaders on the one hand, and on the other the merchants and the adventurous seamen, whom they employed in the profitable indian traffic, would not have listened for a moment to any thought of giving up a struggle which had been so resolutely and successfully maintained for so many years. for financially the archdukes were in even worse plight than the netherlanders, even though for a short time, with the help of spinola, appearances seemed to favour the belgic attacks on the dutch frontier districts. in the genoese general, at the head of a mixed but well-disciplined force in his own pay, made a rapid advance towards friesland, and, after capturing oldenzaal and lingen and ravaging the eastern provinces, concluded the campaign with a brilliant success against a body of the states cavalry commanded by frederick henry, who nearly lost his life. maurice with inferior forces kept strictly on the defensive, skilfully covering the heart of the land from attack, but steadily refusing a pitched battle. in the following year spinola with two armies attempted to force the lines of the waal and the yssel, but, though thwarted in this aim by the wariness of the stadholder and by a very wet season, he succeeded in taking the important fortresses of groll and rheinberg. maurice made no serious effort to relieve them, and his inactivity caused much discontent and adverse comment. his military reputation suffered, while that of his opponent was enhanced. but subsequent events showed that maurice, though perhaps erring on the side of caution, had acted rightly. the armies which had threatened the safety of the provinces had been raised at the charges of a private individual, but the financial resources, even of a spinola, were not capable of a prolonged effort; there was no money in the state treasury; and the soldiery, as soon as their pay was in arrears, began once more to be mutinous. the bolt had been shot without effect, and the year found both sides, through sheer lack of funds, unable to enter upon a fresh campaign on land with any hope of definite success. but though the military campaigns had been so inconclusive, it had been far different with the fortunes of maritime warfare in these opening years of the seventeenth century. the sea-power of the dutch republic was already a formidable factor which had to be reckoned with and which was destined to be decisive. the east-india company was no sooner founded than active steps were taken to make full use of the privileges granted by the charter. a fleet of vessels was despatched in under wybrand van waerwyck. waerwyck visited ceylon and most of the islands of the malay archipelago, established a factory at bantam with a staff of officials for developing trade relations with the natives, and even made his way to siam and china. he sent back from time to time some of his vessels richly laden, and finally returned himself with the residue of his fleet after an absence of five years in june, . another expedition of thirteen ships sailed in under steven van der hagen, whose operations were as widespread and as successful as those of waerwyck. van der hagen took possession of molucca and built factories at amboina, tidor and other places in the spice-bearing islands. on his way back in with his cargo of cloves, spices and other products of the far orient, he encountered at mauritius another westward-bound fleet of eleven ships under cornelis matelief. matelief's first objective was the town of malacca, held by the portuguese and commanding the straits to which it gave its name. alphonso de castro, the viceroy of india, hastened however with a naval force far more powerful than the dutch squadron to the relief of this important fortress; and after a hardly-fought but indecisive action matelief raised the siege on august . returning, however, about a month later, the dutch admiral found that de castro had sailed away, leaving only a detachment of ten vessels before malacca. matelief at once attacked this force, whose strength was about equal to his own, and with such success that he sank or burnt every single ship of the enemy with scarcely any loss, september , . these successful incursions into a region that the spaniards and portuguese had jealously regarded as peculiarly their own aroused both anger and alarm. all available forces in the east (the portuguese from the mozambique and goa, the spaniards from the philippines) were equipped and sent to sea with the object of expelling the hated and despised netherlanders from east-indian waters. paulus van caerden, matelief's successor in command, was defeated and himself taken prisoner. nor were the spaniards content with attacking the dutch fleets in the far east. as the weather-worn and heavily-laden company's vessels returned along the west coast of africa, they had to pass within striking distance of the spanish and portuguese harbours and were in constant danger of being suddenly assailed by a superior force and captured. in rumours reached holland of the gathering of a large spanish fleet at gibraltar, whose destination was the east-indies. the directors of the company were much alarmed, an alarm which was shared by the states-general, many of whose deputies were cargo-shareholders. accordingly, in april, , a fleet of twenty-six vessels set sail for the purpose of seeking out and attacking the spaniards whether in harbour or on the open sea. the command was given to one of the most daring and experienced of dutch seamen, jacob van heemskerk. he found twenty-one ships still at anchor in gibraltar bay, ten of them large galleons, far superior in size and armament to his own largest vessels. heemskerk at once cleared for action. both heemskerk and the spanish commander, d'avila, were killed early in the fight, the result of which however was not long doubtful. the spanish fleet was practically destroyed. on the dutch side no vessel was lost and the casualties were small. such a disaster was most humiliating to castilian pride, and its effect in hastening forward the peace negotiations, which were already in progress, was considerable. the initial steps had been taken by the archdukes. through the secret agency of albert's franciscan confessor, father john neyen, both oldenbarneveldt and maurice were approached in may, , but without any result. early in however the efforts were renewed, and negotiations were actively set on foot for the purpose of concluding a peace or a truce for a term of twelve, fifteen or twenty years. there were, however, almost insuperable difficulties in the way. in the first place the stadholders, the military and naval leaders, the calvinist clergy, and the great majority of the traders honestly believed that a peace would be detrimental to all the best interests of the states, and were thoroughly distrustful of the motives which had prompted the archdukes and the spanish government to make these advances. oldenbarneveldt on the other hand thought that peace was necessary for the land to recuperate after the exhausting struggle, which had already lasted for forty years; and he found strong support among the burgher-regents and that large part of the people who were over-burdened and impoverished by the weight of taxation, and sick and weary of perpetual warfare. there were, however, certain preliminary conditions, which all were agreed must be assented to, and without which it would be useless to continue the negotiations. the independence of the united provinces must be recognised, freedom of trade in the indies conceded, and the public exercise of catholic worship prohibited. after some parleying the archdukes agreed to treat with the united provinces "in the quality and as considering them free provinces and states," and an armistice was concluded in april, , for eight months, in order that the matters in dispute might be referred to the king of spain and his views upon them ascertained. not till october did the king's reply arrive at brussels. he consented to negotiate with the states "as free and independent" parties, but he required that liberty of catholic worship should be permitted during the truce, and no mention was made of the indian trade. this was by no means satisfactory; nevertheless the influence of oldenbarneveldt prevailed and the negotiations were not broken off. on february , , the archdukes' envoys, the two leading members being ambrosio de spinola and the president of the privy council, ricardot, arrived in holland. they were met at ryswyck by maurice and william lewis in person, and with much ceremony and splendour a solemn entry was made into the hague, the procession with the brilliant retinues forming a memorable spectacle, as it made its way through the crowds which lined the roads. the negotiations were conducted in the binnenhof. the special commissioners to represent the states-general were william lewis of nassau, walraven, lord of brederode, and a deputy from each of the provinces under the leadership of oldenbarneveldt. envoys from france, england, denmark, the palatinate and brandenburg were present, took part in the discussions, and acted as friendly mediators. the question of treating the united provinces "as free states" was soon settled. the archdukes, who were aiming at the conclusion of a truce in which to recuperate and not of a definitive peace, showed an unexpected complaisance in granting a concession which they regarded as only temporary. then came the really serious questions as to freedom of trade in the indies and the liberty of catholic worship. of these the first was of most immediate interest, and showed irreconcilable differences between the two parties. the spaniards would never consent to any trespassing in the closed area, which they regarded as their own peculiar preserve. the dutch traders and sailors were fired with the spirit of adventure and of profit, and their successful expeditions had aroused an enthusiasm for further effort in the distant seas, which had hardened into a fixed resolve not to agree to any peace or truce shutting them out from the indian trade. for months the subject was discussed and re-discussed without result. some of the foreign delegates left. the armistice was prolonged, in order that father neyen might go to madrid for further instructions. it was found, however, that the king of spain would yield nothing. the negotiations came to a standstill, and both sides began to make preparations for a renewal of the war. president jeannin on behalf of the french king, by his skilful mediation, in which he was supported by his english colleague, saved the situation. he proposed as a compromise a twelve years' truce, pointing out that whatever terms were arranged would only be binding for that short period. he managed to bring about a personal interview between oldenbarneveldt and maurice, who had respectively headed the peace and war parties in the provinces; and henceforth both consented to work together for this proposal of a limited truce, during which the trade to the indies should be open and the religious question be untouched. the assent of the states-general and of the several provincial estates was obtained. the two most interested, holland and zeeland, were won over, holland by the arguments and persuasions of the advocate, zeeland, which was the last to agree, by the influence of maurice. jeannin was aware that the finances of spain were at their last gasp, and that both the archdukes and philip iii were most anxious for a respite from the ever-consuming expense of the war. at last the long and wearisome negotiations came to an end, and the treaty concluding a truce for twelve years was signed at the hague on april , . the territorial _status quo_ was recognised. the united provinces were treated "as free states over which the archdukes made no pretensions." nothing was said about the religious difficulty nor about trade in the indies, but in a secret treaty the king of spain undertook not to interfere with dutch trade, wherever carried on. thus access to the indies was conceded, though to save appearances the word was not mentioned. this result was due solely to the diplomatic tact and resource of jeannin, who was able to announce to henry iv that he had accomplished his task "to the satisfaction of everyone, and even of prince maurice." * * * * * chapter vii the system of government one of the reasons which influenced the archdukes and the king of spain to make large concessions in order to secure the assent of the states-general to the conclusion of a twelve years' truce was their firm belief that the unstable political condition of the united provinces must lead to civil discord, as soon as the relaxing of the pressure of war loosened the bonds which had, since leicester's departure, held together a number of separate authorities and discordant interests. they were right in their supposition. in order, therefore, to understand the course of events in the republic, which had been correctly recognised by the treaty not as a single state, but as a group of "free and independent states," it is necessary to give a brief account of one of the most strangely complicated systems of government that the world has ever seen--especially strange because no one could ever say positively where or with whom the sovereignty really resided. let us take into separate consideration the powers and functions of ( ) the council of state, ( ) the states-general, ( ) the provincial estates, ( ) the stadholders, ( ) the advocate (later the _raad-pensionarius_ or council-pensionary) of holland, ( ) the admiralty colleges. the council of state was not a legislative, but an executive, body. in the time of leicester the council was the executive arm of the governor-general and had large powers. after his departure the presence of the english ambassador, who by treaty had a seat in the council, caused the states-general gradually to absorb its powers, and to make its functions subordinate to their own, until at last its authority was confined to the administration of the affairs of war and of finance. the right of the english representative to sit in the council and take an active part in its deliberations continued till . the stadholders were also _ex officio_ members. the provinces, since , were represented by twelve councillors. holland had three; gelderland, zeeland and friesland two each; utrecht, overyssel and groningen (_stad en landeri_) one each. the treasurer-general and the clerk (_griffier_) of the states-general took part in the deliberations and had great influence. the chief duty of the council, during the period with which we are dealing, was the raising of the "quotas" from the various provinces for the military defence of the state. the general petition or war budget was prepared by the council and presented to the states-general at the end of each year, providing for the military expenses in the following twelve months. the "quotas" due towards these expenses from the several provinces were set forth in smaller petitions sent to the provincial estates, whose consent was necessary. the so-called _repartitie_ fixing the amount of these quotas was likewise drawn up by the council of state, and was the subject at times of considerable haggling and discontent. in it was settled that the proportions to be borne by the provinces should be holland . per cent.; friesland . ; zeeland (afterwards reduced to ); utrecht and groningen . ; overyssel . . it will thus be seen that the quota of holland was considerably more than half of the whole; and, as the naval expenditure was to an even larger extent borne by holland, the preponderating influence of this province in the union can be easily understood. the forces of the republic that were distributed in the several provinces received their pay from the provinces, but those maintained by the council, as troops of the state, were paid by monies received from the generality lands, _i.e._ lands such as the conquered portions of brabant and flanders, governed by the states-general, but without representation in that body. the council of state, though its political powers were curtailed and absorbed by the states-general, continued to exercise, as a court of justice, appellate jurisdiction in military and financial questions. the states-general consisted of representatives of the estates of the seven sovereign provinces of gelderland, holland, zeeland, utrecht, friesland, overyssel, and groningen (_stad en landeri_) in the order of precedence given above. gelderland, having been a duchy, ranked before those that had formerly been counties or lordships. the provinces sent deputations varying in number; holland and gelderland generally six, the others less. each province had but a single vote. the president changed week by week, being chosen in turn from each province according to their order of precedence. holland had nominally no more weight than the others; its practical influence, however, was great in proportion to the burden of taxation that it bore and was increased by the fact that the sessions, which after were permanent, were held at the hague in the same building with the estates of holland, and that the council-pensionary of holland was the spokesman of the province in the states-general. the states-general had control of the foreign affairs of the union. to them belonged the supreme control of military and naval matters. the captain-general and admiral-general of the union were appointed by them; and a deputation of the states-general accompanied the army into the field and the commanders were bound to consult it. they exercised a strong supervision of finance, and sovereign authority over the entire administration of the "generality" lands. ambassadors were appointed by them, also the treasurer-general of the union, and numerous other important officials. yet with all these attributes and powers the states-general possessed only a derived, not an inherent, authority. to foreigners the sovereignty of the republic of the united netherlands appeared to be vested in their "high-mightinesses." in reality the states-general was, as already stated, a gathering of deputations from the seven sovereign provinces. each deputation voted as a unit; and in all important affairs of peace and war, treaties and finance, there must be no dissentient. a single province, however small, could, by obstinate opposition, block the way to the acceptance of any given proposal. moreover the members, despite their lofty designation as high-mightinesses, did not vote according to their convictions or persuasions, but according to the charge they had received from their principals. the deputation of a province had no right to sanction any disputable measure or proposal without referring it back to the estates of that province for approval or disapproval. hence arose endless opportunities and occasions for friction and dissension and manifold delays in the transaction of the business of the republic, oftentimes in a manner inimical to its vital interests. the provincial estates in their turn were by no means homogeneous or truly representative bodies. in holland the nobles had one vote; and eighteen towns, dordrecht, haarlem, delft, leyden, amsterdam, gouda, rotterdam, gorkum, schiedam, schoonhoven, brill, alkmaar, hoorn, enkhuizen, edam, monnikendam, medemblik and purmerend, had one each. the nobles, though they had only one vote, were influential, as they represented the rural districts and the small towns which had no franchise, and they voted first. here again, as in the states-general, though each of the privileged towns counted equal in the voting, as a matter of fact their weight and influence was very different. the opposition of wealthy and populous amsterdam was again and again sufficient to override the decision of the majority, for there was no power to enforce its submission, except the employment of armed force. for at this point it may be as well to explain that each one of these municipalities (_vroedschappen_) claimed to be a sovereign entity, and yet, far from being bodies representing the citizens as a whole, they were close corporations of the narrowest description. the ordinary inhabitants of these towns had no voice whatever in the management of their own affairs. the governing body or _vroedschap_ consisted of a limited number of persons, sometimes not more than forty, belonging to certain families, which filled up vacancies by co-option and chose the burgomasters and sheriffs (_schepenen_). thus it will be seen that popular representation had no place in holland. the regent-burghers were a small patrician oligarchy, in whose hands the entire government and administration of the towns rested, and from their number were chosen the deputies, who represented the eighteen privileged cities in the provincial estates. the other provinces do not need such detailed notice. in zeeland the estates consisted of seven members, the "first noble" (who presided) and six towns. there was but one noble, the marquis of flushing and veere. william the silent in obtained this marquisate by purchase; and his heirs, through its possession, continued to exercise great influence in the provincial estates. as philip william, prince of orange, was in madrid, maurice sat in the assembly as "first noble" in his place. in utrecht the three estates were represented, _i.e._ the nobles, the towns (four in number) and the clergy. the representatives of the clergy were, however, chosen no longer from the chapter but from the possessors of what had been church lands and property. they were elected by the knights and the small towns out of a list drawn up by the corporation of utrecht. they necessarily belonged to the reformed (calvinist) faith. gelderland was divided into three (so-called) quarters, nijmwegen, zutphen and arnhem. each of these quarters had its separate assembly; and there was also a general diet. the nobles, who were numerous and had large estates, were here very influential. friesland was divided into four quarters, three of which (oostergoo, westergoo and zevenwolden) were country districts, the fourth a gathering of the deputies of eleven towns. the diet of friesland was not formed of estates, the nobles and the town representatives sitting together in the same assembly, which was elected by a popular vote, all who had a small property-qualification possessing the franchise, roman catholics excepted. the system of administration and divided authority was in friesland a very complicated one, inherited from mediaeval times, but here again the nobles, being large land-owners, had much influence. the stadholder presided at the diet and had a casting vote. the estates of groningen were divided into two parts--town and districts--each with one vote. the districts were those of hunsingoo, fivelingoo and the west-quarter. here also the stadholder had a casting vote. in overyssel the estates, like those of groningen, consisted of two members, the nobles from the three quarters, sallant, twente and vollenhove, and the deputies of the three towns, deventer, kampen and zwolle. the ordinary executive and administrative work of provincial government was carried out in holland by a body known as the commissioned-councillors--_gecommitteerde-raden;_ in the other provinces by deputed-estates--_gedeputeerde-staten._ the commissioned-councillors were to the estates of holland what the council of state was to the states-general. they enjoyed considerable independence, for they were not appointed by the estates but directly by the nobles and cities according to a fixed system of rotation, and they sat continuously, whereas the estates only met for short sessions. their duty was to see that all provincial edicts and ordinances decreed by the estates were published and enforced, to control the finances and to undertake the provision and oversight of all military requirements; and to them it belonged to summon the meetings of the estates. the deputed-estates in the other provinces had similar but generally less extensive and authoritative functions. such a medley of diverse and often conflicting authorities within a state of so small an area has no counterpart in history. it seemed impossible that government could be carried on, or that there could be any concerted action or national policy in a republic which was rather a many-headed confederation than a federal state. that the united netherlands, in spite of all these disadvantages, rapidly rose in the th century to be a maritime and commercial power of the first rank was largely due to the fact that the foreign policy of the republic and the general control of its administration was directed by a succession of very able men, the stadholders of the house of orange-nassau and the council-pensionaries of holland. for a right understanding of the period of dutch history with which we are about to deal, it is necessary to define clearly what was the position of the stadholder and of the council-pensionary in this cumbrous and creaking machinery of government that has just been described, and the character of those offices, which conferred upon their holders such wide-reaching influence and authority. the stadholder or governor was really, both in title and office, an anomaly in a republic. under the burgundian and habsburg rulers the stadholder exercised the local authority in civil and also in military matters as representing the sovereign duke, count or lord in the province to which he was appointed, and was by that fact clothed with certain sovereign attributes during his tenure of office. william the silent was stadholder of holland and zeeland at the outbreak of the revolt, and, though deprived of his offices, he continued until the time of the union of utrecht to exercise authority in those and other provinces professedly in the name of the king. after his death one would have expected that the office would have fallen into abeyance, but the coming of leicester into the netherlands led to a revival of the stadholderate. holland and zeeland, in their desire to exercise a check upon the governor-general's arbitrary exercise of his powers, appointed maurice of nassau to take his father's place; and at the same time william lewis of nassau became stadholder of friesland, and stadholders were also appointed in utrecht, gelderland and overyssel. in maurice was stadholder in the five provinces of holland, zeeland, gelderland, utrecht and overyssel; his cousin william lewis in friesland and groningen with drente. the powers of the stadholder were not the same in the different provinces, but generally speaking he was the executive officer of the estates; and in holland, where his authority was the greatest, he had the supervision of the administration of justice, the appointment of a large number of municipal magistrates, and the prerogative of pardon, and he was charged with the military and naval defence of the province. the stadholder received his commission both from the provincial estates and from the states-general and took an oath of allegiance to the latter. in so far, then, as he exercised quasi-sovereign functions, he did it in the name of the states, whose servant he nominally was. but when the stadholder, as was the case with maurice and the other princes of orange, was himself a sovereign-prince and the heir of a great name, he was able to exercise an authority far exceeding those of a mere official. the descendants of william the silent--maurice, frederick henry, william ii and william iii--were, moreover, all of them men of exceptional ability; and the stadholderate became in their hands a position of almost semi-monarchical dignity and influence, the stadholder being regarded both by foreign potentates and by the people of the netherlands generally as "the eminent head of the state." maurice, as stated above, was stadholder in five provinces; frederick henry, william ii and william iii in six; the seventh province, friesland, remaining loyal, right through the th century, to their cousins of the house of nassau-siegen, the ancestors of the present dutch royal family. that the authority of the states-general and states-provincial should from time to time come into conflict with that of the stadholder was to be expected, for the relations between them were anomalous in the extreme. the stadholder of holland for instance appointed, directly or indirectly, the larger part of the municipal magistrates; they in their turn the representatives who formed the estates of the province. but, as the stadholder was the servant of the estates, he, in a sense, may be said to have had the power of appointing his own masters. the stadholders of the house of orange had also, in addition to the prestige attaching to their name, the possession of large property and considerable wealth, which with the emoluments they received from the states-general, as captain-general and admiral-general of the union, and from the various provinces, where they held the post of stadholder, enabled them in the days of frederick henry and his successors to maintain the state and dignity of a court. the office of land's advocate or council-pensionary was different altogether in character from the stadholderate, but at times scarcely less influential, when filled by a man of commanding talents. the advocate in the time of oldenbarneveldt combined the duties of being legal adviser to the estates of holland, and of presiding over and conducting the business of the estates at their meetings, and also those of the commissioned-councillors. he was the leader and spokesman of the holland deputies in the states-general. he kept the minutes, introduced the business and counted the votes at the provincial assemblies. it was his duty to draw up and register the resolutions. what was perhaps equally important, he carried on the correspondence with the ambassadors of the republic at foreign courts, and received their despatches, and conducted negotiations with the foreign ambassadors at the hague. it is easy to see how a man like oldenbarneveldt, of great industry and capacity for affairs, although nominally the paid servant of the estates, gradually acquired an almost complete control over every department of administration and became, as it were, a minister of state of all affairs. in oldenbarneveldt's time the post was held for life; and, as maurice did not for many years trouble himself about matters of internal government and foreign diplomacy, the advocate by the length of his tenure of office had at the opening of the th century become the virtual director and arbiter of the policy of the state. after his death the title of advocate and the life-tenure ceased. his successors were known as council-pensionaries, and they held office for five years only, but with the possibility of re-election. the career of john de witt showed, however, that in the case of a supremely able man these restrictions did not prevent a _raad-pensionarius_[ ] from exercising for eighteen years an authority and influence greater even than that of oldenbarneveldt. an account of the multiplied subdivision of administrative control in the united provinces would not be complete without some mention of the admiralty colleges in holland. holland with zeeland furnished the fleets on which the existence and well-being of the republic depended. both william the silent and his son maurice were, as stadholders, admirals of holland and of zeeland, and both likewise were by the states-general appointed admirals-general of the union. they thus wielded a double authority over maritime affairs in the two provinces. in william had at his side a council of admiralty erected by the provincial estates, but leicester in was annoyed by the immediate control of naval matters being withdrawn from the governor-general and the council of state. he succeeded therefore in obtaining a division of the council of admiralty into three chambers, shortly afterwards increased to five--rotterdam, hoorn with enkhuizen, veere, amsterdam and harlingen with dokkum. in it was determined that each admiralty should consist of seven members nominated by the states-general. the admiral-general presided over each college and over joint meetings of the five colleges. the admiralties nominated the lieutenants of the ships and proposed a list of captains to be finally chosen by the states-general. the lieutenant-admiral and vice-admirals of holland and the vice-admiral of zeeland were chosen by the provincial estates. the states-general appointed the commander-in-chief. such a system seemed to be devised to prevent any prompt action or swift decision being taken at times of emergency or sudden danger. * * * * * chapter viii the twelve years' truce the first years of the truce were for the united provinces, now recognised as "free and independent states," a period of remarkable energy and enterprise. the young republic started on its new career with the buoyant hopefulness that comes from the proud consciousness of suffering and dangers bravely met and overcome, and, under the wise and experienced guidance of oldenbarneveldt, acquired speedily a position and a weight in the councils of europe out of all proportion to its geographical area or the numbers of its population. the far-seeing statecraft and practised diplomatic skill of the advocate never rendered greater services to his country than during these last years of his long tenure of power. a difficult question as to the succession to the jülich-cleves duchies arose at the very time of the signing of the truce, which called for delicate and wary treatment. in march, , the duke of jülich and cleves died without leaving a male heir, and the succession to these important border territories on the lower rhine became speedily a burning question. the two principal claimants through the female line were the elector of brandenburg and william, count-palatine of neuburg. the emperor rudolph ii, however, under the pretext of appointing imperial commissioners to adjudicate upon the rival claims, aroused the suspicions of brandenburg and neuburg; and these two came to an agreement to enter into joint possession of the duchies, and were styled "the possessors." the protestant union at heidelberg recognised "the possessors," for it was all-important for the balance of power in germany that these lands should not pass into the hands of a catholic ruler of the house of austria. for the same reason brandenburg and neuburg were recognised by the states-general, who did not wish to see a partisan of spain established on their borders. the emperor on his part not only refused to acknowledge "the possessors," but he also sent his cousin archduke leopold, bishop of passau, to intervene by armed force. leopold seized the fortress of jülich and proceeded to establish himself. it was an awkward situation, for neither the united provinces nor the archdukes nor the king of spain had the smallest desire to make the jülich succession the cause of a renewal of hostilities, immediately after the conclusion of the truce. the eagerness of the french king to precipitate hostilities with the habsburg powers however forced their hands. henry iv had for some time been making preparations for war, and he was at the moment irritated by the protection given by the archdukes to the runaway princess of condé, who had fled to brussels. he had succeeded in persuading the states to send an auxiliary force into germany to assist the french army of invasion in the spring of , when just as the king was on the point of leaving paris to go to the front he was assassinated on may . this event put an end to the expedition, for the regent, marie de' medici, was friendly to austria. the states nevertheless did not feel disposed to leave leopold in possession of jülich. maurice led an army into the duchy and laid siege to the town. it capitulated on september . as might have been anticipated, however, the joint rule of the "possessors" did not turn out a success. they quarrelled, and neuburg asked for catholic help. maurice and spinola in found themselves again face to face at the head of rival forces, but actual hostilities were avoided; and by the treaty of nanten (november , ) it was arranged that the disputed territory should be divided, brandenburg ruling at cleves, neuburg at jülich. thus, in the settlement of this thorny question, the influence of oldenbarneveldt worked for a temporary solution satisfactory to the interests of the united provinces; nor was his successful intervention in the jülich-cleves affair an isolated instance of his diplomatic activity. on the contrary it was almost ubiquitous. the growth of the dutch trade in the baltic had for some years been advancing by leaps and bounds, and now far exceeded that of their old rivals, the hanseatic league. christian iv, the ambitious and warlike king of denmark, had been seriously interfering with this trade by imposing such heavy dues for the passage of the sound as on the one hand to furnish him with a large revenue, and on the other hand to support his claim to sovereign rights over all traffic with the inland sea. the hanse towns protested strongly and sought the support of the states-general in actively opposing the danish king. it was granted. a force of men under frederick henry was sent into germany to the relief of brunswick, which was besieged by christian iv. the siege was raised; and an alliance was concluded between the republic and the hanse towns for common action in the protection of their commercial interests. nor was this all. oldenbarneveldt entered into diplomatic relations with charles ix of sweden and with russia. cornelis haga was sent to stockholm; and from this time forward a close intimacy was established between sweden and the states. the seaport of gotheborg, just outside the entrance to the sound, was founded by a body of dutch colonists under a certain abraham cabelliau, an amsterdam merchant, and continued to be for years practically a dutch town. scarcely less important was the enterprise shown in the establishment of friendly relations with distant russia. balthazar de moucheron established a dutch factory at archangel so early as ; and a growing trade sprang up with russia by way of the white sea, at first in rivalry with the english muscovy company. but a dutch merchant, by name isaac massa, having succeeded in gaining the ear and confidence of the tsar, russian commerce gradually became a dutch monopoly. in a muscovite embassy conducted by massa came to the hague, and access to the interior of russia was opened to the traders of holland and to them only. in the mediterranean no less foresight and dexterity was shown in forwarding the interests of the states. the advocate's son-in-law, van der myle, went in as ambassador to venice; and the following year the first venetian envoy, tommaso contarini, arrived in holland. in cornelis haga, who had been in sweden, was sent to constantinople to treat with the turks about commercial privileges in the levant and for the suppression of piracy, and he remained in the east in charge of the republic's interests for many years. more difficult was the maintenance of friendly relations with england. in james i had made peace with spain; and the growing rivalry upon the seas between the dutch and english tended to alienate his sympathies from the rising maritime power of the republic. he outwardly maintained friendly relations; his ambassador had a seat on the council of state; he retained his garrisons in the cautionary towns; and after the signing of the truce he bestowed the garter upon prince maurice. but at this very time, may, , james took a step which was most hurtful to that industry which had laid the foundation of the commercial prosperity of holland--this was the issuing of an edict imposing a tax on all foreigners fishing in english waters. though general in its form, this edict was really directed against the right heretofore enjoyed by the netherlanders to fish on the english coast, a right conferred by a series of treaties and never challenged since its confirmation by the _magnus intercursus_ of . dutch public opinion was strongly aroused and a special embassy was sent to london, april, , to protest against the edict and endeavour to procure its withdrawal or its modification. this was by no means an easy matter. the fisheries, on which a large part of the population of holland and zeeland depended for their livelihood, were of vital importance to the states. on the other hand their virtual monopoly by the dutch caused keen resentment in england. in the latter part of the reign of elizabeth that adventurous sea-faring spirit, which was destined eventually to plant the flag of england on the shores of every ocean, had come to the birth, and everywhere it found, during this early part of the th century, dutch rivals already in possession and dutch ships on every trading route. the dutch mercantile marine in fact far exceeded the english in numbers and efficiency. the publication of hugo grotius' famous pamphlet, _mare liberum_, in march, , was probably the final cause which decided james to issue his fisheries' proclamation. the purpose of grotius was to claim for every nation, as against the portuguese, freedom of trade in the indian ocean, but the arguments he used appeared to king james and his advisers to challenge the _dominium maris_, which english kings had always claimed in the "narrow seas." the embassy of , therefore, had to deal not merely with the fisheries, but with the whole subject of the maritime relations of the two countries; and a crowd of published pamphlets proves the intense interest that was aroused. but the emergence of the dispute as to the jülich-cleves succession, and the change in the policy of the french government owing to the assassination of henry iv, led both sides to desire an accommodation; and james consented, not indeed to withdraw the edict, but to postpone its execution for two years. it remained a dead letter until , although all the time the wranglings over the legal aspects of the questions in dispute continued. the republic, however, as an independent state, was very much hampered by the awkward fact of the cautionary towns remaining in english hands. the occupation of flushing and brill, commanding the entrances to important waterways, seemed to imply that the dutch republic was to a certain extent a vassal state under the protection of england. oldenbarneveldt resolved therefore to take advantage of king james' notorious financial embarrassments by offering to redeem the towns by a ready-money payment. the nominal indebtedness of the united provinces for loans advanced by elizabeth was £ , ; the advocate offered in settlement £ , in cash and £ , more in half-yearly payments. james accepted the offer, and the towns were handed over, the garrisons being allowed to pass into the dutch service, june . sir dudley carleton, however, who about this time succeeded sir ralph winwood as english envoy at the hague, continued to have a seat in the council of state. oldenbarneveldt thus, at a time when his dominant position in the state was already being undermined and his career drawing to an end, performed a great service to his country, the more so as king james, in his eagerness to negotiate a marriage between the prince of wales and a spanish infanta, was beginning to allow his policy to be more and more controlled by the count of gondomar, the spanish ambassador at whitehall. james' leaning towards spain naturally led him to regard with stronger disfavour the increasing predominance of the dutch flag upon the seas, and it was not long before he was sorry that he had surrendered the cautionary towns. for the fishery rights and the principle of the _dominium maris_ in the narrow seas were no longer the only questions in dispute between england and the states. english seamen and traders had other grievances to allege against the hollanders in other parts of the world. the exclusive right to fish for whales in the waters of spitsbergen and greenland was claimed by the english on the ground of hugh willoughby's alleged discovery of spitsbergen in . the dutch would not admit any such claim, and asserted that heemskerk was the first to visit the archipelago, and that he planted in the dutch flag on the shores of the island, to which he gave the name of spitsbergen. in james conferred the monopoly upon the english muscovy company, who sent out a fishing fleet with orders to drive off any interlopers; and certain dutch vessels were attacked and plundered. the reply of the states-general was the granting of a charter, january , , to a company, known as the northern or greenland company, with the monopoly of fishing between davis' straits and nova zembla; and a fishing fleet was sent out accompanied by warships. the result was a temporary agreement between the english and dutch companies for using separate parts of spitsbergen as their bases, all others being excluded. meanwhile the dispute was kept open; and despite conferences and negotiations neither side showed any disposition to yield. matters reached an acute stage in . english and dutch fishing fleets of exceptional strength sailed into the northern waters in the early summer of that year, and a fierce fight took place, which, as two dutch war vessels were present, resulted in the scattering of the english vessels and considerable loss of life and property. the rivalry and opposition between the dutch and english traders in the east-indies was on a larger scale, but here there was no question of the dutch superiority in force, and it was used remorselessly. the dutch east india company had thriven apace. in a dividend of per cent, had been paid; in one of per cent. the chief factory was at bantam, but there were many others on the mainland of india, and at amboina, banda, ternate and matsjan in the moluccas; and from these centres trade was carried on with ceylon, with borneo and even with distant china and japan. but the position of the company was precarious, until the secret article of the treaty of conceded liberty of trade during the truce. the chief need was to create a centre of administration, from which a general control could be exercised over all the officials at the various trading factories throughout the east-indian archipelago. it was resolved, therefore, by the council of seventeen to appoint a director-general, who should reside at bantam, armed with powers which made him, far removed as he was from interference by the home authorities, almost a sovereign in the extensive region which he administered. jan pieterszoon koen, appointed in , was the first of a series of capable men by whose vigorous and sometimes unscrupulous action the dutch company became rapidly the dominant power in the eastern seas, where their trade and influence overshadowed those of their european competitors. the most enterprising of those competitors were the english. disputes quickly arose between the rival companies as to trading rights in the moluccas, the banda group and amboina; and some islands, where the english had made treaties with the natives, were occupied by the dutch, and the english expelled. another grievance was the refusal of the states-general in to admit english dyed cloths into the united provinces. this had caused especial irritation to king james. the manufacture of woollen cloth and the exportation of wool had for long been the chief of english industries; and the monopoly of the trade was, when james ascended the throne, in the hands of the oldest of english chartered companies, the fellowship of merchant adventurers. the adventurers held since their court and staple at middelburg in zeeland. the english had not learnt the art of finishing and dyeing the cloth that they wove; it was imported in its unfinished state, and was then dyed and prepared for commerce by the dutch. some thousands of skilled hands found employment in holland in this work. james, always impecunious, determined in , on the proposal of a certain alderman cockayne, to grant cockayne a patent for the creation of a home-dyeing industry, reserving to the crown a monopoly for the sale of the goods. the adventurers complained of this as a breach of their charter; and, after much bickering, the king in settled the dispute by withdrawing the charter. cockayne now hoped that the company he had formed would be a profitable concern, but he and the king were doomed to disappointment. the estates of holland refused to admit the english dyed cloths, and their example was followed by the other provinces and by the states-general. cockayne became bankrupt, and in the king had to renew the charter of the adventurers. james was naturally very sore at this rebuff, and he resolved upon reprisals by enforcing the proclamation of and exacting a toll from all foreign vessels fishing in british waters. great was the indignation in holland, and the fishing fleet in set sail with an armed convoy. a scottish official named browne, who came to collect the toll, was seized and carried as a prisoner to holland. james at once laid hands on two dutch skippers in the thames, as hostages, and demanded satisfaction for the outrage upon his officer. neither side would at first give way, and it was not until after some months that an accommodation was patched up. the general question of the fishery privileges remained however just as far from settlement as ever, for the states stood firm upon their treaty rights. at length it was resolved by the states to send a special mission to england to discuss with the king the four burning questions embittering the relations between the two countries. the envoys arrived in london, december, . for seven months the parleyings went on without any definite result being reached, and in august, , the embassy returned. very important events had meanwhile been occurring both in the united provinces and in germany, which made it necessary to both parties that the decision on these trade questions, important as they were, should be postponed for awhile, as they were overshadowed by the serious political crises in holland and in bohemia, which were then occupying all men's attention. * * * * * chapter ix maurice and oldenbarneveldt the conclusion of the truce did not bring, with material progress and trade expansion, internal peace to the united provinces. the relations between the prince-stadholder and the all-powerful advocate had long been strained. in the long-drawn-out negotiations maurice had never disguised his dislike to the project of a truce, and, though he finally acquiesced, it was a sullen acquiescence. at first there was no overt breach between the two men, but maurice, though he did not refuse to meet oldenbarneveldt, was cold and unfriendly. he did not attempt to interfere with the old statesman's control of the machinery of administration or with his diplomatic activities, for he was naturally indolent and took little interest in politics. had he been ambitious, he might many years before have obtained by general consent sovereign power, but he did not seek it. his passion was the study of military science. from his early youth he had spent his life in camps, and now he found himself without occupation. the enemies of oldenbarneveldt seized the opportunity to arouse maurice's suspicions of the advocate's motives in bringing about the truce, and even to hint that he had been bribed with spanish gold. chief among these enemies was francis van aerssens, for a number of years ambassador of the states at paris. aerssens owed much to the advocate, but he attributed his removal from his post at the french court to the decision of oldenbarneveldt to replace him by his son-in-law, van der myle. he never forgave his recall, and alike by subtle insinuation and unscrupulous accusation, strove to blacken the character and reputation of his former benefactor. by a curious fatality it was the outbreak of fierce sectarian strife and dissension between the extreme and the moderate calvinists which was eventually to change the latent hostility of maurice to oldenbarneveldt into open antagonism. neither of the two men had strong religious convictions, but circumstances brought it about that they were to range themselves irrevocably on opposite sides in a quarrel between fanatical theologians on the subject of predestination and grace. from early times calvinism in the northern netherlands had been divided into two schools. the strict calvinists or "reformed," known by their opponents as "precisians," and the liberal calvinists, "the evangelicals," otherwise "the libertines." to this libertine party belonged william the silent, oldenbarneveldt and the majority of the burgher-regents of holland. these men regarded the religious question from the statesman's point of view. having risen in rebellion against the tyranny of the spanish inquisition, they were anxious to preserve their countrymen (only a minority of whom were protestants) from being placed under the heel of a religious intolerance as narrow and bigoted as that from which they had escaped. the "reformed" congregations on the other hand, led by the preachers, were anxious to summon a national synod for the purpose of creating a state church to whose tenets, rigidly defined by the heidelberg catechism and the netherland confession, all would be required to conform on pain of being deprived of their rights as citizens. the libertines were opposed to such a scheme, as an interference with the rights of each province to regulate its own religious affairs, and as an attempt to assert the supremacy of church over state. the struggle between the two parties, which had continued intermittently for a number of years, suddenly became acute through the appointment by maurice of jacob harmensz, better known as arminius, to the chair of theology at leyden, vacated by the death of junius in . the leader of the strict calvinist school, the learned franciscus gomarus, had at the time of the appointment of arminius already been a professor at leyden for eight years. each teacher gathered round him a following of devoted disciples, and a violent collision was inevitable. prolonged and heated controversy on the high doctrines of predestination and freewill led to many appeals being made to the states-general and to the estates of holland to convene a synod to settle the disputed questions, but neither of these bodies in the midst of the negotiations for the truce was willing to complicate matters by taking a step that could not fail to accentuate existing discords. six months after the truce was signed arminius died. the quarrel, however, was only to grow more embittered. johannes uyttenbogaert took the leadership of the arminians, and finally, after consultation with oldenbarneveldt, he called together a convention of arminian preachers and laymen at gouda (june, ). they drew up for presentation to the estates a petition, known as the _remonstratie,_ consisting of five articles, in which they defined the points wherein they differed from the orthodox calvinist doctrines on the subjects of predestination, election and grace. the gomarists on their part drew up a _contra-remonstratie_ containing seven articles, and they declined to submit to any decision on matters of doctrine, save from a purely church synod. these two weighty declarations gained for the two parties henceforth the names of remonstrants and contra-remonstrants. for the next three years a fierce controversy raged in every province, pulpit replying to pulpit, and pamphlet to pamphlet. the contra-remonstrants roundly accused their adversaries of holding pelagian and socinian opinions and of being papists in disguise. this last accusation drew to their side the great majority of the protestant population, but the remonstrants had many adherents among the burgher-regents, and they could count upon a majority in the estates of holland, utrecht and overyssel, and they had the powerful support of oldenbarneveldt. the advocate was no theologian, and on the doctrinal points in dispute he probably held no very clear views. he inclined, however, to the arminians because of their greater tolerance, and above all for their readiness to acknowledge the authority of the state as supreme, in religious as well as in civil matters. he was anxious to bring about an accommodation which should give satisfaction to both parties, but he was dealing with fanatics, and the fires of religious bigotry when once kindled are difficult to quench. and now was seen a curious object lesson in the many-headed character of the government of the united netherlands. a majority of the provinces in the states-general favoured the contra-remonstrants. the estates of holland, however, under the influence of oldenbarneveldt by a small majority refused the contra-remonstrant demand and resolved to take drastic action against the gomarists. but a number of the representative towns in holland, and among them amsterdam, declined to enforce the resolution. at rotterdam, on the other hand, and in the other town-councils, where the arminians had the majority, the gomarist preachers were expelled from their pulpits; and the advocate was determined by coercion, if necessary, to enforce the authority of the estates throughout the province. but coercion without the use of the military force was impossible in face of the growing uprising of popular passion; and the military forces could not be employed without the consent of the stadholder. thus in , with the question of civil war in holland trembling in the balance, the ultimate decision lay with the stadholder; and maurice after long hesitation determined to throw the sword of the soldier into the scale against the influence of the statesman. maurice had not as yet openly broken with his father's old friend, whose immense services to the republic during the greater part of four decades he fully recognised. as to the questions now in dispute the stadholder was to an even less degree than the advocate a zealous theologian. it is reported that he declared that he did not know whether predestination was blue or green. his court-chaplain, uyttenbogaert, was a leading arminian; and both his step-mother, louise (see p. ), to whose opinions he attached much weight, and his younger brother, frederick henry, were by inclination "libertines." on the other hand william lewis, the frisian stadholder, was a zealous calvinist, and he used all his influence with his cousin to urge him to make a firm stand against oldenbarneveldt, and those who were trying to overthrow the reformed faith. sir dudley carleton, the new english ambassador, ranged himself also as a strong opponent of the advocate. while maurice, however, was hesitating as to the action he should take, oldenbarneveldt determined upon a step which amounted to a declaration of war. in december, , he carried in the estates of holland a proposal that they should, in the exercise of their sovereign rights, enlist a provincial force of militia (_waardgelders_) in their pay. thus holland, though a strong minority in the estates was in opposition, declared its intention of upholding the principle of provincial sovereignty against the authority of the states-general. the states-general at the instance of the two stadholders, may, , declared for the summoning of a national synod by a vote of four provinces against three. the estates of holland, again with a sharp division of opinion but by a majority, declined to obey the summons. an impasse was thus reached and maurice at last openly declared for the contra-remonstrant side. on july the prince, accompanied by his suite, ostentatiously attended divine service at the cloister church at the hague, where the contra-remonstrants had a fortnight before, in face of the prohibition of the estates, established themselves. this step was countered by decisive action on the part of oldenbarneveldt. a proposal was made in the estates of holland, august , known as the "sharp resolution"--and it well merited its name, for it was of the most drastic character. it was a most unqualified declaration of provincial sovereignty, and yet it was only passed in the teeth of a strong minority by the exertion of the advocate's personal influence. by this resolution holland declined to assent to the summoning of any synod, national or provincial, and asserted the supremacy of the estates in matters of religion. the municipal authorities were ordered to raise levies of _waardgelders_ to keep the peace; and all officials, civil or military, were required to take an oath of obedience to the estates on pain of dismissal. a strong protest was made by the representatives of the dissenting cities headed by reinier pauw, burgomaster of amsterdam. on the plea of ill-health oldenbarneveldt now left the hague, and took up his residence at utrecht. his object was to keep this province firm in its alliance with holland. he did not return till november , but all the time he was in active correspondence with his party in holland, at whose head were the three pensionaries of rotterdam, leyden and haarlem--de groot, hoogerbeets and de haan. under their leadership levies of _waardgelders_ were made in a number of towns; but other towns, including amsterdam, refused, and the total levy did not amount to more than men. meanwhile the majority of the states-general, urged on by maurice and william lewis, were determined, despite the resistance of holland and utrecht, to carry through the proposal for the summoning of a national synod. overyssel had been overawed and persuaded to assent, so that there were five votes against two in its favour. all through the winter the wrangling went on, and estrangement between the contending parties grew more bitter and acute. a perfect flood of pamphlets, broadsheets and pasquinades issued from the press; and in particular the most violent and envenomed attacks were made upon the character and administration of the advocate, in which he was accused of having received bribes both from spanish and french sources and to have betrayed the interests of his country. the chief instigator of these attacks was oldenbarneveldt's personal enemy, francis van aerssens, whose pen was never idle. the defenders of the remonstrant cause and of the principles of provincial sovereignty were not lacking in the vigour and virulence of their replies; and the advocate himself felt that the accusations which were made against him demanded a formal and serious rejoinder. he accordingly prepared a long and careful defence of his whole career, in which he proved conclusively that the charges made against him had no foundation. this _remonstratie_ he addressed to the estates of holland, and he also sent a copy to the prince. if this document did not at the time avail to silence the voices of prejudiced adversaries whose minds were made up, it has at least had the effect of convincing posterity that, however unwise may have been the course now deliberately pursued by the advocate, he never for the sake of personal gain betrayed the interests of his country. had he now seen that the attempt of a majority in the estates of holland to resist the will of the majority in the states-general could only lead to civil war, and had he resigned his post, advising the estates to disband the _waardgelders_ and yield to superior force, a catastrophe might have been averted. there is no reason to believe that in such circumstances maurice would have countenanced any extreme harshness in dealing with the advocate. but oldenbarneveldt, long accustomed to the exercise of power, was determined not to yield one jot of the claim of the sovereign province of holland to supremacy within its own borders in matters of religion. the die was cast and the issue had to be decided by force of arms. on june , , a solemn protest was made by the advocate in the states-general against the summoning of a national synod in opposition to the expressed opinion of the estates of holland; and a threat was made that holland might withhold her contribution to the general fund. the majority of the states-general (july ) declared the raising of local levies illegal, and (july ) it was resolved that a commission be sent to utrecht with maurice at its head to demand the disbanding of the _waardgelders_ in that town. the estates of holland[ ] impelled by oldenbarneveldt now took a very strong step, a step which could not be retrieved. they resolved also to despatch commissioners to utrecht to urge the town-council to stand firm. de groot, hoogerbeets and two others were nominated, and they at once set out for utrecht. maurice, with the deputation from the states-general and a large suite, left the hague only a little later than de groot and his companions, and reached utrecht on the evening of the th. this strange situation lasted for several days, and much parleying and several angry discussions took place. matters were further complicated by the news that the dissentient towns of holland were also sending a deputation. this news had a considerable effect upon colonel ogle, the commander of the _waardgelders_ in utrecht, and his officers. they were already wavering; they now saw that resistance to the orders of the states-general would be useless. the prince, who had been collecting a body of troops, now determined on action. his force entered the city on the evening of the st, and on the following morning he commanded the local levies to lay down their arms. they at once obeyed, and maurice took possession of the city. the holland commissioners and the members of the town-council fled. maurice appointed a new town-council entirely contra-remonstrant; and changes were made in both branches of the estates, so as to secure a contra-remonstrant majority and with it the vote of the province in the states-general for the national synod. holland now stood alone, and its opposition had to be dealt with in a fashion even sterner than that of utrecht. the remonstrant cities of holland were still for resistance, and attempts were made to influence the stadholder not to resort to extreme measures. maurice had, however, made up his mind. on august the states-general passed a resolution demanding the dismissal of the _waardgelders_ in holland within twenty-four hours. the placard was published on the th and was immediately obeyed. the estates of holland had been summoned to meet on the st, and were at once called upon to deal with the question of the national synod. a few days later (august ) a secret resolution was adopted by the majority in the states-general, without the knowledge of the holland deputies, to arrest oldenbarneveldt, de groot, hoogerbeets and ledenburg, the secretary of the estates of utrecht, on the ground that their action in the troubles at utrecht had been dangerous to the state. on the following day the advocate, on his way to attend the meeting of the estates, was arrested and placed in confinement. de groot, hoogerbeets and ledenburg met with similar treatment. after protesting the estates adjourned on the th until september , the deputies alleging that it was necessary to consult their principals in this emergency, but in reality because the suddenness of the blow had stricken them with terror. it was a prudent step, for maurice was resolved to purge the estates and the town-councils of holland, as he had already purged those of utrecht. attended by a strong body-guard he went from town to town, changing the magistracies, so as to place everywhere the contra-remonstrants in power. as a consequence of this action the deputies sent by the towns were likewise changed; and, when the estates next met, the supporters of oldenbarneveldt and his policy had disappeared. a peaceful revolution had been accomplished. all opposition to the summoning of the synod was crushed; and (november ) the estates passed a vote of thanks to the stadholder for "the care and fidelity" with which he had discharged a difficult and necessary duty. meanwhile oldenbarneveldt and the other prisoners had been confined in separate rooms in the binnenhof and were treated with excessive harshness and severity. they were permitted to have no communication with the outside world, no books, paper or writing materials; and the conditions of their imprisonment were such as to be injurious to health. a commission was appointed by the states-general to examine the accused, and it began its labours in november. the method of procedure was unjust and unfair in the extreme, even had it been a case of dealing with vile criminals. the treatment of oldenbarneveldt in particular was almost indecently harsh. the aged statesman had to appear sixty times before the commission and was examined and cross-examined on every incident of the forty years of his administration and on every detail of his private life. he was allowed not only to have no legal adviser, but also was forbidden access to any books of reference or to any papers or to make any notes. it was thus hoped that, having to trust entirely to his memory, the old man might be led into self-contradictions or to making damaging admissions against himself. de groot and hoogerbeets had to undergo a similar, though less protracted, inquisition. such was its effect upon ledenburg that he committed suicide. it was not until february , , that the states-general appointed an extraordinary court for the trial of the accused. it consisted of twenty-four members, of whom twelve were hollanders. it is needless to say that such a court had no legal status; and the fact that nearly all its members were the advocate's personal or political enemies is a proof that the proceedings were judicial only in name. it was appointed not to try, but to condemn the prisoners. oldenbarneveldt protested in the strongest terms against the court's competence. he had been the servant of the estates of the sovereign province of holland, and to them alone was he responsible. he denied to the states-general any sovereign rights; they were simply an assembly representing a number of sovereign allies. these were bold statements, and they were accompanied by an absolute denial of the charges brought against him. it was quite useless. all the prisoners were condemned, first de groot, then hoogerbeets, then oldenbarneveldt. the trials were concluded on may , but it was resolved to defer the sentences until after the close of the national synod, which had been meeting at dordrecht. this took place on may . meanwhile strong and influential efforts were made for leniency. the french ambassador, aubrey du maurier, during the trial did his utmost to secure fair treatment for the advocate; and a special envoy, châtillon, was sent from paris to express the french king's firm belief in the aged statesman's integrity and patriotism based on an intimate knowledge of all the diplomatic proceedings during and after the negotiations for the truce. but these representations had no effect and were indeed resented. equally unfruitful were the efforts made by louise de coligny to soften the severity of her step-son's attitude. even william lewis wrote to maurice not to proceed too harshly in the matter. all was in vain. the prince's heart was steeled. he kept asking whether the advocate or his family had sued for pardon. but oldenbarneveldt was far too proud to take any step which implied an admission of guilt; and all the members of his family were as firmly resolved as he was not to supplicate for grace. few, however, believed that capital punishment would be carried out. on sunday, may , however, sentence of death was solemnly pronounced; and on the following morning the head of the great statesman and patriot was stricken off on a scaffold erected in the binnenhof immediately in front of the windows of maurice's residence. the advocate's last words were a protestation of his absolute innocence of the charge of being a traitor to his country; and posterity has endorsed the declaration. that oldenbarneveldt had in the last two years of his life acted indiscreetly and arrogantly there can be no question. his long tenure of power had made him impatient of contradiction; and, having once committed himself to a certain course of action, he determined to carry it through in the teeth of opposition, regardless of consequences and with a narrow obstinacy of temper that aroused bitter resentment. his whole correspondence and private papers were however seized and carefully scrutinised by his personal enemies; and, had they found any evidence to substantiate the charges brought against him, it would have been published to the world. it is clear that not a shred of such evidence was discovered, and that the advocate was perfectly innocent of the treasonable conduct for which a packed court condemned him to suffer death. such was the reward that oldenbarneveldt received for life-long services of priceless value to his country. he more than any other man was the real founder of the dutch republic; and it will remain an ineffaceable stain on maurice's memory that he was consenting unto this cruel and unjust sentence. sentences of imprisonment for life were passed upon de groot and hoogerbeets. they were confined in the castle of loevestein. the conditions of captivity were so far relaxed that the famous jurist was allowed to receive books for the continuance of his studies. through the ingenuity and daring of his wife de groot contrived to escape in by concealing himself in a trunk supposed to be filled with heavy tomes. the trunk was conveyed by water to rotterdam, from whence the prisoner managed to make his way safely to france. concurrently with the political trials the national synod had been pursuing its labours at dordrecht. on november rather more than one hundred delegates assembled under the presidency of johannes bogerman of leeuwarden. fifty-eight of the delegates were preachers, professors and elders elected by the provincial synods, fifteen were commissioners appointed by the states-general, twenty-eight were members of foreign reformed churches. english and scottish representatives took an active part in the proceedings. the synod decided to summon the remonstrants to send a deputation to make their defence. on december accordingly, a body of twelve leading remonstrants with simon episcopius at their head took their seats at a table facing the assembly. episcopius made a long harangue in latin occupying nine sessions. his eloquence was, however, wasted on a court that had already prejudged the cause for which he pleaded. after much wrangling and many recriminations bogerman ordered the remonstrants to withdraw. they did so only to meet in an "anti-synod" at rotterdam at which the authority of the dordrecht assembly to pronounce decisions on matters of faith was denied. meanwhile the contra-remonstrant divines at dordrecht during many weary sessions proceeded to draw up a series of canons defining the true reformed doctrine and condemning utterly, as false and heretical, the five points set forth in the remonstrance. on may the netherland confession and the heidelberg catechism were unanimously adopted, as being in conformity with holy scripture, and as fixing the standard of orthodox teaching. the synod was dissolved eight days later. the final session was the th; and this great assembly of delegates from many lands, the nearest approach to a general council of the protestant churches that has ever been held, came to a close amidst much festivity and no small congratulation. no time was lost in taking action by the dominant party against their opponents. two hundred remonstrant preachers were driven into exile; and the congregations were treated with the same spirit of intolerance as had hitherto been the lot of the catholics, and were forbidden the exercise of public worship. after the advocate's death, except for the persecution directed against the remonstrant party, the course of public affairs went on smoothly. maurice, who by the death of his brother, philip william, had in february, , become prince of orange, was virtually sovereign in the united provinces. his name appeared in treaties with eastern potentates and in diplomatic despatches, just as if he were a reigning monarch; and the people of the netherlands were even at times spoken of as his subjects. but maurice never cared to trouble himself about the details of politics, and he now left the management of affairs in the hands of a few men that he could trust, notably in those of francis van aerssens (henceforth generally known as lord of sommelsdijk) and reinier pauw, the influential burgomaster of amsterdam. aerssens had shown himself spiteful and vindictive in his conduct towards his earlier patron, oldenbarneveldt, but being a clever diplomatist and gifted with considerable powers of statesmanship, he became henceforth for many years the trusted adviser and confidant not only of maurice, but of his successor frederick henry. the year was marked by the sudden death in june of william lewis, the stadholder of friesland. his loss was much deplored by maurice, who had for years been accustomed to rely upon the tried experience and sound judgment of his cousin both in peace and war. a few months earlier (march) louise de coligny had died at fontainebleau. she too had been from his youth the wise adviser of her step-son, but she was deeply grieved at the fate of oldenbarneveldt, and after his execution left the netherlands to take up her residence in her native country. by the death of william lewis the two stadholderates of groningen with drente and of friesland became vacant. maurice succeeded to that of groningen, but the frieslanders remained faithful to the house of nassau-siegen and elected ernest casimir, the younger brother of william lewis, as their stadholder. * * * * * chapter x from the end of the twelve years' truce to the peace of muenster ( - ). the stadholderate of frederick henry of orange civil disturbances and religious persecutions were not the only causes of anxiety to the political leaders in the united provinces during the crisis of - ; foreign affairs were also assuming a menacing aspect. the year saw the opening in germany of the thirty years' war. the acceptance of the crown of bohemia by frederick, elector palatine, meant that the long-delayed struggle for supremacy between catholics and protestants was to be fought out; and it was a struggle which neither spain nor the netherlands could watch with indifference. maurice was fully alive to the necessity of strengthening the defences of the eastern frontier; and subsidies were granted by the states-general to frederick and also to some of the smaller german princes. this support would have been larger, but the unexpected refusal of james i to give aid to his son-in-law made the dutch doubtful in their attitude. the states, though friendly, were unwilling to commit themselves. in the spring of , however, by james' permission, the english regiments in the dutch service under the command of sir horace vere were sent to oppose spinola's invasion of the rhineland. accompanied by a dutch force under frederick henry, they reached the palatinate, but it was too late. the fate of the king of bohemia was soon to be decided elsewhere than in his hereditary dominions. completely defeated at the battle of prague, frederick with his wife and family fled to holland to seek the protection of their cousin, the prince of orange. they met with the most generous treatment at his hands, and they were for many years to make the hague the home of their exile. as the date at which the twelve years' truce came to an end drew near, some efforts were made to avert war. there were advocates of peace in the united provinces, especially in gelderland and overyssel, the two provinces most exposed to invasion. the archdukes had no desire to re-open hostilities; and pecquinius, the chancellor of brabant, was sent to the hague to confer with maurice, and was authorised to name certain conditions for the conclusion of a peace. these conditions proved, however, to be wholly unacceptable, and the early summer of saw maurice and spinola once more in the field at the head of rival armies. the operations were, however, dilatory and inconclusive. the stadholder now, and throughout his last campaigns, was no longer physically the same man as in the days when his skilful generalship had saved the dutch republic from overthrow; he had lost the brilliant energy of youth. the deaths in the course of this same year, , of both the archduke albert and philip iii of spain, were also hindrances to the vigorous prosecution of the war. in there was much marching and counter-marching, and maurice was successful in compelling spinola to raise the siege of bergen-op-zoom, the last success he was destined to achieve. in the course of this year the prince's life was in serious danger. a plot was laid to assassinate him on his way to ryswyck, the leading conspirator being william van stoutenberg, the younger son of oldenbarneveldt. stoutenberg had, in , been deprived of his posts and his property confiscated, and he wished to avenge his father's death and his own injuries. the plot was discovered, but stoutenberg managed to escape and took service under the archduchess isabel. unfortunately he had implicated his elder brother, regnier, lord of groeneveldt, in the scheme. groeneveldt was seized and brought to the scaffold. from this time nothing but misfortune dogged the steps of maurice, whose health began to give way under the fatigues of campaigning. in a carefully planned expedition against antwerp, which he confidently expected to succeed, was frustrated by a long continuance of stormy weather. spinola in the following year laid siege to breda. this strongly fortified town, an ancestral domain of the princes of orange, had a garrison of men. the spanish commander rapidly advancing completely invested it. maurice, who had been conducting operations on the eastern frontier, now hastened to breda, and did his utmost by cutting off spinola's own supplies to compel him to raise the blockade. all his efforts however failed, and after holding out for many months breda surrendered. in the spring of the prince became so seriously ill that he asked the states-general to appoint his brother commander-in-chief in his stead. feeling his end drawing near, maurice's chief wish was to see frederick henry married before his death. frederick henry, like maurice himself, had never shown any inclination for wedlock and there was no heir to the family. he had, however, been attracted by the countess amalia von solms, a lady of the suite of elizabeth of bohemia. under pressure from the dying man the preliminaries were speedily arranged, and the wedding was quietly celebrated on april . though thus hastily concluded, the marriage proved to be in every way a thoroughly happy one. amalia was throughout his life to be the wise adviser of her husband and to exercise no small influence in the conduct of public affairs. maurice died on april , in the fifty-eighth year of his age. his forty years of continuous and strenuous service to the state had made him prematurely old; and there can be but little doubt that the terrible anxieties of the crisis of - told upon him. above all a feeling of remorse for his share in the tragedy of oldenbarneveldt's death preyed upon his mind. the new prince of orange succeeded to a difficult position, but he was endowed with all the qualities of a real leader of men. forty-one years old and brought up from boyhood in camps under the eye of his brother, frederick henry was now to show that he was one of the most accomplished masters of the military art, and especially siege-craft, in an age of famous generals, for bernard of saxe-weimar, torstenson, turenne, charles gustavus and the great elector were all trained in his school. he was, however, much more than an experienced and resourceful commander in the field. he inherited much of his father's wary and tactful statesmanship and skill in diplomacy. he was, moreover, deservedly popular. he was a hollander born and bred, and his handsome face, chivalrous bearing, and conciliatory genial temper, won for him an influence, which for some years was to give him almost undisputed predominance in the state. to quote the words of a contemporary, van der capellen, "the prince in truth disposed of everything as he liked; everything gave way to his word." the offices and dignities held by maurice were at once conferred on frederick henry. he was elected stadholder of holland, zeeland, utrecht, gelderland and overyssel, and was appointed captain-general and admiral-general of the union and head of the council of state. during practically the whole of his life the prince spent a considerable part of the year in camp, but he was able all the time to keep in touch with home affairs, and to exercise a constant supervision and control of the foreign policy of the state by the help of his wife, and through the services of francis van aerssens. the court of the princess of orange, graced as it was by the presence of the exiled king and queen of bohemia, was brilliant and sumptuous, and gave to the reality of power possessed by the stadholder more than a semblance of sovereign pomp. during her husband's absence she spared no pains to keep him well-acquainted with all the currents and under-currents of action and opinion at the hague, and was not only able to give sound advice, but was quite ready, when necessity called, to meet intrigue with intrigue and render abortive any movements or schemes adverse to the prince's policy or authority. the obligations of frederick henry to aerssens were even greater. the stadholder was at first suspicious of the man, whom he disliked for the leading part he had taken against oldenbarneveldt. but he did not allow personal prejudice to prevent him from employing a diplomatist of aerssens' experience and capacity, and, with acquaintance, he learned to regard him, not merely as a clever and wise councillor, but as a confidential friend. the right conduct of foreign affairs was of peculiar importance at the moment, when frederick henry became stadholder, for a change of _régime_ took place almost simultaneously both in france and england. in paris cardinal richelieu had just laid firm hands upon the reins of power, and the timorous and feeble james i died in the autumn of . richelieu and charles i were both hostile to spain, and the republic had reason to hope for something more than friendly neutrality in the coming years of struggle with the united forces of the two habsburg monarchies. one of the chief difficulties which confronted the new stadholder was the religious question. the prince himself, as was well known, was inclined to remonstrant opinions. he was, however, anxious not to stir up the smouldering embers of sectarian strife, and he made no effort to withdraw the placards against the remonstrants, but confined himself to moderate in practice their severity. he recalled from exile van der myle, oldenbarneveldt's son-in-law; made nicholas van reigersberg, de groot's brother-in-law, a member of the council; and released hoogerbeets from his captivity at loevestein. when, however, de groot himself, presuming on the stadholder's goodwill, ventured to return to holland without permission, the prince refused to receive him and he was ordered to leave the country once more. the year was marked by no events of military importance; both sides were in lack of funds and no offensive operations were undertaken. much rejoicing, however, attended the birth of a son and heir to the prince of orange, may . the child received the name of william. early in the following year sir dudley carleton, as envoy-extraordinary of king charles i, invested frederick henry at the hague with the order of the garter. this high distinction was not, however, a mark of really friendlier relations between the two countries. the long-standing disputes as to fishing rights in the narrow seas and at spitsbergen, and as to trading spheres in the east indian archipelago, remained unsettled; and in the unfortunate and ill-considered war, which broke out at this time between england and france, the sympathies of the states were with the latter. already those close relations between the french and the dutch, which for the next decade were to be one of the dominating factors in determining the final issue of the thirty years' war, were by the diplomatic efforts of richelieu and of aerssens being firmly established. france advanced to the states a large subsidy by the aid of which the stadholder was enabled to take the field at the head of a really fine army and to give to the world a brilliant display of his military abilities. throughout his stadholderate the persistent aim which frederick henry held before himself was never aggression with a view to conquest, but the creation of a scientific frontier, covered by strong fortresses, within which the flat lands behind the defensive lines of the great rivers could feel reasonably secure against sudden attack. it was with this object that in he determined to lay siege to the town of hertogenbosch. a force of , infantry and cavalry were gathered together for the enterprise. it was composed of many nationalities, like all the armies commanded by maurice and frederick henry, but was admirably disciplined and devoted to its commander. four english, three scottish and four french regiments, all choice troops, raised by permission of their sovereigns for the service of the states, formed the backbone of the force. on april the town was invested. hertogenbosch, or bois-le-duc, was strongly fortified, and so surrounded by marshy ground, intersected by a number of small streams, that the only way of approach for a besieging force was a single causeway defended by the forts of st isabella and st anthony. the garrison consisted of men, and the governor, grobendonc, was an experienced and resolute soldier. the stadholder began by surrounding the town with a double line of circumvallation. the marshes were crossed by dykes, and two streams were dammed so as to fill a broad deep moat round the lines and flood the country outside. other lines, three miles long, connected the investing lines with the village of crèvecceur on the meuse, frederick henry's base of supplies, which were brought by water from holland. these works completed, approaches were at once opened against the forts of st anthony and st isabella, the task being entrusted to the english and french troops. the court of brussels now began to take serious measures for relieving the town. at first regarding _bolduc la pucelle_ as impregnable, they had been pleased to hear that the prince had committed himself to an enterprise certain to be a dismal failure. then came the news of the circumvallation, and with it alarm. the count de berg was therefore ordered (june ) at the head of an army of , foot and horse to advance into north brabant and raise the siege. but the stadholder was prepared and ceaselessly on his guard; and the spanish general, after several vain attempts, found the dutch lines unassailable. with the view of compelling frederick henry to follow him, berg now marched into the heart of the united provinces, devastating as he went with fire and sword, took amersfoort and threatened amsterdam. but the prince confined himself to despatching a small detached force of observation; and meanwhile a happy stroke, by which a certain colonel dieden surprised and captured the important frontier fortress of wesel, forced the spaniards to retreat, for wesel was berg's depot of supplies and munitions. while all this was going on the prince of orange had been pushing forward the siege operations. on july the forts of st isabella and st anthony were stormed. the attack against the main defences, in which the english regiments specially distinguished themselves, was now pressed with redoubled vigour. the resistance at every step was desperate, but at last the moat was crossed and a lodgment effected within the walls. on september hertogenbosch surrendered; and the virgin fortress henceforth became the bulwark of the united provinces against spanish attack on this side. the consummate engineering skill, with which the investment had been carried out, attracted the attention of all europe to this famous siege. it was a signal triumph and added greatly to the stadholder's popularity and influence in the republic. it was needed. the estates of holland were at this time once more refractory. the interests of this great commercial and maritime province differed from those of the other provinces of the union; and it bore a financial burden greater than that of all the others put together. the estates, then under the leadership of adrian pauw, the influential pensionary of amsterdam, declined to raise the quota of taxation assigned to the province for military needs and proceeded to disband a number of troops that were in their pay. inconsistently with this action they declined to consider certain proposals for peace put forward by the infanta isabel, for they would yield nothing on the questions of liberty of worship or of freedom to trade in the indies. their neglect to furnish the requisite supplies for the war, however, prevented the prince from undertaking any serious military operations in . fortunately the other side were in no better case financially, while the death of spinola and the withdrawal of the count de berg from the spanish service deprived them of their only two competent generals. this attitude of holland, though it thwarted the stadholder's plans and was maintained in opposition to his wishes, by no means however implied any distrust of him or lack of confidence in his leadership. this was conclusively proved by the passing, at the instigation of holland, of the _acte de survivance_ (april , ). this act declared all the various offices held by the prince hereditary in the person of his five-year-old son. he thus became, in all but name, a constitutional sovereign. an expedition planned for the capture of dunkirk at this time, spring , proved too hazardous and was abandoned, but later in the year the dutch sailors gave a signal proof of their superiority at sea. encouraged by the failure of the attempted attack on dunkirk the government at brussels determined on a counter-stroke. a flotilla of frigates, accompanied by a large number of smaller vessels to carry supplies and munitions and having on board a body of soldiers, set sail from antwerp under the command of count john of nassau (a cousin of the stadholder) and in the presence of isabel herself to effect the conquest of some of the zeeland islands. as soon as the news reached frederick henry, detachments of troops were at once despatched to various points; and about a dozen vessels were rapidly equipped and ordered to follow the enemy and if possible bring him to action. a landing at terscholen was foiled by colonel morgan, who, at the head of english troops, waded across a shallow estuary in time to prevent a descent. at last (september ) the dutch ships managed to come up with their adversaries in the slaak near the island of tholen. they at once attacked and though so inferior in numbers gained a complete victory. count john of nassau just contrived to escape, but his fleet was destroyed and prisoners were taken. the year witnessed a renewal of military activity and was memorable for the famous siege and capture of maestricht. this fortress held the same commanding position on the eastern frontier as hertogenbosch on the southern; and, though its natural position was not so strong as the capital of north brabant, maestricht, lying as it did on both sides of the broad meuse, and being strongly fortified and garrisoned, was very difficult to invest. the stadholder, at the head of a force of , infantry and horse, first made himself master of venloo and roeremonde and then advanced upon maestricht. unfortunately before roeremonde, ernest casimir, the brave stadholder of friesland and groningen, was killed. he was succeeded in his offices by his son, henry casimir. arriving (june ) before maestricht, frederick henry proceeded to erect strongly entrenched lines of circumvallation round the town connecting them above and below the town by bridges. supplies reached him plentifully by the river. to the english and french regiments were once more assigned the place of honour in the attack. all went well until july , when don gonzales de cordova led a superior spanish force from germany, consisting of , foot and horse, to raise the siege, and encamped close to the dutch lines on the south side of the river. finding however no vulnerable spot, he awaited the arrival at the beginning of august of an imperialist army of , foot and horse, under the renowned pappenheim. this impetuous leader determined upon an assault, and the dutch entrenchments were attacked suddenly with great vigour at a moment when the prince was laid up with the gout. he rose, however, from his bed, personally visited all the points of danger, and after desperate fighting the assailants were at last driven off with heavy loss. the spaniards and imperialists, finding that the stadholder's lines could not be forced, instituted a blockade, so that the besiegers were themselves besieged. but frederick henry had laid up such ample stores of munitions and provisions that he paid no heed to the cutting of his communications, and pushed on his approaches with the utmost rapidity. all difficulties were overcome by the engineering skill of the scientific commander; and finally two tunnels sixty feet deep were driven under the broad dry moat before the town walls. the english regiments during these operations bore the brunt of the fighting and lost heavily, colonels harwood and the earl of oxford being killed and colonel morgan dangerously wounded. after exploding a mine, a forlorn hope of fifty english troops rushed out from one of the tunnels and made good their footing upon the ramparts. others followed, and the garrison, fearing that further resistance might entail the sacking of the town, surrendered (august ) with honours of war. one result of the fall of maestricht was a renewal on the part of the archduchess isabel of negotiations for peace or a long truce. on the authority of frederick henry's memoirs the terms first offered to him in camp were favourable and might have been accepted. when, however, the discussion was shifted to the hague, the attitude of the belgic representatives had stiffened. the cause was not far to seek, for on november , the ever-victorious gustavus adolphus had fallen in the hour of triumph in the fatal battle of lützen. the death of the swedish hero was a great blow to the protestant cause and gave fresh heart to the despondent catholic alliance. the negotiations dragged however their slow length along, the chief point of controversy being the old dispute about freedom to trade in the indies. on this point agreement was impossible. spain would yield nothing of her pretensions; and the hollanders would hear of no concessions that threatened the prosperity of the east and west india companies in which so many merchants and investors were deeply interested. any admission of a spanish monopoly or right of exclusion would have spelt ruin to thousands. the diplomatic discussions, however, went on for many months in a desultory and somewhat futile manner; and meanwhile though hostilities did not actually cease, the campaign of was conducted in a half-hearted fashion. the death of isabel on november , , shattered finally any hopes that the peace party in the provinces (for there was a strong peace party) might have had of arriving at any satisfactory agreement. by the decease of the arch-duchess, who had been a wise and beneficent ruler and had commanded the respect and regard not only of her own subjects but of many northerners also, the belgic provinces reverted to the crown of spain and passed under the direct rule of philip iv. the cardinal infante ferdinand, fresh from his crushing victory over the swedes at nördlingen, came as governor to brussels in , at the head of considerable spanish forces, and an active renewal of the war in was clearly imminent. in these circumstances frederick henry determined to enter into negotiations with france for the conclusion of an offensive and defensive alliance against spain, the common enemy. he had many difficulties to encounter. the estates of holland, though opposed to the terms actually offered by the brussels government, were also averse to taking any step which shut the door upon hopes of peace. richelieu on his side, though ready, as before, to grant subsidies and to permit the enrolment of french regiments for the dutch service, shrank from committing france to an open espousal of the protestant side against the catholic powers. the stadholder, however, was not deterred by the obstacles in his way; and the diplomatic skill and adroitness of aerssens, aided by his own tact and firmness of will, overcame the scruples of richelieu. the opposition of the estates of holland, without whose consent no treaty could be ratified, was likewise surmounted. adrian pauw, their leader, was despatched on a special embassy to paris, and in his absence his influence was undermined, and jacob cats was appointed council-pensionary in his stead. in the spring of a firm alliance was concluded between france and the united provinces, by which it was agreed that neither power should make peace without the consent of the other, each meanwhile maintaining a field force of , foot and horse and dividing conquests in the southern netherlands between them. this treaty was made with the concurrence and strong approval of the swedish chancellor, oxenstierna, and was probably decisive in its effect upon the final issue of the thirty years' war. in the early spring of , therefore, a french force entered the netherlands and, after defeating prince thomas of savoy at namur, joined the dutch army at maestricht. louis xiii had given instructions to the french commanders, châtillon and de brézé, to place themselves under the orders of the prince of orange; and frederick henry at the head of , foot and horse now entered the enemy's territory and advanced to the neighbourhood of louvain. here however, owing to the outbreak of disease among his troops, to lack of supplies and to differences of opinion with his french colleagues, the prince determined to retreat. his action was attended by serious results. his adversary, the cardinal infante ferdinand, was a wary and skilful general. he now seized his opportunity, rapidly made himself master of diest, gennep, goch and limburg, and took by surprise the important fort of schenck at the junction of the waal and the rhine. vexed at the loss of a stronghold which guarded two of the main waterways of the land, the stadholder at once laid siege to schenck. but the spanish garrison held out obstinately all through the winter and did not surrender until april , . the dutch army had suffered much from exposure and sickness during this long investment and was compelled to abstain for some months from active operations. ferdinand thereupon, as soon as he saw that there was no immediate danger of an attack from the north, resolved to avenge himself upon the french for the part they had taken in the preceding year's campaign. reinforced by a body of imperialist troops under piccolomini he entered france and laid the country waste almost to the gates of paris. this bold stroke completely frustrated any plans that the allies may have formed for combined action in the late summer. the following year the states determined, somewhat against the wishes of frederick henry, to send an expedition into flanders for the capture of dunkirk. this was done at the instance of the french ambassador, charnacé, acting on the instructions of richelieu, who promised the assistance of french troops and undertook, should the town be taken, to leave it in the possession of the dutch. the stadholder accordingly assembled (may ) an army of , foot and a considerable body of horse at rammekens, where a fleet lay ready for their transport to flanders. contrary winds, however, continued steadily to blow for many weeks without affording any opportunity for putting to sea. at last, wearied out with the long inaction and its attendant sickness the prince (july ) suddenly broke up his camp and marched upon breda. spinola, after capturing breda in , had greatly strengthened its defences; and now, with a garrison of men under a resolute commander, it was held to be secure against any attack. the siege was a repetition of those of hertogenbosch and maestricht. in vain did the cardinal infante with a powerful force try to break through the lines of circumvallation, which the prince had constructed with his usual skill. called away by a french invasion on the south, he had to leave breda to its fate. the town surrendered on october . during the years and the ever-recurring dissensions between the province of holland and the generality became acute once more. the provincial estates insisted on their sovereign rights and refused to acknowledge the authority of the states-general to impose taxes upon them. this opposition of holland was a great hindrance to the prince in the conduct of the war, and caused him constant anxiety and worry. it was impossible to plan or to carry out a campaign without adequate provision being made for the payment and maintenance of the military and naval forces, and this depended upon holland's contribution. amsterdam was the chief offender. on one occasion a deputation sent to amsterdam from the states-general was simply flouted. the burgomaster refused to summon the council together, and the members of the deputation had to return without an audience. all the prince's efforts to induce the contumacious city to consider his proposals in a reasonable and patriotic spirit were of no avail; they were rejected insultingly. in his indignation frederick henry is reported to have exclaimed, "i have no greater enemy, but if only i could take antwerp, it would bring them to their senses." the immense and growing prosperity of amsterdam at this time was indeed mainly due to the fall of antwerp from its high estate. to reconquer antwerp had indeed long been a favourite project of frederick henry. in he made careful and ample preparations for its realisation. but it was not to be. misfortune this year was to dog his steps. the advance was made in two bodies. the larger under the prince was to march straight to antwerp. the second, of men, commanded by count william of nassau, was instructed to seize some outlying defences on the scheldt before joining the main force before the town. count william began well, but, hearing a false rumour that a fleet was sailing up the scheldt to intercept his communications, he hastily retreated. while his ranks were in disorder he was surprised by a spanish attack, and practically his entire force was cut to pieces. on hearing of this disaster the stadholder had no alternative but to abandon the siege. constant campaigning and exposure to the hardships of camp life year after year began at this time seriously to affect the health of the stadholder. he was much troubled by attacks of gout, which frequently prevented him from taking his place in the field. in there were no military events of importance; nevertheless this year was a memorable one in the annals of the dutch republic. it was the year of the battle of the downs. a great effort was made by spain to re-establish her naval supremacy in the narrow seas, and the finest fleet that had left the harbours of the peninsula since arrived in the channel in september, . it consisted of seventy-seven vessels carrying , men, sailors and soldiers, and was under the command of an experienced and capable seaman, admiral oquendo. his orders were to drive the dutch fleet from the channel and to land , men at dunkirk as a reinforcement for the cardinal infante. admiral tromp had been cruising up and down the channel for some weeks on the look-out for the spaniards, and on september he sighted the armada. he had only thirteen vessels with him, the larger part of his fleet having been detached to keep watch and ward over dunkirk. with a boldness, however, that might have been accounted temerity, tromp at once attacked the enemy and with such fury that the spanish fleet sought refuge under the lee of the downs and anchored at the side of an english squadron under vice-admiral pennington. rejoined by seventeen ships from before dunkirk, the dutch admiral now contented himself with a vigilant blockade, until further reinforcements could reach him. such was the respect with which he had inspired the spaniards, that no attempt was made to break the blockade; and in the meantime tromp had sent urgent messages to holland asking the prince of orange and the admiralties to strain every nerve to give him as many additional ships as possible. the request met with a ready and enthusiastic response. in all the dockyards work went on with relays of men night and day. in less than a month tromp found himself at the head of sail with twelve fire-ships. they were smaller ships than those of his adversary, but they were more than enough to ensure victory. on october , after detaching vice-admiral witte de with ships to watch pennington's squadron, tromp bore down straight upon the spanish fleet though they were lying in english waters. rarely has there been a naval triumph more complete. under cover of a fog oquendo himself with seven vessels escaped to dunkirk; all the rest were sunk, burnt, or captured. it is said that , spaniards perished. on the side of the dutch only men were killed and wounded. the spanish power at sea had suffered a blow from which it never recovered. charles i was very angry on learning that english ships had been obliged to watch the fleet of a friendly power destroyed in english waters before their eyes. the king had inherited from his father a long series of grievances against the dutch; and, had he not been involved in serious domestic difficulties, there would probably have been a declaration of war. but charles' finances did not permit him to take a bold course, and he was also secretly irritated with the spaniards for having sought the hospitality of english waters (as written evidence shows) without his knowledge and permission. aerssens was sent to london to smooth over the matter. he had no easy task, but by skill and patience he contrived, in spite of many adverse influences at the court, so to allay the bitter feelings that had been aroused by "the scandal of the downs" that charles and his queen were willing, in the early months of , to discuss seriously the project of a marriage between the stadholder's only son and one of the english princesses. in january a special envoy, jan van der kerkoven, lord of heenvlict, joined aerssens with a formal proposal for the hand of the princess royal; and after somewhat difficult negotiations the marriage was at length satisfactorily arranged. the ceremony took place in london, may , . as william was but fifteen years of age and mary, the princess royal, only nine, the bridegroom returned to holland alone, leaving the child-bride for a time at whitehall with her parents. the wedding took place at an ominous time. ten days after it was celebrated strafford was executed; and the dark shadow of the great rebellion was already hanging over the ill-fated charles. in the tragic story of the house of stewart that fills the next two decades there is perhaps no more pathetic figure than that of mary, the mother of william iii. at the time this alliance gave added lustre to the position of the prince of orange, both at home and abroad, by uniting his family in close bonds of relationship with the royal houses both of england and france. in , as the spaniards remained on the defensive, the stadholder entered flanders and by a forced march attempted to seize bruges. his effort, however, was foiled, as was a later attempt to capture hulst, when frederick henry and the states sustained a great loss in the death of the gallant henry casimir of nassau, who was killed in a chance skirmish at the age of years. this regrettable event caused a vacancy in the stadholderates of friesland and groningen with drente. a number of zealous adherents of the house of orange were now anxious that frederick henry should fill the vacant posts to the exclusion of his cousin, william frederick, younger brother of henry casimir. they urged upon the prince, who was himself unwilling to supplant his relative, that it was for the good of the state that there should be a unification of authority in his person; and at last he expressed himself ready to accept the offices, if elected. the result of the somewhat mean intrigues that followed, in which frederick henry himself took no part, gave a curious illustration of the extreme jealousy of the provinces towards anything that they regarded as outside intrusion into their affairs. the states-general ventured to recommend the estates of friesland to appoint the prince of orange; the recommendation was resented, and william frederick became stadholder. the frieslanders on their part sent a deputation to groningen in favour of william frederick, and groningen-drente elected the prince of orange. this dispute caused an estrangement for a time between the two branches of the house of nassau, which was afterwards healed by the marriage of the friesland stadholder with albertine agnes, a daughter of frederick henry. from this union the present royal family of holland trace their descent. the military operations of the years , and were dilatory and featureless. both sides were sick of the war and were content to remain on the defensive. this was no doubt largely due to the fact that in rapid succession death removed from the stage many of those who had long played leading parts in the political history of the times. aerssens died shortly after his return from his successful mission to england in the autumn of ; and almost at the same time the cardinal infante ferdinand, who during his tenure of the governor-generalship had shown great capacity and prudence both as a statesman and as a commander, expired. in , after eighteen years of almost autocratic rule, richelieu passed away, his death (december , ) coming almost half-way between those of his enemy, the intriguing marie de' medici (july , ), and that of her son, louis xiii (may , ). anne of austria, the sister of the king of spain, became regent in france; but this did not imply any change of policy with regard to the united provinces, for cardinal mazarin, who, through his influence over the regent succeeded to the power of richelieu, was a pupil in the school of that great statesman and followed in his steps. moreover, during this same period the outbreak of civil war in england had for the time being caused that country to be wholly absorbed in its own domestic concerns, and it ceased to have any weight in the councils of western europe. thus it came to pass that there was a kind of lull in the external affairs of the united provinces; and her statesmen were compelled to take fresh stock of their position in the changed situation that had been created. not that this meant that these years were a time of less pressure and anxiety to the prince of orange. his new relations with the english royal family were a source of difficulty to him. henrietta maria (march, ) came to holland, bringing with her the princess royal, and for a whole year took up her residence at the hague. she was received with kindliness and courtesy not only by the stadholder and his family, but by the people of holland generally. her presence, together with that of the queen of bohemia, at the princess of orange's court gave to it quite a regal dignity and splendour, which was particularly gratifying to amalia von solms. but the english queen had other objects in view than those of courtesy. she hoped not merely to enlist the sympathies of frederick henry for the royal cause in the english civil war, but to obtain through his help supplies of arms and munitions from holland for king charles. but in this she did not succeed. the parliament had sent an envoy, william strickland, to counteract the influence of henrietta maria, and to represent to the states-general that it was fighting in defence of the same principles which had led to the revolt against spain. the prince was far too prudent to allow his personal inclinations to override his political judgment as a practical statesman. he knew that public opinion in the united provinces would never sanction in any form active support of king charles against his parliament, and he did not attempt it. intervention was confined to the despatch of an embassy to england with instructions to mediate between the two parties. when the unfortunate queen found that all her efforts on behalf of king charles were in vain, she determined to leave the safe refuge where she had been so hospitably entertained and to return to her husband's side. she sailed from scheveningen on march , , and reached the royal camp at york in safety. in the autumn of this year, , two special envoys were sent by cardinal mazarin to the hague; and one of the results of their visit was a renewal of the treaty of by which france and the united provinces had entered upon an offensive and defensive alliance and had agreed to conclude no peace but by mutual consent. nevertheless frederick henry, whom long experience had made wary and far-sighted, had been growing for some little time suspicious of the advantage to the republic of furthering french aggrandisement in the southern netherlands. he saw that france was a waxing, spain a waning power, and he had no desire to see france in possession of territory bordering on the united provinces. this feeling on his part was possibly the cause of the somewhat dilatory character of his military operations in and . the revolt of portugal from spain in december, , had at first been welcomed by the dutch, but not for long. the great and successful operations of the east and west india companies had been chiefly carried on at the expense of the portuguese, not of the spaniards. the great obstacle to peace with spain had been the concession of the right to trade in the indies. it was portugal, rather than spain, which now stood in the way of the dutch merchants obtaining that right, for the spanish government, in its eagerness to stamp out a rebellion which had spread from the peninsula to all the portuguese colonies, was quite ready to sacrifice these to secure dutch neutrality in europe. the dazzling victory of the french under the young duke of enghien over a veteran spanish army at rocroi (may, ) also had its effect upon the mind of the prince. with prophetic foresight, he rightly dreaded a france too decisively victorious. in the negotiations for a general peace between all the contending powers in the thirty years' war, which dragged on their slow length from to , the stadholder became more and more convinced that it was in the interest of the dutch to maintain spain as a counterpoise to the growing power of france, and to secure the favourable terms, which, in her extremity, spain would be ready to offer. at first, however, there was no breach in the close relations with france; and frederick henry, though hampered by ill-health, showed in his last campaigns all his old skill in siege-craft. by the successive captures of hertogenbosch, maestricht and breda he had secured the frontiers of the republic in the south and south-east. he now turned to the north-west corner of flanders. in he took the strongly fortified post of sas-van-gent, situated on the ley, the canalised river connecting ghent with the scheldt. in he laid siege to and captured the town of hulst, and thus gained complete possession of the strip of territory south of the scheldt, known as the land of waes, which had been protected by these two strongholds, and which has since been called dutch flanders. very shortly after the capitulation of hulst, the ambassadors plenipotentiary of the united provinces set out (november, ) to take their places at the congress of münster on equal terms with the representatives of the emperor and of the kings of france and spain. the position acquired by the dutch republic among the powers of europe was thus officially recognised _de facto_ even before its independence had been _de jure_ ratified by treaty. the parleyings at münster made slow headway, as so many thorny questions had to be settled. meanwhile, with the full approval of the prince, negotiations were being secretly carried on between madrid and the hague with the view of arriving at a separate understanding, in spite of the explicit terms of the treaty of . as soon as the french became aware of what was going on, they naturally protested and did their utmost to raise every difficulty to prevent a treaty being concluded behind their backs. the old questions which had proved such serious obstacles in the negotiations of - were still sufficiently formidable. but the situation was very different in - . the spanish monarchy was actually _in extremis._ portugal and catalonia were in revolt; a french army had crossed the pyrenees; the treasury was exhausted. peace with the dutch republic was a necessity; and, as has been already said, the vexed question about the indies had resolved itself rather into a portuguese than a spanish question. by a recognition of the dutch conquests in brazil and in the indian ocean they were acquiring an ally without losing anything that they had not lost already by the portuguese declaration of independence. but, as the basis of an agreement was on the point of being reached, an event happened which caused a delay in the proceedings. the prince of orange, who had been long a martyr to the gout, became in the autumn of hopelessly ill. he lingered on in continual suffering for some months and died on march , . shortly before his death he had the satisfaction of witnessing the marriage of his daughter louise henrietta to frederick william of brandenburg, afterwards known as the great elector. he was not, however, destined to see peace actually concluded, though he ardently desired to do so. frederick henry could, however, at any rate feel that his life-work had been thoroughly and successfully accomplished. the services he rendered to his country during his stadholderate of twenty-two years can scarcely be over-estimated. it is a period of extraordinary prosperity and distinction, which well deserves the title given to it by dutch historians--"the golden age of frederick henry." the body of the stadholder was laid, amidst universal lamentation and with almost regal pomp, besides those of his father and brother in the nieuwe kerk at delft. the removal of a personality of such authority and influence at this critical time was a dire misfortune, for there were many cross-currents of policy in the different provinces and of divergence of interests between the seafaring and merchant classes and other sections of the population. finally the skill and perseverance of the two leading dutch plenipotentiaries, pauw and van knuyt, and of the spanish envoys, peñaranda and brun, brought the negotiations to a successful issue. the assent of all the provinces was necessary, and for a time utrecht and zeeland were obstinately refractory, but at length their opposition was overcome; and on january , , the treaty of münster was duly signed. great rejoicings throughout the land celebrated the end of the war of independence, which had lasted for eighty years. thus, in spite of the solemn engagement made with france, a separate peace was concluded with spain and in the interests of the united provinces. their course of action was beyond doubt politically wise and defensible, but, as might be expected, it left behind it a feeling of soreness, for the french naturally regarded it as a breach of faith. the treaty of münster consisted of articles, the most important of which were: the king of spain recognised the united provinces as free and independent lands; the states-general kept all their conquests in brabant, limburg and flanders, the so-called generality lands; also their conquests in brazil and the east indies made at the expense of portugal; freedom of trading both in the east and west indies was conceded; the scheldt was declared closed, thus shutting out antwerp from access to the sea; to the house of orange all its confiscated property was restored; and lastly a treaty of trade and navigation with spain was negotiated. on all points the dutch obtained all and more than all they could have hoped for. * * * * * chapter xi the east and west india companies. commercial and economic expansion an account of the foundation, constitution and early efforts of the dutch east india company has been already given. the date of its charter (march , ) was later than that of its english rival (dec. , ), but in reality the dutch were the first in the field, as there were several small companies in existence and competing with one another in the decade previous to the granting of the charter, which without extinguishing these companies incorporated them by the name of chambers under a common management, the council of seventeen. the four chambers however--amsterdam, zeeland, the maas (rotterdam and delft) and the north quarter (enkhuizen and hoorn)--though separately administered and with different spheres, became gradually more and more unified by the growing power of control exercised by the seventeen. this was partly due to the dominating position of the single chamber of amsterdam, which held half the shares and appointed eight members of the council. the erection of such a company, with its monopoly of trade and its great privileges including the right of maintaining fleets and armed forces, of concluding treaties and of erecting forts, was nothing less than the creation of an _imperium in imperio_; and it may be said to have furnished the model on which all the great chartered companies of later times have been formed. the english east india company was, by the side of its dutch contemporary, almost insignificant; with its invested capital of £ , it was in no position to struggle successfully against a competitor which started with subscribed funds amounting to £ , . the conquest of portugal by spain had spelt ruin to that unhappy country and to its widespread colonial empire and extensive commerce. before lisbon had been a great centre of the dutch carrying-trade; and many netherlanders had taken service in portuguese vessels and were familiar with the routes both to the east indies and to brazil. it was the closing of the port of lisbon to dutch vessels that led the enterprising merchants of amsterdam and middelburg to look further afield. in the early years of the seventeenth century a large number of expeditions left the dutch harbours for the indian ocean and made great profits; and very large dividends were paid to the shareholders of the company. how far these represented the actual gain it is difficult to discover, for the accounts were kept in different sets of ledgers; and it is strongly suspected that the size of the dividends may, at times when enhanced credit was necessary for the raising of loans, have been to some extent fictitious. for the enterprise, which began as a trading concern, speedily developed into the creation of an empire overseas, and this meant an immense expenditure. the malay archipelago was the chief scene of early activity, and more especially the moluccas. treaties were made with the native chiefs; and factories defended by forts were established at tidor, ternate, amboina, banda and other places. the victories of cornelis matelief established that supremacy of the dutch arms in these eastern waters which they were to maintain for many years. with the conclusion of the truce the necessity of placing the general control of so many scattered forts and trading posts in the hands of one supreme official led, in , to the appointment of a governor-general by the seventeen with the assent of the states-general. the governor-general held office for five years, and he was assisted by a council, the first member of which, under the title of director-general, was in reality minister of commerce. under him were at first seven (afterwards eight) local governors. these functionaries, though exercising considerable powers in their respective districts, were in all matters of high policy entirely subordinate to the governor-general. the first holders of the office were all men who had risen to that position by proving themselves to possess energy and enterprise, and being compelled by the distance from home to act promptly on their own initiative, were practically endowed with autocratic authority. in consequence of this the dutch empire in the east became in their hands rapidly extended and consolidated, to the exclusion of all competitors. this meant not only that the portuguese and spaniards were ousted from their formerly dominant position in the orient, but that a collision with the english was inevitable. the first governor-general, pieter both, had made java the centre of administration and had established factories and posts at bantam, jacatra and djapara, not without arousing considerable hostility among the local rulers, jealous of the presence of the intruders. this hostility was fostered and encouraged by the english, whose vessels had also visited java and had erected a trading-post close to that of the dutch at jacatra. already the spice islands had been the scene of hostile encounters between the representatives of the two nations, and had led to many altercations. this was the state of things when jan pieterzoon koen became governor-general in . this determined man, whose experience in the east indies was of long date, and who had already served as director-general, came into his new office with an intense prejudice against the english, and with a firm resolve to put an end to what he described as their treachery and intrigues. "were they masters," he wrote home, "the dutch would quickly be out of the indies, but praise be to the lord, who has provided otherwise. they are an unendurable nation." with this object he strongly fortified the factory near jacatra, thereby arousing the hostility of the _pangeran_, as the native ruler was styled. the english in their neighbouring post also began to erect defences and to encourage the _pangeran_ in his hostile attitude. koen thereupon fell upon the english and destroyed and burnt their factory, and finding that there was a strong english fleet under sir thomas dale in the neighbourhood, he sailed to the moluccas in search of reinforcements, leaving pieter van der broeck in command at the factory. the _pangeran_ now feigned friendship, and having enticed broeck to a conference, made him prisoner and attacked the dutch stronghold. the garrison however held out until the governor-general returned with a strong force. with this he stormed and destroyed the town of jacatra and on its site erected a new town, as the seat of the company's government, to which the name batavia was given. from this time the dutch had no rivalry to fear in java. the conquest of the whole island was only a question of time, and the "pearl of the malay archipelago" has from to the present been the richest and most valuable of all the dutch colonial possessions. koen was planning to follow up his success by driving the english likewise from the moluccas, when he heard that the home government had concluded a treaty which tied his hands. the position in the moluccas had for some years been one of continual bickering and strife; the chief scene being in the little group known as the banda islands. the lucrative spice-trade tempted both companies to establish themselves by building forts; and the names of amboina and pulo rum were for many years to embitter the relations of the two peoples. meanwhile the whole subject of those relations had been in discussed at london by a special embassy sent nominally to thank king james for the part he had taken in bringing the synod of dort to a successful termination of its labours, but in reality to settle several threatening trade disputes. almost the only result of the prolonged conferences was an agreement (june , ) by which the east india companies were for twenty years to be virtually amalgamated. the english were to have half the pepper crop in java and one-third of the spices in the moluccas, amboina and the banda islands. forts and posts were to remain in their present hands, but there was to be a joint council for defence, four members from each company, the president to be appointed alternately month by month. such a scheme was a paper scheme, devised by those who had no personal acquaintance with the actual situation. there was no similarity between a great military and naval organisation like the dutch company and a body of traders like the english, whose capital was small, and who were entirely dependent on the political vagaries of an impecunious sovereign, whose dearest wish at the time was to cultivate close relations with the very power in defiance of whose prohibition the east india company's trade was carried on. the agreement received indeed a fresh sanction at another conference held in london ( - ), but it never was a working arrangement. the bitter ill-feeling that had arisen between the dutch and english traders was not to be allayed by the diplomatic subterfuge of crying peace when there was no peace. events were speedily to prove that this was so. the trade in spices had proved the most lucrative of all, and measures had been taken to prevent any undue lowering of the price by a glut in the market. the quantity of spices grown was carefully regulated, suitable spots being selected, and the trees elsewhere destroyed. thus cloves were specially cultivated at amboina; nutmegs in the banda islands. into this strictly guarded monopoly, from which the english had been expelled by the energy of koen, they were now by the new treaty to be admitted to a share. it was only with difficulty that the dutch were induced to acquiesce sullenly in the presence of the intruders. a fatal collision took place almost immediately after the convention between the companies, about the trade in the spice islands, had been renewed in london, - . in koen was succeeded, as governor-general, by pieter carpentier, whose name is still perpetuated by the gulf of carpentaria on the north of australia. at this time of transition the governor of amboina, van speult, professed to have discovered a conspiracy of the english settlers, headed by gabriel towerson, to make themselves masters of the dutch fort. eighteen englishmen were seized, and though there was no evidence against them, except what was extorted by torture and afterwards solemnly denied, twelve, including towerson, were executed. carpentier admitted that the proceedings were irregular, and they were in any case unnecessary, for a despatch recalling towerson was on its way to amboina. it was a barbarous and cruel act; and when the news of the "massacre of amboina," as it was called, reached england, there was loud indignation and demands for redress. but the quarrel with spain over the marriage of the prince of wales had driven james i at the very end of his life, and charles i on his accession, to seek the support of the united provinces. by the treaty of southampton, september , , an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded with the states-general; and charles contented himself with a demand that the states should within eighteen months bring to justice those who were responsible "for the bloody butchery on our subjects." however, carleton again pressed for the punishment of the perpetrators of "the foule and bloody act" of amboina. the dutch replied with evasive promises, which they never attempted to carry out; and charles' disastrous war with france and his breach with his parliament effectually prevented him from taking steps to exact reparation. but amboina was not forgotten; the sore rankled and was one of the causes that moved cromwell to war in . the activity of the dutch in eastern waters was, however, by no means confined to java, their seat of government, or to the moluccas and banda islands with their precious spices. many trading posts were erected on the large islands of sumatra and borneo. trading relations were opened with siam from onwards. in a force under willem bontekoe was sent by koen to formosa. the island was conquered and a governor appointed with his residence at fort zelandia. already under the first governor-general, pieter both, permission was obtained from the shogun for the dutch, under close restrictions, to trade with japan, a permission which was still continued, after the expulsion of the portuguese and the bloody persecution of the christian converts ( - ), though under somewhat humiliating conditions. but, with the dutch, trade was trade, and under the able conduct of francis caron it became of thriving proportions. during the next century no other europeans had any access to the japanese market except the agents of the dutch east india company. among the governors-general of this early period the name of antony van diemen ( - ) deserves special recognition. if koen laid the firm foundations of dutch rule in the east, van diemen built wisely and ably on the work of koen. carpentier's rule had been noteworthy for several voyages of discovery along the coasts of new guinea and of the adjoining shore of australia, but the spirit of exploration reached its height in the days of van diemen. the north and north-west of australia being to some extent already known, abel tasman was despatched by van diemen to find out, if possible, how far southward the land extended. sailing in october, , from mauritius, he skirted portions of the coast of what is now victoria and new south wales and discovered the island which he named after his patron van diemen's land, but which is now very appropriately known as tasmania. pressing on he reached new zealand, which still bears the name that he gave to it, and sailed through the strait between the northern and southern islands, now cook's strait. in the course of this great voyage he next discovered the friendly or tonga islands and the fiji archipelago. he reached batavia in june, , and in the following year he visited again the north of australia and voyaged right round the gulf of carpentaria. even in a modern map of australia dutch names will be found scattered round certain portions of the coast of the island-continent, recording still, historically, the names of the early dutch explorers, their patrons, ships and homes. along the shores of the gulf of carpentaria may be seen van diemen river, gulf and cape; abel tasman, van alphen, nassau and staten rivers; capes arnhem, caron and maria (after francis caron and maria van diemen) and groote eylandt. in tasmania, with many other names, may be found frederick henry bay and cape, tasman's peninsula and tasman's head and maria island; while the wife of the governor-general is again commemorated, the northernmost point of new zealand bearing the name of maria van diemen cape. to van diemen belongs the credit of giving to the dutch their first footing ( ) in the rich island of ceylon, by concluding a treaty with the native prince of kandy. the portuguese still possessed forts at colombo, galle, negumbo and other places, but galle and negumbo were now taken by the dutch, and gradually the whole island passed into their hands and became for a century and a half their richest possession in the east, next to java. on the coromandel coast posts were also early established, and trade relations opened up with the persians and arabs. at the time when the treaty of münster gave to the united provinces the legal title to that independence for which they had so long fought, and conceded to them the freedom to trade in the indies, that trade was already theirs, safe-guarded by the fleets, the forts and the armed forces of the chartered company. the governor-general at batavia had become a powerful potentate in the eastern seas; and a succession of bold and able men, by a policy at once prudent and aggressive, had in the course of a few decades organised a colonial empire. it was a remarkable achievement for so small a country as the united provinces, and it was destined to have a prolonged life. the voyage round by the cape was long and hazardous, so van diemen in caused the island of mauritius to be occupied as a refitting station; and in one of his successors (reinierz) sent a body of colonists under jan van riebeck to form a settlement, which should be a harbour of refuge beneath the table mountain at the cape itself. this was the beginning of the cape colony. quite as interesting, and even more exciting, was the history of dutch enterprise in other seas during this eventful period. the granting of the east india company's charter led a certain willem usselincx to come forward as an earnest and persistent advocate for the formation of a west india company on the same lines. but oldenbarneveldt, anxious to negotiate a peace or truce with spain and to maintain good relations with that power, refused to lend any countenance to his proposals, either before or after the truce was concluded. he could not, however, restrain the spirit of enterprise that with increasing prosperity was abroad in holland. the formation of the northern or greenland company in , specially created in order to contest the claims of the english muscovy company to exclusive rights in the whale fishery off spitsbergen, led to those violent disputes between the fishermen of the two countries, of which an account has been given. the granting of a charter to the company of new netherland ( ) was a fresh departure. the voyage of henry hudson in the dutch service when, in , he explored the coast of north america and sailed up the river called by his name, led certain amsterdam and hoorn merchants to plan a settlement near this river; and they secured a charter giving them exclusive rights from chesapeake bay to newfoundland. the result was the founding of the colony of new netherland, with new amsterdam on manhattan island as its capital. this settlement was at first small and insignificant, but, being placed midway between the english colonies on that same coast, it added one more to the many questions of dispute between the two sea-powers. willem usselincx had all this time continued his agitation for the erection of a west india company; and at last, with the renewal of the war with spain in , his efforts were rewarded. the charter granted by the states-general (june , ) gave to the company for twenty-four years the monopoly of navigation and trade to the coast-lands of america and the west indies from the south-end of newfoundland to the straits of magellan and to the coasts and lands of africa from the tropic of cancer to the cape of good hope. the governing body consisted of nineteen representatives, the nineteen. the states-general contributed to the capital , , fl., on half of which only they were to receive dividends. they also undertook in time of war to furnish sixteen ships and four yachts, the company being bound to supply a like number. the west india company from the first was intended to be an instrument of war. its aims were buccaneering rather than commerce. there was no secret about its object; it was openly proclaimed. its historian de laet (himself a director) wrote, "there is no surer means of bringing our enemy at last to reason, than to infest him with attacks everywhere in america and to stop the fountain-head of his best finances." after some tentative efforts, it was resolved to send out an expedition in great force; but the question arose, where best to strike? by the advice of usselincx and others acquainted with the condition of the defences of the towns upon the american coast, bahia, the capital of the portuguese colony of brazil, was selected, as specially vulnerable. thus in the west, as in the east, portugal was to suffer for her unwilling subjection to the crown of castile. the consent of the states-general and of the stadholder being obtained, some months were spent in making preparations on an adequate scale. the fleet, which consisted of twenty-three ships of war with four yachts, armed with pieces of ordnance, and carrying in addition to the crews a force of troops, sailed in two contingents, december, , and january, . jacob willekens was the admiral-in-chief, with piet hein as his vice-admiral. colonel jan van dorth, lord of horst, was to conduct the land operations and to be the governor of the town, when its conquest was achieved. on may the fleet sailed into the bay of all saints (_bahia de todos os santos_) and proceeded to disembark the troops on a sandy beach a little to the east of the city of san salvador, commonly known as bahia. it was strongly situated on heights rising sheer from the water; and, as news of the dutch preparations had reached lisbon and madrid, its fortifications had been repaired and its garrison strengthened. in front of the lower town below the cliffs was a rocky island, and on this and on the shore were forts well provided with batteries, and under their lee were fifteen ships of war. on may piet hein was sent with five vessels to contain the enemy's fleet and cover the landing of the military forces. but hein, far from being content with a passive role, attacked the portuguese, burnt or captured all their ships and then, embarking his men in launches, stormed the defences of the island and spiked the guns. meanwhile the troops had, without opposition, occupied a benedictine convent on the heights opposite the town. but the daring of piet hein had caused a panic to seize the garrison. despite the efforts of the governor, diogo de mendoça furdado, there was a general exodus in the night, both of the soldiery and the inhabitants. when morning came the dutch marched into the undefended town, the governor and his son, who had refused to desert their posts, being taken prisoners. they, with much booty, were at once sent to holland as a proof of the completeness of the victory. events, however, were to prove that it is easier for an expeditionary force to capture a town at such a distance from the home-base of supplies, than to retain it. governor van dorth had scarcely entered upon his duties when he fell into an ambush of native levies near san salvador and was killed. his successor, willem schouten, was incompetent and dissolute; and, when the fleet set sail on its homeward voyage at the end of july, the garrison soon found itself practically besieged by bodies of portuguese troops with indian auxiliaries, who occupied the neighbouring woods and stopped supplies. meanwhile the news of the capture of san salvador reached madrid and lisbon; and spaniards and portuguese vied with one another in their eagerness to equip a great expedition to expel the invaders. it was truly a mighty armada which set sail, under the supreme command of don fadrique de toledo, from the iberian ports at the beginning of , for it consisted of fifty ships with five caravels and four pinnaces, carrying , men and guns. on easter eve (march ) the fleet entered all saints' bay in the form of a vast crescent measuring six leagues from tip to tip. the dutch garrison of men, being strongly fortified, resisted for a month but, shut in by sea and by land and badly led, they capitulated on april , on condition that they were sent back to holland. that the brilliant success of was thus so soon turned into disaster was in no way due to the supineness of the home authorities. the nineteen were in no way surprised to hear of great preparations being made by the king of spain to retake the town, and they on their part were determined to maintain their conquest by meeting force with force. straining all their resources, three squadrons were equipped; the first two, numbering thirty-two ships and nine yachts, were destined for brazil; the third, a small flying squadron of seven vessels, was despatched early to watch the spanish ports. the general-in-chief of the brazilian expedition was boudewyn hendrikszoon. driven back by a succession of storms, it was not until april , , that the fleet was able to leave the channel and put out to sea. the voyage was a rapid one and on may , hendrikszoon sailed into the bay in battle order, only to see the spanish flag waving over san salvador and the mighty fleet of admiral toledo drawn up under the protection of its batteries. hendrikszoon sailed slowly past the spaniards, who did not stir, and perceiving that it would be madness to attack a superior force in such a position he reluctantly gave orders to withdraw. on the homeward journey by the west indies a number of rich prizes were made, but sickness made great ravages among the crews, and counted hendrikszoon himself among its victims. the events of the following year seem to show that with audacity he might have at least inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. for in the directors, ignorant of his failure, sent out a reinforcement of nine ships and five yachts under the command of the redoubtable piet hein. hein sailed on may for the west indies, where he learnt that hendrikszoon was dead and that the remnant of his expedition had returned after a fruitless voyage of misadventure. hein however was not the man to turn back. he determined to try what he could effect at bahia by a surprise attack. he reached the entrance to the bay on march , , but was unluckily becalmed; and the portuguese were warned of his presence. on arriving before san salvador he found thirty ships drawn up close to the land; sixteen of these were large and armed, and four were galleons with a considerable number of troops on board. the dutch admiral with great daring determined to attack them by sailing between them and the shore, making it difficult for the guns on shore to fire on him without injury to their own ships. it was a hazardous stroke, for the passage was narrow, but entirely successful. one of the four galleons, carrying the admiral's flag, was sunk, the other three struck. taking to their launches, the dutchmen now fiercely assailed the other vessels, and in a very short time were masters of twenty-two prizes. it was a difficult task to carry them off at the ebb-tide, and it was not achieved without loss. hein's own ship, the _amsterdam,_ grounded and had to be burnt, and another ship by some mischance blew up. the total loss, except through the explosion, was exceedingly small. the captured vessels contained chests of sugar, besides a quantity of cotton, hides and tobacco. the booty was stored in the four largest ships and sent to holland; the rest were burnt. hein now made a raid down the coast as far as rio de janeiro and then returned. the "sea terror of delft" for some weeks after this remained in unchallenged mastery of the bay, picking up prizes when the opportunity offered. then he sailed by the west indies homewards and reached dutch waters on october , , having during this expedition captured no less than fifty-five enemy vessels. the value of the booty was sufficient to repay the company for their great outlay, and it was wisely used in the equipment of fresh fleets for the following year. this next year, , was indeed an _annus mirabilis_ in the records of the dutch west india company. on january two fleets put to sea, one under dirk simonsz uitgeest for the coast of brazil; another under pieter adriansz ita for the west indies. both were successful and came back laden with spoil. it was reserved, however, for the expedition under piet hein to make all other successes seem small. this fleet, consisting of thirty-one ships of war, left holland at the end of may for the west indies with instructions to lie in wait for the spanish treasure fleet. many attempts had been made in previous years to intercept the galleons, which year by year carried the riches of mexico and peru to spain, but they had always failed. after some weeks of weary cruising, piet hein, when off the coast of cuba, was rewarded (september ) by the sight of the spanish fleet approaching, and at once bore down upon them. after a sharp conflict, the spaniards took refuge in the bay of matanzas and, running the galleons into shoal-water, tried to convey the rich cargoes on shore. it was in vain. the dutch sailors, taking to their boats, boarded the galleons and compelled them to surrender. the spoil was of enormous value, comprising , lbs. of silver, lbs. of gold, , hides, chests of indigo, besides cochineal, logwood, sugar, spices and precious stones. it brought , , fl. into the coffers of the company, and a dividend of per cent, was paid to the shareholders. it was a wrong policy thus to deal with the results of a stroke of good fortune not likely to be repeated. this year was, however, to be a lucky year unto the end. a fourth expedition under adrian jansz pater which left on august for the caribbean sea, sailed up the orinoco and destroyed the town of san thomé de guiana, the chief spanish settlement in those parts. all this, it may be said, partook of the character of buccaneering, nevertheless these were shrewd blows struck at the very source from whence the spanish power obtained means for carrying on the war. the west india company was fulfilling triumphantly one of the chief purposes for which it was created, and was threatening philip iv with financial ruin. the successes of had the effect of encouraging the directors to try to retrieve the failure at bahia by conquest elsewhere. olinda, on the coast of pernambuco, was selected as the new objective. an expeditionary force of exceptional strength was got ready; and, as piet hein, at the very height of his fame, unfortunately lost his life in the spring of in an encounter with the dunkirk pirates, hendrik cornelisz lonck, who had served as vice-admiral under hein at matanzas bay, was made admiral-in-chief, with jonckheer diederik van waerdenburgh in command of the military forces. a considerable delay was caused by the critical position of the united provinces when invaded by the spanish-imperialist armies at the time of the siege of hertogenbosch, but the capture of that fortress enabled the last contingents to sail towards the end of the year; and lonck was able to collect his whole force at st vincent, one of the canary islands, on christmas day to start on their voyage across the atlantic. that force consisted of fifty-two ships and yachts and thirteen sloops, carrying sailors and soldiers, and mounting guns. adverse weather prevented the arrival of the fleet in the offing of olinda until february . along the coast of pernambuco runs a continuous reef of rock with narrow openings at irregular intervals, forming a barrier against attack from the sea. olinda, the capital of the provinces, was built on a hill a short distance inland, having as its port a village known as povo or the reciff, lying on a spit of sand between the mouths of the rivers biberibi and capibaribi. there was a passage through the rocky reef northwards about two leagues above olinda and three others southwards (only one of which, the _barra_, was navigable for large ships) giving access to a sheet of water of some ft. in depth between the reef and the spit of sand, and forming a commodious harbour, the pozo. the problem before the dutch commander was a difficult one, for news of the expedition had reached madrid; and matthias de albuquerque, brother of "the proprietor" of pernambuco, duarte de albuquerque, a man of great energy and powers of leadership, had arrived in october to put olinda and the reciff into a state of defence. two forts strongly garrisoned and armed, san francisco and san jorge, defended the entrances through the reef and the neck of the spit of sand; sixteen ships chained together and filled with combustibles barred access to the harbour; and the village of the reciff was surrounded by entrenchments. within the fortifications of olinda, albuquerque held himself in readiness to oppose any body of the enemy that should effect a landing above the town. lonck, after consultation with waerdenburgh, determined to make with the main body of the fleet under his own command an attempt to force the entrances to the pozo, while waerdenburgh, with the bulk of the military contingent on sixteen ships, sailed northwards to find some spot suitable for disembarkation. the naval attack was made on february , but was unavailing. all the efforts of the dutch to make their way through any of the entrances to the pozo, though renewed again and again with the utmost bravery, were beaten off. in the evening lonck withdrew his ships. he had learnt by an experience, to which history scarcely offers an exception, that a naval attack unsupported by military co-operation against land defences cannot succeed. but waerdenburgh had used the opportunity, while the enemy's attention was directed to the repelling of the assault on the reciff, to land his army without opposition. at dawn the dutch general advanced and, after forcing the crossing of the river doce in the teeth of the resistance of a body of irregular troops led by albuquerque in person, marched straight on olinda. there was no serious resistance. the fortifications were carried by storm and the town fell into the hands of waerdenburgh. the garrison and almost all the inhabitants fled into the neighbouring forest. aware of the fact that the occupation of olinda was useless without a harbour as a base of supplies, it was resolved at once with the aid of the fleet to lay siege to the forts of san francisco and san jorge. despite obstinate resistance, first san jorge, then san francisco surrendered; and on march the fleet sailed through the barra, and the reciff with the island of antonio vaz behind it was occupied by the dutch. no sooner was the conquest made than steps were taken for its administration. a welcome reinforcement arrived from holland on march , having on board three representatives sent by the nineteen, who were to form with waerdenburgh, appointed governor, an administrative council, or court of policy. the reciff, rather than olinda, was selected as the seat of government, and forts were erected for its defence. the position, however, was perilous in the extreme. albuquerque, who was well acquainted with the country and skilled in guerrilla warfare, formed an entrenched camp to which he gave the name of the _arreyal de bom jesus_, a position defended by marshes and thick woods. from this centre, by the aid of large numbers of friendly indians, he was able to cut off all supplies of fresh water, meat or vegetables from reaching the dutch garrison. they had to depend for the necessaries of life upon stores sent to them in relief fleets from holland. it was a strange and grim struggle of endurance, in which both dutch and portuguese suffered terribly, the one on the barren sea-shore, the other in the pathless woods under the glare of a tropical sun, both alike looking eagerly for succour from the motherland. the dutch succours were the first to arrive. the first detachment under marten thijssen reached the reciff on december , ; the main fleet under adrian jansz pater on april , . the whole fleet consisted of sixteen ships and yachts manned by sailors and soldiers. their arrival was the signal for offensive operations. an expedition under thijssen's command sailed on april for the large island of itamaraca about fifteen miles to the north of the reciff. it was successful. itamaraca was occupied and garrisoned, and thus a second and advantageous post established on the brazilian coast. meanwhile the spanish government had not been idle. after many delays a powerful fleet set sail from lisbon on may for pernambuco, consisting of fifteen spanish and five portuguese ships and carrying a large military force, partly destined for bahia, but principally as a reinforcement for matthias de albuquerque. the expedition was commanded by admiral antonio de oquendo, and was accompanied by duarte de albuquerque, the proprietor of pernambuco. after landing troops and munitions at bahia, the spaniards wasted several weeks before starting again to accomplish the main object of blockading the dutch in the reciff and compelling their surrender by famine. but pater had learnt by his scouts of the presence of oquendo at bahia, and though his force was far inferior he determined to meet the hostile armada at sea. the spanish fleet was sighted at early dawn on september , and pater at once gave orders to attack. his fleet consisted of sixteen ships and yachts, that of the enemy of twenty galleons and sixteen caravels. the dutch admiral had formed his fleet in two lines, himself in the _prins willem_ and vice-admiral thijssen in the _vereenigte provintien_ being the leaders. on this occasion the sight of the great numbers and size of the spanish galleons caused a great part of the dutch captains to lose heart and hang back. pater and thijssen, followed by only two ships, bore down however on the spaniards. _the prins willem_ with the _walcheren_ in attendance laid herself alongside the _st jago_, flying the flag of admiral oquendo; the _vereenigte provintien_ with the _provintie van utrecht_ in its wake drew up to the _st antonio de padua_, the ship of vice-admiral francisco de vallecilla. for six hours the duel between the _prins willem_ and the _st jago_ went on with fierce desperation, the captain of the _walcheren_ gallantly holding at bay the galleons who attempted to come to the rescue of oquendo. at p.m. the _st jago_ was a floating wreck with only a remnant of her crew surviving, when suddenly a fire broke out in the _prins willem_, which nothing could check. with difficulty the _st jago_ drew off and, finding that his vessel was lost, pater, refusing to surrender, wrapped the flag round his body and threw himself into the sea. meanwhile success had attended thijssen. the lagging dutch ships coming up gradually threatened the convoy of spanish transports and drew off many of the galleons for their protection. the _provintie van utrecht_ indeed, like the _prins willem_, caught fire and was burnt to the water's edge; but the vice-admiral himself sank the _st antonio de padua_ and another galleon that came to vallecilla's help, and captured a third. it was a bloody and apparently indecisive fight, but the dutch enjoyed the fruits of victory. oquendo made no attempt to capture the reciff and olinda, but, after landing the troops he convoyed at a favourable spot, sailed northwards, followed by thijssen. but though relieved the position was still very serious. albuquerque, now considerably reinforced from his impregnable post at the _arreyal de bom jesus_, cut off all intercourse inland. the dutch even abandoned olinda and concentrated themselves at the reciff, where they remained as a besieged force entirely dependent upon supplies sent from holland. several expeditions were despatched with the hope of seizing other positions on the coast, but all of them proved failures; and, when waerdenburgh returned home in , having reached the end of his three years' service as governor, all that could be said was that the dutch had retained their foothold on the coast of pernambuco, but at vast cost to the company in men, vessels and treasure, and without any apparent prospect for the future. but pertinacity was to be rewarded. for the period of success that followed special histories must be consulted. in the year following the return of waerdenburgh the efforts of the dutch authorities to extend their possessions along the coast at the various river mouths were steadily successful; and with the advent of joan maurice of nassau to the governorship, in , the dream of a dutch empire in brazil seemed to be on the point of realisation. this cousin of the prince of orange was endowed with brilliant qualities, and during the seven years of his governorship he extended the dutch dominion from the rio grande in the south to the island of maranhão on the north and to a considerable distance inland, indeed over the larger part of seven out of the fourteen captaincies into which portuguese brazil was divided. on his arrival, by a wise policy of statesmanlike conciliation, he contrived to secure the goodwill of the portuguese planters, who, though not loving the dutch heretics, hated them less than their spanish oppressors, and also of the jews, who were numerous in the conquered territory. under his rule the reciff as the seat of the dutch government was beautified and enlarged; many fine buildings and gardens adorned it, and the harbour made commodious for commerce with rows of warehouses and ample docks. to the new capital he gave the name of mauritsstad. during the earlier part of his governor-generalship joan maurice was called upon to face a really great danger. the year was to witness what was to be the last great effort (before the portuguese revolt) of the still undivided spanish monarchy for supremacy at sea. already it has been told how a great fleet sent under antonio de oquendo to drive the dutch from the narrow seas was crushed by admiral tromp at the battle of the downs. in the same year the most formidable armada ever sent from the peninsula across the ocean set sail for brazil. it consisted of no less than eighty-six vessels manned by , sailors and soldiers under the command of the count de torre. unpropitious weather conditions, as so often in the case of spanish naval undertakings, ruined the enterprise. making for bahia they were detained for two months in the bay of all saints by strong northerly winds. meanwhile joan maurice, whose naval force at first was deplorably weak, had managed by energetic efforts to gather together a respectable fleet of forty vessels under admiral loos, which resembled the english fleet of under effingham and drake, in that it made up for lack of numbers and of size by superior seamanship and skill in manoeuvring. at length, the wind having shifted, the count de torre put to sea; and on january , , the dutch squadrons sighted the spaniards, who were being driven along by a southerly gale which had sprung up. clinging to their rear and keeping the weather-gauge, the dutch kept up a running fight, inflicting continual losses on their enemies, and, giving them no opportunity to make for land and seek the shelter of a port, drove them northwards in disorder never to return. by this signal deliverance the hold of the netherlanders upon their brazilian conquests appeared to be assured; and, as has been already stated, joan maurice took full advantage of the opportunity that was offered to him to consolidate and extend them. a sudden change of political circumstances was, however, to bring to a rapid downfall a dominion which had never rested on a sound basis. the revolt of portugal in was at first hailed in the united provinces as the entry of a new ally into the field against their ancient enemy the spaniard. but it was soon perceived that there could be no friendship with independent portugal, unless both the east and west india companies withdrew from the territories they had occupied overseas entirely at the expense of the portuguese. king joão iv and his advisers at lisbon, face to face as they were with the menacing spanish power, showed willingness to make great concessions, but they could not control the spirit which animated the settlers in the colonies themselves. everywhere the spanish yoke was repudiated, and the dutch garrisons in brazil suddenly found themselves confronted in with a loyalist rising, with which they were not in a position to deal successfully. the west india company had not proved a commercial success. the fitting out of great fleets and the maintenance of numerous garrisons of mercenaries at an immense distance from the home country had exhausted their resources and involved the company in debt. the building of mauritsstad and the carrying out of joan maurice's ambitious schemes for the administration and organisation of a great brazilian dominion were grandiose, but very costly. the governor, moreover, who could brook neither incompetence nor interference on the part of his subordinates, had aroused the enmity of some of them, notably of a certain colonel architofsky, who through spite plotted and intrigued against him with the authorities at home. the result was that, the directors having declined to sanction certain proposals made to them by joan maurice, he sent in his resignation, which was accepted ( ). it must be remembered that their position was a difficult one. the charter of the company had been granted for a term of twenty-four years, and it was doubtful whether the states-general, already beginning to discuss secretly the question of a separate peace with spain, would consent to renew it. the relations with portugal were very delicate; and a formidable rebellion of the entire body of portuguese settlers, aided by the natives, was on the point of breaking out. indeed the successors of joan maurice, deprived of any adequate succour from home, were unable to maintain themselves against the skill and courage of the insurgent portuguese leaders. the dutch were defeated in the field, and one by one their fortresses were taken. the reciff itself held out for some time, but it was surrendered at last in ; and with its fall the dutch were finally expelled from the territory for the acquisition of which they had sacrificed so much blood and treasure. the west india company at the peace of münster possessed, besides the remnant of its brazilian dominion, the colony of new netherland in north america, and two struggling settlements on the rivers essequibo and berbice in guiana. new netherland comprised the country between the english colonies of new england and virginia; and the dutch settlers had at this time established farms near the coast and friendly relations with the natives of the interior, with whom they trafficked for furs. the appointment of peter stuyvesant as governor, in , was a time of real development in new netherland. this colony was an appanage of the chamber of amsterdam, after which new amsterdam, the seat of government on the island of manhattan, was named. the official trading posts on the essequibo and the berbice, though never abandoned, had for some years a mere lingering existence, but are deserving of mention in that they were destined to survive the vicissitudes of fortune and to become in the th century a valuable possession. their importance also is to be measured not by the meagre official reports and profit and loss accounts that have survived in the west india company's records, but by the much fuller information to be derived from spanish and portuguese sources, as to the remarkable daring and energy of dutch trading agents in all that portion of the south american continent lying between the rivers amazon and orinoco. expelled from the amazon itself in by the portuguese from para, the dutch traders established themselves at different times at the mouths of almost all the rivers along what was known as the wild coast of guiana, and penetrating inland through a good understanding with the natives, especially with the ubiquitous carib tribes, carried on a barter traffic beyond the mountains into the northern watershed of the amazon, even as far as the rio negro itself. this trade with the interior finds no place in the company's official minutes, for it was strictly speaking an infringement of the charter, and therefore illegitimate. but it was characteristically dutch, and it was winked at, for the chief offenders were themselves among the principal shareholders of the company. no account of dutch commerce during the period of frederick henry would be complete, however, which did not refer to the relations between holland and sweden, and the part played by an amsterdam merchant in enabling the swedish armies to secure the ultimate triumph of the protestant cause in the thirty years' war. louis de geer sprang from an ancient noble family of liège. his father fled to dordrecht in to escape from the inquisition and became prosperous in business. liège was then, as now, a great centre of the iron industry; and after his father's death louis de geer in removed to amsterdam, where he became a merchant in all kinds of iron and copper goods, more especially of ordnance and fire-arms. in close alliance with him, though not in partnership, was his brother-in-law, elias trip, the head of a firm reputed to have the most extensive business in iron-ware and weapons in the netherlands. the commanding abilities of de geer soon gave to the two firms, which continued to work harmoniously together as a family concern, a complete supremacy in the class of wares in which they dealt. at this time the chief supply of iron and copper ore came from sweden; and in de geer was sent on a mission by the states-general to that country to negotiate for a supply of these raw materials for the forging of ordnance. this mission had important results, for it was the first step towards bringing about those close relations between sweden and the united provinces which were to subsist throughout the whole of the thirty years' war. in the following year, , gustavus adolphus, then about to conduct an expedition into livonia, sent an envoy to holland for the purpose of securing the good offices of the states-general for the raising of a loan upon the security of the swedish copper mines. the principal contributor was louis de geer. he had, during his visit to sweden, learnt how great was the wealth of that country in iron ore, and at the same time that the mines were lying idle and undeveloped through lack of capital and skilled workmen. he used his opportunity therefore to obtain from gustavus the lease of the rich mining domain of finspong. the lease was signed on october , , and de geer at once began operations on the largest scale. he introduced from liège a body of expert walloon iron-workers, built forges and factories, and was in a few years able to supply the swedish government with all the ordnance and munitions of war that they required, and to export through the port of norrköping large supplies of goods to his warehouses at amsterdam. his relations with gustavus adolphus soon became intimate. the king relied upon de geer for the supply of all the necessaries for his armies in the field, and even commissioned him to raise troops for the swedish service. in the dutch merchant was appointed by the king acting-manager of the copper mines, which were royal property; and, in order to regularise his position and give him greater facilities for the conduct of his enterprises, the rights of swedish citizenship were conferred by royal patent upon him. it was a curious position, for though de geer paid many visits to sweden, once for three consecutive years, - , he continued to make amsterdam his home and principal residence. he thus had a dual nationality. year after year saw an increasing number of mines and properties passing into the great financier's hands, and in return for these concessions he made large advances to the king for his triumphant expedition into germany; advancing him in , rixdalers, and somewhat later a further sum of , rixdalers. so confidential were the relations between them that gustavus sent for de geer to his camp at kitzingen for a personal consultation on business matters in the spring of . it was their last interview, for before that year closed the swedish hero was to perish at lützen. the death of gustavus made no difference to the position of louis de geer in sweden, for he found axel oxenstierna a warm friend and powerful supporter. among other fresh enterprises was the formation of a swedo-dutch company for trading on the west coast of africa. in this company oxenstierna himself invested money. in reward for his many services the swedish council of regency conferred upon de geer and his heirs a patent of nobility (august , ); and as part repayment of the large loans advanced by him to the swedish treasury he obtained as his own the districts containing his mines and factories in different parts of sweden, making him one of the largest landed proprietors in the country. he on his part in return for this was able to show in a remarkable way that he was not ungrateful for the favours that he had received. with christian iv of denmark for many years the swedes and the dutch had had constant disputes and much friction. this able and ambitious king, throughout a long and vigorous reign, which began in , had watched with ever-increasing jealousy the passing of the baltic trade into dutch hands, and with something more than jealousy the rapid advance to power of the sister scandinavian kingdom under gustavus adolphus. of the merchant ships that passed through the sound between june and november , , all but came from dutch ports, by far the largest number from amsterdam; and from these christian iv drew a large revenue by the exaction of harsh and arbitrary toll-dues. again and again the states-general had complained and protested; and diplomatic pressure had been brought to bear upon the high-handed king, but without avail. between sweden and denmark there had been, since gustavus adolphus came to the throne in , no overt act of hostility; but smouldering beneath the surface of an armed truce were embers of latent rivalries and ambitions ready at any moment to burst into flame. christian iv was a protestant, but his jealousy of sweden led him in openly to take sides with the catholic powers, austria and spain. fearing that he might attempt to close the passage of the sound, the states-general and the swedish regency in concluded a treaty "for securing the freedom and protection of shipping and commerce in the baltic and north seas"; and one of the secret articles gave permission to sweden to buy or hire ships in the netherlands and in case of necessity to enlist crews for the same. outward peace was precariously maintained between the scandinavian powers, when the seizure of a number of swedish ships in the sound in made oxenstierna resolve upon a bold stroke. without any declaration of war the swedish general, torstensson, was ordered to lead his victorious army from north germany into denmark and to force king christian to cease intriguing with the enemy. holstein, schleswig and jutland were speedily in torstensson's hands, but the danish fleet was superior to the swedish, and he could make no further progress. both sides turned to the united provinces. christian promised that the grievances in regard to the sound dues should be removed if the states-general would remain neutral. oxenstierna addressed himself to louis de geer. the merchant on behalf of the swedish government was instructed to approach the stadholder and the states-general, and to seek for naval assistance under the terms of the treaty of ; and, if he failed in obtaining their assent, then he--de geer--should himself (in conformance with the secret article of that treaty) raise on his own account and equip a fleet of thirty ships for the swedish service. de geer soon discovered that frederick henry, being intent on peace negotiations, was averse to the proposal. the stadholder, and the states-general acting under his influence, did not wish to create fresh entanglements by embroiling the united provinces in a war with denmark. de geer therefore at once began on his own responsibility to equip ships in the various seaports of holland and zeeland which had been the chief sufferers by the vexatious sound dues, and he succeeded in enlisting the connivance of the estates of holland to his undertaking. before the end of april, , a fleet of thirty-two vessels was collected under the command of marten thijssen. its first efforts were unsuccessful. the danish fleet effectually prevented the junction of thijssen with the swedes, and for a time he found himself blockaded in a narrow passage called the listerdiep. taking advantage of a storm which dispersed the danes, the dutch admiral at last was able to put to sea again, and early in july somewhat ignominiously returned to amsterdam to refit. for the moment king christian was everywhere triumphant. on july he gained a signal victory over the swedish fleet at colberg heath, and he had the satisfaction of seeing torstensson compelled by the imperialists to retreat from jutland. but the energy and pertinacity of the amsterdam merchant saved the situation. though the retreat of thijssen meant for him a heavy financial loss, de geer never for a moment faltered in his purpose. within three weeks thijssen again put to sea with twenty-two ships, and by skilful manoeuvring he succeeded in making his way through the skagerak and the sound, and finally brought his fleet to anchor in the swedish harbour of calmar. from this harbour the united swedo-dutch squadrons sailed out and on october , between femern and laaland, met the danish fleet, and after a desperate conflict completely defeated and destroyed it. thus were the wealth and resources of a private citizen of amsterdam able to intervene decisively at a critical moment in the struggle for supremacy in the baltic between the two scandinavian powers. but it is not in the victory won by marten thijssen that de geer rendered his greatest service to sweden. as the swedish historian fryxell truly says, "all that was won by the statesmanship of oxenstierna, by the sword of baner, torstensson and wrangel, in a desolated germany streaming with blood, has been already lost again; but the benefits which louis de geer brought to sweden, by the path of peaceful industry and virtue, these still exist, and bear wholesome fruit to a late posterity." this expedition under marten thijssen, who after his victory was created a swedish noble and definitely entered the swedish naval service, though connived at by frederick henry and the states-general, did not express any desire on their part to aggrandise sweden unduly at the expense of denmark. if some great merchants such as louis de geer and elias trip were exploiting the resources of sweden, others, notably a certain gabriel marcelis, had invested their capital in developing the danish grazing lands; and politically and commercially the question of the sound dues, pre-eminently a danish question, overshadowed all others in importance. the dutch had no desire to give sweden a share in the control of the sound; they preferred in the interests of their vast baltic trade to have to deal with christian iv alone. the swedish threat was useful in bringing diplomatic pressure to bear on the danish king, but ultimately they felt confident that, if he refused to make concessions in the matter of the dues, they could compel him to do so. as one of their diplomatists proudly declared, "the wooden keys of the sound were not in the hands of king christian, but in the wharves of amsterdam." in june, , his words were put to a practical test. admiral witte de with at the head of a fleet of fifty war-ships was ordered to convoy merchantmen through the sound, peacefully if possible, if not, by force. quietly the entire fleet of vessels sailed through the narrow waters. the danish fleet and danish forts made no attempt at resistance. all the summer de with cruised to and fro and the dutch traders suffered no molestation. christian's obstinacy at last gave way before this display of superior might, and on august , by the treaty of christianopel he agreed to lower the tolls for forty years and to make many other concessions that were required from him. at the same time by dutch mediation peace was concluded between denmark and sweden, distinctly to the advantage of the former, by the treaty of brömsebro. to pass to other regions. in the levant, during the long residence of cornelis haga at constantinople, trade had been greatly extended. considerable privileges were conceded to the dutch by the so-called "capitulation" concluded by his agency with the porte in ; and dutch consuls were placed in the chief ports of turkey, asia minor, syria, egypt, tunis, greece and italy. the trading however with the mediterranean and the levant was left to private enterprise, the states-general which had given charters to the different companies--east india, west india and northern--not being willing to create any further monopolies. the lack of coal and of metals has always seriously hindered industrial development in the united provinces. nevertheless the advent into holland of so many refugees who were skilled artisans, from the southern netherlands, led to the establishment of various textile industries at leyden, haarlem and other towns. one of the chief of these was the dressing and dyeing of english cloth for exportation. amsterdam, it should be mentioned, had already at this time become the home of the diamond industry. the art of cutting and polishing diamonds was a secret process brought to the city on the y by portuguese jews, who were expelled by philip ii; and in amsterdam their descendants still retain a peculiar skill and craftmanship that is unrivalled. jewish settlers were indeed to be found in many of the dutch towns; and it was through them that holland became famous in th century europe for the perfection of her goldsmiths' and silversmiths' art and for jewelry of every kind. another industry, which had its centre at delft, was that of the celebrated pottery and tiles known as "delfware." it will be evident from what has been said above that vast wealth flowed into holland at this period of her history, but, as so often happens, this sudden growth of riches had a tendency to accumulate in the hands of a minority of the people, with the inevitable consequence, on the one hand, of the widening of the gulf which divided poverty from opulence; on the other, with the creation among rich and poor alike of a consuming eagerness and passion for gain, if not by legitimate means, then by wild speculation or corrupt venality. bubble companies came into existence, only to bring disaster on those who rashly invested their money in them. the fever of speculation rose to its height in the mania for the growing of bulbs and more especially of tulips, which more and more absorbed the attention of the public in holland in the years - . perfectly inordinate sums were offered in advance for growing crops or for particular bulbs; most of the transactions being purely paper speculations, a gambling in futures. millions of guilders were risked, and hundreds of thousands lost or won. in the crash came, and many thousands of people, in amsterdam, haarlem, leyden, alkmaar and other towns in holland, were brought to ruin. the estates of holland and the various municipal corporations, numbers of whose members were among the sufferers, were compelled to take official action to extend the time for the liquidation of debts, and thus to some extent limit the number of bankruptcies. the tulip mania reduced, however, so many to beggary that it came as a stern warning. it was unfortunately only too typical of the spirit of the time. even worse in some ways was the venality and corruption which began to pervade the public life of the country. the getting of wealth, no matter how, was an epidemic, which infected not merely the business community, but the official classes of the republic. there was malversation in the admiralties and in the military administration. the government was in the hands of narrow oligarchies, who took good care to oppose jealously any extension of the privileges which placed so much valuable patronage at their disposal. even envoys to foreign courts were reputed not to be inaccessible to the receipt of presents, which were in reality bribes; and in the law-courts the wealthy suitor or offender could generally count on a charitable construction being placed upon all points in his favour. the severe placards, for instance, against the public celebration of any form of worship but that of the reformed religion, according to the decrees of the synod of dort, were notoriously not enforced. those who were able and willing to pay for a dispensation found a ready and judicious toleration. this toleration was not entirely due to the venality of the officials, but rather to the spirit of materialistic indifference that was abroad among the orthodox calvinists, who were alone eligible for public office. large numbers of those who professed the established faith were in reality either nominal conformists too much immersed in affairs to trouble about religious questions, or actually free-thinkers in disguise. it must never be forgotten that in the united provinces taken as a whole, the calvinists, whether orthodox or arminian, formed a minority of the population. even in holland itself more than half the inhabitants were catholics, including many of the old families and almost all the peasantry. likewise in utrecht, gelderland and overyssel the catholics were in the majority. the generality lands, north brabant and dutch flanders, were entirely of the roman faith. in holland, zeeland and especially in friesland and groningen the mennonite baptists and other sects had numerous adherents. liberty of thought and to a large extent of worship was in fact at this time the characteristic of the netherlands, and existed in spite of the unrepealed placards which enforced under pain of heavy penalties a strict adherence to the principles of dort. * * * * * chapter xii letters, science and art the epithet "glorious"--_roemrijke_--has been frequently applied by dutch historians to the period of frederick henry--and deservedly. the preceding chapter has told that it was a time of wonderful maritime and colonial expansion, of commercial supremacy and material prosperity. but the spirit of the holland, which reached its culminating point of national greatness in the middle of the th century, was far from being wholly occupied with voyages of adventure and conquest on far distant seas, or engrossed in sordid commercialism at home. the rapid acquisition of wealth by successful trade is dangerous to the moral health and stability alike of individuals and of societies; and the vices which follow in its train had, as we have already pointed out, infected to a certain extent the official and commercial classes in the dutch republic at this epoch. there is, however, another side of the picture. the people of the united provinces in their long struggle for existence, as a free and independent state, had had all the dormant energies and qualities of which their race was capable called into intense and many-sided activity, with the result that the quickening impulse, which had been sent thrilling through the veins, and which had made the pulses to throb with the stress of effort and the eagerness of hope, penetrated into every department of thought and life. when the treaty of münster was signed, holland had taken her place in the very front rank in the civilised world, as the home of letters, science and art, and was undoubtedly the most learned state in europe. in an age when latin was the universal language of learning, it was this last fact which loomed largest in the eyes of contemporaries. the wars and persecutions which followed the reformation made holland the place of refuge of many of the most adventurous spirits, the choicest intellects and the most independent thinkers of the time. flemings and walloons, who fled from alva and the inquisition, spanish and portuguese jews driven out by the fanaticism of philip ii, french huguenots and german calvinists, found within the borders of the united provinces a country of adoption, where freedom of the press and freedom of opinion existed to a degree unknown elsewhere until quite modern times. the social condition of the country, the disappearance of a feudal nobility, and the growth of a large and well-to-do burgher aristocracy in whose hands the government of the republic really lay, had led to a widespread diffusion of education and culture. all travellers in th century holland were struck by the evidences which met their eyes, in all places that they visited, of a general prosperity combined with great simplicity of life and quiet domesticity. homely comfort was to be seen everywhere, but not even in the mansions of the merchant princes of amsterdam was there any ostentatious display of wealth and luxury. probably of no other people could it have been said that "amongst the dutch it was unfashionable not to be a man of business[ ]." and yet, in spite of this, there was none of that narrowness of outlook, which is generally associated with burgher-society immersed in trade. these men, be it remembered, were necessarily acquainted with many languages, for they had commercial relations with all parts of the world. the number too of those who had actually voyaged and travelled in far distant oceans, in every variety of climate, amidst every diversity of race, was very large; and their presence in their home circles and in social gatherings and all they had to tell of their experiences opened men's minds, stirred their imaginations, and aroused an interest and a curiosity, which made even the stay-at-home hollanders alert, receptive and eager for knowledge. the act of william the silent in founding the university of leyden, as a memorial of the great deliverance of , was prophetic of the future that was about to dawn upon the land, which, at the moment of its lowest fortunes, the successful defence of leyden had done so much to save from utter disaster. for the reasons which have been already stated, scholars of renown driven by intolerance from their own countries found in the newly-founded academy in holland a home where they could pursue their literary work undisturbed, and gave to it a fame and celebrity which speedily attracted thousands of students not only from the netherlands, but also from foreign lands. this was especially the case during the terrible time when germany was devastated by the thirty years' war. among the scholars and philologists, who held chairs at leyden during the first century of its existence, are included a long list of names of european renown. justus lipsius and josephus justus scaliger may be justly reckoned among the founders of the science of critical scholarship. these were of foreign extraction, as was salmasius, one of their successors, famous for his controversy with john milton. but only less illustrious in the domain of philology and classical learning were the netherlanders gerardus johannes vossius ( - ) and his five sons, one of whom isaac ( - ) may be even said to have surpassed his father; daniel heinsius ( - ) and his son nicolas ( - ), men of immense erudition and critical insight; and the brilliant latinist caspar barlaeus ( - ). of theologians and their bitter disputes posterity retains a less grateful remembrance. gomarus and arminius by their controversies were the authors of party strife and civil dissensions which led to the death of oldenbarneveldt on the scaffold; and with them may be mentioned episcopius, voetius, coecaeus, bogerman and uyttenbogaert. not all these men had a direct connection with leyden, for the success which attended the creation of the academy in that town quickly led to the erection of similar institutions elsewhere. universities were founded at franeker, ; groningen, ; amsterdam, ; utrecht, ; and harderwijk, . these had not the same attraction as leyden for foreigners, but they quickly became, one and all, centres for the diffusion of that high level of general culture which was the distinguishing mark of the th century netherlands. all the writers, whose names have just been mentioned, used latin almost exclusively as their instrument of expression. but one name, the most renowned of them all, has been omitted, because through political circumstances he was compelled to spend the greater part of his life in banishment from his native land. hugo grotius (huig van groot), after his escape from the castle of loevestein in , though he remained through life a true patriot, never could be induced to accept a pardon, which implied an admission of guilt in himself or in oldenbarneveldt. so the man, who was known to have been the actual writer of the advocate's _justification_, continued to live in straitened circumstances at paris, until oxenstierna appointed him swedish ambassador at the french court. this post he held for eleven years. of his extraordinary ability, and of the variety and range of his knowledge, it is not possible to speak without seeming exaggeration. grotius was in his own time styled "the wonder of the world"; he certainly stands intellectually as one of the very foremost men the dutch race has produced. scholar, jurist, theologian, philosopher, historian, poet, diplomatist, letter-writer, he excelled in almost every branch of knowledge and made himself a master of whatever subject he took in hand. for the student of international law the treatise of grotius, _de jure belli et pacis_, still remains the text-book on which the later superstructure has been reared. his _mare liberum_, written expressly to controvert the portuguese claim of an exclusive right to trade and navigate in the indian ocean, excited much attention in europe, and was taken by james i to be an attack on the oft-asserted _dominium maris_ of the english crown in the narrow seas. it led the king to issue a proclamation forbidding foreigners to fish in british waters (may, ). selden's _mare clausum_ was a reply, written by the king's command, to the _mare liberum_. of his strictly historical works the _annales et historiae de rebus belgicis_, for its impartiality and general accuracy no less than for its finished and lucid style, stands out as the best of all contemporary accounts from the dutch side of the revolt of the netherlands. as a theologian grotius occupied a high rank. his _de veritate religionis christianae_ and his _annotationes in vetus et in novum testamentum_ are now out of date; but the _de veritate_ was in its day a most valuable piece of christian apologetic and was quickly translated into many languages. the _annotationes_ have, ever since they were penned, been helpful to commentators on the scriptures for their brilliancy and suggestiveness on many points of criticism and interpretation. his voluminous correspondence, diplomatic, literary, confidential, is rich in information bearing on the history and the life of his time. several thousands of these letters have been collected and published. but if the smouldering embers of bitter sectarian and party strife compelled the most brilliant of holland's own sons to spend the last twenty-three years of his life in a foreign capital and to enter the service of a foreign state, holland was at the same time, as we have seen, gaining distinction by the presence within her hospitable boundaries of men of foreign extraction famous for their learning. it was thus that both the cartesian and spinozan systems of philosophy had their birth-place on dutch soil. réné descartes sought refuge from france at amsterdam in , and he resided at different places in the united provinces, among them at the university towns of utrecht, franeker and leyden, for twenty years. during this time he published most of his best known works, including the famous _discours de la méthode_. his influence was great. he made many disciples, who openly or secretly became "cartesians." among his pupils was baruch spinoza ( - ) the apostle of pantheism. a portuguese jew by descent, spinoza was born in amsterdam and was a resident in his native city throughout life. the fame of holland in th century europe as the chosen home of learning had thus been established by scholars and thinkers whose literary language was ordinarily latin. it is now time to speak of the brilliant band of poets, dramatists and stylists, who cultivated the resources of their native tongue with such success as to make this great era truly the golden age of dutch literature properly so-called. the growth of a genuine national literature in the netherlands, which had produced during the latter part of the th century a maerlandt and a melis stoke, was for some considerable time checked and retarded by the influence of the burgundian _régime_, where french, as the court language, was generally adopted by the upper classes. the netherland or low-german tongue thus became gradually debased and corrupted by the introduction of bastard words and foreign modes of expression. nevertheless this period of linguistic degradation witnessed the uprise of a most remarkable institution for popularising "the art of poesy." i refer to the literary gilds, bearing the name of "chambers of rhetoric," which, though of french origin, became rapidly acclimatised in the netherlands. in well-nigh every town one or more of these "gilds" were established, delighting the people with their quaint pageantry and elaborate ritual, and forming centres of light and culture throughout the land. rhyming, versifying, acting, became through their means the recreation of many thousands of shop-keepers, artisans and even peasants. and with all their faults of style and taste, their endless effusion of bad poetry, their feeble plays and rude farces, the mummery and buffoonery which were mingled even with their gravest efforts, the "rhetoricians" effectually achieved the great and important work of attracting an entire people in an age of ignorance and of darkness towards a love of letters, and thereby broke the ground for the great revival of the th century. amsterdam at one time possessed several of these chambers of rhetoric, but towards the end of the th century they had all disappeared, with one brilliant exception, that of the "blossoming eglantine," otherwise known as the "old chamber." founded in under the special patronage of charles v, the "eglantine" weathered safely the perils and troubles of the revolt, and passed in under the joint direction of a certain notable triumvirate, coornheert, spiegel and visscher. these men banded themselves together "to raise, restore and enrich" their mother-tongue. but they were not merely literary purists and reformers; the "eglantine" became in their hands and through their efforts the focus of new literary life and energy, and amsterdam replaced fallen antwerp as the home of netherland culture. the senior member of the triumvirate, dirk volkertz coornheert, led a stormy and adventurous life. he was a devoted adherent of william the silent and for a series of years, through good and ill-fortune, devoted himself with pen and person to the cause of his patron. as a poet he did not attain any very high flight, but he was a great pamphleteer, and, taking an active part in religious controversy, by his publications he drew upon himself a storm of opposition and in the end of persecution. he was, like his patron, a man of moderate and tolerant views, which in an age of religious bigotry brought upon him the hatred of all parties and the accusation of being a free-thinker. his stormy life ended in . hendrik laurensz spiegel ( - ) was a member of an old amsterdam family. in every way a contrast to coornheert, spiegel was a catholic. a prosperous citizen, simple, unostentatious and charitable, he spent the whole of his life in his native town, and being disqualified by his religion from holding public office he gave all his leisure to the cultivation of his mind and to literary pursuits. the work on which his fame chiefly rests was a didactic poem entitled the _hert-spiegel_. in his pleasant country house upon the banks of the amstel, beneath a wide and spreading tree, which he was wont to call the "temple of the muses" he loved to gather a circle of literary friends, irrespective of differences of opinion or of faith, and with them to spend the afternoon in bright congenial converse on books and men and things. roemer visscher, the youngest member of the triumvirate, was like spiegel an amsterdammer, a catholic and a well-to-do merchant. his poetical efforts did not attain a high standard, though his epigrams, which were both witty and quaint, won for him from his contemporaries the name of the "second martial." roemer visscher's fame does not, however, rest chiefly upon his writings. a man of great affability, learned, shrewd and humorous, he was exceedingly hospitable, and he was fortunate in having a wife of like tastes and daughters more gifted than himself. during the twenty years which preceded his death in his home was the chosen rendezvous of the best intelligence of the day. to the young he was ever ready to give encouragement and help; and struggling talent always found in him a kindly critic and a sympathising friend. he lived to see and to make the acquaintance of brederôo, vondel, cats and huyghens, the men whose names were to make the period of frederick henry the most illustrious in the annals of dutch literature. gerbrand adriansz brederôo, strictly speaking, did not belong to that period. he died prematurely in , a victim while still young to a wayward life of dissipation and disappointment. his comedies, written in the rude dialect of the fish-market and the street, are full of native humour and originality and give genuine glimpses of low life in old amsterdam. his songs show that brederôo had a real poetic gift. they reveal, beneath the rough and at times coarse and licentious exterior, a nature of fine susceptibilities and almost womanly tenderness. joost van den vondel was born in the same year as brederôo, , but his career was very different. vondel survived till , and during the whole of his long life his pen was never idle. his dramas and poems (in the edition of van lennep) fill twelve volumes. such a vast production, as is inevitable, contains material of very unequal merit; but it is not too much to say that the highest flights of vondel's lyric poetry, alike in power of expression and imagery, in the variety of metre and the harmonious cadence of the verse, deserve a far wider appreciation than they have ever received, through the misfortune of having been written in a language little known and read. vondel was the son of an antwerp citizen compelled as a protestant to fly from his native town after its capture by parma. he took refuge at cologne, where the poet was born, and afterwards settled at amsterdam. in that town vondel spent all his life, first as a shopkeeper, then as a clerk in the city savings' bank. he was always a poor man; he never sought for the patronage of the great, but rather repelled it. his scathing attacks on those who had compassed the death of oldenbarneveldt, and his adhesion to the remonstrant cause brought him in early life into disfavour with the party in power, while later his conversion to catholicism--in --and his eager and zealous advocacy of its doctrines, were a perpetual bar to that public recognition of his talents which was his due. vondel never at any time sacrificed his convictions to his interest, and he wrote poetry not from the desire of wealth or fame, but because he was a born poet and his mind found in verse the natural expression of its thought and emotions. but, though vondel was a poor man, he was not unlearned. on the contrary he was a diligent student of greek and latin literature, and translated many of the poetical masterpieces in those languages into dutch verse. indeed so close was his study that it marred much of his own work. vondel wrote a great number of dramas, but his close imitation of the greek model with its chorus, and his strict adherence to the unities, render them artificial in form and lacking in movement and life. this is emphasised by the fact that many of them are based on scriptural themes, and by the monotony of the alexandrine metre in which all the dialogues are written. it is in the choruses that the poetical genius of vondel is specially displayed. lyrical gems in every variety of metre are to be found in the vondelian dramas, alike in his youthful efforts and in those of extreme old age. of the dramas, the finest and the most famous is the _lucifer_, , which treats of the expulsion of lucifer and his rebel host of angels from heaven. we are here in the presence of a magnificent effort to deal grandiosely with a stupendous theme. the conception of the personality of lucifer is of heroic proportions; and a comparison of dates renders it at least probable that this dutch drama passed into john milton's hands, and that distinct traces of the impression it made upon him are to be found in certain passages of the _paradise lost_. vondel also produced hundreds of occasional pieces, besides several lengthy religious and didactic poems. he even essayed an epic poem on constantine the great, but it was never completed. of the occasional poems the finest are perhaps the triumph songs over the victories of frederick henry, and of the great admirals tromp and de ruyter. jacob cats ( - ) lived, like vondel, to a great age, but in very different circumstances. he was a native of dordrecht and became pensionary of that town, and, though not distinguished as a statesman or politician, he was so much respected for his prudence and moderation that for twenty-two years he filled the important office of council-pensionary of holland and was twice sent as an envoy extraordinary to england. he was a prolific writer and was undoubtedly the most popular and widely-read of the poets of his time. his works were to be found in every dutch homestead, and he was familiarly known as "father cats." his gifts were, however, of a very different order from those of vondel. his long poems dealt chiefly with the events of domestic, every-day existence; and the language, simple, unpretentious and at times commonplace, was nevertheless not devoid of a certain restful charm. there are no high flights of imagination or of passion, but there are many passages as rich in quaint fancy as in wise maxims. with constantine huyghens ( - ) the writing of verse was but one of the many ways in which one of the most cultured, versatile, and busy men of his time found pleasant recreation in his leisure hours. the trusted secretary, friend and counsellor of three successive princes of orange, huyghens in these capacities was enabled for many years to render great service to frederick henry, william ii and william iii, more especially perhaps to the last-named during the difficult and troubled period of his minority. nevertheless all these cares and labours of the diplomatist, administrator, courtier and man of the world did not prevent him from following his natural bent for intellectual pursuits. he was a man of brilliant parts and of refined and artistic tastes. acquainted with many languages and literatures, an accomplished musician and musical composer, a generous patron of letters and of art, his poetical efforts are eminently characteristic of the personality of the man. his volumes of short poems--_hofwijck, cluijswerck, voorhout_ and _zeestraet_--contain exquisite and witty pictures of life at the hague--"the village of villages"--and are at once fastidious in form and pithy in expression. it remains to speak of the man who may truly be described as the central figure among his literary contemporaries. pieter cornelisz hooft ( - ) was indisputably the first man of letters of his time. he sprang from one of the first families of the burgher-aristocracy of amsterdam, in which city his father, cornelis pietersz hooft, filled the office of burgomaster no less than thirteen times. he began even as a boy to write poetry, and his strong bent to literature was deepened by a prolonged tour of more than three years in france, germany and italy, almost two years of which were spent at florence and venice. after his return he studied jurisprudence at leyden, but when he was only twenty-six years old he received an appointment which was to mould and fix the whole of his future career. in prince maurice, in recognition of his father's great services, nominated hooft to the coveted post of drost, or governor, of muiden and bailiff of gooiland. this post involved magisterial and administrative duties of a by-no-means onerous kind; and the official residence of the drost, the "high house of muiden," an embattled feudal castle with pleasant gardens, lying at the point where at no great distance from amsterdam the river vecht sleepily empties itself into the zuyder zee, became henceforth for thirty years a veritable home of letters. hooft's literary life may be divided into two portions. in the decade after his settlement at muiden, he was known as a dramatist and a writer of pretty love songs. his dramas--_geerard van velzen, warenar_ and _baeto_--caught the popular taste and were frequently acted, but are not of high merit. his songs and sonnets are distinguished for their musical rhythm and airy lightness of touch, but they were mostly penned, as he himself tells us, for his own pleasure and that of his friends, not for general publication. there are, nevertheless, charming pieces in the collected edition of hooft's poems, and he was certainly an adept in the technicalities of metrical craft. but hooft himself was ambitious of being remembered by posterity as a national historian. he aimed at giving such a narrative of the struggle against spain as would entitle him to the name of "the tacitus of the netherlands." he wished to produce no mere chronicle like those of bor or van meteren, but a literary history in the dutch tongue, whose style should be modelled on that of the great roman writer, whose works hooft is said to have read through fifty-two times. he first, to try his hand, wrote a life of henry iv of france, which attained great success. louis xiii was so pleased with it that he sent the author a gold chain and made him a knight of st michael. thus encouraged, on august , , hooft began his _netherland histories_, and from this date until his death in he worked ceaselessly at the _magnum opus_, which, beginning with the abdication of charles v, he intended to carry on until the conclusion of the twelve years' truce. he did not live to bring the narrative further than the end of the leicester régime. in a small tower in the orchard at muiden he kept his papers; and here, undisturbed, he spent all his leisure hours for nineteen years engaged on the great task, on which he concentrated all his energies. he himself tells us of the enormous pains that he took to get full and accurate information, collecting records, consulting archives and submitting every portion as it was written to the criticism of living authorities, more especially to constantine huyghens and through him to the prince of orange himself. above all hooft strove, to use his own words, "never to conceal the truth, even were it to the injury of the fatherland"; and the carrying-out of this principle has given to the great prose-epic that he wrote a permanent value apart altogether from its merits as a remarkable literary achievement. and yet perhaps the most valuable legacy that hooft has left to posterity is his collection of letters. of these a recent writer[ ] has declared "that, though it could not be asserted that they [hooft's letters] threw into the shade the whole of the rest of netherland literature, still the assertion would not be far beyond the mark." they deal with every variety of subject, grave and gay; and they give us an insight into the literary, social and domestic life of the holland of his time, which is of more value than any history. in these letters we find life-like portraits of the scholars, poets, dramatists, musicians, singers, courtiers and travellers, who formed that brilliant society which received from their contemporaries the name of the "muiden circle"--_muidener kring_. the genial and hospitable drost loved to see around him those "five or six couple of friends," whom he delighted to invite to muiden. hooft was twice married; and both his wives, christina van erp and heleonore hellemans, were charming and accomplished women, endowed with those social qualities which gave an added attractiveness to the muiden gatherings. brandt, hooft's biographer, describes christina as "of surpassing capacity and intelligence, as beautiful, pleasing, affable, discreet, gentle and gracious, as such a man could desire to have"; while, of heleonore, hooft himself writes: "within this house one ever finds sunshine, even when it rains without." this reference to the two hostesses of muiden calls attention to one of the noteworthy features of social life in the holland of this period--namely, the high level of education among women belonging to the upper burgher-class. anna and maria tesselschade visscher, and anna maria schuurman may be taken as examples. anna, the elder of the two daughters of roemer visscher ( - ), was brought up amidst cultured surroundings. for some years after her mother's death she took her place as mistress of the house which until had been the hospitable rendezvous of the literary society of amsterdam. she was herself a woman of wide erudition, and her fame as a poet was such as to win for her, according to the fashion of the day, the title of "the dutch sappho." tesselschade, ten years younger than her sister and educated under her fostering care, was however destined to eclipse her, alike by her personal charms and her varied accomplishments. if one could believe all that is said in her praise by hooft, huyghens, barlaeus, brederôo, vondel and cats, she must indeed have been a very marvel of perfect womanhood. as a singer she was regarded as being without a rival; and her skill in painting, carving, etching on glass and tapestry work was much praised by her numerous admirers. her poetical works, including her translation into dutch verse of tasso's _gerusalemme liberata_, have almost all unfortunately perished, but a single ode that survives--"the ode to a nightingale"--is an effort not unworthy of shelley and shows her possession of a true lyrical gift. at muiden the presence of the "beautiful" tesselschade was almost indispensable. "what feast would be complete," wrote hooft to her, "at which you were not present? favour us then with your company if it be possible"; and again: "that you will come is my most earnest desire. if you will but be our guest, then, i hope, you will cure all our ills." he speaks of her to barlaeus as "the priestess"; and it is clear that at her shrine all the frequenters of muiden were ready to burn the incense of adulation. both anna and tesselschade, like their father, were devout catholics. anna maria van schuurman ( - ) was a woman of a different type. she does not seem to have loved or to have shone in society, but she was a very phenomenon of learning. she is credited with proficiency in painting, carving and other arts; but it is not on these, so to speak, accessory accomplishments that her fame rests, but on the extraordinary range and variety of her solid erudition. she was at once linguist, scholar, theologian, philosopher, scientist and astronomer. she was a remarkable linguist and had a thorough literary and scholarly knowledge of french, english, german, italian, latin, greek, hebrew, syriac, chaldee, arabic and ethiopic. her reputation became widespread; and, in the latter part of her long life, many strangers went to utrecht, where she resided, to try to get a glimpse of so great a celebrity, which was not easy owing to her aversion to such visits. turning to the domain of mathematical and physical science and of scientific research and discovery, we find that here also the th century netherlanders attained the highest distinction. as mathematicians simon stevin, the friend and instructor of maurice of orange, and francis van schooten, the leyden professor, who numbered among his pupils christian huyghens and john de witt, did much excellent work in the earlier years of the century. the published writings of de witt on "the properties of curves" and on "the theory of probabilities" show that the greatest of dutch statesmen might have become famous as a mathematician had the cares of administration permitted him to pursue the abstract studies that he loved. of the scientific achievements of christian huyghens ( - ), the brilliant son of a brilliant father, it is difficult to speak in adequate terms. there is scarcely any name in the annals of science that stands higher than his. his abilities, as a pure mathematician, place him in the front rank among mathematicians of all time; and yet the services that he rendered to mathematical science were surpassed by his extraordinary capacity for the combination of theory with practice. his powers of invention, of broad generalisation, of originality of thought were almost unbounded. among the mathematical problems with which he dealt successfully were the theory of numbers, the squaring of the circle and the calculation of chances. to him we owe the conception of the law of the conservation of energy, of the motion of the centre of gravity, and of the undulatory theory of light. he expounded the laws of the motion of the pendulum, increased the power of the telescope, invented the micrometer, discovered the rings and satellites of saturn, constructed the first pendulum clock, and a machine, called the gunpowder machine, in principle the precursor of the steam engine. for sheer brain power and inventive genius christian huyghens was a giant. he spent the later years of his life in paris, where he was one of the founders and original members of the _académie des sciences_. two other names of scientists, who gained a european reputation for original research and permanent additions to knowledge, must be mentioned; those of antoni van leeuwenhoek ( - ), and of jan swammerdam ( - ). leeuwenhoek was a life-long observer of minute life. the microscope (the invention of which was due to a dutchman, cornelius drebbel) was the favourite instrument of his patient investigations, and he was able greatly to improve its mechanism and powers. among the results of his labours was the discovery of the infusoria, and the collection of a valuable mass of information concerning the circulation of the blood and the structure of the eye and brain. swammerdam was a naturalist who devoted himself to the study of the habits and the metamorphoses of insects, and he may be regarded as the founder of this most important branch of scientific enquiry. his work forms the basis on which all subsequent knowledge on this subject has been built up. to say that the school of dutch painting attained its zenith in the period of frederick henry and the decades which preceded and followed it, is scarcely necessary. it was the age of rembrandt. the works of that great master and of his contemporaries, most of whom were influenced and many dominated by his genius, are well known to every lover of art, and are to be seen in every collection of pictures in europe. one has, however, to visit the rijks museum at amsterdam and the mauritshuis at the hague to appreciate what an extraordinary outburst of artistic skill and talent had at this time its birth within the narrow limits of the northern netherlands. to the student of dutch history these two galleries are a revelation, for there we see th century holland portrayed before us in every phase of its busy and prosperous public, social and domestic life. particularly is this the case with the portraits of individuals and of civic and gild groups by rembrandt, frans hals, van der helst and their followers, which form an inimitable series that has rarely been equalled. to realise to what an extent in the midst of war the fine arts flourished in holland, a mere list of the best-known painters of the period will suffice, it tells its own tale. they are given in the order of their dates: frans hals ( - ), gerard honthorst ( - ), jan van goyen ( - ), jan wyvants ( - ), albert cuyp ( - ), jan lievens ( - ), rembrandt van rhyn ( - ), gerard terburg ( - ), adrian brouwer ( - ), ferdinand bol ( - ), salomon koning ( - ), andreas both ( - ), jan both ( - ), adrian van ostade ( - ), bartolomaus van der helst ( - ), gerard douw ( - ), gabriel metzu ( - ), govaert flinck ( - ), isaac van ostade ( - ), aart van der neer ( - ), pieter de koningh ( - ), philip wouvermans ( - ), pieter van der hoogh (?), nicolas berchem ( - ), paul potter ( - ), jacob ruysdael ( - ), meindert hobbema (?), jan steen ( - ), samuel van hoogstraeten ( - ), ludolf backhuizen ( - ), jan van der meer of delft ( -?), nicholas maes ( - ), william van der velde ( - ), frans van mieris ( - ), caspar netscher ( - ), adrian van der velde ( - ). it is strange that little is known of the lives of the great majority of these men; they are scarcely more than names, but their memory survives in their works. no better proof could be brought of the general abundance of money and at the same time of the widespread culture of the land than the fact that art found among all classes so many patrons. the aristocratic burgher-magistrates and the rich merchants loved to adorn their houses with portraits and a choice selection of pictures; it was a favourite investment of capital, and there was a certain amount of rivalry among the principal families in a town like amsterdam in being possessed of a fine collection. the "six" collection still remains as an example upon the walls of the th century house of burgomaster six, where it was originally placed. the governing bodies of gilds and boards, members of corporations, the officers of the town _schutterij_ or of archer companies delighted to have their portraits hung around their council chambers or halls of assembly. in the well-to-do farmer-homesteads and even in the dwellings of the poorer classes pictures were to be found, as one may see in a large number of the "interiors" which were the favourite subject of the _genre_ painters of the day. but with all this demand the artists themselves do not seem to have in any case been highly paid. the prices were low. even rembrandt himself, whose gains were probably much larger than those of any of his contemporaries, and whose first wife, saskia uilenburg, was a woman of means, became bankrupt in , and this at a time when he was still in his prime, and his powers at their height. some of his most famous pictures were produced at a later date. during the thirty years' war holland became the centre of the publishing and book-selling trade; and leyden and amsterdam were famed as the foremost seats of printing in europe. the devastation of germany and the freedom of the press in the united provinces combined to bring about this result. the books produced by the elseviers at leyden and by van waesberg and cloppenburch at amsterdam are justly regarded as fine specimens of the printer's art, while the maps of willem jansz blaeu and his dutch contemporaries were quite unrivalled, and marked a great step forward in cartography. this chapter must not conclude without a reference to the part taken by the netherlanders in the development of modern music and the modern stage. the love of music was widespread; and the musicians of the netherlands were famed alike as composers and executants. it was from its earlier home in the low countries that the art of modern music spread into italy and germany and indeed into all europe. similarly in the late middle ages the people of the netherlands were noted for their delight in scenic representations and for the picturesque splendour with which they were carried out. the literary gilds, named chambers of rhetoric, never took such deep root elsewhere; and in the performance of mystery plays and moralities and of lighter comic pieces (_chuttementen_ and _cluyten_) many thousands of tradespeople and artisans took part. in the th century all the chambers of rhetoric had disappeared with the single exception of the famous "old chamber" at amsterdam, known as _the blossoming eglantine_, to which the leading spirits of the golden age of dutch literature belonged and which presided over the birth of the dutch stage. from the first the stage was popular and well-supported; and the new theatre of amsterdam, the schouburg (completed in ), became speedily renowned for the completeness of its arrangements and the ability of its actors. such indeed was their reputation that travelling companies of dutch players visited the chief cities of germany, austria and denmark, finding everywhere a ready welcome and reaping a rich reward, whilst at stockholm for a time a permanent dutch theatre was established. * * * * * chapter xiii the stadholderate of william ii. the great assembly upon the death of frederick henry of orange (march, ), his only son succeeded to his titles and estates and also by virtue of the act of survivance to the offices of stadholder in six provinces and to the captain-generalship and admiral-generalship of the union. william was but twenty-one years of age and, having been excluded during frederick henry's lifetime from taking any active part in affairs of state, he had turned his energies into the pursuit of pleasure, and had been leading a gay and dissolute life. his accession to power was, however, speedily to prove that he was possessed of great abilities, a masterful will and a keen and eager ambition. he had strongly disapproved of the trend of the peace negotiations at münster, and would have preferred with the help of the french to have attempted to drive the spaniards out of the southern netherlands. the preliminaries were, however, already settled in the spring of ; and the determination of the province of holland and especially of the town of amsterdam to conclude an advantageous peace with spain and to throw over france rendered the opposition of the young stadholder unavailing. but william, though he had perforce to acquiesce in the treaty of münster, was nevertheless resolved at the earliest opportunity to undo it. thus from the outset he found himself in a pronounced antagonism with the province of holland, which could only issue in a struggle for supremacy similar to that with which his uncle maurice was confronted in the years that followed the truce of , and, to a less degree, his father after . commerce was the predominant interest of the burgher-aristocracies who held undisputed sway in the towns of holland; and they, under the powerful leadership of amsterdam, were anxious that the peace they had secured should not be disturbed. they looked forward to lightening considerably the heavy load of taxation which burdened them, by reducing the number of troops and of ships of war maintained by the states. to this policy the young prince was resolutely opposed, and he had on his side the prestige of his name and a vast body of popular support even in holland itself, among that great majority of the inhabitants, both of town and country, who were excluded from all share in government and administration and were generally orangist in sympathy. he had also with him the officers of the army and navy and the preachers. his chief advisers were his cousin william frederick, stadholder of friesland, and cornelis van aerssens (son of francis) lord of sommelsdijk. by the agency of sommelsdijk he put himself in secret communication with count d'estrades, formerly french ambassador at the hague, now governor of dunkirk, and through him with mazarin, with the view of concluding an alliance with france for the conquest of the spanish netherlands, and for sending a joint expedition to england to overthrow the parliamentary forces and establish the stewarts on the throne. mazarin was at this time, however, far too much occupied by his struggle with the fronde to listen to the overtures of a young man who had as yet given no proof of being in a position to give effect to his ambitious proposals. nevertheless the prince was in stern earnest. in april, , his brother-in-law, james, duke of york, had taken refuge at the hague, and was followed in july by the prince of wales. william received them with open arms and, urged on by his wife, the princess royal, and by her aunt the exiled queen of bohemia, who with her family was still residing at the hague, he became even more eager to assist in effecting a stewart restoration than in renewing the war with spain. the difficulties in his way were great. in public opinion in the states on the whole favoured the parliamentary cause. but, when the parliament sent over dr doreslaer and walter strickland as envoys to complain of royal ships being allowed to use dutch harbours, the states-general, through the influence of the prince, refused them an audience. the estates of holland on this gave a signal mark of their independence and antagonism by receiving doreslaer and forbidding the royal squadron to remain in any of the waters of the province. the news of the trial of king charles for high-treason brought about a complete revulsion of feeling. the prince of wales himself in person begged the states-general to intervene on his father's behalf; and the proposal met with universal approval. it was at once agreed that adrian pauw, the now aged leader of the anti-orange party in holland, should go to london to intercede for the king's life. he was courteously received on january o.s., and was granted an audience by the house of commons, but the decision had already been taken and his efforts were unavailing. the execution of the king caused a wave of horror to sweep over the netherlands, and an address of condolence was offered by the states-general to the prince of wales; but, to meet the wishes of the delegates of holland, he was addressed not as king of great britain, but simply as king charles ii, and it was agreed that joachimi, the resident ambassador in london, should not be recalled at present. the new english government on their part sent over once more dr doreslaer with friendly proposals for drawing the two republics into closer union. doreslaer, who had taken part in the trial of charles i, was specially obnoxious to the royalist exiles, who had sought refuge in holland. he landed on may . three days later he was assassinated as he was dining at his hotel. the murderers, five or six in number, managed to make their escape and were never apprehended. although highly incensed by this outrage, the english government did not feel itself strong enough to take decided action. the estates of holland expressed through joachimi their abhorrence at what had occurred; and the parliament instructed strickland to approach the states-general again with friendly advances. the states-general refused to grant him an audience, while receiving the envoy despatched by charles ii from scotland to announce his accession. the english council of state had no alternative but to regard this as a deliberate insult. strickland was recalled and left holland, july . on september joachimi was ordered to leave london. the breach between the two countries seemed to be complete, but the estates of holland, who for the sake of their commerce dreaded the thought of a naval war, did all in their power to work for an accommodation. they received strickland in a public audience before his departure, and they ventured to send a special envoy to whitehall, gerard schaep, january , to treat with the parliament. by this action the provincial estates flouted the authority of the states-general and entered into negotiations on their own account, as if they were an independent state. the hollanders were anxious to avoid war almost at any price, but circumstances proved too strong for them. in order to carry out this pacifist policy the estates of holland now resolved to effect a large reduction of expenditure by disbanding a portion of the troops and ships. when the peace of münster was signed the states possessed an army of , men, and all parties were agreed that this large force might safely be reduced. in july , a drastic reduction was carried out, twenty-five thousand men being disbanded. the estates of holland, however, demanded a further retrenchment of military charges, but met with the strong opposition of the prince and his cousin william frederick, who declared that an army of at least , was absolutely necessary for garrisoning the frontier fortresses and safeguarding the country against hostile attack. their views had the support of all the other provinces, but holland was obdurate. in holland commerce reigned supreme; and the burgher-regents and merchants were suspicious of the prince's warlike designs and were determined to thwart them. finding that the states-general refused to disband at their dictation some fifty-five companies of the excellent foreign troops who formed the kernel of the states' army, the provincial estates proceeded to take matters into their own hands, and discharged a body of foreign troops which were paid by the province. in doing this they were acting illegally. the old question of the sovereign rights of the provinces, which had been settled in by the sword of maurice, was once more raised. the states-general claimed to exercise the sole authority in military matters. there were not seven armies in the union, but one army under the supreme command of the captain-general appointed by the states-general. the captain-general was now but a young and inexperienced man, but he had none of the hesitation and indecision shown by his uncle maurice in the troubles of - , and did not shrink from the conflict with the dominant province to which he was challenged. for some time, indeed, wrangling went on. there was a strong minority in the estates of holland opposed to extreme measures; and the council-pensionary, jacob cats, was a moderate man friendly to the house of orange. an accommodation was reached on the subject of the disbanding of the foreign troops, but the conflict was renewed, and in the middle of it assumed grave proportions. the heart and soul of the opposition to the prince was amsterdam. william had for some time been urged by his friesland cousin to take action, since the attitude of amsterdam threatened the dissolution of the union. the prince was at this time engaged in negotiating with france, but nothing had as yet been settled, and his projects were not ripe for execution. nevertheless it was absolutely necessary for their realisation that the military forces should not be excessively reduced. under his influence the states-general decided that, though the number of troops in the several regiments should be decreased, the _cadres_ of all regiments with their full quota of officers should be retained. to this the estates of holland dissented, and finding that they could not prevail, they determined on a daring step. orders were sent (june , ) to the colonels of the regiments on the provincial war-sheet to disband their regiments on pain of stoppage of pay. the colonels refused to take any orders save from the council of state and the captain-general. the prince accordingly, with william frederick and the council of state, appeared in the states-general and appealed to them to uphold the colonels in their refusal. there could be no question that the estates of holland were hopelessly in the wrong, for their representatives in the states-general had in , , and voted for the enforcement on recalcitrant provinces of the full quota at which they were assessed for the payment of the army of the union. the states-general, june , therefore determined to send a "notable deputation" to the towns of holland. the prince was asked to head the deputation, the members of which were to be chosen by him; and he was invested with practically dictatorial powers to take measures for the keeping of the peace and the maintenance of the union. in doing this the generality were themselves acting _ultra vires_. the states-general was an assembly consisting of the representatives of the provincial estates. it could deal or treat therefore only with the estates of the several provinces, not with the individual towns within a province. in resisting the interference of the estates of holland with matters that concerned the union as a whole, they were themselves infringing, by the commission given to the "notable deputation," the jurisdiction of the provincial estates over their own members. the prince set out on june , and visited all the "privileged" towns. the result was more than disappointing. the council of the premier municipality, dordrecht, set the example by declaring that they were answerable only to the estates of the province. schiedam, alkmaar, edam and monnikendam gave the same reply. delft and haarlem were willing to receive the prince as stadholder, but not the deputation. amsterdam, under the influence of the brothers andries and cornelis bicker, went even further and after some parleying declined to admit either the deputation or the prince. on june william returned to the hague bitterly chagrined by his reception and determined to crush resistance by force. the stroke he planned was to seize the representatives of six towns which had been specially obstinate in their opposition, and at the same time to occupy amsterdam with an armed force. his preparations were quickly made. on july an invitation was sent to jacob de witt, ex-burgomaster of dordrecht, and five other prominent members of the estates of holland, to visit the prince. on their arrival they were arrested by the stadholder's guard, and carried off as prisoners to the castle of loevestein. william had meanwhile left the execution of the _coup-de-main_ against amsterdam to his cousin william frederick. the arrangements for gathering together secretly a large force from various garrisons were skilfully made, and it was intended at early dawn to seize unexpectedly one of the gates, and then to march in and get possession of the town without opposition. the plan, however, accidentally miscarried. some of the troops in the night having lost their way, attracted the notice of a postal messenger on his way to amsterdam, who reported their presence to the burgomaster, cornelis bicker. bicker at once took action. the gates were closed, the council summoned, and vigorous measures of defence taken. william frederick therefore contented himself with surrounding the city, so as to prevent ingress or egress from the gates. on the next morning, july , william, having learnt that the surprise attack had failed, set out for amsterdam, determined to compel its surrender. the council, fearing the serious injury a siege would cause to its commerce, opened negotiations (august ). the prince, however, insisting on unconditional submission, no other course was open. amsterdam undertook to offer no further opposition to the proposals of the states-general, and was compelled to agree to the humiliating demand of the stadholder that the brothers bicker should not only resign their posts in the municipal government, but should be declared ineligible for any official position in the future. the prince of orange had now secured the object at which he had aimed. his authority henceforth rested on a firm basis. his opponents had been overthrown and humiliated. the estates of six provinces thanked him for the success of his efforts, and he on his part met the general wish for economy by agreeing to a reduction of the foreign troops in the pay of the states on the distinct understanding that only the states-general had the right to disband any portion of the forces, not the provincial paymasters. in the flush of triumph william at the end of august left the hague for his country seat at dieren, nominally for hunting and for rest, in reality to carry on secret negotiations with france for the furtherance of his warlike designs. the complete defeat of charles ii at the battle of worcester, september , must have been a severe blow to his hopes for the restoration of the stuarts, but it did not deter him from pursuing his end. with d'estrades, now governor of dunkirk, the prince secretly corresponded, and through him matters were fully discussed with the french government. in a letter written from the hague on october , william expressed a strong wish that d'estrades should come in person to visit him; and it was the intention of d'estrades to accept this invitation as soon as he had received from paris the copy of a draft-treaty, which was being prepared. this draft-treaty, which was probably drawn up by mazarin, reached d'estrades in the course of october, but circumstantial evidence proves that it was never seen by william. its provisions were as follows. both powers were to declare war on spain and attack flanders and antwerp. the dutch were to besiege antwerp, which city, if taken, was to become the personal appanage of the prince, of orange. when the spanish power in the southern netherlands had been overthrown, then france and the united provinces were to send a joint expedition to england to place charles ii on the throne. whether the prince would have approved these proposals we know not; in all probability he would have declined to commit himself to a plan of such a far-reaching and daring character, for he was aware of the limitations of his power, and knew that even his great influence would have been insufficient to obtain the consent of the states-general to an immediate renewal of war. speculation however is useless, for an inexorable fate raised other issues. on october the stadholder returned to dieren, on the th he fell ill with an attack of small-pox. he was at once taken back to the hague and for some days he progressed favourably, but the illness suddenly took a turn for the worse and he expired on november . the news of the prince's death fell like a shock upon the country. men could scarcely believe their ears. william was only years old; and, though his wife gave birth to a son a week later, he left no heir capable of succeeding to the high offices that he had held. the event was the more tragic, following, as it did, so swiftly upon the _coup d'état_ of the previous summer, and because of the youth and high promise of the deceased prince. william ii was undoubtedly endowed with high and brilliant qualities of leadership, and he had proved his capacity for action with unusual decision and energy. had his life not been cut short, the course of european politics might have been profoundly changed. as was to be expected, the burgher-regents of holland, when once the first shock was over, lost no time in taking advantage of the disappearance of the man who had so recently shown that he possessed the power of the sword and meant to be their master. the states-general at once met and requested the provincial estates to take steps to deal with the situation. the estates of holland proposed that an extraordinary assembly should be summoned. this was agreed to by the states-general; and "the great assembly" met on january , . in the meantime the holland regents had been acting. the estates of that province were resolved to abolish the stadholderates and to press the states-general to suspend the offices of captain-and admiral-general of the union. utrecht, gelderland, overyssel and zeeland were induced to follow their example. groningen, however, elected william frederick of friesland to be stadholder in the place of his cousin. the "states party" in holland had for their leaders the aged adrian pauw, who had for so many years been the moving spirit of the opposition in powerful amsterdam to frederick henry's authority, and jacob de witt, the imprisoned ex-burgomaster of dordrecht. the "orange party" was for the moment practically impotent. stunned by the death of their youthful chief, they were hopelessly weakened and disorganised by the dissensions and rivalries which surrounded the cradle of the infant prince of orange. the princess royal quarrelled with her mother-in-law, amalia von solms, over the guardianship of the child. mary asserted her right to be sole guardian; the dowager-princess wished to have her son-in-law, the elector of brandenburg, associated with her as co-guardian. after much bickering the question was at last referred to the council of state, who appointed the princess royal, the dowager-princess and the elector jointly to the office. this decision however was far from effecting a reconciliation between the mother and the grandmother. mary did not spare the princess amalia the humiliation of knowing that she regarded her as inferior in rank and social standing to the eldest daughter of a king of england. there was rivalry also between the male relatives william frederick, stadholder of friesland, and joan maurice, the "brazilian," both of them being ambitious of filling the post of captain-general, either in succession to the dead prince, or as lieutenant in the name of his son. in these circumstances a large number of the more moderate orangists were ready to assist the "states party" in preventing any breach of the peace and securing that the government of the republic should be carried on, if not in the manner they would have wished, at least on stable and sound lines, so far as possible in accordance with precedent. the great assembly met on january , , in the count's hall in the binnenhof at the hague. the sittings lasted until september, for there were many important matters to be settled on which the representatives of the seven provinces were far from being in entire agreement. the chief controversies centred around the interpretation of the utrecht act of union, the dordrecht principles, and military affairs. the last-named proved the most thorny. the general result was decentralisation, and the strengthening of the provincial estates at the expense of the states-general. it was agreed that the established religion should be that formulated at dordrecht, that the sects should be kept in order, and the placards against roman catholicism enforced. in accordance with the proposal of holland there was to be no captain-or admiral-general. brederode, with the rank of field-marshal, was placed at the head of the army. the provincial estates were entrusted with considerable powers over the troops in their pay. the effect of this, and of the decision of five provinces to dispense with a stadholder and to transfer his power and prerogatives to the estates, was virtually the establishment in permanent authority of a number of close municipal corporations. it meant the supersession alike of monarchy and popular government, both of which were to a certain extent represented by the authority vested in, and the influence exerted by, the stadholder princes of orange, in favour of a narrow oligarchic rule. moreover, in this confederation of seven semi-sovereign provinces, holland, which contributed to the strength, the finances and the commerce of the union more than all the other provinces added together, obtained now, in the absence of an "eminent head," that position of predominance, during the stadholderless period which now follows, for which its statesmen had so long striven. when the amiable jacob cats, the council-pensionary of holland, closed the great assembly in a flowery speech describing the great work that it had accomplished, a new chapter in the history of the republic may be said to have begun. * * * * * chapter xiv the rise of john de witt. the first english war before the sittings of the great assembly had come to an end, a young statesman, destined to play the leading part in the government of the dutch republic during two decades, had already made his mark. after the death of william ii jacob de witt was not only reinstated in his former position at dordrecht but on december , , john, his younger son, at the age of years was appointed pensionary of that town. in this capacity he was _ex officio_ spokesman of the deputation sent to represent dordrecht in the great assembly. his knowledge, his readiness and persuasiveness of speech, his industry and his gifts at once of swift insight and orderly thoroughness, quickly secured for him a foremost place both in the deliberations of the assembly and in the conduct of the negotiations with the english parliament, which at this time required very delicate handling. the many disputes, which had arisen between england and the united provinces during the period between the accession of james i and the battle of the downs in , had never been settled. the minds of englishmen were occupied with other and more pressing matters while the civil war lasted. but the old sores remained open. moreover the refusal of the states-general to receive the parliamentary envoys, the murder of doreslaer, and the protection afforded to royalist refugees, had been additional causes of resentment; but the english council had not felt strong enough to take action. the death of the prince of orange, following so quickly upon the complete overthrow of charles ii at worcester, appeared at first to open out a prospect of friendlier relations between the two neighbouring republics. in january, , the great assembly formally recognised the commonwealth and determined to send back to his old post in london the veteran ambassador, joachimi, who had been recalled. the english government on their part anticipated his return by despatching, in march, oliver st john and walter strickland on a special embassy to the hague. they reached that city on march , , and presented their credentials to the great assembly two days later. their reception in the streets was anything but favourable. the feeling among the populace was predominantly orangist and stewart; and st john and strickland, greeted with loud cries of "regicides" and many abusive epithets, remembering the fate of doreslaer, were in fear of their lives. on april a conference was opened between the envoys and six commissioners appointed by the states to consider the proposals of the english government for "a more strict and intimate alliance and union" between the two states. the dutch quickly perceived that what the english really wanted was nothing less than such a binding alliance or rather coalition as would practically merge the lesser state in the greater. but the very idea of such a loss of the independence that they had only just won was to the netherlanders unthinkable. the negotiations came to a deadlock. meanwhile st john and strickland continued to have insults hurled at them by orangists and royalist refugees, foremost amongst them prince edward, son of the queen of bohemia. the parliament threatened to recall the envoys, but consented that they should remain, on the undertaking of the estates of holland to protect them from further attacks, and to punish the offenders. new proposals were accordingly made for an offensive and defensive alliance (without any suggestion of a union), coupled with the condition that both states should bind themselves not to allow the presence within their boundaries of avowed enemies of the other--in other words the expulsion of the members and adherents of the house of stewart, including the princess royal and the queen of bohemia with their children. in the face of the strong popular affection for the infant prince of orange and his mother, even the estates of holland dared not consider such terms, and the states-general would have angrily rejected them. after some further parleying therefore about fisheries and trade restrictions, it was felt that no agreement could be reached; and st john and strickland returned to england on july , . their failure created a very bad impression upon the parliament. all the old complaints against the dutch were revived; and, as they had refused the offer of friendship that had been made to them, it was resolved that strong measures should be taken to obtain redress for past grievances and for the protection of english trade interests. at the instance of st john, the famous navigation act was passed by the parliament, october , . this act struck a mortal blow at the dutch carrying trade by forbidding the importation of foreign goods into english ports except in english bottoms, or in those of the countries which had produced the goods. scarcely less injurious was the prohibition to aliens to fish in british waters, and the withdrawal of the rights based on the _magnus intercursus_, for the maintenance of which dutch statesmen had so long and strenuously fought. there was consternation in holland, and the states-general determined to send a special embassy to london. at the same time the estates of holland replaced jacob cats by appointing the aged adrian pauw, a man in whose ripe judgment they had confidence, to the office of council-pensionary. the chosen envoys were jacob cats and gerard schaep from holland, paulus van der perre from zeeland, all three representative of the two maritime and trading provinces. they arrived in england on december , . their instructions were to secure the withdrawal of the navigation act and to try to negotiate a new treaty of commerce on the basis of the _magnus intercursus_. they were also to protest strongly against the action of english privateers, who, having been given letters of marque to prey upon french commerce, had been stopping and searching dutch merchantmen on the ground that they might be carrying french goods. the english government, however, met the dutch complaints by raking up the long list of grievances that had stirred up a bitter feeling of popular hatred against the united provinces in england, and by demanding reparation. they further demanded that dutch commanders should acknowledge england's sovereignty by striking flag and sail and by firing a salute, whenever any of their squadrons met english ships "in the narrow seas." it was these last two questions, the right of search and the striking of the flag, that were to be the real causes of the outbreak of a war that was desired by neither of the two governments. but popular feeling and the course of events was too strong for them. the news of the seizure of their vessels, not merely by privateers, but by an english squadron under ayscue in the west indies, had caused intense indignation and alarm in holland, and especially in amsterdam. pressure was brought to bear on the states-general and the admiralties, who in pursuance of economy had reduced the fleet to seventy-five ships. it was resolved therefore, on february , to fit out an additional vessels. the council of state, on hearing of this, began also to make ready for eventualities. negotiations were still proceeding between the two countries, when martin tromp, the victor of the battle of the downs, now lieutenant-admiral of holland, was sent to sea with fifty ships and instructions to protect dutch merchantmen from interference, and to see that the states suffered no affront. nothing was actually said about the striking of the flag. the situation was such that an armed collision was almost certain to happen with such an admiral as tromp in command. it came suddenly through a misunderstanding. the dutch admiral while cruising past dover met, on may , fifteen english ships under blake. the latter fired a warning shot across the bows of tromp's ship to signify that the flag should be struck. tromp declared that he had given orders to strike the flag, but that blake again fired before there was time to carry them out. be this as it may, the two fleets were soon engaged in a regular fight, and, the english being reinforced, tromp withdrew at nightfall to the french coast, having lost two ships. great was the anger aroused in england, where the dutch were universally regarded as the aggressors. in the netherlands, where the peace party was strong, many were disposed to blame tromp despite his protests. adrian pauw himself left hastily for london, john de witt being appointed to act as his deputy during his absence. pauw's strenuous efforts however to maintain peace were all in vain, despite the strong leanings of cromwell towards a peaceful solution. but popular feeling on both sides was now aroused. the states-general, fearing that the orangists would stir up a revolt, if humiliating terms were submitted to, stiffened their attitude. the result was that the envoys left london on june , ; and war was declared. the dutch statesmen who sought to avoid hostilities were right. all the advantages were on the side of their enemies. the dutch merchant-fleets covered the seas, and the welfare of the land depended on commerce. the english had little to lose commercially. their war-fleet too, though inferior in the number of ships, was superior in almost all other respects. the stuarts had devoted great attention to the fleet and would have done more but for lack of means. charles' much abused ship-money was employed by him for the creation of the first english professional navy. it had been largely increased by the parliament after ; and its "generals," blake, penn and ayscue, had already acquired much valuable experience in their encounters with the royalist squadron under prince rupert, and in long cruises to the west indies for the purpose of forcing the english colonies to acknowledge parliamentary rule. the crews therefore were well trained, and the ships were larger, stronger and better armed than those of the dutch. the position of england, lying as it did athwart the routes by which the dutch merchant-fleets must sail, was a great advantage. even more important was the advantage of having a central control, whereas in the netherlands there were five distinct boards of admiralty, to some extent jealous of each other, and now lacking the supreme direction of an admiral-general. the war began by a series of english successes and of dutch misfortunes. early in july, , blake at the head of sixty ships set sail for the north to intercept the dutch baltic commerce, and to destroy their fishing fleet off the north of scotland. he left ayscue with a small squadron to guard the mouth of the thames. tromp meanwhile had put to sea at the head of nearly a hundred ships. ayscue succeeded in intercepting a fleet of dutch merchantmen near calais, all of them being captured or burnt, while blake with the main force off the north coast of scotland destroyed the dutch fishing fleet and their convoy. after these first blows against the enemy's commerce good fortune continued to attend the english. tromp was prevented from following blake by strong northerly winds. he then turned upon ayscue, whose small force he must have overwhelmed, but for a sudden change to a southerly gale. the dutch admiral now sailed northwards and (july ) found the english fleet off the shetlands. a violent storm arose, from the force of which blake was protected, while the dutch vessels were scattered far and wide. on the following day, out of ninety-nine ships tromp could only collect thirty-five, and had no alternative but to return home to refit. before tromp's return another dutch fleet under michael de ruyter had put to sea to escort a number of outward-bound merchantmen through the channel, and to meet and convoy back the home-coming ships. he had twenty-three warships and three fireships under his command. ayscue had previously sailed up channel with forty men-of-war and five fireships for a similar purpose. the two fleets met on august , and despite his inferiority of force de ruyter forced ayscue to withdraw into plymouth, and was able to bring his convoy home to safety. the ill-success of tromp, though he was in no way to blame for it, caused considerable alarm and discontent in holland. his enemies of the states party in that province took advantage of it to suspend the gallant old seaman from his command. he was an orangist; and, as the orange partisans were everywhere clamorously active, the admiral was suspect. in his place cornelisz witte de with was appointed, a capable sailor, but disliked in the fleet as much as tromp was beloved. de with effected a junction with de ruyter and with joint forces they attacked blake on october , near the shoal known as the kentish knock. the english fleet was considerably more powerful than the dutch, and the desertion of de with by some twenty ships decided the issue. the dutch had to return home with some loss. the english were elated with their victory and thought that they would be safe from further attack until the spring. blake accordingly was ordered to send a squadron of twenty sail to the mediterranean, where the dutch admiral jan van galen held the command of the sea. but they were deceived in thinking that the struggle in the channel was over for the winter. the deserters at the kentish knock were punished, but the unpopularity of de with left the authorities with no alternative but to offer the command-in-chief once more to martin tromp. full of resentment though he was at the bad treatment he had received, tromp was too good a patriot to refuse. at the end of november the old admiral at the head of warships put to sea for the purpose of convoying some merchantmen through the straits. stormy weather compelled him to send the convoy with an escort into shelter, but he himself with sixty ships set out to seek the english fleet, which lay in the downs. after some manoeuvring the two fleets met on december , off dungeness. a stubborn fight took place, but this time it was some of the english ships that were defaulters. the result was the complete victory of the dutch; and blake's fleet, severely damaged, retreated under cover of the night into dover roads. tromp was now for a time master of the channel and commerce to and from the ports of holland and zeeland went on unimpeded, while many english prizes were captured. this state of things was however not to last long. towards the end of february, , blake put to sea with nearly eighty ships, and on the th off portland met tromp at the head of a force nearly equal to his own in number. but the dutch admiral was convoying more than merchantmen and he had moreover been at sea without replenishment of stores ever since the fight at dungeness, while the english had come straight from port. the fight, which on the part of the dutch consisted of strong rear-guard actions, had lasted for two whole days, when tromp found that his powder had run out and that on the third day more than half his fleet were unable to continue the struggle. but, inspiring his subordinates de ruyter, evertsen and floriszoon with his own indomitable courage, tromp succeeded by expert seamanship in holding off the enemy and conducting his convoy with small loss into safety. four dutch men-of-war were taken and five sunk; the english only lost two ships. meanwhile both nations had been getting sick of the war. the dutch were suffering terribly from the serious interference with their commerce and carrying trade and from the destruction of the important fisheries industry, while the english on their side were shut out from the baltic, where the king of denmark, as the ally of the united provinces, had closed the sound, and from the mediterranean, where admiral van galen, who lost his life in the fight, destroyed a british squadron off leghorn (march ). in both countries there was a peace party. cromwell had always wished for a closer union with the united provinces and was averse to war. in the dutch republic the states party, especially in holland the chief sufferer by the war, was anxious for a cessation of hostilities; and it found its leader in the youthful john de witt, who on the death of adrian pauw on february , , had been appointed council-pensionary. cromwell took pains to let the estates of holland know his favourable feelings towards them by sending over, in february, a private emissary, colonel dolman, a soldier who had served in the netherland wars. on his part john de witt succeeded in persuading the estates of holland to send secretly, without the knowledge of the states-general, letters to the english council of state and the parliament expressing their desire to open negotiations. thus early did the new council-pensionary initiate a form of diplomacy in which he was to prove himself an adept. this first effort was not a success. the parliament published the letter with the title "humble supplication of the states of holland." the indignation of the orange partisans was great, and they threatened internal disturbances throughout the country. such however was the skill of de witt that, on parliament showing a willingness to resume the negotiations that had been broken off in the previous summer, he induced the states-general by a bare majority (four provinces to three) to send a conciliatory letter, the date of which (april , ) coincided with cromwell's forcible dissolution of the rump parliament and the assumption by him, with the support of the army, of dictatorial powers. the english council of state, however, was well informed of the serious economical pressure of the war upon holland; and their insistence now on the full satisfaction of all the english demands made a continuation of hostilities inevitable. tromp, after successfully bringing in two large convoys of merchantmen, encountered (june ), near the gabbard, the english fleet under monk and deane. each fleet numbered about sail, but the dutch ships were inferior in size, solidity and weight of metal. for two days the fight was obstinately and fiercely contested, but on blake coming up with a reinforcement of thirteen fresh ships, tromp was obliged to retreat, having lost twenty ships. he complained bitterly, as did his vice-admirals de ruyter and de with, to the board of admiralty of the inferiority of the vessels of his fleet, as compared with those of the adversary. the english now instituted a blockade of the dutch coast, which had the effect of reducing to desperate straits a land whose welfare and prosperity depended wholly on commerce. amsterdam was ruined. in these circumstances direct negotiation was perforce attempted. four envoys were sent representing the three maritime provinces. at first it seemed impossible that any common ground of agreement could be found. cromwell was obsessed with the idea of a politico-religious union between the two republics, which would have meant the extinction of dutch independence. the council of state met the dutch envoys with the proposal _una gens, una respublica,_ which nothing but sheer conquest and dire necessity would ever induce the dutch people to accept. accordingly the war went on, though the envoys did not leave london, hoping still that some better terms might be offered. but in order to gain breathing space for the efforts of the negotiators, one thing was essential--the breaking of the blockade. the admiralties made a supreme effort to refit and reinforce their fleet, but it lay in two portions; eighty-five sail under tromp in the maas, thirty-one under de with in the texel. monk with about ships lay between them to prevent their junction. on august tromp sailed out and, after a rearguard action off katwijk, out-manoeuvred the english commander and joined de with. he now turned and with superior numbers attacked monk off scheveningen. the old hero fell mortally wounded at the very beginning of what proved to be an unequal fight. after a desperate struggle the dutch retired with very heavy loss. monk's fleet also was so crippled that he returned home to refit. the action in which tromp fell thus achieved the main object for which it was fought, for it freed the dutch coast from blockade. it was, moreover, the last important battle in the war. the states, though much perplexed to find a successor to martin tromp, were so far from being discouraged that great energy was shown in reorganising the fleet. jacob van wassenaer, lord of obdam, was appointed lieutenant-admiral of holland, with de ruyter and evertsen under him as vice-admirals. de with retained his old command of a detached squadron, with which he safely convoyed a large fleet of east indiamen round the north of scotland into harbour. after this there were only desultory operations on both sides and no naval engagement. meanwhile negotiations had been slowly dragging on. the accession of cromwell to supreme power in december, , with the title of lord protector seemed to make the prospects of the negotiations brighter, for the new ruler of england had always professed himself an opponent of the war, which had shattered his fantastic dream of a union between the two republics. many conferences took place, but the protector's attitude and intentions were ambiguous and difficult to divine. the fear of an orange restoration appears to have had a strange hold on his imagination and to have warped at this time the broad outlook of the statesman. at last cromwell formulated his proposals in twenty-seven articles. the demands were those of the victor, and were severe. all the old disputes were to be settled in favour of england. an annual sum was to be paid for the right of fishing; compensation to be made for "the massacre of amboina" and the officials responsible for it punished; the number of warships in english waters was to be limited; the flag had to be struck when english ships were met and the right of search to be permitted. these demands, unpalatable as they were, might at least have furnished a basis of settlement, but there was one demand besides these which was impossible. article stipulated that the prince of orange should not at any time hold any of the offices or dignities which had been held by his ancestors, or be appointed to any military command. de witt, in whose hands were all the threads of the negotiations, was perfectly aware that it would be useless to present such proposals to the states-general. not only would they indignantly reject them, but he had not the slightest hope of getting any single province, even holland, to allow a foreign power to interfere with their internal affairs and to bid them to treat with harsh ingratitude the infant-heir of a family to which the dutch people owed so deep a debt. there was nothing for it but to prepare for a vigorous resumption of the war. strong efforts were therefore made at de witt's instigation to increase the fleet and secure the active co-operation of denmark and france, both friendly to the states. but cromwell really wanted peace and showed himself ready to yield on certain minor points, but he continued to insist on the exclusion of the prince of orange. not till the dutch envoys had demanded their passports did the protector give way so far as to say he would be content to have the exclusion guaranteed by a secret article. what followed forms one of the strangest chapters in the history of diplomacy. de witt had all this time been keeping up, in complete secrecy, a private correspondence with the leading envoy, his confidant van beverningh. through van beverningh he was able to reach the private ear of cromwell, and to enter into clandestine negotiations with him. the council-pensionary knew well the hopelessness of any attempt to get the assent of the states-general to the proposed exclusion, even in a secret article. van beverningh was instructed to inform cromwell of the state of public feeling on this point, with the result that the protector gave the envoy to understand that he would be satisfied if the estates of holland alone would affirm a declaration that the prince should never be appointed stadholder or captain-general. whether this concession was offered by cromwell _proprio motu_ or whether it was in the first instance suggested to him by de witt through van beverningh is unknown. in any case the council-pensionary, being convinced of the necessity of peace, resolved to secure it by playing a very deep and dangerous game. not only must the whole affair be kept absolutely from the cognisance of the states-general, but also de witt was fully aware that the assent of the estates of holland to the proposed exclusion article could only be obtained with the greatest difficulty. he was to prove himself a very past master in the art of diplomatic chicanery and intrigue. the council-pensionary first set to work to have the treaty, from which the exclusion article had been cut out, ratified rapidly by the states-general, before bringing the secret article to the knowledge of the estates of holland. the estates adjourned for a recess on april , . on the following day he presented the treaty to the states-general, and such was his persuasive skill that he accomplished the unprecedented feat of getting this dilatory body to accept the conditions of peace almost without discussion. on april the treaty ratified and signed was sent back to london. only one article aroused opposition (art. ), the so-called "temperament clause"; but cromwell had insisted upon it. by this article the states-general and the provincial estates separately undertook that every stadholder, captain-general or commander of military or naval forces should be required to take an oath to observe the treaty. meanwhile de witt had received a letter from van beverningh and his colleague nieuwpoort addressed to the estates of holland (not at the moment in session) stating that cromwell refused on his part to ratify the treaty until he received the act of exclusion[ ] from the estates, who were until now wholly ignorant that any such proposal would be made to them. the cleverness and skill now shown by the council-pensionary were truly extraordinary. a summons was sent out to the estates to meet on april without any reason being assigned. the members on assembly were sworn to secrecy, and then the official letter from london was read to them. the news that cromwell refused to sign the treaty until he received the assent of the province of holland to the act of exclusion came upon the estates like a thunder-bolt. the sudden demand caused something like consternation, and the members asked to be allowed to consider the matter with their principals before taking so momentous a decision. three days were granted but, as it was essential to prevent publicity, it was settled that only the burgomasters should be consulted, again under oath of secrecy. at the meeting on may another despatch from van beverningh was read in which the envoy stated that the demand of cromwell--that the act should be placed in his hands within two days after the ratification of the treaty--was peremptory and threatening. unless he received the act he would consider the treaty as not binding upon him. using all his powers of advocacy, de witt succeeded after an angry debate in securing a majority for the act. five towns however obstinately refused their assent, and claimed that it could not be passed without it. but de witt had made up his mind to risk illegality, and overruled their protest. the act was declared to have been passed and was on may sent to van beverningh and nieuwpoort with instructions not to deliver it until circumstances compelled them to do so. the proclamation of peace followed amidst general rejoicing both in england and the netherlands; but for some five weeks the existence of the act was unknown to the states-general, and during that period, as a fact, it remained in van beverningh's possession still undelivered. early in june a bribe induced one of de witt's clerks to betray the secret to count william frederick. the news soon spread, and loud was the outcry of the orange partisans and of the two princesses, who at once addressed a remonstrance to the states-general. all the other provinces strongly protested against the action of the estates of holland and of the council-pensionary. de witt attempted to defend himself and the estates, by vague statements, avoiding the main issue, but insisting that nothing illegal had been done. his efforts were in vain. on june the states-general passed a resolution that the envoys in england should be ordered to send back at once all the secret instructions they had received from holland, and the act of exclusion. meanwhile the estates of holland themselves, frightened at the clamour which had been aroused, began to show signs of defection. they went so far as to pass a vote of thanks to the envoys for not having delivered the act to cromwell. de witt's position appeared hopeless. he extricated himself and outwitted his opponents by the sheer audacity and cleverness of the steps that he took. his efforts to prevent the resolution of the states-general from taking immediate effect proving unavailing, he put forward the suggestion that on account of its importance the despatch should be sent to the envoys in cipher. this was agreed to, and on june the document was duly forwarded to london by the council-pensionary; but he enclosed a letter from himself to van beverningh and nieuwpoort informing them that the estates of holland assented to the request made by the states-general, and that they were to send back the secret correspondence and also the act, _if it were still undelivered_. the result answered to his expectations. while the clerk was laboriously deciphering the despatch, the envoys read between the lines of de witt's letter, and without a moment's delay went to whitehall and placed the act in cromwell's hands. the states-general had thus no alternative between acceptance of the _fait accompli_ and the risk of a renewal of the war. no further action was taken, and the protector professed himself satisfied with a guarantee of such doubtful validity. it is impossible to withhold admiration from de witt's marvellous diplomatic dexterity, and from the skill and courage with which he achieved his end in the face of obstacles and difficulties that seemed insurmountable; but for the course of double-dealing and chicanery by which he triumphed, the only defence that can be offered is that the council-pensionary really believed that peace was an absolute necessity for his country, and that peace could only be maintained at the cost of the act of exclusion. whether or no cromwell would have renewed the war, had the act been withdrawn, it is impossible to say. there is, however, every reason to believe that de witt was prompted to take the risks he did by purely patriotic motives, and not through spite against the house of orange. be this as it may, the part that he now played was bitterly resented, not merely by the orange partisans, but by popular opinion generally in the united provinces, and it was never forgiven. * * * * * chapter xv the administration of john de witt - from the peace of westminster to the out-break of the second english war the position of john de witt in july, , was a difficult one. the conduct of the council-pensionary in the matter of the act of exclusion was openly attacked in the states-general. had the leaders of the orange party been united, the attack might have had serious consequences; but notoriously the princess royal, the princess dowager and william frederick were on bad terms, and de witt, with his usual adroitness, knew well how to play off one against another. to meet the accusations of his assailants in the states-general he drew up however an elaborate defence of the action taken by the estates of holland and by himself. the document bore the title "deduction of the estates of holland." it was laborious rather than convincing, and it did not convince opponents. nevertheless, though resentment continued to smoulder, the fact that peace had been assured soon reconciled the majority to allow the doubtful means by which it had been obtained to be overlooked. the tact, the persuasiveness, the great administrative powers of the council-pensionary effected the rest; and his influence from this time forward continued to grow, until he attained to such a control over every department of government, as not even oldenbarneveldt had possessed in the height of his power. john de witt was possibly not the equal of the famous advocate in sheer capacity for great affairs, but he had practical abilities of the highest order as a financier and organiser, and he combined with these more solid qualifications a swiftness of courageous decision in moments of emergency which his almost infinite resourcefulness in extricating himself from difficult and perilous situations, enabled him to carry to a successful issue. his marriage in february, , to wendela bicker, who belonged to one of the most important among the ruling burgher-families of amsterdam, brought to him enduring domestic happiness. it was likewise of no slight political value. andries and cornelis bicker, who had headed the opposition to william ii and had been declared by him in incapable of holding henceforth any municipal office, were her uncles; while her maternal uncle, cornelis de graeff, was a man of weight and influence both in his native town and in the provincial estates. by this close relationship with such leading members of the regent-aristocracy of amsterdam the council-pensionary became almost as secure of the support of the commercial capital in the north of holland, as he was already of dordrecht in the south. two of his cousins, slingelandt and vivien, were in turn his successors, as pensionaries of dordrecht, while for his predecessor in that post, nicolas ruysch, he obtained the extremely influential office of _griffier_ or secretary to the states-general. nor did he scruple to exercise his powers of patronage for other members of his family. his father, jacob de witt, was made a member of the chamber of finance; his elder brother, cornelis, ruwaard of putten. by these and other appointments of men who were his friends and supporters, to important positions diplomatic, military and naval, de witt contrived to strengthen more and more his personal authority and influence. and yet in thus favouring his relatives and friends, let us not accuse de witt of base motives or of venality. he firmly believed in his own ability to serve the state, and, without doubt, he was convinced that it was for the best interest of his country for him to create for himself, as far as was possible amidst the restrictions by which he was hemmed in on every side, a free field of diplomatic and administrative action. no one, not even his bitterest enemies, ever charged john de witt with personal corruption. throughout his whole career he lived quietly and unostentatiously, as a simple citizen, on a very moderate income, and he died a poor man. one of the first cares of the council-pensionary after the peace with england was to deal with the internal troubles which were disturbing certain parts of the land, notably groningen, zeeland and overyssel. in the last-named province a serious party struggle arose out of the appointment of a strong orangist, named haersolte, to the post of drost or governor of twente. the estates were split up, the orange partisans meeting at zwolle, the anti-orange at deventer. both enlisted troops, but those of zwolle were the stronger and laid siege to deventer. the victorious orangists then nominated william iii as stadholder with william frederick as his lieutenant. at last, after three years' strife, the parties called in de witt and william frederick as mediators. but de witt was far too clever for the friesland stadholder. it happened that the post of field-marshal had just fallen vacant by the death of brederode. both william frederick and his cousin joan maurice aspired to the office. the council-pensionary induced his co-mediator, with the hope of becoming brederode's successor, to yield on all points. haersolte was deprived of office; the prince's appointment as stadholder was suspended until his majority; and therefore william frederick could not act as his lieutenant. thus peace was restored to overyssel, but william frederick was not appointed field-marshal. in the other provinces the tact and skill of de witt were equally successful in allaying discord. he would not have been so successful had the orange party not been hopelessly divided and had it possessed capable leaders. as an administrator and organiser the council-pensionary at once applied himself to two most important tasks, financial reform and naval reconstruction. the burden of debt upon the province of holland, which had borne so large a part of the charges of the war, was crushing. the rate of interest had been reduced in from j to per cent. but the cost of the english war, which was wholly a naval war, had caused the debt of holland to mount to , , guilders, the interest on which was , , guilders per annum. de witt first took in hand a thorough overhauling of the public accounts, by means of which he was enabled to check unnecessary outlay and to effect a number of economies. finding however that, despite his efforts to reduce expenditure, he could not avoid an annual deficit, the council-pensionary took the bold step of proposing a further reduction of interest from to per cent. he had some difficulty in persuading the investors in government funds to consent, but he overcame opposition by undertaking to form a sinking fund by which the entire debt should be paid off in years. having thus placed the finances of the province on a sound basis, de witt next brought a similar proposal before the states-general with the result that the interest on the generality debt was likewise reduced to per cent. the english war had conclusively proved to the dutch their inferiority in the size and armament of their war-vessels, and of the need of a complete reorganisation of the fleet. de witt lost no time in taking the necessary steps. the custom which had hitherto prevailed of converting merchantmen into ships of war at the outbreak of hostilities was abandoned. steps were taken to build steadily year by year a number of large, strongly-constructed, powerfully armed men-of-war, mounting , and guns. these vessels were specially adapted for passing in and out of the shallow waters and were built for strength rather than for speed. again, the part taken in the war by the light, swift-sailing english frigates led to a large flotilla of these vessels being built, so useful for scouting purposes and for preying upon the enemy's commerce. the supply and training of seamen was also dealt with, and the whole system of pay and of prize-money revised and reorganised. it was a great and vitally necessary task, and subsequent events were to show how admirably it had been carried out. no one knew better than john de witt that peace was the chief interest of the united provinces, but his lot was cast in troubled times, and he was one of those prescient statesmen who perceive that meekness in diplomacy and willingness to submit to injury do not promote the cause of peace or further the true interests of any country. the conquests of france in the southern netherlands caused great anxiety to the dutch; and the high-handed action of french pirates in searching and seizing dutch merchantmen in the mediterranean aroused much indignation. the states, acting on de witt's advice, replied by sending a squadron under de ruyter to put a stop to these proceedings. the dutch admiral took vigorous action and captured some french freebooters. the french government thereupon forbade dutch vessels to enter french harbours. the dutch replied by a similar embargo and threatened to blockade the french coast. this threat had the desired effect, and an accommodation was reached. the peace of the pyrenees in , by which the french retained a large part of their conquests in flanders, hainault and namur, while the english acquired possession of dunkirk, was disquieting. for the relations with england, despite the goodwill of the protector, were far from satisfactory. the trade interests of the two republics clashed at so many points that a resumption of hostilities was with difficulty prevented. more especially was this the case after the outbreak of war with portugal in november, . the dutch accused the portuguese government of active connivance with the successful revolt of the brazilian colonists against dutch rule. what was once dutch brazil was now claimed by the lisbon government as a portuguese possession, and de witt demanded an indemnity. as this was not conceded, a squadron under obdam, november, , blockaded the portuguese coast, while another under de ruyter made many seizures of merchant vessels. cromwell was disposed to intervene, but his death on september , , removed any fears of english action. meanwhile the dutch captured ceylon and macassar and practically cut off portuguese intercourse with the east indies. at last in august, , a treaty was signed by which the dutch abandoned all territorial claims in brazil, but were granted freedom of trade and an indemnity of , , fl. to be paid in sixteen years, and, what was more valuable, they retained possession of their conquests in the east. the protracted dispute with portugal was however of quite subordinate importance to the interest of the dutch in the complications of the so-called northern war. on the abdication of christina in , charles x gustavus had succeeded to the swedish throne. the new king was fired with the ambition of following in the footsteps of gustavus adolphus, and of rendering sweden supreme in the baltic by the subjection of poland and denmark. charles was a man of great force of character and warlike energy, and he lost no time in attempting to put his schemes of conquest into execution. having secured the alliance of the great elector, anxious also to aggrandise himself in polish prussia, the swedish king declared war against poland, and in the early summer of laid siege to danzig. but the importance of the baltic trade to holland was very great and danzig was the corn emporium of the baltic. under pressure therefore of the amsterdam merchants the states-general despatched (july) a fleet of forty-two ships under obdam van wassenaer through the sound, which raised the siege of danzig and with polish consent left a garrison in the town. thus checked, the swedish king at elbing (september, ) renewed amicable relations with the republic, and danzig was declared a neutral port. at the same time a defensive alliance was concluded between the states and denmark. it was obvious from, this that the dutch were hostile to swedish pretensions and determined to resist them. de witt was anxious to preserve peace, but he had against him all the influence of amsterdam, and that of the able diplomatist, van beuningen, who after being special envoy of the states at stockholm had now been sent to copenhagen. van beuningen held that, whatever the risks of intervention on the part of the states, the control of the sound must not fall into the hands of sweden. the emergency came sooner than was expected. brandenburg having changed sides, the swedes were expelled from poland; and frederick iii of denmark, despite the advice of de witt, seized the opportunity to declare war on sweden. although it was the depth of winter charles gustavus lost no time in attacking denmark. he quickly drove the danes from schonen and funen and invaded seeland. frederick was compelled at roeskilde (february, ) to accept the terms of the conqueror. denmark became virtually a swedish dependency, and undertook to close the sound to all foreign ships. involved as the republic was in disputes at this time with both france and england, and engaged in war with portugal, de witt would have been content to maintain a watchful attitude in regard to scandinavian matters and to strive by diplomacy to secure from sweden a recognition of dutch rights. but his hand was forced by van beuningen, who went so far as to urge the danish king to rely on his defensive alliance with the republic and to break the treaty of roeskilde. charles gustavus promptly invaded denmark, drove the danish fleet from the sea, placed strong garrisons at elsinore and kronborg, and laid siege to copenhagen. van beuningen had proudly asserted that "the oaken keys of the sound lay in the docks of amsterdam," and his boast was no empty one. at the beginning of october a force of thirty-five vessels under obdam carrying troops sailed for the sound with orders to destroy the swedish fleet, and to raise the siege of copenhagen. on november obdam encountered the swedes in the entrance to the baltic. the swedish admiral wrangel had forty-five ships under his command, and the battle was obstinate and bloody. obdam carried out his instructions. only a remnant of the swedish fleet found refuge in the harbour of landskrona, but the dutch also suffered severely. the two vice-admirals, witte de with and floriszoon, were killed, and obdam himself narrowly escaped capture, but copenhagen was freed from naval blockade. charles gustavus however held military possession of a large part of denmark, and in the spring began to press the attack on the capital from the land side. as both england and france showed a disposition to interfere in the conflict, the states-general now acted with unexpected vigour, recognising that this question to them was vital. an imposing force of seventy-five warships, carrying , troops and mounting guns, was despatched in may, , under de ruyter to the baltic. negotiations for peace between the scandinavian powers under the mediation of france, england and the united provinces, were now set on foot and dragged on through the summer. but neither charles gustavus nor frederick could be brought to agree to the terms proposed, and the former in the autumn again threatened copenhagen. in these circumstances de ruyter was ordered to expel the swedes from funen. on november the town of nyborg was taken by storm and the whole swedish force compelled to surrender. de ruyter was now supreme in the baltic and closely blockaded the swedish ports. the spirit of charles gustavus was broken by these disasters; he died on february , . peace was now concluded at oliva on conditions favourable to sweden, but securing for the dutch the free passage of the sound. the policy of de witt was at once firm and conciliatory. without arousing the active opposition of england and france, he by strong-handed action at the decisive moment succeeded in maintaining that balance of power in the baltic which was essential in the interest of dutch trade. the republic under his skilful leadership undoubtedly gained during the northern wars fresh weight and consideration in the councils of europe. the peace of the pyrenees, followed by the peace of oliva and the settlement with portugal, seemed to open out to the united provinces a period of rest and recuperation, but probably no one knew better than the council-pensionary that outward appearances were deceptive. in the spring of a bloodless revolution had been accomplished in england, and charles ii was restored to the throne. the hostility of de witt and of the states party to the house of stuart had been marked. it happened that charles was at breda when he received the invitation recalling him to england. the position was a difficult one, but the council-pensionary at once saw, with his usual perspicacity, that there was but one course to pursue. acting under his advice, every possible step was taken by the states-general and the estates of holland to propitiate the prince, who from being a forlorn exile had suddenly become a powerful king. immense sums were spent upon giving him a magnificent reception at the hague; and, when he set sail from scheveningen, deputations from the states-general and the estates of holland attended in state his embarkation and lavish promises of friendship were exchanged. it was significant, however, that charles handed to the council-pensionary a declaration commending to the care of their high mightinesses "the princess my sister and the prince of orange my nephew, persons who are extremely dear to me." he had previously expressed the same wish to de witt privately; and compliance with it, _i.e._ the annulling of the act of exclusion, was inevitable. but all the actors in this comedy were playing a part. charles was not deceived by all this subservience, and, continuing to entertain a bitter grudge against de witt and his party, only waited his time to repay their enmity in kind. de witt on his side, though in his anxiety to conciliate the new royalist government he consented to deliver up three regicides who were refugees in holland (an act justly blamed), refused to restore the prince of orange to any of the ancient dignities and offices of his forefathers. acting however on his advice, the estates of holland passed a unanimous resolution declaring william a ward of the estates and voting a sum of money for his maintenance and education. very shortly after this momentous change in the government of england, cardinal mazarin died (march, ); and the youthful louis xiv took the reins of power into his own hands. outwardly all seemed well in the relations between france and the republic, and in point of fact an offensive and defensive alliance for twenty-five years was concluded between them on april , . later in the same year count d'estrades, formerly ambassador in the time of frederick henry, resumed his old post. the relations between him and de witt were personally of the friendliest character, but the conciliatory attitude of d'estrades did not deceive the far-sighted council-pensionary, who was seriously disquieted as to the political aims of france in the southern netherlands. by the treaty of the pyrenees, , the french had already acquired a large slice of territory in flanders and artois. they had since obtained dunkirk by purchase from charles ii. moreover louis xiv had married the eldest daughter of philip iv, whose only son was a weakly boy. it is true that maria theresa, on her marriage, had renounced all claims to the spanish succession. but a large dowry had been settled upon her, and by the treaty the renunciation was contingent upon its payment. the dowry had not been paid nor was there any prospect of the spanish treasury being able to find the money. besides it was no secret that louis claimed the succession to brabant for his wife and certain other portions of the netherlands under what was called the law of devolution. by this law the female child of a first wife was the heir in preference to the male child of a later marriage. the dutch dreaded the approach of the french military power to their frontiers, and yet the decrepitude of spain seemed to render it inevitable. there appeared to de witt to be only two solutions of the difficulty. either what was styled "the cantonment" of the southern netherlands, _i.e._ their being formed into a self-governing republic under dutch protection guaranteed by a french alliance, or the division of the belgic provinces between the two powers. the latter proposal, however, had two great disadvantages: in the first place it gave to france and the republic the undesirable common frontier; in the second place amsterdam was resolved that antwerp should not be erected into a dangerous rival. the last objection proved insuperable; and, although de witt had many confidential discussions with d'estrades, in which the french envoy was careful not to commit himself to any disclosure of the real intentions of his government, no settlement of any kind had been arrived at, when the threatening state of relations with england threw all other questions into the background. the accession of charles ii placed upon the throne of england a man who had no goodwill to holland and still less to the council-pensionary, and who, like all the stewart kings, had a keen interest in naval and maritime matters. the navigation act, far from being repealed, was vigorously enforced, as were the english claims to the sovereignty of the narrow seas. the grievances of the english east india company against its dutch rival with regard to the seizure of certain ships and especially as to the possession of a small island named poeloe-rum in the moluccas led to a growing feeling of bitterness and hostility. a special embassy, headed by de witt's cousin, beverweert, was sent to london in the autumn of to try to bring about a friendly understanding, but was fruitless. at the same time george downing, a skilful intriguer and adventurer, who after serving cromwell had succeeded in gaining the confidence of the royal government, had been sent as ambassador to the hague, where he worked underhand to exacerbate the disputes and to prevent a settlement of the differences between the two peoples. the position and treatment of the prince of orange had likewise been a source of difficulty and even of danger to the supremacy of the states party. there arose a general movement among the provinces, headed by gelderland and zeeland, to nominate william captain-and admiral-general of the union and stadholder. the lack of leadership in the orangist party, and the hostility between the two princesses, rendered, however, any concentrated action impossible. de witt, with his usual adroitness, gained the ear of the princess royal, who accepted the proposal that the estates of holland should undertake the education of the prince, and even consented that de witt himself and his wife's uncle, de graef, should superintend the prince's studies. this arranged, mary, for the first time since her marriage, paid a visit to her native land, being desirous to consult her brother on various subjects. unfortunately she died of small-pox in january, , having nominated charles as her son's guardian. this nomination did not tend to smooth matters between the two countries. there was a powerful war party in england, supported by the duke of york. it was at his instigation that a strong-handed act took place which aroused intense indignation in holland. a company called "the royal african company" had been formed in which the duke had a large interest. a fleet fitted out by this company under the command of admiral holmes seized, in february, , a portion of the coast of guinea on which the dutch had settlements. strong protests meeting with nothing but evasive replies, in all secrecy a squadron was got ready to sail under de ruyter, nominally to the mediterranean. dilatory negotiations were in the meantime being conducted by beverweert in london, and by downing at the hague in regard to this and other grievances, but without any approach to a settlement. downing in fact was surreptitiously doing his best not to reconcile, but to aggravate differences. matters were brought to a head by the news that an english fleet had crossed the atlantic and had taken possession of the dutch colony of new netherland (september), and that holmes had made himself master of cabo corso on the west african coast, and was threatening further conquests. this was too much. de ruyter received orders to proceed to guinea, where he speedily drove out the english intruders and reoccupied the lost settlements. during the winter both powers prepared for a struggle for maritime supremacy which had become inevitable; and at last war was declared by england (march , ). * * * * * chapter xvi the last years of de witt's administration, - . the second english war. the triple alliance. the french invasion the declaration of war in march, , found the dutch navy, thanks to the prescience and personal care of the council-pensionary, far better prepared for a struggle with the superior resources of its english rival than was the case in . john de witt, aided by his brother cornelis, had supplied the lack of an admiral-general by urging the various admiralty boards to push on the building of vessels in size, construction and armaments able to contend on equal terms with the english men-of-war. he had, moreover, with his usual industry taken great pains to study the details of admiralty-administration and naval science; and now, in company with the commissioners of the states-general, he visited all the ports and dockyards and saw that every available ship was got ready for immediate service, provided with seasoned crews, and with ample stores and equipment. the english on their side were equally ready for the encounter. after the death of cromwell the fleet had been neglected, but during the five years that had passed since the restoration steps had been taken to bring it to an even greater strength and efficiency than before. whatever may have been the faults of the stewart kings, neglect of the navy could not be laid to their charge. one of the first steps of charles ii was to appoint his brother james, duke of york, to the post of lord-high-admiral; and james was unremitting in his attention to his duties, and a most capable naval administrator and leader, while charles himself never ceased during his reign to take a keen interest in naval matters. in his case, as previously in the case of his father, it was lack of the necessary financial means that alone prevented him from creating an english fleet that would be capable of asserting that "sovereignty in the narrow seas," which was the traditional claim of the english monarchy. the english were ready before the dutch, who were hampered in their preparations by having five distinct boards of admiralty. the duke of york put to sea with a fleet of ships at the end of april and, cruising off the coast of holland, cut off the main dutch fleet in the texel from the zeeland contingent. it was unfortunate for holland that michael adriansz de ruyter, one of the greatest of seamen, was at this time still in the mediterranean obdam, to whom the chief command was given, waited until a storm drove the enemy to their harbours. he then united all the dutch squadrons and crossing to southwold bay found the english fleet ready for battle. after some manoeuvring the action was joined on june , and after a bloody fight ended most disastrously for the dutch. the flag-ships in the course of the struggle became closely engaged, with the result that obdam's vessel suddenly blew up, while that of the english admiral was seriously damaged and he himself wounded. the dutch line had already been broken, and the fate of their commander decided the issue. the dutch in great confusion sought the shelter of their shoals, but their habit of firing at the masts and rigging had so crippled their opponents that a vigorous pursuit was impossible. nevertheless the english had gained at the first encounter a decided victory. sixteen dutch ships were sunk or destroyed, nine captured, and at least men were killed, including three admirals, and as many more taken prisoners. the english had but one vessel sunk, and their casualties did not amount to more than a third of the dutch losses. the consternation and anger in holland was great. jan evertsen, the second-in-command, and a number of the captains were tried by court-martial; and the reorganisation of the fleet was entrusted to cornells tromp, who, encouraged and aided by the council-pensionary, set himself with great energy to the task. the english meanwhile were masters of the sea, though administrative shortcomings, defects of victualling and shortage of men prevented them from taking full advantage of their success. early in august, however, a fleet under the earl of sandwich attempted to capture a number of dutch east indiamen, who had sailed round the north of scotland. the east indiamen took refuge in the neutral port of bergen. here sandwich ventured to attack them but was driven off by the forts. while he was thus engaged in the north the channel was left free; and de ruyter with his squadron seized the opportunity to return to home-waters without opposition. his arrival was of the greatest value to the dutch, and he was with universal approval appointed to succeed obdam as lieutenant-admiral of holland, and was given the supreme command on the sea. tromp, angry at being superseded, was with difficulty induced to serve under the new chief, but he had to yield to the force of public opinion. de ruyter at once gave proof of his skill by bringing back safely the east indiamen from bergen, though a severe storm caused some losses, both to the fleet and the convoy. the damage was however by the energy of de witt and the admiral quickly repaired; and de ruyter again sailed out at the beginning of october to seek the english fleet. he cruised in the channel and off the mouth of the thames, but no enemy vessels were to be seen; and at the end of the month fresh storms brought the naval campaign of to a close, on the whole to the advantage of the english. nor were the misfortunes of the dutch confined to maritime warfare. between england and holland indeed the war was entirely a sea affair, neither of them possessing an army strong enough to land on the enemy's coast with any hope of success; but the united provinces were particularly vulnerable on their eastern frontier, and charles ii concluded an alliance with the bishop of münster, who had a grievance against the states on account of a disputed border-territory, the lordship of borkelo. subsidised by england, the bishop accordingly at the head of , men (september, ) overran a considerable part of drente and overyssel and laid it waste. there was at first no organised force to oppose him. it had been the policy of holland to cut down the army, and the other provinces were not unwilling to follow her example. no field-marshal had been appointed to succeed brederode; there was no army of the union under a captain-general, but seven small provincial armies without a military head. some thousands of fresh troops were now raised and munitions of war collected, but to whom should the chief command be given? william frederick was dead (october , ) and had been succeeded by his youthful son, henry casimir, in the stadholderate of friesland. joan maurice of nassau had withdrawn from the netherlands and was governor of cleves in the service of brandenburg. he was however persuaded to place himself at the head of the army, though complaining bitterly of the inadequacy of the forces placed at his disposal. de witt, however, had not been idle. he secured the assistance of brunswick-lüneburg, and an army of , brunswickers under the command of george frederick von waldeck attacked münster; while a force of french likewise, under the terms of the treaty of , advanced to the help of the dutch. threatened also by brandenburg, the bishop was compelled to withdraw his troops for home defence and in april, , was glad to conclude peace with the states. french naval co-operation against england was also promised; and war was actually declared by louis xiv in the early spring of . the real cause of this strong action was due to other motives than enmity to england. the death of philip iv of spain in september, , had brought nearer the prospect of there being no heir-male to the vast spanish monarchy. the french queen, maria theresa, was the eldest child of philip; and, though on her marriage she had renounced her claim to the spanish throne, it was well known that louis intended to insist upon her rights, particularly in regard to the spanish netherlands. he was afraid that the states, always suspicious of his ambitious projects, might be tempted to come to terms with england on the basis of a defensive alliance against french aggression in flanders and brabant, for both powers were averse to seeing antwerp in french hands. to avert this danger louis determined to take part in the war on the side of the dutch. the move however was diplomatic rather than serious, for the french admiral, de beaufort, never sailed into the north sea or effected a junction with the dutch fleet. nevertheless, as will be seen, his presence in the atlantic exercised an important effect upon the naval campaign of . the english fleet was not ready until the beginning of june. the ravages of the plague and financial difficulties had caused delay; and the fleet only numbered about eighty sail, including a squadron which had been recalled from the mediterranean. the "generals-at-sea," as they were called, were monk and rupert. they began by committing the great blunder of dividing their force. rupert was detached with twenty ships to keep watch over de beaufort, a diversion which had serious consequences for the english. the dutch fleet, consisting of seventy-two men-of-war with twelve frigates, was the most powerful that the admiralties had ever sent to sea, not in numbers but in the quality of the ships. de witt himself had supervised the preparations and had seen that the equipment was complete in every respect. de ruyter was in supreme command and led the van, cornelis evertsen the centre, cornelis tromp the rear. on june the english fleet under monk was sighted between the north foreland and dunkirk, and the famous four days' battle was begun. the english had only fifty-four ships, but having the weather gauge monk attacked tromp's squadron with his whole force; nor was it till later in the day that de ruyter and evertsen were able to come to the relief of their colleague. night put an end to an indecisive contest, in which both sides lost heavily. the next day monk renewed the attack, at first with some success; but, de ruyter having received a reinforcement of sixteen ships, the weight of numbers told and monk was forced to retreat. on the third morning de ruyter pursued his advantage, but the english admiral conducted his retirement in a most masterly manner, his rear squadron covering the main body and fighting stubbornly. several ships, however, including the flag-ship of vice-admiral ayscue, had to be abandoned and were either destroyed or captured by the dutch. at the end of the day monk had only twenty-eight ships left fit for service. very opportunely he was now rejoined by rupert's squadron and other reinforcements; and on the fourth morning the two fleets confronted one another in almost equal numbers, each having some sixty vessels. once more therefore the desperate struggle was resumed and with initial advantage to the english. rupert forced his way through the dutch fleet, which was for awhile divided. but the english habit of firing at the hulls, though it did most damage, was not so effective as the dutch system of aiming at the masts and rigging in crippling the freedom of tacking and manoeuvring; and monk and rupert were unable to prevent de ruyter from re-uniting his whole force, and bearing down with it upon the enemy. the english were forced to retreat again, leaving several of their "lamed" vessels behind. they lost in all ten ships besides fireships, something like killed and wounded and prisoners. vice-admiral berkeley was killed, vice-admiral ayscue taken prisoner. nor were the dutch much better off. four or five of their ships were sunk, a number severely damaged, and their casualty list was probably as large as that of their foes. nevertheless the victory was undoubtedly theirs; and the fleet on its return was greeted with public rejoicings in holland and zeeland. the triumph was of short duration. by vigorous efforts on both sides the damaged fleets were rapidly repaired. de ruyter was the first to put to sea (july ) with some ninety ships; three weeks later monk and rupert left the thames with an equal force. the encounter took place on august . it ended in a decisive english victory after some fierce and obstinate fighting. the dutch van, after losing its two admirals, evertsen and de vries, gave way. monk and rupert then attacked with a superior force the centre under de ruyter himself, who to save his fleet from destruction was compelled to take refuge behind the dutch shoals. meanwhile the squadron under tromp, driving before it the rear squadron of the english, had become separated and unable to come to de ruyter's assistance. for this abandonment he was bitterly reproached by de ruyter and accused of desertion. the quarrel necessitated tromp's being deprived of his command, as the states-general could not afford to lose the services of the admiral-in-chief. for a time the english were now masters of the narrow seas, and, cruising along the dutch coast, destroyed a great number of dutch merchantmen, made some rich prizes and even landed on the island of terschelling, which was pillaged. lack of supplies at length compelled them to withdraw for the purpose of revictualling. on this de ruyter, accompanied by cornelis de witt as special commissioner, sailed out in the hopes of effecting a junction with de beaufort. rupert also put to sea again, but storms prevented a meeting between the fleets and sickness also seriously interfered with their efficiency. de ruyter himself fell ill; and, though john de witt was himself with the fleet, no further operations were attempted. both sides had become weary and exhausted and anxious for peace. to de witt the war had been from the outset distasteful; and he had been much disturbed by the constant intrigues of the orangist party to undermine his position. he was aware that in this hour of the country's need the eyes of a considerable part of the people, even in holland, were more and more directed to the young prince. there was a magic in his name, which invested the untried boy with the reflected glory of his ancestor's great deeds. the council-pensionary, a past-master in the arts of expediency, was driven to avert the danger which threatened the supremacy of the states party, by proposing to the princess amalia that the province of holland should not only charge themselves with william's education, but should adopt him as "a child of state." it was a short-sighted device for, as the princess shrewdly saw, this exceptional position assigned to her grandson must ensure, when he grew to man's estate, the reversion of his ancestral dignities. she willingly assented; and in april, , the estates of holland appointed a commission, of which john de witt was himself the head, which was entrusted with the religious and political instruction of the prince. a few months later de witt was to discover that orangist intrigues were being still clandestinely carried on. an officer of french extraction, the lord of buat, though an orange partisan, had been employed by the pensionary to make tentative proposals of peace to the english court through lord arlington. in august a packet of intercepted letters showed that buat had played him false and was seeking to compass his overthrow. buat was brought to trial, condemned to death, and executed on october . this strong action by the council-pensionary did not prevent, however, the preliminaries of a peaceful settlement being discussed both at the hague and in london during the winter months, with the result that a conference of delegates representing great britain, the united provinces and france, met at breda in may, , to discuss the terms of peace. but the negotiations did not progress. the english envoys raised afresh all the old questions, while the dutch were not ready to concede anything unless the navigation act was largely modified. in these circumstances de witt determined by bold action to try to expedite the negotiations in a sense favourable to holland. he knew that the english were unprepared. charles ii, in opposition to the advice of rupert, monk and the duke of york, had refused to spend money in preparation for a campaign at sea, which he felt confident would never take place. the ravages of the plague and of the great fire of london had made the year one of the darkest in english history and had caused the heavy financial drain and losses of the war to be more severely felt. there was widespread discontent in the country; and the king in sore financial distress was immovable in his resolve that no steps should be taken for refitting the fleet. the ships remained laid up in port, although the dutch despatched in april a squadron to the firth of forth and dominated the channel. in deep secrecy de witt now made preparations for the despatch of a great fleet with orders to sail up the estuary of the thames and attack the english ships in harbour. de ruyter, accompanied by cornelis de witt, left the texel on june , at the head of a fleet numbering more than eighty vessels. a squadron under admiral van ghent sailed up the thames on june , followed by the main body. sheerness was captured, and on the nd de ruyter determined to force his way up the medway. the river had been blocked by drawing up a line of ships behind a heavy chain. the dutch fire-ships broke through the chain and burnt the vessels, and then proceeding upwards burnt, scuttled or captured some sixteen vessels, among the latter the flag-ship, _royal charles_. the sound of the dutch guns was heard in london and for a time panic reigned. but the narrowness of the river and the prompt measures that were taken to call out the militia and man the forts prevented any further success. the dutch fleet withdrew to the nore and, beyond blocking the mouth of the river, were able to effect no further damage. the blow to english prestige was however irreparable, and the people felt deeply humiliated that short-sightedness and lack of preparation on the part of the government should have exposed them to an insult galling to the national pride. one of its consequences, as had been anticipated by de witt, was a more conciliatory attitude on the part of the english envoys at breda. peace was concluded on july , on terms more favourable than the dutch could have expected. the navigation act was modified, various commercial advantages were conceded and poeloe-rum was retained. on the other hand, the custom of the striking of the flag remained unchanged. it was agreed that the english colony of surinam, which had been captured in march, , by a zeeland squadron should be kept in exchange for new york, an exchange advantageous to both parties. by the treaty of breda the dutch republic attained the summit of its greatness, and the supremacy of de witt appeared to be not only secure but unassailable. yet events were preparing which were destined to undermine the prosperity of holland and the position of the statesman to whom in so large a measure that prosperity was due. france under the absolute rule of louis xiv had become by far the most powerful state in europe, and the king was bent upon ambitious and aggressive projects. it has already been explained that after the death of philip iv of spain he claimed for his queen, maria theresa, the succession, by the so-called "law of devolution," to a large part of the southern netherlands. he now determined that the hour had come for enforcing his claim. in may, , before the treaty of breda had been signed, a french army of , men crossed the belgic frontier. castel-rodrigo, the spanish governor, had no force at his disposal for resisting so formidable an invasion; fortress after fortress fell into french hands; and flanders, brabant and hainault were speedily overrun. this rapid advance towards their borders caused no small consternation in holland, and de witt's efforts to reach an understanding with king louis proved unavailing. the states were not in a position to attempt an armed intervention, and the once formidable spanish power was now feeble and decrepit. the only hope lay in the formation of a coalition. de witt therefore turned to england and sweden for help. the anti-french party in sweden was then predominant; and dohna, the swedish ambassador at the hague, was ordered to go to london, there to further the efforts of the newly appointed dutch envoy, john meerman, for the formation of a coalition to check french aggrandisement. they had difficulties to overcome. the english were sore at the results of the peace of breda. charles disliked the dutch and was personally indebted to louis xiv for many favours. but the feeling in england was strongly averse to french aggression towards antwerp. the fall of clarendon from power at this time and the accession of arlington, who was son-in-law to beverweert, turned the scale in favour of the proposals of de witt; and charles found himself obliged to yield. sir william temple, whose residence as english minister at brussels had convinced him of the gravity of the french menace, was ordered to go to the hague to confer personally with the council-pensionary and then to proceed to london. his mission was most promptly and skilfully carried out. his persuasiveness overcame all obstacles. after a brief stay in london he returned to the hague, january , . even the proverbial slowness of the complicated machinery of the dutch government did not hinder him from carrying out his mission with almost miraculous rapidity. having first secured the full support of de witt to his proposals, he next, with the aid of the council-pensionary, pressed the urgency of the case upon the states-general with such convincing arguments that the treaty between england and the united provinces was signed on january . three days afterwards dohna was able to announce the adhesion of the swedish government; and on january , the triple alliance was an accomplished fact. it was essentially a defensive alliance, and its main object was to offer mediation between france and spain in order to moderate the french claims and to back up their mediation, if necessity should arise, by joint action. as a preliminary precaution, a strong force was promptly placed under the command of joan maurice of nassau, and a fleet of forty-eight ships was fitted out. these steps had their effect. louis, suddenly confronted by this formidable coalition, preferred to accept mediation, though it involved his waiving a portion of his pretensions. knowing well that the alliance was a very unstable one, for the consent of charles was given under duress and the aims of sweden were mercenary, he foresaw that by biding his time, he could have ample revenge later upon the republic of traders who had ventured to thwart him. at a meeting at st germain-en-laye between the french foreign minister, lionne, and the dutch and english ambassadors, van beuningen and trevor, preliminaries were settled on april . these were confirmed by a conference of representatives of all the interested states at aix-la-chapelle (may ), in which temple took an active part. louis gave up franche-comté, which he had conquered, but retained mons, courtrai, tournai, lille, charleroi and other frontier towns. this treaty, following on that of breda, was the crowning triumph of de witt's administration, for it had given to the dutch republic a decisive voice in the councils of the great powers of europe. but, though he had proved himself so successful in the fields of diplomacy and statesmanship, the position of the council-pensionary had, during the course of the english war, become distinctly weaker. de witt's authoritative ways, his practical monopoly of power, and his bestowal of so many posts upon his relatives and friends, aroused considerable jealousy and irritation. cabals began to be formed against him and old supporters to fall away. he lost the help of van beverningh, who resigned the office of treasurer-general, and he managed to estrange van beuningen, who had much influence in amsterdam. the bickers and de graeffs were no longer supreme in that city, where a new party under the leadership of gillis valckenier had acceded to power. this party, with which van beuningen now associated himself, was at present rather anti-de witt than pro-orange. valckenier and beuningen became in succession burgomasters; and de witt's friend, pieter de groot, had to resign the office of pensionary. in the estates of holland, therefore, de witt had to face opposition, one of the leaders being the able pensionary of haarlem, caspar fagel. and all this time he had ever before his eyes the fact that the prince of orange could not much longer remain "the child of state"; and that, when he passed out of the tutelage of the estates of holland, his future position would have to be settled. de witt had himself devoted much personal care to william's instruction; and the prince had submitted patiently and apparently with contentment to the restrictions with which he was surrounded. physically weakly, his health was at all times delicate, but his intelligence was remarkable and his will-power extraordinary. cold and impenetrable in manner and expression, unbending in his haughty aloofness, he knew how with perfect courtesy to keep his own counsel and to refrain from giving utterance to an unguarded word. but behind this chilling and sphinx-like exterior was a mind of singular precocity, already filled with deep-laid schemes and plans for the future, confident that his opportunity would come, and preparing when the hour struck to seize it. one can well imagine how anxiously in their many personal interviews the council-pensionary must have tried to read what was passing in his pupil's inmost thoughts, only to be baffled. so early as august, , steps had been taken by the estates of holland to forestall the danger that threatened. on the proposal of van beuningen and valckenier, who had not yet detached themselves from the states party, an edict was passed to which, somewhat infelicitously, the name of the "eternal edict" was given. it abolished in holland the office of stadholder for ever and affirmed the right of the town-corporations (_vroedschappen_) to elect their own magistrates. it was further resolved to invite the other provinces to declare that no stadholder could hold either the captain-or admiral-generalship of the union. this resolution was styled the "concept of harmony." deputations were sent to urge the acceptation of the concept; and de witt himself used his utmost power of persuasion to bring about a general agreement. he was successful in utrecht, gelderland and overyssel. but zeeland, friesland and groningen, where the orangists were strong, refused to give their assent; and the approval of the states-general was only carried by a bare majority. de witt himself doubtless knew that the erection of this paper barrier against the inherited influence of one bearing the honoured title of prince of orange was of little real value. it is reported that vivien, the pensionary of dordrecht, de witt's cousin, stuck his pen-knife into a copy of the eternal edict as it lay on the table before him, and in reply to a remonstrance said: "i was only trying what steel can do against parchment." the second period of five years during which de witt had held the post of council-pensionary was now drawing to an end. for a decade he had wielded a power which had given to him almost supreme authority in the republic, especially in the control of foreign affairs. but all the time he had lived the life of a simple burgher, plainly dressed, occupying the same modest dwelling-house, keeping only a single manservant. he was devotedly attached to his wife and children, and loved to spend the hours he could spare from public affairs in the domestic circle. the death of wendela on july , , was a great blow to him and damped the satisfaction which must have filled him at the manner in which he was reelected at the end of that month to enter upon his third period of office. in recognition of his great services his salary of guilders was doubled, and a gratuity of , guilders was voted to him, to which the nobles added a further sum of , guilders. de witt again obtained an act of indemnity from the estates of holland and likewise the promise of a judicial post on his retirement. the prince of orange had received the announcement of the passing of the eternal edict without showing the slightest emotion, or making any protest. he now, two months after the re-election of the council-pensionary, took the first step towards self-assertion. under cover of a visit to his ancestral town of breda, william made his way to middelburg, where the estates of zeeland were assembled. being now eighteen years of age he claimed his inherited right to take his seat as "first noble," and after being duly installed he appointed his relative, seigneur van odijk, to act as his deputy. this done, he quietly returned to the hague, having given a clear indication of the course he meant to pursue. the peace of aix-la-chapelle had left a deep feeling of humiliation and rancour in the heart of louis xiv; and he was resolved to leave no stone unturned to wreak his vengeance on holland and its council-pensionary. the triple alliance was plainly an ill-assorted combination. charles ii cared nothing about the fate of the spanish netherlands, and there was a strong party in england which hated the dutch and wished to wipe out the memory of chatham and to upset the treaty of breda. grievances about the settlement of questions concerning the east indies and surinam were raked up. both van beuningen in london and pieter de groot in paris sent warnings that the states should be prepared for war and at an early date, but the council-pensionary pinned his faith on temple and the alliance, and kept his eyes shut to the imminent danger. meanwhile louis had been bribing freely both in england and sweden, and he had no difficulty in detaching the latter power from the alliance. to england he sent over the beautiful henrietta, duchess of orleans, charles' favourite sister, on a secret mission to the king, and she was speedily successful. the offer of an annual payment of , , francs and the possession of walcheren, which commanded the entrance to the scheldt, effected their purpose. a secret treaty was signed at dover on december , , between louis and charles, by which the latter agreed, on being called upon to do so, to declare war upon holland in conjunction with the french. meanwhile de witt was so absorbed in domestic politics and in the maintenance of the burgher-aristocratic party in power, that he seemed to have lost his usual statesmanlike acumen. he never ceased to work for the general acceptance of the concept of harmony. at last the three recalcitrant provinces (friesland, groningen and zeeland), when william had reached his twenty-first year, agreed to accept it on condition that the prince were at once admitted to the council of state. even now de witt tried to prevent the prince from having more than an advisory vote, but he was overruled through the opposition of amsterdam to his views. all this time louis was preparing his great plan for the crushing of the republic. he succeeded in gaining the promised assistance of england, münster and cologne, and in detaching from the dutch the emperor and the swedes. the finances under colbert were in a flourishing state, and a splendid army had been equipped by the great war minister, louvois. it was in vain that pieter de groot sent warnings of coming peril. the council-pensionary was deaf, and the states-general still deafer. temple had left (august, ) for a visit to london, and he never returned. for some months there was no resident english ambassador at the hague. finally, at the end of the year, downing arrived, the very man who had done his utmost to bring about the war of . de witt still placed his hopes in the anti-french views of the english parliament; but in august, , it was dissolved by the king and was not summoned to meet again for a year and a half. charles had therefore a free-hand, and the secret treaty of dover was the result. the reports of de groot became more and more alarming; and de witt found it necessary to urge the states to make preparations both by sea and land to resist attack. but he met with a luke-warm response. the fleet indeed was considerably strengthened, but the army was in a miserable state. at no time during the english wars had a powerful army been required, and the lesson taught by the invasion of the bishop of münster had had little effect. the heavy charges of the naval war compelled the states and especially holland, on whom the chief burden fell, to economise by cutting down the military expenses. politically also the ruling burgher-regents in holland had from past experience a wholesome fear lest the power of the sword wielded by another maurice or william ii should again overthrow the civil power. the consequence was that when charles ii declared war on march , , and louis on the following april , and a great french army of , men under condé, turenne and luxemburg marched through liège to invade the states, while another army of , men from münster and cologne attacked farther north, all was confusion and panic, for it was felt that there was no possibility of effective resistance. the bishop of münster was eager to take vengeance for his defeat in , and the elector-archbishop of cologne was a bavarian prince friendly to france. his help was the more valuable, as he was likewise bishop of liège, and thus able to offer to the french armies a free passage through his territory. not until the storm was actually bursting on them by sea and land at once were the various authorities in the threatened land induced to move in earnest. confronted by the sudden crisis, de witt however made the most strenuous efforts to meet it. a fleet of ships was got ready and an army of some , men, mercenaries of many nationalities, hastily gathered together. it was a force without cohesion, discipline or competent officers. in the peril of the country all eyes were turned towards the prince of orange. william was now twenty-one years of age, but by the provisions of the concept of harmony his name was not to be proposed as captain-general until he had reached the age of twenty-two. but in the wave of feeling which swept over the country the paper barrier was dashed aside. in the estates of holland, which de witt had so long controlled, and despite his strong opposition, the proposal to confer the post on william for one year was carried. all that the council-pensionary could effect was to surround the exercise of the office with so many restrictions as to deprive the prince of any real authority. these restrictions did not, however, meet the approval of the other provinces, and william himself refused to accept them. de witt had to give way. william was appointed captain-general for one year (february , ). it appeared to be an absolutely hopeless task that this utterly inexperienced young man had to face. but the mere fact that once more a prince of orange was in command gave new hope. it was a name to conjure with; and the holder of it, young as he was and with no previous military training, faced his task with the calm confidence which comes from conscious power and an inherited aptitude for the leadership of men. * * * * * chapter xvii war with france and england. william iii, stadholder. murder of the brothers de witt, the advance of the french armies and those of münster and cologne to attack the eastern frontier of the united provinces met with little serious resistance. fortress after fortress fell; the line of the yssel was abandoned. soon the whole of gelderland, overyssel, drente and utrecht were in the possession of the enemy. even the castle of muiden, but ten miles from amsterdam, was only saved from capture at the last moment by joan maurice throwing himself with a small force within the walls. the prince of orange had no alternative but to fall back behind the famous waterline of holland. he had at his disposal, after leaving garrisons in the fortresses, barely men as a field-force. with some difficulty the people were persuaded to allow the dykes to be cut, as in the height of the struggle against spain, and the country to be submerged. once more behind this expanse of flood, stretching like a gigantic moat from muiden on the zuyder zee to gorkum on the maas, holland alone remained as the last refuge of national resistance to an overwhelming foe. true the islands of zeeland and friesland were yet untouched by invasion, but had holland succumbed to the french armies their resistance would have availed little. at the end of june the aspect of affairs looked very black, and despite the courageous attitude of the young captain-general, and the ceaseless energy with which the council-pensionary worked for the equipment of an adequate fleet, and the provision of ways and means and stores, there seemed to be no ray of hope. men's hearts failed them for fear, and a panic of despair filled the land. had the combined fleets of england and france been able at this moment to obtain a victory at sea and to land an army on the coast, it is indeed difficult to see how utter and complete disaster could have been avoided. fortunately, however, this was averted. it had been de witt's hope that de ruyter might have been able to have struck a blow at the english ships in the thames and the medway before they had time to put to sea and effect a junction with the french. but the zeeland contingent was late and it was the middle of may before the famous admiral, accompanied as in by cornelis de witt as the representative of the states-general, sailed at the head of seventy-five ships in search of the anglo-french fleet. after delays through contrary winds the encounter took place in southwold bay on june . the duke of york was the english admiral-in-chief, d'estrées the french commander, and they had a united force of ninety ships. the dutch, who had the wind-gauge, found the hostile squadrons separated from one another. de ruyter at once took advantage of this. he ordered vice-admiral banckers with the zeeland squadron to contain the french, while he himself with the rest of his force bore down upon the duke of york. the battle was contested with the utmost courage and obstinacy on both sides and the losses were heavy. the advantage, however, remained with the dutch. the english flag-ship, the _royal james_, was burnt; and the duke was afterwards three times compelled to shift his flag. both fleets returned to the home ports to refit; and during the rest of the summer and early autumn no further attack was made on de ruyter, who with some sixty vessels kept watch and ward along the coasts of holland and zeeland. the dutch admiral had gained his object and no landing was ever attempted. but the battle of southwold bay, though it relieved the immediate naval danger, could do nothing to stay the advancing tide of invasion on land. the situation appeared absolutely desperate; trade was at a standstill; and the rapid fall in the state securities and in the east india company's stock gave alarming evidence of the state of public opinion. in these circumstances de witt persuaded the states-general and the estates of holland to consent to the sending of two special embassies to louis, who was now at doesburg, and to london, to sue for peace. they left the hague on june , only to meet with a humiliating rebuff. charles ii refused to discuss the question apart from france. pieter de groot and his colleagues were received at doesburg with scant courtesy and sent back to the hague to seek for fuller powers. when they arrived they found the council-pensionary lying on a sick-bed. the country's disasters had been attributed to the de witts, and the strong feeling against them led to a double attempt at assassination. john de witt, while walking home at the close of a busy day's work was (june ) attacked by four assailants and badly wounded. the leader, jacob van der graeff, was seized and executed; the others were allowed to escape, it was said by the prince's connivance. a few days later an attack upon cornells de witt at dordrecht likewise failed to attain its object. that such dastardly acts could happen without an outburst of public indignation was ominous of worse things to come. it was a sign that the whole country had turned its back upon the states party and the whole system of government of which for nineteen years john de witt had been the directing spirit, and had become orangist. revolutionary events followed one another with almost bewildering rapidity. on july the estates of zeeland appointed william to the office of stadholder. the estates of holland repealed the eternal edict on july ; and on the next day it was resolved on the proposal of amsterdam to revive the stadholdership with all its former powers and prerogatives in favour of the prince of orange. the other provinces followed the lead of holland and zeeland; and on july the states-general appointed the young stadholder captain-and admiral-general of the union. william thus found himself invested with all the offices and even more than the authority that had been possessed by his ancestors. young and inexperienced as he was, he commanded unbounded confidence, and it was not misplaced. meanwhile, despite the strong opposition of amsterdam and some other towns, the fuller powers asked for by de groot were granted, and he returned to the camp of louis to endeavour to obtain more favourable terms of peace. he was unsuccessful. the demands of the french king included concessions of territory to cologne, to münster and to england, and for himself the greater part of the generality-lands with the great fortresses of hertogenbosch and maestricht, a war indemnity of , , francs, and complete freedom for catholic worship. on july de groot returned to the hague to make his report. the humiliating terms were rejected unanimously, but it was still hoped that now that the prince of orange was at the head of affairs negotiations might be resumed through the mediation of england. william even went so far as to send a special envoy to charles ii, offering large concessions to england, if the king would withdraw from the french alliance. but it was in vain. on the contrary at this very time (july ) the treaty between louis and charles was renewed; and the demands made on behalf of england were scarcely less exorbitant than those put forward by louis himself--the cession of sluis, walcheren, cadsand, voorne and goerce, an indemnity of , , francs, the payment of an annual subsidy for the herring fishery, and the striking of the flag. if all the conditions made by the two kings were agreed to, the sovereignty of the remnants of the once powerful united provinces, impoverished and despoiled, was offered to the prince. he rejected it with scorn. when the estates of holland on the return of de groot asked his advice about the french terms, the stadholder replied, "all that stands in the proposal is unacceptable; rather let us be hacked in pieces, than accept such conditions"; and when an english envoy, after expressing king charles' personal goodwill to his nephew, tried to persuade him to accept the inevitable, he met with an indignant refusal. "but don't you see that the republic is lost," he is reported to have pleaded. "i know of one sure means of not seeing her downfall," was william's proud reply, "to die in defence of the last ditch." the firm attitude of the prince gave courage to all; and, whatever might be the case with the more exposed provinces on the eastern and south-eastern frontiers, the hollanders and zeelanders were resolved to sacrifice everything rather than yield without a desperate struggle. but the fact that they were reduced to these dire straits roused the popular resentment against the de witts and the system of government which had for more than two decades been in possession of power. their wrath was especially directed against the council-pensionary. pamphlets were distributed broadcast in which he was charged amongst other misdoings with appropriating public funds for his private use. while yet suffering from the effects of his wounds de witt appeared (july ) before the estates and vigorously defended himself. a unanimous vote declared him free from blame. cornelis de witt was, no less than his brother, an object of popular hatred. in the town of dordrecht where the de witt influence had been so long supreme his portrait in the town-hall was torn to pieces by the mob and the head hung on a gallows. on july he was arrested and imprisoned at the hague on the charge brought against him by a barber named tichelaer, of being implicated in a plot to assassinate the prince. tichelaer was well known to be a bad and untrustworthy character. on the unsupported testimony of this man, the ruwaard, though indignantly denying the accusation, was incarcerated in the gevangenpoort, to be tried by a commission appointed by the estates. great efforts were made by his friends and by his brother to obtain his release; but, as the prince would not interfere, the proceedings had to take their course. john de witt meanwhile, wishing to forestall a dismissal which he felt to be inevitable, appeared before the estates on august , and in an impressive speech voluntarily tendered his resignation of the post of council-pensionary, asking only for the redemption of the promise made to him that at the close of his tenure of office he should receive a judicial appointment. the resignation was accepted, the request granted, but owing to opposition no vote of thanks was given. caspar fagel was appointed council-pensionary in his place. the enemies of john de witt were not content with his fall from power. a committee of six judges were empanelled to try his brother cornelis for his alleged crime. on august , to their eternal disgrace, they by a majority vote ordered the prisoner, who was suffering from gout, to be put to the torture. the illustrious victim of their malice endured the rack without flinching, insisting on his absolute innocence of any plot against the prince's life. nevertheless, early on august , sentence was pronounced upon him of banishment and loss of all his offices. later on the same day cornelis sent a message to his brother that he should like to see him. john, in spite of strong warnings, came to the gevangenpoort and was admitted to the room where the ruwaard, as a result of the cruel treatment he had received, was lying in bed; and the two brothers had a long conversation. meanwhile a great crowd had gathered round the prison clamouring for vengeance upon the de witts. three companies of soldiers were however drawn up under the command of count tilly with orders from the commissioned-councillors to maintain order. at the same time the _schutterij_--the civic guard--was called out. these latter, however, were not to be trusted and were rather inclined to fraternise with the mob. so long as tilly's troops were at hand, the rioters were held in restraint and no acts of violence were attempted. it was at this critical moment that verbal orders came to tilly to march his troops to the gates to disperse some bands of marauding peasants who were said to be approaching. tilly refused to move without a written order. it came, signed by van asperen, the president of the commissioned-councillors, a strong orange partisan. on receiving it tilly is said to have exclaimed, "i will obey, but the de witts are dead men." the soldiers were no sooner gone than the crowd, under the leadership of verhoef, a goldsmith, and van bankhem, a banker, forced the door of the prison (the _schutterij_ either standing aloof, or actually assisting in the attack), and rushing upstairs found john de witt sitting calmly at the foot of his brother's bed reading aloud to him a passage of scripture. hands were laid upon both with brutal violence; they were dragged into the street; and there with blows of clubs and repeated stabs done to death. it was p.m. when tilly departed, at . all was over, but the infuriated rabble were not content with mere murder. the bodies were shamefully mis-handled and were finally hung up by the feet to a lamppost, round which to a late hour in the evening a crowd shouted, sang and danced. it is impossible to conceive a fate more horrible or less deserved. the poor dishonoured remains were taken down when night fell by faithful hands and were at dawn in the presence of a few relatives and friends interred in the nieuwe kerk. that william iii had any complicity in this _execrable faict_, as it was well styled by the new council-pensionary fagel, there is not the slightest evidence. he was absent from the hague at the time and wholly preoccupied with the sore necessities of the military position; and it is said that he was much affected at hearing the dreadful news. but his naturally cold and self-contained nature had been hardened in the school of adversity during the long years of humiliation which had been imposed upon him by john de witt and his party. he had endured in proud patience awaiting the hour when he could throw off the yoke, and now that it had come he could not forgive. under the plea that the number of those implicated in the deed was so large that it was impossible to punish them and thus stir up party passions at a time when the whole energies of the nation were needed for the war, he took no steps to bring the offenders to justice. unfortunately for his reputation he was not content with a neutral attitude, but openly protected and rewarded the three chief offenders tichelaer, verhoef and van bankhem, all of them men of disreputable character. thus two of the greatest statesmen and patriots that holland has produced, john van oldenbarneveldt and john de witt, both perished miserably, victims of the basest national ingratitude; and it will ever remain a stain upon the national annals and upon the memory of two illustrious princes of orange, maurice and william iii, that these tragedies were not averted. * * * * * chapter xviii the stadholderate of william iii, - in the early summer of , when william resolved to concentrate all his available forces for the defence of holland covered by its water-line, the military situation was apparently hopeless. had turenne and luxemburg made a united effort to force this line at the opening of the campaign the probability is that they would have succeeded. instead of doing so they expended their energies in the capture of a number of fortified places in gelderland, overyssel and north brabant; and in the meantime the stadholder was week by week strengthening the weak points in his defences, encouraging his men, personally supervising every detail and setting an example of unshaken courage and of ceaseless industry. he had at his side, as his field-marshal, george frederick, count of waldeck, an officer of experience and skill who had entered the republic's service, and van beverningh as commissioner of the states-general. with their help and counsel he had before autumn an efficient army of , men on guard behind entrenchments at all assailable points, while armed vessels patrolled the waterways. outside the line nijmwegen, grave, coevorden, steenwijk and other smaller places had fallen; but the münster-cologne forces, after a siege lasting from july to august , had to retire from groningen. the french armies were all this time being constantly weakened by having to place garrisons in the conquered provinces; and neither turenne nor luxemburg felt strong enough to attack the strongly-protected dutch frontiers behind the water-line. the prince, however, was not content with inaction. assuming the offensive, he ventured on a series of attacks on naarden and on woerden, raised the siege of maestricht, and finally made an attempt to cut the french communications by a march upon charleroi. all these raids were more or less failures, since in each case william had to retreat without effecting anything of importance. nevertheless the enterprise shown by the young general had the double effect of heartening his own troops and of undermining the overweening confidence of the enemy. a hard frost in december enabled luxemburg to penetrate into holland, but a rapid thaw compelled a hasty withdrawal. the only road open to him was blocked by a fortified post at nieuwerbrug, but colonel vin et pain, who was in command of the dutch force, retired to gouda and left the french a free passage, to the stadholder's great indignation. the colonel was tried on the charge of deserting his post, and shot. the year was marked by a decisive change for the better in the position of the states. alarm at the rapid growth of the french power brought at last both spanish and austrian assistance to the hard-pressed netherlands; and the courage and skill of de ruyter held successfully at bay the united fleets of england and france, and effectually prevented the landing of an army on the dutch coast. never did de ruyter exhibit higher qualities of leadership than in the naval campaign of . his fleet was greatly inferior in numbers to the combined anglo-french fleet under prince rupert and d'estrées. a stubborn action took place near the mouth of the scheldt on june , in which the english had little assistance from the french squadron and finally retired to the estuary of the thames. another fierce fight at kijkduin on august was still more to the advantage of the dutch. meanwhile on land the french had scored a real success by the capture of the great fortress of maestricht with its garrison of men, after a siege which lasted from june to july . all attempts, however, to pass the water-line and enter holland met with failure; and, as the summer drew to its close, the advance of imperial and spanish forces began to render the position of the french precarious. william seized his opportunity in september to capture naarden before luxemburg could advance to its relief. he then took a bolder step. in october, at the head of an army of , men, of whom , were spanish, he marched to cologne and, after effecting a junction with the imperial army, laid siege to bonn, which surrendered on november . this brilliant stroke had great results. the french, fearing that their communications might be cut, withdrew from the dutch frontier; and at the same time the münster-cologne forces hastily evacuated the eastern provinces. the stadholder before the end of the year entirely freed the country from its invaders. once more a prince of orange had saved the dutch republic in its extremity. the effect of this was to place almost supreme power in his hands. had the prince at this moment set his heart upon obtaining the title of sovereign, he would have had but little difficulty in gratifying his ambition. leading statesmen like the council-pensionary fagel, the experienced van beverningh, and valckenier, the most influential man in amsterdam, would have supported him. but william was thoroughly practical. the freeing of the provinces from the presence of the enemy was but the beginning of the task which he had already set before himself as his life-work, _i.e._ the overthrow of the menacing predominance of the french power under louis xiv. his first care was the restoration of the well-nigh ruined land. the country outside the water-line had been cruelly devastated by the invaders, and then impoverished by having for a year and a half to maintain the armies of occupation. large tracts on the borders of holland, utrecht and friesland, submerged by the sea-waters through the cutting of the dams, had been rendered valueless for some years to come, while those parts of holland and zeeland on which the enemy had not set foot had been crushed beneath heavy taxes and the loss of commerce. the position of the three provinces, utrecht, gelderland and overyssel, which had been overrun by the french at the opening of hostilities and held by them ever since, had to be re-settled. they had, during this period, paid no taxes, and had no representation in the states-general. holland was in favour of reducing them to the status of generality-lands until they had paid their arrears. the prince was opposed to any harshness of treatment, and his will prevailed. the three provinces were re-admitted into the union, but with shorn privileges; and william was elected stadholder by each of them with largely increased powers. the nomination, or the choice out of a certain number of nominees, of the members of the town-corporations, of the courts of justice and of the delegates to the states-general, was granted to him. the dutch republic was full of anomalies. in utrecht, gelderland and overyssel we have the curious spectacle in the days of william iii of the stadholder, who was nominally a servant of the sovereign estates, himself appointing his masters. as a matter of fact, the voice of these provinces was his voice; and, as he likewise controlled the estates in zeeland, he could always count upon a majority vote in the states-general in support of his foreign policy. nor was this all. holland itself, in gratitude for its deliverance, had become enthusiastically orangist. it declared the stadholdership hereditary in the male-line, and its example was followed by zeeland, utrecht, gelderland and overyssel, while the states-general in their turn made the captain-and admiral-generalship of the union hereditary offices. nor was gratitude confined to the conferring of powers and dignities which gave the prince in all but name monarchical authority. at the proposal of amsterdam, the city which so often had been and was yet to be the stubborn opponent of the princes of orange, william ii's debt of , , fl. was taken over by the province of holland; zeeland presented him with , fl.; and the east india company with a grant of / of its dividends. from the very first william had kept steadily in view a scheme of forming a great coalition to curb the ambitious designs of louis xiv; and for effecting this object an alliance between england and the united provinces was essential. the first step was to conclude peace. this was not a difficult task. the english parliament, and still more the english people, had throughout been averse from fighting on the side of the french against the dutch. charles ii, with the help of french money, had been carrying on the war in opposition to the wishes of his subjects, who saw their fleets but feebly supported by their french allies, their trade seriously injured, and but little chance of gaining any advantageous return for the heavy cost. charles himself had a strong affection for his nephew, and began to turn a favourable ear to his proposals for negotiations, more especially as his heroic efforts to stem the tide of french invasion had met with so much success. in these circumstances everything was favourable to an understanding; and peace was concluded at westminster on february , . the terms differed little from those of breda, except that the republic undertook to pay a war indemnity of , , fl. within three years. the striking of the flag was conceded. surinam remained in dutch hands. new york, which had been retaken by a squadron under cornelis evertsen, august, , was given back to the english crown. negotiations were likewise opened with münster and cologne; and peace was concluded with münster (april ) and with cologne (may ) on the basis of the evacuation of all conquered territory. france was isolated and opposed now by a strong coalition, the republic having secured the help of austria, spain, brandenburg and denmark. the campaign of the summer of thus opened under favouring circumstances, but nothing of importance occurred until august , when william at the head of an allied force of some , men encountered condé at seneff in hainault. the battle was fought out with great obstinacy and there were heavy losses on both sides. the french, however, though inferior in numbers had the advantage in being a more compact force than that of the allies; and william, poorly supported by the imperialist contingents, had to retire from the field. he was never a great strategist, but he now conducted a retreat which extracted admiration from his opponents. his talents for command always showed themselves most conspicuously in adverse circumstances. his coolness and courage in moments of peril and difficulty never deserted him, and, though a strict disciplinarian, he always retained the confidence and affection of his soldiers. on october grave was captured, leaving only one of the dutch fortresses, maestricht, in the hands of the french. the war on land dragged on without any decisive results during . the stadholder was badly supported by his allies and reduced to the defensive; but, though tentative efforts were made by the english government to set on foot negotiations for peace, and a growing party in holland were beginning to clamour for the cessation of a war which was crippling their trade and draining the resources of the country, the prince was resolutely opposed to the english offer of mediation, which he regarded as insincere and premature. he was well aware that there was in england a very strong and widespread opposition to the succession of james duke of york, who made no secret of his devoted attachment to the roman catholic faith. so strong was the feeling that he had been compelled to resign his post of lord-high-admiral. the dislike and distrust he aroused had been accentuated by his second marriage to mary of modena, a zealous catholic. william was the son of the eldest daughter of charles i, and to him the eyes of a large party in england were turning. the prince was keenly alive to the political advantages of his position. he kept himself well informed of the intrigues of the court and of the state of public opinion by secret agents, and entered into clandestine correspondence with prominent statesmen. charles ii himself, though he had not the smallest sympathy with his nephew's political views, was as kindly disposed to him as his selfish and unprincipled nature would allow, and he even went so far as to encourage in an alliance between him and his cousin mary, the elder daughter of the duke of york. but william had at that time no inclination for marriage. he was preoccupied with other things, and the age of mary--she was only twelve--rendered it easy for him to postpone his final decision. events were to force his hand. in the french king, fearing the power of the coalition that was growing in strength, endeavoured to detach the republic by offering to make a separate peace on generous terms. despite the opposition of the stadholder, dutch and french representatives met at nijmwegen; but william by his obdurate attitude rendered any settlement of the points in dispute impossible. in , however, the capture of valenciennes by the french and their decisive defeat of the allied army under william's command at mont-cassel (april ) made it more difficult for him to resist the growing impatience of the burgher-class in holland and especially of the merchants of amsterdam at his opposition to peace. he was accused of wishing to continue the war from motives of personal ambition and the desire of military glory. in february of this year, however, charles ii after a period of personal rule was through lack of resources compelled to summon parliament. it no sooner met than it showed its strong sympathy with the netherlands; and the king speedily saw that he could no longer pursue a policy opposed to the wishes of his people. when, therefore, william sent over his most trusted friend and counsellor, bentinck, to london on a secret mission in the summer, he met with a most favourable reception; and the prince himself received an invitation to visit his uncle with the special object of renewing the proposal for his marriage with the princess mary. william accordingly arrived in london on october ; and, the assent of the king and the duke of york being obtained, the wedding was celebrated with almost indecent haste. it was a purely political union; and when, early in december, the prince and princess of orange set sail for holland, the young girl wept bitterly at having to leave her home for a strange land at the side of a cold, unsympathetic husband. the weeks he spent in england had been utilised by the prince to good purpose. he persuaded charles to promise his support by land and sea to the netherlands in case the terms of peace offered by the allies were rejected by the french. a treaty between the states and great britain giving effect to this promise was actually signed on january , . the results, however, did not answer william's expectations. the english parliament and the states alike had no trust in king charles, nor was the english match at first popular in holland. a strong opposition arose against the prince's war policy. the commercial classes had been hard hit by the french invasion, and they were now suffering heavy losses at sea through the dunkirk privateers led by the daring jean bart. the peace party included such tried and trusted statesmen as van beverningh, van beuningen and the council-pensionary fagel, all of them loyal counsellors of the stadholder. so resolute was the attitude of amsterdam that the leaders of both municipal parties, valckenier and hooft, were agreed in demanding that the french offers of a separate peace should be accepted. on the same side was found henry casimir, stadholder of friesland, who was jealous of his cousin's autocratic exercise of authority. the _pourparlers_ at nijmwegen were still going on, but made no progress in face of william's refusal to treat except in concert with his allies. louis xiv, however, fully informed of the state of public opinion and of the internal dissensions both in the united provinces and in england, was not slow to take advantage of the situation. a powerful french army invaded flanders and made themselves masters of ypres and ghent and proceeded to besiege mons. william, despite the arrival of an english auxiliary force under monmouth, could do little to check the enemy's superior forces. meanwhile french diplomacy was busy at amsterdam and elsewhere in the states, working against the war parties; and by the offer of favourable terms the states-general were induced to ask for a truce of six weeks. it was granted, and the dutch and spanish representatives at nijmwegen (those of the emperor, of brandenburg and of denmark refusing to accede) speedily agreed to conclude peace on the following terms: the french to restore maestricht and to evacuate all occupied dutch territory, and to make a commercial treaty. spain to surrender an important slice of southern flanders, but to be left in possession of a belt of fortresses to cover their netherland possessions against further french attack. but, though these conditions were accepted, the french raised various pretexts to delay the signature of the treaty, hoping that meanwhile mons, which was closely beleaguered by luxemburg, might fall into their hands, and thus become an asset which they could exchange for some other possession. the states and the spanish government were both anxious to avoid this; and the prince of orange, who steadily opposed the treaty, returned towards the end of july to his camp to watch the siege of mons and prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy. at the same time (july ) king charles, who had been working through sir william temple for the conclusion of peace, now declared that, unless the treaty was signed before august , he would assist the allies to enforce it. the french diplomatists at nijmwegen had hitherto declared that their troops would not evacuate maestricht and the other places which they had agreed to restore to the states, until brandenburg and denmark had evacuated the territory they had conquered from sweden. on august , just before time for resuming hostilities had been reached, they tactfully conceded this point and promised immediate evacuation, if the treaty were at once concluded. van beverningh and his colleagues accordingly, acting on their instructions, affixed their signatures just before midnight. they fell into the trap laid for them, for the treaty between france and spain was not yet signed, and it was the intention of the french to make further pretexts for delay in the hope that mons meanwhile would fall. the report of the conclusion of peace reached the stadholder in his camp on august , but unofficially. on the morning of august d'estrades came personally to bring the news to luxemburg; and the french marshal was on the point of forwarding the message to the dutch camp, when he heard that orange was advancing with his army to attack him, and he felt that honour compelled him to accept the challenge. a sanguinary fight took place at st denis, a short distance from mons. william exposed his life freely, and though the result was nominally a drawn battle, he achieved his purpose. luxemburg raised the siege of mons, and the negotiations with spain were pressed forward. the treaty was signed on september , . the peace of nijmwegen thus brought hostilities to an end, leaving the united provinces in possession of all their territory. it lasted ten years, but it was only an armed truce. louis xiv desired a breathing space in which to prepare for fresh aggressions; and his tireless opponent, the prince of orange, henceforth made it the one object of his life to form a grand alliance to curb french ambition and uphold in europe what was henceforth known as "the balance of power." in setting about this task william was confronted with almost insuperable difficulties. the dutch people generally had suffered terribly in the late invasions and were heartily sick of war. the interest of the hollanders and especially of the amsterdammers was absorbed in the peaceful pursuits of commerce. the far-reaching plans and international combinations, upon which william concentrated his whole mind and energies, had no attraction for them, even had they understood their purpose and motive. the consequence was that the prince encountered strong opposition, and this not merely in holland and amsterdam, but from his cousin henry casimir and the two provinces of which he was stadholder. in amsterdam the old "states" party revived under the leadership of valckenier and hooft; and in his latter days van beuningen was ready to resist to the utmost any considerable outlay on the army or navy or any entangling alliances. they held that it was the business of the republic to attend to its own affairs and to leave louis to pursue his aggressive policy at the expense of other countries, so long as he left them alone. the ideal which william iii had set before him was the exact reverse of this; and, unfortunately for his own country, throughout his life he often subordinated its particular interests to the wider european interests which occupied his attention. the work of building up afresh a coalition to withstand the ever-growing menace of the formidable french power could scarcely have been more unpromising than it now appeared. spain was utterly exhausted and feeble. brandenburg and denmark had been alienated by the states concluding a separate peace at nijmwegen and leaving them in the lurch. the attention of the emperor was fully occupied in defending hungary and vienna itself against the turks. england under charles ii was untrustworthy and vacillating, almost a negligible quantity. a visit made by william to london convinced him that nothing was at present to be hoped for from that quarter. at the same time the very able french ambassador at the hague, d'avaux, did his utmost to foment the divisions and factions in the provinces. he always insisted that he was accredited to the states-general and not to the prince of orange, and carried on correspondence and intrigues with the party in amsterdam opposed to the stadholder's anti-french policy. the cumbrous and complicated system of government enabled him thus to do much to thwart the prince and to throw obstacles in his way. the curious thing is, that william was so intent on his larger projects that he was content to use the powers he had without making any serious attempt, as he might have done, to make the machine of government more workable by reforms in the direction of centralisation. immersed in foreign affairs, he left the internal administration in the hands of subordinates chosen rather for their subservience than for their ability and probity; and against several of them, notably against his relative odijk, serious charges were made. odijk, representing the prince as first noble in zeeland, had a large patronage; and he shamelessly enriched himself by his venal traffic in the disposal of offices without a word of rebuke from william, in whose name he acted. on the contrary, he continued to enjoy his favour. corruption was scarcely less rife in holland, though no one practised it quite on the same scale as odijk in zeeland. william indeed cared little about the domestic politics of the republic, except in so far as they affected his diplomatic activities; and in this domain he knew how to employ able and devoted men. he had waldeck at his side not merely as a military adviser, but as a skilful diplomatist well versed in the intricate politics of the smaller german states; everhard van weede, lord of dijkveld, and godard van rheede, lord of amerongen, proved worthy successors of van beverningh and van beuningen. through the council-pensionary fagel he was able to retain the support of the majority in the estates of holland, despite the strong opposition he encountered at amsterdam and some other towns, where the interests of commerce reigned supreme. the death of gillis valckenier, the ablest of the leaders of the opposition in amsterdam, in left the control of affairs in that city in the hands of nicolaes witsen and johan hudde, but these were men of less vigour and determination than valckenier. louis xiv meanwhile had been actively pushing forward his schemes of aggrandisement. strasburg was seized in august, ; luxemburg was occupied; claims were made under the treaty of nijmwegen to certain portions of flanders and brabant, and troops were despatched to take possession of them. there was general alarm; and, with the help of waldeck, william was able to secure the support of a number of the small german states in the rhenish circle, most of them always ready to hire out their armed forces for a subsidy. sweden also offered assistance. but both england and brandenburg were in secret collusion with france, and the emperor would not move owing to the turkish menace. in these circumstances spain was compelled ( ) by the entry of the armies of louis into the southern netherlands to declare war upon france, and called upon the states for their military aid of men in accordance with the terms of the treaty of nijmwegen. orange at once referred the matter to the council of state, and himself proposed that , should be sent. as this, however, could only mean a renewal of the war with france, the proposal met with strong opposition in many quarters, and especially in amsterdam. prosperity was just beginning to revive, and a remembrance of past experiences filled the hearts of many with dread at the thought of the french armies once more invading their land. the amsterdam regents even went so far as to enter into secret negotiations with d'avaux; and they were supported by henry casimir, who was always ready to thwart his cousin's policy. william was checkmated and at first, in his anger, inclined to follow his father's example and crush the opposition of amsterdam by force. he possessed however, which william ii had not, the support of a majority in the estates of holland. he used this with effect. the raising of the troops was sanctioned by the estates (january , ), an intercepted cipher-letter from d'avaux being skilfully used to discredit the amsterdam leaders, who were accused of traitorous correspondence with a foreign power. nevertheless the prince, although he was able to override any active opposition at home, did not venture, so long as england and brandenburg were on friendly relations with france, to put pressure upon the states-general. the french troops, to the prince's chagrin, overran flanders; and he had no alternative but to concur in the truce for twenty years concluded at ratisbon, august , , which left the french king in possession of all his conquests. no more conclusive proof of the inflexible resolve of william iii can be found than the patience he now exhibited. his faith in himself was never shaken, and his patience in awaiting the favourable moment was inexhaustible. to him far more appropriately than to his great-grandfather might the name of william the silent have been given. he had no confidants, except waldeck and william bentinck; and few could even guess at the hidden workings of that scheming mind or at the burning fires of energy and will-power beneath the proud and frigid reserve of a man so frail in body and always ailing. very rarely could a born leader of men have been more unamiable or less anxious to win popular applause, but his whole demeanour inspired confidence and, ignoring the many difficulties and oppositions which thwarted him, he steadfastly bided his time and opportunity. it now came quickly, for the year was marked by two events--the accession of james ii to the throne of england, and the revocation of the edict of nantes--which were to have far-reaching consequences. the new king of england was not merely a strong but a bigoted roman catholic. had he been a wise and patriotic prince, he would have tried by a studiously moderate policy to win the loyal allegiance of his subjects, but he was stubborn, wrong-headed and fanatical, and from the first he aimed at the impossible. his attempts to establish absolute rule, to bring back the english nation to the fold of the catholic church and, as a means to that end, to make himself independent of parliament by accepting subsidies from the french king, were bound to end in catastrophe. this was more especially the case as louis xiv had, at the very time of king james' accession, after having for a number of years persecuted the huguenots in defiance of the edict of nantes, taken the step of revoking that great instrument of religious toleration on november , . the exile of numerous families, who had already been driven out by the _dragonnades_, was now followed by the expulsion of the entire huguenot body, of all at least who refused to conform to the catholic faith. how many hundreds of thousands left their homes to find refuge in foreign lands it is impossible to say, but amongst them were great numbers of industrious and skilled artisans and handicraftsmen, who sought asylum in the dutch republic and there found a ready and sympathetic welcome. the arrival of these unhappy immigrants had the effect of arousing a strong feeling of indignation in holland, and indeed throughout the provinces, against the government of louis xiv. they began to see that the policy of the french king was not merely one of territorial aggression, but was a crusade against protestantism. the governing classes in holland, zeeland, friesland and groningen were stirred up by the preachers to enforce more strictly the laws against the catholics in those provinces, for genuine alarm was felt at the french menace to the religion for which their fathers had fought and suffered. the cause of protestantism was one with which the princes of orange had identified themselves; but none of his ancestors was so keen an upholder of that cause as was william iii. the presence in their midst of the huguenot refugees had the effect of influencing public opinion powerfully in the states in favour of their stadholder's warlike policy. nor was the dutch republic the only state which was deeply moved by the ruthless treatment of his protestant subjects by the french king. the elector of brandenburg, as head of the principal protestant state in germany, had also offered an asylum to the french exiles and now reverted once more to his natural alliance with the united provinces. he sent his trusted councillor, paul fuchs, in may, , to offer to his nephew, the prince of orange, his friendly co-operation in the formation of a powerful coalition against france. fuchs was a skilled diplomatist, and by his mediation an understanding was arrived at between the stadholder and his opponents in amsterdam. at the same time strong family influence was brought to bear upon henry casimir of friesland, and a reconciliation between the two stadholders was effected. william thus found himself, before the year came to an end, able to pursue his policy without serious let or hindrance. he was quite ready to seize his opportunity, and by tactful diplomacy he succeeded by august, , in forming an alliance between the united provinces, brandenburg, sweden, austria, spain and a number of the smaller rhenish states, to uphold the treaties of westphalia and nijmwegen against the encroachments of french military aggression. but the design of william was still incomplete. the naval power and financial resources of england were needed to enable the coalition to grapple successfully with the mighty centralised power of louis xiv. in england the attempt of james ii to bring about a catholic reaction by the arbitrary use of the royal prerogative was rapidly alienating the loyalty of all classes, including many men of high position, and even some of his own ministers. william watched keenly all that was going on and kept himself in close correspondence with several of the principal malcontents. he was well aware that all eyes were turning to him (and he accepted the position) as the natural defender, should the need arise, of england's civil and religious liberties. the need arose and the call came in the summer of , and it found william prepared. the climax of the conflict between king james and his people was reached with the acquittal of the seven bishops in may, , amidst public rejoicings, speedily followed on june by the birth of a prince of wales. the report was spread that the child was supposititious and it was accepted as true by large numbers of persons, including the princess anne, and also, on the strength of her testimony, by the prince and princess of orange. the secret relations of william with the leaders of opposition had for some time been carried on through his trusted confidants, dijkveld, the state's envoy at the english court, and william of nassau, lord of zuilestein. a bold step was now taken. several englishmen of note signed an invitation to the prince to land in england with an armed force in defence of the religion and liberties of the country; and it was brought to him by admiral russell, one of the signatories. after some hesitation william, with the consent and approval of the princess, decided to accept it. no man ever had a more loyal and devoted wife than william iii of orange, and he did not deserve it. for some years after his marriage he treated mary with coldness and neglect. he confessed on one occasion to bishop burnet that his churlishness was partly due to jealousy; he could not bear the thought that mary might succeed to the english throne and he would in that country be inferior in rank to his wife. the bishop informed the princess, who at once warmly declared that she would never accept the crown unless her husband received not merely the title of king, but the prerogatives of a reigning sovereign. from that time forward a complete reconciliation took place between them, and the affection and respect of william for this loyal, warm-hearted and self-sacrificing woman deepened as the years went on. mary's character, as it is revealed in her private diaries, which have been preserved, deserves those epithets. profoundly religious and a convinced protestant, mary with prayers for guidance and not without many tears felt that the resolve of her husband to hazard all on armed intervention in england was fully justified; and at this critical juncture she had no hesitation in allowing her sense of duty to her husband and her country to override that of a daughter to her father. already in july vigorous preparations in all secrecy began to be made for the expedition. the naval yards were working at full pressure with the ostensible object of sending out a fleet to suppress piracy in the mediterranean. the stadholder felt that he was able to rely upon the willing co-operation of the states in his project. his difficulty now, as always, was to secure the assent of amsterdam. but the opposition of that city proved less formidable than was anticipated. the peril to protestantism should england under james ii be leagued with france, was evident, and scarcely less the security of the commerce on which amsterdam depended for its prosperity. the support of amsterdam secured that of the estates of holland; and finally, after thus surmounting successfully the elements of opposition in the town and the province, where the anti-orange party was most strongly represented, the prince had little difficulty in obtaining, on october , the unanimous approval of the states-general, assembled in secret session, to the proposed expedition. by that time an army of , men had been gathered together and was encamped at mook. of these the six english and scottish regiments, who now, as throughout the war of independence, were maintained in the dutch service, formed the nucleus. the force also comprised the prince's dutch guards and other picked dutch troops, and also some german levies. marshal schomberg was in command. the pretext assigned was the necessity of protecting the eastern frontier of the republic against an attack from cologne, where cardinal fürstenberg, the nominee and ally of louis xiv, had been elected to the archiepiscopal throne. meanwhile diplomacy was active. d'avaux was far too clear-sighted not to have discerned the real object of the naval and military preparations, and he warned both louis xiv and james ii. james, however, was obdurate and took no heed, while louis played his enemy's game by declaring war on the emperor and the pope, and by invading the palatinate instead of the republic. for william had been doing his utmost to win over to his side, by the agency of waldeck and bentinck, the protestant princes of germany, with the result that brandenburg, hanover, saxony, brunswick and hesse had undertaken to give him active support against a french attack; while the constant threat against her possessions in the belgic netherlands compelled spain to join the anti-french league which the stadholder had so long been striving to bring into existence. to these were now added the emperor and the pope, who, being actually at war with france, were ready to look favourably upon an expedition which would weaken the common enemy. the grand alliance of william's dreams had thus (should his expedition to england prove successful) come within the range of practical politics; and with his base secured orange now determined to delay no longer, but to stake everything upon the issue of the english venture. the prince bade farewell to the states-general on october , and four days later he set sail from helvoetsluis, but was driven back by a heavy storm, which severely damaged the fleet. a fresh start was made on november . admiral herbert was in command of the naval force, which convoyed safely through the channel without opposition the long lines of transports. over the prince's vessel floated his flag with the words _pro religione et libertate_ inscribed above the motto of the house of orange, _je maintiendray_. without mishap a landing was effected at torbay, november ( o.s.), which was william's birthday, and a rapid march was made to exeter. he met with no armed resistance. james' troops, his courtiers, his younger daughter the princess anne, all deserted him; and finally, after sending away his wife and infant son to france, the king himself left his palace at whitehall by night and fled down the river to sheerness. here he was recognised and brought back to london. it was thought, however, best to connive at his escape, and he landed on the coast of france at christmas. the expedition had achieved its object and william, greeted as a deliverer, entered the capital at the head of his army. on february , , a convention, specially summoned for the purpose, declared that james by his flight had vacated the throne; and the crown was offered to william and mary jointly, the executive power being placed in the hands of the prince. * * * * * chapter xix the king-stadholder, - the accession of william iii to the throne of england was an event fraught with important consequences to european politics and to the united provinces. the king was enabled at last to realise the formation of that grand alliance for which he had so long been working. the treaty of vienna, signed on may , , encircled france with a ring of enemies, and saw the emperor and spain united with the protestant powers, england, the states and many of the german princes in a bond of alliance for the maintenance of the treaties of westphalia and the pyrenees. it was not without some difficulty that william succeeded in inducing the states to enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with england. a special embassy consisting of witsen, odijk, dijkveld and others was sent to london early in to endeavour to bring about some mutually advantageous arrangement of the various conflicting maritime and commercial interests of the two countries. but they could effect nothing. the english government refused either to repeal or modify the navigation act or to reduce the toll for fishing privileges; and it required all the personal influence of william to secure the signing of a treaty (september ), which many leading hollanders considered to be a subordinating of dutch to english interests. and they were right; from this time began that decline of dutch commercial supremacy which was to become more and more marked as the th century progressed. the policy of william iii, as frederick the great remarked most justly, placed holland in the position of a sloop towed behind the english ship-of-the-line. the carrying trade of the world was still, however, in the reign of william iii practically in the hands of the dutch, despite the losses that had been sustained during the english wars and the french invasion. the only competitor was england under the shelter of the navigation act. the english had, under favourable conditions, their staple at dordrecht, the scots their staple at veere; and the volume of trade under the new conditions of close alliance was very considerable. but the imports largely exceeded the exports; and both exports and imports had to be carried in english bottoms. the baltic (or eastern) trade remained a dutch monopoly, as did the trade with russia through archangel. almost all the ships that passed through the sound were dutch; and they frequented all the baltic ports, whether russian, scandinavian or german, bringing the commodities of the south and returning laden with hemp, tallow, wood, copper, iron, corn, wax, hides and other raw products for distribution in other lands. the english had a small number of vessels in the mediterranean and the levant, and frequented the spanish and portuguese harbours, but as yet they hardly interfered with the dutch carrying-trade in those waters. the whole trade of spain with her vast american dominions was by law restricted to the one port of cadiz; but no sooner did the galleons bringing the rich products of mexico and peru reach cadiz than the bulk of their merchandise was quickly transhipped into dutch vessels, which here, as elsewhere, were the medium through which the exchange of commodities between one country and another was effected. it was a profitable business, and the merchants of amsterdam and of the other dutch commercial centres grew rich and prospered. the position of the dutch in the east indies at the close of the th century is one of the marvels of history. the east india company, with its flourishing capital at batavia, outdistanced all competitors. it was supreme in the indian archipelago and along all the shores washed by the indian ocean. the governor-general was invested with great powers and, owing to his distance from the home authority, was able to make unfettered use of them during his term of office. he made treaties and conducted wars and was looked upon by the princes and petty rulers of the orient as a mighty potentate. the conquest of macassar in , the occupation of japara and cheribon in , of bantam in , of pondicherry in , together with the possession of malacca and of the entire coast of ceylon, of the moluccas, and of the cape of good hope, gave to the dutch the control of all the chief avenues of trade throughout those regions. by treaties of alliance and commerce with the great mogul and other smaller sovereigns and chieftains factories were established at hooghly on the ganges, at coelim, surat, bender abbas, palembang and many other places. in the moluccas they had the entire spice trade in their hands. thus a very large part of the products of the orient found its way to europe by way of amsterdam, which had become increasingly the commercial emporium and centre of exchange for the world. the west india company, on the other hand, had been ruined by the loss of its brazilian dominion followed by the english wars. its charter came to an end in , but it was replaced by a new company on a more moderate scale. its colonies on the guiana coast, surinam, berbice and essequibo were at the end of the th century in an impoverished condition, but already beginning to develop the sugar plantations which were shortly to become a lucrative industry; and the island of curaçoa had the unenviable distinction of being for some years one of the chief centres of the negro slave trade. in the united provinces themselves one of the features of this period was the growth of many new industries and manufactures, largely due to the influx of huguenot refugees, many of whom were skilled artisans. not only did the manufacturers of cloth and silk employ a large number of hands, but also those of hats, gloves, ribbons, trimmings, laces, clocks and other articles, which had hitherto been chiefly produced in france. one of the consequences of the rapid increase of wealth was a change in the simple habits, manners and dress, which hitherto travellers had noted as one of the most remarkable characteristics of the hollanders. greater luxury began to be displayed, french fashions and ways of life to be imitated, and the french language to be used as the medium of intercourse among the well-to-do classes. another sign of the times was the spread of the spirit of speculation and of gambling in stocks and shares, showing that men were no longer content to amass wealth by the slow process of ordinary trade and commerce. this state of prosperity, which was largely due to the security which the close alliance with england brought to the republic, explains in no small measure the acquiescence of the dutch in a state of things which made the smaller country almost a dependency of the larger. they were proud that their stadholder should reign as king in britain; and his prolonged absences did not diminish their strong attachment to him or lessen his authority among them. so much greater indeed was the power exercised by william in the republic than that which, as a strictly constitutional sovereign, he possessed in the kingdom, that it was wittily said that the prince of orange was stadholder in england and king in holland. it must not be supposed, however, that william in his capacity as stadholder was free from worries and trials. he had many; and, as usual, amsterdam was the chief centre of unrest. after the expedition set sail for torbay, william was continuously absent for no less than two and a half years. it is no wonder therefore that during so long a period, when the attention of the king was absorbed by other pressing matters, difficulties should have arisen in his administration of the affairs of the republic. it was very unfortunate that his most able and trusted friend and adviser, the council-pensionary fagel, should have died, in december, , just when william's enterprise in england had reached its most critical stage. fagel was succeeded, after a brief interval, in his most important and influential office by antony heinsius. heinsius, who had been for some years pensionary of delft, was a modest, quiet man, already forty-five years of age, capable, experienced and business-like. his tact and statesmanlike qualities were of the greatest service to william and scarcely less to his country, at a time when urgent duties in england made it so difficult for the stadholder to give personal attention to the internal affairs of the republic. no other prince of orange had ever so favourable an opportunity as william iii for effecting such changes in the system of government and administration in the dutch republic as would simplify and co-ordinate its many rival and conflicting authorities, and weld its seven sovereign provinces into a coherent state with himself (under whatever title) as its "eminent head." at the height of his power his will could have over-ridden local or partisan opposition, for he had behind him the prestige of his name and deeds and the overwhelming support of popular opinion. but william had little or no interest in these constitutional questions. being childless, he had no dynastic ambitions. the nearest male representative of his house was henry casimir, the stadholder of friesland, with whom his relations had been far from friendly. in his mind, everything else was subordinate to the one and overruling purpose of his life, the overthrow of the power of louis xiv and of french ascendancy in europe. the great coalition which had been formed in by the treaty of vienna was, in the first years of the war which then broke out, attended with but mediocre success. the french armies laid waste the palatinate with great barbarity, and then turned their attentions to the southern netherlands. the attempted invasion was, however, checked by an allied force (august ) in a sharp encounter near charleroi. the next year, , was particularly unfortunate for the allies. william was still absent, having been obliged to conduct an expedition to ireland. he had placed the aged marshal waldeck in command of the coalition forces. waldeck had the redoubtable luxemburg opposed to him and on july the two armies met at fleurus, when, after a hard-fought contest, the allies suffered a bloody defeat. an even greater set-back was the victory gained by admiral tourville over the combined anglo-dutch fleet off beachy head (july ). the dutch squadron under cornelis evertsen bore the brunt of the fight and suffered heavily. they received little help from the english contingent; and the english admiral torrington was accused of having wilfully sacrificed his allies. the effect was serious, for the french enjoyed for a while the rare satisfaction of holding the command of the channel. the complete triumph of king william at the battle of the boyne (july ) relieved somewhat the consternation felt at this naval disaster, and set him free to devote his whole attention to the continental war. his return to the hague early in caused general rejoicing, and he was there able to concert with his allies the placing of a large force in the field for the ensuing campaign. the operations were, however, barren of any satisfactory results. luxemburg advanced before the allies were ready, and burnt and plundered a large tract of country. william, acting on the defensive, contented himself with covering the capital and the rest of flanders and brabant from attack; and no pitched battle took place. great preparations were made by louis xiv in the spring of for the invasion of england. troops were collected on the coast, and the squadron under d'estrées at toulon was ordered to join the main fleet of tourville at brest. contrary winds delayed the junction; and tourville rashly sailed out and engaged off la hogue a greatly superior allied fleet on may . the conflict this time chiefly fell upon the english, and after a fierce fight the french were defeated and fled for refuge into the shoal waters. here they were followed by the lighter vessels and fire-ships of the allies; and the greater part of the french fleet was either burnt or driven upon the rocks (june ). the maritime power of france was for the time being destroyed, and all fears of invasion dissipated. on land ill-success continued to dog the footsteps of the allies. the strong fortress of namur was taken by the french; and, after a hotly contested battle at steinkirk, william was compelled by his old adversary luxemburg to retreat. william, though he was rarely victorious on the field of battle, had great qualities as a leader. his courage and coolness won the confidence of his troops, and he was never greater than in the conduct of a retreat. this was shown conspicuously in the following year ( ), when, after a disastrous defeat at neerwinden (july ), again at the hands of luxemburg, he succeeded at imminent personal risk in withdrawing his army in good order in face of the superior forces of the victorious enemy. in the allies confined themselves to defensive operations. both sides were growing weary of war; and there were strong parties in favour of negotiating for peace both in the netherlands and in england. some of the burgher-regents of amsterdam, dordrecht and other towns even went so far as to make secret overtures to the french government, and they had the support of the frisian stadholder; but william was resolutely opposed to accepting such conditions as france was willing to offer, and his strong will prevailed. the position of the king in england was made more difficult by the lamented death of queen mary on january , . william had become deeply attached to his wife during these last years, and for a time he was prostrated by grief. but a strong sense of public duty roused him from his depression; and the campaign of was signalised by the most brilliant military exploit of his life, the recapture of namur. that town, strong by its natural position, had been fortified by vauban with all the resources of engineering skill, and was defended by a powerful garrison commanded by marshal boufflers. but william had with him the famous coehoorn, in scientific siege-warfare the equal of vauban himself. at the end of a month the town of namur was taken, but boufflers withdrew to the citadel. villeroy, at the head of an army of , men, did his utmost to compel the king to raise the siege by threatening brussels; but a strong allied force watched his movements and successfully barred his approach to namur. at last, on september , boufflers capitulated after a gallant defence on the condition that he and his troops should march out with all the honours of war. the campaign of was marked by no event of importance; indeed both sides were thoroughly tired out by the protracted and inconclusive contest. moreover the failing health of charles ii of spain threatened to open out at any moment the vital question of the succession to the spanish throne. louis xiv, william iii and the emperor were all keenly alive to the importance of the issue, and wished to have their hands free in order to prepare for a settlement, either by diplomatic means or by a fresh appeal to arms. but peace was the immediate need, and overtures were privately made by the french king to each of the allied powers in . at last it was agreed that plenipotentiaries from all the belligerents should meet in congress at ryswyck near the hague with the swedish count lilienrot as mediator. the congress was opened on may , , but many weeks elapsed before the representatives of the various powers settled down to business. heinsius and dijkveld were the two chief dutch negotiators. the emperor, when the other powers had come to terms, refused to accede; and finally england, spain and the united provinces determined to conclude a separate peace. it was signed on september and was based upon the treaties of nijmwegen and münster. france, having ulterior motives, had been conciliatory. strasburg was retained, but most of the french conquests were given up. william was recognised as king of england, and the principality of orange was restored to him. with the dutch a commercial treaty was concluded for twenty-five years on favourable terms. it was well understood, however, by all the parties that the peace of ryswyck was a truce during which the struggle concerning the spanish succession would be transferred from the field of battle to the field of diplomacy, in the hope that some solution might be found. the question was clearly of supreme importance to the states, for it involved the destiny of the spanish netherlands. england, too, had great interests at stake, and was determined to prevent the annexation of the belgic provinces by france. with charles ii the male line of the spanish habsburgs became extinct; and there were three principal claimants in the female line of succession. the claim of the dauphin was much the strongest, for he was the grandson of anne of austria, philip iii's eldest daughter, and the son of maria theresa of austria, charles ii's eldest sister. but both these queens of france had on their marriage solemnly renounced their rights of succession. louis xiv, however, asserted that his wife's renunciation was invalid, since the dowry, the payment of which was guaranteed by the marriage contract, had never been received. the younger sister of maria theresa had been married to the emperor; and two sons and a daughter had been the fruit of the union. this daughter in her turn had wedded the elector of bavaria, and had issue one boy of ten years. the elector himself, maximilian emmanuel, had been for five years governor of the spanish netherlands, where his rule had been exceedingly popular. william knew that one of the chief objects of the french king in concluding peace was to break up the grand alliance and so prepare the way for a masterful assertion of his rights as soon as the spanish throne was vacant; and with patient diplomatic skill he set to work at once to arrange for such a partition of the spanish monarchy among the claimants as should prevent the belgic provinces from falling into the hands of a first-class power and preserve spain itself with its overseas possessions from the rule of a bourbon prince. he had no difficulty in persuading the states to increase their fleet and army in case diplomacy should fail, for the dutch were only too well aware of the seriousness of the french menace to their independence. in england, where jealousy of a standing army had always been strong, he was less successful, and parliament insisted on the disbanding of many thousands of seasoned troops. the object at which william aimed was a partition treaty; and a partition was actually arranged (october , ). this arrangement, according to the ideas of the time, paid no respect whatever to the wishes of the peoples, who were treated as mere pawns by these unscrupulous diplomatists. the spanish people, as might be expected, were vehemently opposed to any partition of the empire of charles v and philip ii; and, in consequence of the influences that were brought to bear upon him, charles ii left by will the young electoral prince, joseph ferdinand, heir to his whole inheritance. by the secret terms of the partition treaty the crown of spain together with the netherlands and the american colonies had been assigned to the bavarian claimant, but the spanish dominions in italy were divided between the two other claimants, the second son of the dauphin, philip, duke of anjou, receiving naples and sicily; the second son of the emperor, the archduke charles, the milanese. unfortunately, joseph ferdinand fell sick of the small-pox and died (march, ). with william and heinsius the main point now was to prevent the french prince from occupying the spanish throne; and in all secrecy negotiations were again opened at the hague for a second partition treaty. they found louis xiv still willing to conclude a bargain. to the duke of anjou was now assigned, in addition to naples and sicily, the duchy of lorraine (whose duke was to receive the milanese in exchange); the rest of the spanish possessions were to fall to the archduke charles (march, ). the terms of this arrangement between the french king and the maritime powers did not long remain a secret; and when they were known they displeased the emperor, who did not wish to see french influence predominant in italy and his own excluded, and still more the spanish people, who objected to any partition and to the austrian ruler. the palace of charles ii became a very hot-bed of intrigues, and finally the dying king was persuaded to make a fresh will and nominate anjou as his universal heir. accordingly on charles' death (november , ) philip v was proclaimed king. for a brief time louis was doubtful as to what course of action would be most advantageous to french interests, but not for long. on november he publicly announced to his court at versailles that his grandson had accepted the spanish crown. this step was followed by the placing of french garrisons in some of the frontier fortresses of the belgic netherlands by consent of the governor, the elector of bavaria. the following months were spent in the vain efforts of diplomacy to obtain such guarantees from the french king as would give security to the states and satisfaction to england and the emperor, and so avoid the outbreak of war. in the states heinsius, who was working heart and soul with the stadholder in this crisis, had no difficulty in obtaining the full support of all parties, even in holland, to the necessity of making every effort to be ready for hostilities. william had a more difficult task in england, but he had the support of the whig majority in parliament and of the commercial classes; and he laboured hard, despite constant and increasing ill-health, to bring once more into existence the grand alliance of . in july negotiations were opened between the maritime powers and the emperor at the hague, which after lengthy discussions were brought to a conclusion in september, in no small degree through the tact and persuasiveness of lord marlborough, the english envoy, who had now begun that career which was shortly to make his name so famous. the chief provisions of the treaty of alliance, signed on september , , were that austria was to have the italian possessions of spain; the belgic provinces were to remain as a barrier and protection for holland against french aggression; and england and the states were to retain any conquests they might make in the spanish west indies. nothing was said about the crown of spain, a silence which implied a kind of recognition of philip v. to this league were joined prussia, hanover, lüneburg, hesse-cassel, while france, to whom spain was now allied, could count upon the help of bavaria. war was not yet declared, but at this very moment louis xiv took a step which was wantonly provocative. james ii died at st germain on september ; and his son was at once acknowledged by louis as king of england, by the title of james iii. this action aroused a storm of indignation among the english people, and william found himself supported by public opinion in raising troops and obtaining supplies for war. the preparations were on a vast scale. the emperor undertook to place , men in the field; england, , ; the german states, , ; and the republic no less than , . william had succeeded at last in the object of his life; a mighty confederation had been called into being to maintain the balance of power in europe, and overthrow the threatened french domination. this confederation in arms, of which he was the soul and the acknowledged head, was destined to accomplish the object for which it was formed, but not under his leadership. the king had spent the autumn in holland in close consultation with heinsius, visiting the camps, the arsenals and the dockyards, and giving instructions to the admirals and generals to have everything in readiness for the campaign of the following spring. then in november he went to england to hurry on the preparations, which were in a more backward condition than in the states. but he had overtaxed his strength. always frail and ailing, william had for years by sheer force of will-power conquered his bodily weakness and endured the fatigue of campaigns in which he was content to share all hardships with his soldiers. in his double capacity, too, of king and stadholder, the cares of government and the conduct of foreign affairs had left him no rest. especially had this been the case in england during the years which had followed queen mary's death, when he found himself opposed and thwarted and humiliated by party intrigues and cabals, to such an extent that he more than once thought of abdicating. he was feeling very ill and tired when he returned, and he grew weaker, for the winter in england always tried him. his medical advisers warned him that his case was one for which medicine was of no avail, and that he was not fit to bear the strain of the work he was doing. but the indomitable spirit of the man would not give way, and he still hoped with the spring to be able to put himself at the head of his army. it was not to be; an accident was the immediate cause by which the end came quickly. he was riding in bushey park when his horse stumbled over a mole-hill and the king was thrown, breaking his collar-bone (march , ). the shock proved fatal in his enfeebled state; and, after lingering for four days, during which, in full possession of his mental faculties, he continued to discuss affairs of state, he calmly took leave of his special friends, bentinck, earl of portland and keppel, earl of albemarle, and of the english statesmen who stood round his death-bed, and, after thanking them for their services, passed away. for four generations the house of orange had produced great leaders of men, but it may be said without disparagement to his famous predecessors that the last heir-male of that house was the greatest of them all. he saved the dutch republic from destruction; and during the thirty years of what has well been called his reign he gave to it a weighty place in the councils of europe and raised it to a height of great material prosperity. but even such services as these were dwarfed by the part that he played in laying the foundation of constitutional monarchy in england, and of the balance of power in europe. it is difficult to say whether holland, england or europe owed the deepest debt to the life-work of william iii. * * * * * chapter xx the war of the spanish succession and the treaties of utrecht, - william iii left no successor to take his place. the younger branch of the nassau family, who had been, from the time of john of nassau, stadholders of friesland and, except for one short interval, of groningen, and who by the marriage of william frederick with albertina agnes, younger daughter of frederick henry, could claim descent in the female line from william the silent, had rendered for several generations distinguished services to the republic, but in had as its only representative a boy of years of age, by name john william friso. as already narrated, the relations between his father, henry casimir, and william iii had for a time been far from friendly; but a reconciliation took place before henry casimir's untimely death, and the king became god-father to john william friso, and by his will left him his heir. the boy had succeeded by hereditary right to the posts of stadholder and captain-general of friesland and groningen under the guardianship of his mother, but such claims as he had to succeed william iii as stadholder in the other provinces were, on account of his youth, completely ignored. as in , holland, zeeland, utrecht, gelderland and overyssel reverted once more to a stadholderless form of government. fortunately this implied no change of external policy. the men who had for years been fellow-workers with king william and were in complete sympathy with his aims continued to hold the most important posts in the government of the republic, and to control its policy. that policy consisted in the maintenance of a close alliance with england for the purpose of curbing the ambitious designs of louis xiv. foremost among these statesmen were antony heinsius, the council-pensionary of holland, simon van slingelandt, secretary of the council of state since , and jan hop, the treasurer-general of the union. in england the recognition by louis of the prince of wales as king james iii had thoroughly aroused the popular feeling against france; and anne the new queen determined to carry out her predecessor's plans. the two maritime powers, closely bound together by common interests, and the ties which had arisen between them during the thirteen years of the reign of the king-stadholder, were to form the nucleus of a coalition with austria and a number of the german states, including prussia and hanover (to which savoy somewhat later adhered), pledged to support the claims of the archduke charles to the spanish throne. for the dutch it was an all-important question, for with philip v reigning at madrid the hegemony of france in europe seemed to be assured. already french troops were in possession of the chief fortresses of the so-called spanish netherlands. face to face with such a menace it was not difficult for heinsius to obtain not only the assent of the states-general, but of the estates of holland, practically without a dissenting voice, to declare war upon france and spain (may , ); and this was quickly followed by similar declarations by england and austria. the grand alliance had an outward appearance of great strength, but in reality it had all the weaknesses of a coalition, its armies being composed of contingents from a number of countries, whose governments had divergent aims and strategic objects, and it was opposed by a power under absolute rule with numerous and veteran armies inspired by a long tradition of victory under brilliant leaders. in , however, the successors of turenne and luxemburg were by no means of the same calibre as those great generals. on the other hand, the allies were doubly fortunate in being led by a man of exceptional gifts. john churchill, earl (and shortly afterwards duke) of marlborough, was placed in supreme command of the anglo-dutch armies. through the influence of his wife with the weak queen anne, the whig party, of which marlborough and his' friend godolphin the lord-treasurer were the heads, was maintained in secure possession of power; and marlborough thus entered upon his command in the full confidence of having the unwavering support of the home government behind him. still this would have availed little but for the consummate abilities of this extraordinary man. as a general he displayed a military genius, both as a strategist and a tactician, which has been rarely surpassed. for ten years he pursued a career of victory not marred by a single defeat, and this in spite of the fact that his army was always composed of heterogeneous elements, that his subordinates of different nationalities were jealous of his authority and of one another, and above all, as will be seen, that his bold and well-laid plans were again and again hindered and thwarted by the timidity and obstinacy of the civilian deputies who were placed by the states-general at his side. had marlborough been unhampered, the war would probably have ended some years before it did; as it was, the wonderful successes of the general were made possible by his skill and tact as a diplomatist. he had, moreover, the good fortune to have at his side in the imperialist general, prince eugene of savoy, a commander second only to himself in brilliance and leadership. in almost all wars the austrian alliance has proved a weak support on which to trust; but now, thanks to the outstanding capacity of eugene, the armies of austria were able to achieve many triumphs. the vigorous participation of the emperor in this war, in support of the claims of his second son, was only made possible by the victories of the italian general over the turks, who had overrun hungary and threatened vienna. and now, in the still more important sphere of operations in the west in which for a series of years he had to co-operate with marlborough, it is to the infinite credit of both these great men that they worked harmoniously and smoothly together, so that at no time was there even a hint of any jealousy between them. in any estimate of the great achievements of marlborough it must never be forgotten that he not only had eugene at his right hand in the field, but heinsius in the council chamber. heinsius had always worked loyally and sympathetically with william iii; and it was in the same spirit that he worked with the english duke, who brought william's life-task to its triumphant accomplishment. between marlborough and heinsius, as between marlborough and eugene, there was no friction--surely a convincing tribute to the adroit and tactful persuasiveness of a commanding personality. in july, , marlborough at the head of , men faced marshal boufflers with a french army almost as strong numerically, the one in front of nijmwegen, the other in the neighbourhood of liège. leaving a force of , dutch and brandenburgers to besiege kaiserswerth, marlborough by skilful manoeuvring prevented boufflers from attempting a relief, and would on two occasions have been able to inflict a severe defeat upon him had he not been each time thwarted by the cautious timidity of the dutch deputies. kaiserswerth, however, fell, and in turn rheinberg, venloo, roeremonde and liège; and the campaign ended successfully, leaving the allies in command of the lower rhine and lower meuse. that of was marred even more effectually than that of the previous year by the interference of the deputies, and the ill-concealed opposition to marlborough of certain dutch generals, notably of slangenburg. the duke was very angry, and bitter recriminations ensued. in the end slangenburg was removed from his command; and the appointment of ouwerkerk, as field-marshal of the dutch forces, relieved the tension, though the deputies were still present at headquarters, much to marlborough's annoyance. the campaign resulted in the capture of bonn, huy and limburg, but there was no general action. the year saw the genius of marlborough at length assert itself. the french had placed great armies in the field, villeroy in the netherlands, tallard in bavaria, where in conjunction with the bavarian forces he threatened to descend the danube into the heart of austria. vienna itself was in the greatest danger. the troops under lewis of baden and under eugene were, even when united, far weaker than their adversaries. in these circumstances marlborough determined by a bold strategical stroke to execute a flank march from the netherlands right across the front of the franco-bavarian army and effect a junction with the imperialists. he had to deceive the timid dutch deputies by feigning to descend the meuse with the intention of working round villeroy's flank; then, leaving ouwerkerk to contain that marshal, he set out on his daring adventure early in may and carried it out with complete success. his departure had actually relieved the netherlands, for villeroy had felt it necessary with a large part of his forces to follow marlborough and reinforce the franco-bavarians under marshal tallard and the elector. the two armies met at blenheim (hochstädt) on august . the battle resulted in the crushing victory of the allies under marlborough and eugene. eleven thousand prisoners were taken, among them tallard himself. the remnant of the french army retired across the rhine. vienna was saved, and all bavaria was overrun by the imperialists. meanwhile at sea the anglo-dutch fleet was incontestably superior to the enemy; and the operations were confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the peninsula. william iii had before his death been preparing an expedition for the capture of cadiz. his plan was actually carried out in , when a powerful fleet under the supreme command of admiral sir george rooke sailed for cadiz; but the attack failed owing to the incompetence of the duke of ormonde, who commanded the military forces. in this expedition a strong dutch squadron under philip van almonde participated. almonde was a capable seaman trained in the school of tromp and de ruyter; and he took a most creditable part in the action off vigo, october , in which a large portion of the silver fleet was captured, and the franco-spanish fleet, which formed its escort, destroyed. the maritime operations of were uneventful, the french fleet being successfully blockaded in toulon harbour. the accession of portugal in the course of this year to the grand alliance was important in that it opened the estuary of the tagus as a naval base, and enabled the archduke charles to land with a body of troops escorted by an anglo-dutch fleet under rooke and callenberg. this fleet later in the year (august ) was fortunate in capturing gibraltar without much loss, the defences having been neglected and inadequately garrisoned. in this feat of arms, which gave to the english the possession of the rock fortress that commands the entrance into the mediterranean, the dutch under callenberg had a worthy share, as also in the great sea-fight off malaga on august , against the french fleet under the count of toulouse. the french had slightly superior numbers, and the allies, who had not replenished their stores after the siege of gibraltar, were short of ammunition. though a drawn battle, so far as actual losses were concerned, it was decisive in its results. the french fleet withdrew to the shelter of toulon harbour; and the allies' supremacy in the midland sea was never again throughout the war seriously challenged. the dutch ships at the battle of malaga were twelve in number and fought gallantly, but it was the last action of any importance in which the navy of holland took part. there had been dissensions between the english and dutch commanders, and from this time forward the admiralties made no effort to maintain their fleet in the state of efficiency in which it had been left by william iii. the cost of the army fell heavily upon holland, and money was grudged for the maintenance of the navy, whose services, owing to the weakness of the enemy, were not required. the military campaign of produced small results, the plans of marlborough for an active offensive being thwarted by the dutch deputies. the duke's complaints only resulted in one set of deputies being replaced by another set of civilians equally impracticable. there was also another reason for a slackening of vigour. the emperor leopold i died on may . his successor joseph i had no children, so that the archduke charles became the heir-apparent to all the possessions of the austrian habsburgs. louis xiv therefore seized the opportunity to make secret overtures of peace to some of the more influential dutch statesmen through the marquis d'allègne, at that time a prisoner in the hands of the dutch. the french were willing to make many concessions in return for the recognition of philip v as king of spain. in the autumn conversations took place between heinsius, buys the pensionary of amsterdam, and others, with d'allègne and rouillé, an accredited agent of the french government. matters went so far that buys went to london on a secret mission to discuss the matter with the english minister. the english cabinet, however, refused to recognise philip v; and, as the dutch demand for a strong barrier of fortresses along the southern frontier of the netherlands was deemed inadmissible at versailles, the negotiations came to an end. in marlborough's bold proposal to join eugene in italy, and with their united forces to drive the french out of that country and to march upon toulon, failed to gain the assent of the dutch deputies. the duke, after much controversy and consequent delay, had to content himself with a campaign in belgium. it was brilliantly carried out. on whit sunday, may , at ramillies the allies encountered the enemy under the command of marshal villeroi and the elector of bavaria. the french were utterly defeated with very heavy loss; and such was the vigour of the pursuit that the shattered army was obliged to retire to courtrai, leaving brabant and flanders undefended. in rapid succession louvain, antwerp, ghent, bruges and other towns surrendered to marlborough, and a little later ostend, dendermonde, menin and ath; and the archduke charles was acknowledged as sovereign by the greater part of the southern netherlands. in italy and spain also things had gone well with the allies. this series of successes led louis xiv to make fresh overtures of peace to the states-general, whom the french king hoped to seduce from the grand alliance by the bait of commercial advantages both with spain and france and a good "barrier." he was even ready to yield the crown of spain to the archduke charles on condition that philip of anjou were acknowledged as sovereign of the spanish possessions in italy. heinsius however was loyal to the english alliance; and, in face of the determination of the english government not to consent to any division of the spanish inheritance, the negotiations again came to nothing. the year saw a change of fortune. austria was threatened by the victorious advance of charles xii of sweden through poland into saxony. a french army under villars crossed the rhine (may ) and advanced far into south-eastern germany. the defence of their own territories caused several of the german princes to retain their troops at home instead of sending them as mercenaries to serve in the netherlands under marlborough. the duke therefore found himself unable to attack the superior french army under vendôme, and acted steadfastly on the defensive. an attempt by eugene, supported by the english fleet, to capture toulon ended in dismal failure and the retreat of the imperialists with heavy loss into italy. in spain the victory of berwick at almanza (april ) made philip v the master of all spain, except a part of catalonia. but, though marlborough had been reduced to immobility in , the following campaign was to witness another of his wonderful victories. at the head of a mixed force of , men he was awaiting the arrival of eugene with an imperialist army of , , when vendôme unexpectedly took the offensive while he still had superiority in numbers over his english opponent. rapidly overrunning western flanders he made himself master of bruges and ghent and laid siege to oudenarde. by a series of brilliant movements marlborough out-marched and out-manoeuvred his adversary and, interposing his army between him and the french frontier, compelled him to risk a general engagement. it took place on july , , and ended in the complete defeat of the french, who were only saved by the darkness from utter destruction. had the bold project of marlborough to march into france forthwith been carried out, a deadly blow would have been delivered against the very vitals of the enemy's power and louis xiv probably compelled to sue for peace on the allies' terms. but this time not only the dutch deputies, but also eugene, were opposed to the daring venture, and it was decided that eugene should besiege lille, while marlborough with the field army covered the operations. lille was strongly fortified, and marshal boufflers made a gallant defence. the siege began in mid-august; the town surrendered on october , but the citadel did not fall until december . vendôme did his best to cut off eugene's supplies of munitions and stores, and at one time the besiegers were reduced to straits. the french marshal did not, however, venture to force an engagement with marlborough's covering army, a portion of which under general webb, after gaining a striking victory over a french force at wynendael, (september ), conducted at a critical moment a large train of supplies from ostend into eugene's camp. as a consequence of the capture of lille, the french withdrew from flanders into their own territory, ghent and bruges being re-occupied by the allies with a mere show of resistance. the reverses of induced the french king to be ready to yield much for the sake of peace. he offered the dutch a strong barrier, a favourable treaty of commerce and the demolition of the defences of dunkirk; and there were many in holland who would have accepted his terms. but their english and austrian allies insisted on the restoration of louis' german conquests, and that the king should, by force if necessary, compel his grandson to leave spain. such was the exhaustion of france that louis would have consented to almost any terms however harsh, but he refused absolutely to use coercion against philip v. the negotiations went on through the spring nor did they break down until june, , when the exorbitant demands of the allies made further progress impossible. louis issued a manifesto calling upon his subjects to support him in resisting terms which were dishonouring to france. he met with a splendid response from all classes, and a fine army of , men was equipped and placed in the field under the command of marshal villars. the long delay over the negotiations prevented marlborough and eugene from taking the field until june. they found villars had meanwhile entrenched himself in artois in a very strong position. marlborough's proposal to advance by the sea-coast and outflank the enemy being opposed both by eugene and the dutch deputies as too daring, siege was laid to tournay. campaigns in those days were dilatory affairs. tournay was not captured until september ; and the allies, having overcome this obstacle without any active interference, moved forward to besiege mons. they found villars posted at malplaquet on a narrow front, skilfully fortified and protected on both flanks by woods. a terrible struggle ensued (september , ), the bloodiest in the war. the dutch troops gallantly led by the prince of orange attacked the french right, but were repulsed with very heavy losses. for some time the fight on the left and centre of the french line was undecided, the attacking columns being driven back many times, but at length the allies succeeded in turning the extreme left and also after fearful slaughter in piercing the centre; and the french were compelled to retreat. they had lost , men, but , of the allies had fallen; the dutch divisions had suffered the most severely, losing almost half their strength. the immediate result of this hard-won victory was the taking of mons, october . the lateness of the season prevented any further operations. nothing decisive had been achieved, for on all the other fields of action, on the rhine, on the piedmont frontier and in spain, the advantage had on the whole been with the french and spaniards. negotiations proceeded during the winter ( - ), dutch and french representatives meeting both at the hague and at geertruidenberg. the states were anxious for peace and louis was willing to make the concessions required of him, but philip v refused to relinquish a crown which he held by the practically unanimous approval of the spanish people. the emperor on the other hand was obstinate in claiming the undivided spanish inheritance for the archduke charles. the maritime powers, however, would not support him in this claim; and the maritime powers meant england, for holland followed her lead, being perfectly satisfied with the conditions of the first barrier treaty, which had been drawn up and agreed upon between the states-general and the english government on october , . by this secret treaty the dutch obtained the right to hold and to garrison a number of towns along the french frontier, the possession of which would render them the real masters of belgium. indeed it was manifest that, although the dutch did not dispute the sovereign rights of the archduke charles, they intended to make the southern netherlands an economic dependency of the republic, which provided for its defence. the negotiations at geertruidenberg dragged on until july, , and were finally broken off owing to the insistence of the dutch envoys, buys and van dussen, upon conditions which, even in her exhausted state, france was too proud to concede. meanwhile marlborough and eugene, unable to tempt villars to risk a battle, contented themselves with a succession of sieges. douay, béthune, st venant and aine fell, one after the other, the french army keeping watch behind its strongly fortified lines. this was a very meagre result, but marlborough now felt his position to be so insecure that he dared not take any risks. his wife, so long omnipotent at court, had been supplanted in the queen's favour; godolphin and the whig party had been swept from power; and a tory ministry bent upon peace had taken their place. marlborough knew that his period of dictatorship was at an end, and he would have resigned his command but for the pressing instances of eugene, heinsius and other leaders of the allies. the desire of the tory ministry to bring the long drawn-out hostilities to an end was accentuated by the death, on april , , of the emperor joseph, an event which left his brother charles heir to all the possessions of the austrian habsburgs. the grand alliance had been formed and the war waged to maintain the balance of power in europe. but such a result would not be achieved by a revival of the empire of charles v in the person of the man who had now become the head of the house of austria. even had the whigs remained in office, they could hardly have continued to give active support to the cause of the habsburg claimant in spain. one of the consequences of the death of joseph i, then, was to render the tory minister, henry st john, more anxious to enter into negotiations for peace; another was the paralysing of active operations in the field. eugene had been summoned to germany to watch over the meeting of the imperial diet at frankfort, and marlborough was left with an army considerably inferior in numbers to that of his opponent villars. thus the only fruit of the campaign was the capture of bouchain. meanwhile the french minister torcy entered into secret communications with st john, intimating that france was ready to negotiate directly with england, but at first without the cognisance of the states. the english ministry on their part, under the influence of st john, showed themselves to be ready to throw over their allies, to abandon the habsburg cause in spain, and to come to an agreement with france on terms advantageous to england. for french diplomacy, always alert and skilful, these proceedings were quite legitimate; but it was scarcely honourable for the english government, while the grand alliance was still in existence, to carry on these negotiations in profound secrecy. in august matters had so far advanced that mesnager was sent over from paris to london entrusted with definite proposals. in october the preliminaries of peace were virtually settled between the two powers. meanwhile the dutch had been informed through lord strafford, the english envoy at the hague, of what was going on; and the news aroused no small indignation and alarm. but great pressure was brought to bear upon them; and, knowing that without england they could not continue the war, the states-general at last, in fear for their barrier, consented, on november , to send envoys to a peace congress to be held at utrecht on the basis of the anglo-french preliminaries. it was in vain that the emperor charles vi protested both at london and the hague, or that eugene was despatched on a special mission to england in january, . the english ministry had made up their minds to conclude peace with or without the emperor's assent; and the congress opened at the beginning of the year without the presence of any austrian plenipotentiaries, though they appeared later. the dutch provinces sent two envoys each. the conferences at utrecht were, however, little more than futile debates; and the congress was held there rather as a concession to save the _amour propre_ of the states than to settle the terms of peace. the real negotiations were carried on secretly between england and france; and after a visit by st john, now viscount bolingbroke, in person to paris in august, all points of difference between the two governments were amicably arranged. spain followed the lead of france; and the states, knowing that they could not go on with the war without england, were reluctantly obliged to accept the anglo-french proposals. their concurrence might not have been so easily obtained, but for the unfortunate course of the campaign of . marlborough had now been replaced in the chief command by the duke of ormonde. eugene, counting upon english support, had taken quesnoy on july , and was about to invest landrecies, when ormonde informed him that an armistice had been concluded between the french and english governments. on july the english contingent withdrew to dunkirk, which had been surrendered by the french as a pledge of good faith. villars seized the opportunity to make a surprise attack on the isolated dutch at the bridge of denain (july ) and, a panic taking place, completely annihilated their whole force of , men with slight loss to himself. eugene had to retreat, abandoning his magazines; and douay, quesnoy and bouchain fell into the hands of the french marshal. these disasters convinced the dutch of their helplessness when deprived of english help; and instructions were given to their envoys at utrecht, on december , to give their assent to the terms agreed upon and indeed dictated by the governments of england and france. making the best of the situation, the dutch statesmen, confronted with the growing self-assertion of the french plenipotentiaries, concluded, on january , , a new offensive and defensive alliance with england. this treaty of alliance is commonly called the second barrier treaty, because it abrogated the barrier treaty of , and was much more favourable to france. it was not until all these more or less secret negotiations were over that the congress, after being suspended for some months, resumed its sittings at utrecht. the peace of utrecht which ensued is really a misnomer. no general treaty was agreed upon and signed, but a series of separate treaties between the belligerent powers. this was what france had been wishing for some time and, by the connivance of england, she achieved it. the treaty between these two countries was signed on april , ; and such was the dominant position of england that her allies, with the single exception of the emperor, had to follow her lead. treaties with the states-general, with savoy, brandenburg and portugal, were all signed on this same day. louis xiv had good right to congratulate himself upon obtaining far more favourable terms than he could have dared to hope in or . philip v was recognised as king of spain and the indies, but had solemnly to renounce his right of succession to the french throne and his claim to the spanish possessions in the netherlands and in italy. the treaty between england and spain was signed on july , ; that between the states-general and spain was delayed until june , , owing to the difficulties raised by the emperor, who, though deserted by his allies, continued the war single-handed, but with signal lack of success. he was forced to yield and make peace at rastatt in a treaty, which was confirmed by the imperial diet at baden in switzerland on september , . by this treaty the french king retained practically all his conquests, while charles vi, though he did not recognise the title of philip v, contented himself with the acquisition of the "spanish" netherlands, and of the milanese and naples. into the details of these several treaties it is unnecessary here to enter, except in so far as they affected the united provinces. the power that benefited more than any other was great britain, for the peace of utrecht laid the foundation of her colonial empire and left her, from this time forward, the first naval and maritime power in the world. holland, though her commerce was still great and her colonial possessions both rich and extensive, had henceforth to see herself more and more overshadowed and dominated by her former rival. nevertheless the treaties concluded by the states-general at this time were decidedly advantageous to the republic. that with france, signed on april , , placed the spanish netherlands in the possession of the states-general, to be held by them in trust for charles vi until such time as the emperor came to an agreement with them about a "barrier." france in this matter acted in the name of spain, and was the intermediary through whose good offices spanish or upper gelderland was surrendered to prussia. most important of all to the dutch was the treaty with the emperor concluded at antwerp, november , . this is generally styled the third barrier treaty, the first being that of , the second that of at utrecht. the states-general finally obtained what was for their interest a thoroughly satisfactory settlement. they obtained the right to place garrisons amounting in all to , men in furnes, warneton, ypres, knocke, tournay, menin and namur; and three-fifths of the cost were to be borne by the austrian government, who pledged certain revenues of their newly-acquired belgic provinces to the dutch for the purpose. the strong position in which such a treaty placed the republic against aggression, either from the side of france or austria, was made stronger by being guaranteed by the british government. * * * * * chapter xxi the stadholderless republic, - the thirty-four years which followed the peace of utrecht are a period of decadence and decay; a depressing period exhibiting the spectacle of a state, which had played a heroic part in history, sinking, through its lack of inspiring leadership and the crying defects inherent in its system of government, to the position of a third-rate power. the commanding abilities of the great stadholders of the house of orange-nassau, and during the stadholderless period which followed the untimely death of william ii, those of the council-pensionary, john de witt, had given an appearance of solidarity to what was really a loose confederation of sovereign provinces. throughout the th century maritime enterprise, naval prowess and world-wide trade had, by the help of skilled diplomacy and wise statesmanship, combined to give to the dutch republic a weight in the council of nations altogether disproportionate to its size and the number of its population. in the memorable period of frederick henry the foundations were laid of an empire overseas; dutch seamen and traders had penetrated into every ocean and had almost monopolised the carrying-trade of europe; and at the same time holland had become the chosen home of scholarship, science, literature and art. in the great days of john de witt she contended on equal terms with england for the dominion of the seas; and amsterdam was the financial clearing-house of the world. to william iii the republic owed its escape from destruction in the critical times of overwhelming french invasion in , when by resolute and heroic leadership he not only rescued the united provinces from french domination, but before his death had raised them to the rank of a great power. never did the prestige of the states stand higher in europe than at the opening of the th century. but, as has already been pointed out, the elevation of the great stadholder to the throne of england had been far from an unmixed blessing to his native land. it brought the two maritime and commercial rivals into a close alliance, which placed the smaller and less favoured country at a disadvantage, and ended in the weaker member of the alliance becoming more and more the dependent of the stronger. what would have been the trend of events had william survived for another ten or fifteen years or had he left an heir to succeed him in his high dignities, one can only surmise. it may at least be safely said, that the treaty which ended the war of the spanish succession would not have been the treaty of utrecht. william iii by his will made his cousin, john william friso of nassau-siegen, his heir. friso (despite the opposition of the prussian king, who was the son of frederick henry's eldest daughter) assumed the title of prince of orange; and, as he was a real netherlander, his branch of the house of nassau having been continuously stadholders of friesland since the first days of the existence of the republic, he soon attracted to himself the affection of the orangist party. but at the time of william iii's death friso was but fourteen years of age; and the old "states" or "republican" party, which had for so many years been afraid to attempt any serious opposition to the imperious will of king william, now saw their opportunity for a return once more to the state of things established by the great assembly in . under the leadership of holland five provinces now declared for a stadholderless government. the appointment of town-councillors passed into the hands of the corporations or of the provincial estates, not, however, without serious disturbances in gelderland, utrecht, overyssel and also in zeeland, stirred up partly by the old regent-families, who had been excluded from office under william, partly by the gilds and working folk, who vainly hoped that they would be able to exercise a larger share in the government. in many places faction-fights ensued. in amersfoort two burghers were tried and beheaded; in nijmwegen the burgomaster, ronkens, met the same fate. but after a short while the aristocratic states party everywhere gained control in the town-corporations and through them in the provincial estates. in zeeland the dignity of "first noble" was abolished. the effect of all this was that decentralisation reached its extreme point. not only were there seven republics, but each town asserted sovereign rights, defying at times the authority of the majority in the provincial estates. this was especially seen in the predominant province of holland, where the city of amsterdam by its wealth and importance was able to dictate its will to the estates, and through the estates to the states-general. money-making and trade profits were the matters which engrossed everybody's interest. war interfered with trade; it was costly, and was to be avoided at any price. during this time the policy of the republic was neutrality; and the states-general, with their army and navy reduced more and more in numbers and efficiency, scarcely counted in the calculations of the cabinets of europe. but this very time that was marked by the decline and fall of the republic from the high position which it occupied during the greater part of the th century, was the golden age of the burgher-oligarchies. a haughty "patrician" class, consisting in each place of a very limited number of families, closely inter-related, had little by little possessed themselves, as a matter of hereditary right, of all the offices and dignities in the town, in the province and in the state. within their own town they reigned supreme, filling up vacancies in the _vroedschap_ by co-option, exercising all authority, occupying or distributing among their relatives all posts of profit, and acquiring great wealth. their fellow-citizens were excluded from all share in affairs, and were looked down upon as belonging to an inferior caste. the old simple habits of their forefathers were abandoned. french fashions and manners were the vogue amongst them, and english clothes, furniture and food. in the country--_platteland_--people had no voice whatever in public affairs; they were not even represented, as the ordinary townspeople were by their regents. thus the united netherlands had not only ceased to be a unified state in any real sense of the word, but had ceased likewise to be a free state. it consisted of a large number of semi-independent oligarchies of the narrowest description; and the great mass of its population was deprived of every vestige of civic rights. that such a state should have survived at all is to be explained by the fact that the real control over the foreign policy of the republic and over its general government continued to be exercised by the band of experienced statesmen who had served under william iii and inherited his traditions. heinsius, the wise and prudent council-pensionary, continued in office until his death cm august , , when he was succeeded by isaac van hoornbeck, pensionary of rotterdam. hoornbeck was not a man of great parts, but he was sound and safe and he had at his side simon van slingelandt, secretary of the council of state since , and others whose experience in public office dated from the preceding century. in their hands the external policy of the republic, conducted with no lack of skill, was of necessity non-interventionist. in internal matters they could effect little. the finances after the war were in an almost hopeless condition, and again and again the state was threatened with bankruptcy. to make things worse an epidemic of wild speculation spread far and wide during the period - in the bubble companies, the mississippi company and the south sea company, associated with the name of edward law, which proved so ruinous to many in england and france, as well as in holland. in such was the miserable condition of the country that the estates of overyssel, under the leadership of count van rechteren, proposed the summoning of a great assembly on the model of that of to consider the whole question of government and finance. the proposal was ultimately accepted, and the assembly met at the hague on november . after nine months of ineffectual debate and wrangling it finally came to an end on september , , without effecting anything, leaving all who had the best interests of the state at heart in despair. in the years immediately succeeding the peace of utrecht difficulties arose with charles xii of sweden; whose privateers had been seizing dutch and english merchantmen in the baltic. under de witt or william iii the fleet of the republic would speedily have brought the swedish king to reason. but now other counsels prevailed. dutch squadrons sailed into the baltic with instructions to convoy the merchant vessels, but to avoid hostilities. with some difficulty this purpose was achieved; and the death of charles at the siege of frederikshald brought all danger of war to an end. and yet in the very interests of trade it would have been good policy for the states to act strongly in this matter of swedish piracy in the baltic. russia was the rising power in those regions. the dutch had really nothing to fear from sweden, whose great days came to an end with the crushing defeat of charles xii at pultova in . trade relations had been opened between holland and muscovy so early as the end of the th century; and, despite english rivalry, the opening out of russia and of russian trade had been almost entirely in dutch hands during the th century. the relations between the two countries became much closer and more important after the accession of the enterprising and reforming tsar, peter the great. it is well known how peter in visited holland to learn the art of ship-building and himself toiled as a workman at zaandam. as a result of this visit he carried back with him to russia an admiration for all things dutch. he not only favoured dutch commerce, but he employed numbers of hollanders in the building and training of his fleet and in the construction of waterways and roads. in - peter again spent a considerable time in holland. nevertheless dutch policy was again timid and cautious; and no actual alliance was made with russia, from dread of entanglements, although the opportunity seemed so favourable. it was the same when in this year cardinal alberoni, at the instigation of elizabeth of parma the ambitious second wife of philip v, attempted to regain spain's lost possessions in italy by an aggressive policy which threatened to involve europe in war. elizabeth's object was to obtain an independent sovereignty for her sons in her native country. austria, france and england united to resist this attempt to reverse the settlement of utrecht, and the states were induced to join with them in a quadruple alliance. it was not, however, their intention to take any active part in the hostilities which speedily brought spain to reason, and led to the fall of alberoni. but the spanish queen had not given up her designs, and she found another instrument for carrying them out in ripperda, a groningen nobleman, who had originally gone to spain as ambassador of the states. this able and scheming statesman persuaded elizabeth that she might best attain her ends by an alliance with austria, which was actually concluded at vienna on april , . this alliance alarmed france, england and prussia, but was especially obnoxious to the republic, for the emperor had in erected an east india company at ostend in spite of the prohibition placed by holland and spain in the treaties of - upon belgian overseas commerce. by the treaty of alliance in the spanish crown recognised the ostend company and thus gave it a legal sanction. the states therefore, after some hesitation, became parties to a defensive alliance against austria and spain that had been signed by france, england and prussia at hanover in september, . these groupings of the powers were of no long duration. the emperor, fearing an invasion of the belgian provinces, first agreed to suspend the ostend company for seven years, and then, in order to secure the assent of the maritime powers to the pragmatic sanction, which guaranteed to his daughter, maria theresa, the succession to the austrian hereditary domains, he broke with spain and consented to suppress the ostend company altogether. the negotiations which took place at this time are very involved and complicated, but they ended in a revival of the old alliance between austria and the maritime powers against the two bourbon monarchies of france and spain. this return to the old policy of william iii was largely the work of slingelandt, who had become council-pensionary on july , . simon van slingelandt, with the able assistance of his brother-in-law francis fagel, clerk of the states-general, was during the nine years in which he directed the foreign policy of the republic regarded as one of the wisest and most trustworthy, as he was the most experienced statesman of his time. his aim was, in co-operation with england, to maintain by conciliatory and peaceful methods the balance of power. lord chesterfield, at that time the british envoy at the hague, had the highest opinion of slingelandt's powers; and the council-pensionary's writings, more especially his _pensées impartiales_, published in , show what a thorough grasp he had of the political situation. fortunately the most influential ministers in england and france, robert walpole and cardinal fleury, were like-minded with him in being sincere seekers after peace. the treaty of vienna (march , ), which secured the recognition by the powers of the pragmatic sanction, was largely his work; and he was also successful in preventing the question of the polish succession, after the death of augustus of saxony in , being the cause of the outbreak of a european war. in domestic policy slingelandt, though profoundly dissatisfied with the condition of the republic, took no steps to interfere with the form of government. he saw the defects of the stadholderless system plainly enough, but he had not, like fagel, strong orangist sympathies; and on his appointment as council-pensionary he pledged himself to support during his tenure of office the existing state of things. this undertaking he loyally kept, and his strong personality during his life-time alone saved holland, and through holland the entire republic, from falling into utter ruin and disaster. at his death antony van der heim became council-pensionary under the same conditions as his predecessor. but van der heim, though a capable and hard-working official, was not of the same calibre as slingelandt. the narrow and grasping burgher-regents had got a firm grip of power, and they used it to suppress the rights of their fellow-citizens and to keep in their own hands the control of municipal and provincial affairs. corruption reigned everywhere; and the patrician oligarchy, by keeping for themselves and their relations all offices of profit, grew rich at the same time that the finances of the state fell into greater confusion. it was not a condition of things that could endure, should any serious crisis arise. john william friso, on whom great hopes had been fixed, met with an untimely death in , leaving a posthumous child who became william iv, prince of orange. faithful friesland immediately elected william stadholder under the regency of his mother, maria louisa of hesse-cassel. by her fostering care the boy received an education to fit him for service to the state. though of weakly bodily frame and slightly deformed, william had marked intelligence, and a very gentle and kindly disposition. though brave like all his family, he had little inclination for military things. the republican party had little to fear from a man of such character and disposition. the burgher-regents, secure in the possession of power, knew that the frisian stadholder was not likely to resort either to violence or intrigue to force on a revolution. nevertheless the prestige of the name in the prevailing discontent counted for much. william was elected stadholder of groningen in , of drente and of gelderland in , though in each case with certain restrictions. but the other provinces remained obstinate in their refusal to admit him to any place in their councils or to any military post. the estates of zeeland went so far as to abolish the marquisate of flushing and veere, which carried with it the dignity of first noble and presidency in the meetings of the estates, and offered to pay , fl. in compensation to the heir of the nassaus. william refused to receive it, saying that either the marquisate did not belong to him, in which case he could not accept money for it, or it did belong to him and was not for sale. william's position was advanced by his marriage in to anne, eldest daughter of george ii. thus for the third time a princess royal of england became princess of orange. the reception of the newly married pair at amsterdam and the hague was, however, cool though polite; and despite the representatives of gelderland, who urged that the falling credit and bad state of the republic required the appointment of an "eminent head," holland, utrecht, zeeland and overyssel remained obdurate in their refusal to change the form of government. william had to content himself with the measure of power he had obtained and to await events. he showed much patience, for he had many slights and rebuffs to put up with. his partisans would have urged him to more vigorous action, but this he steadily refused to take. the republic kept drifting meanwhile on the downward path. its foreign policy was in nerveless hands; jobbery was rampant; trade and industry declined; the dividends of the east india company fell year by year through the incompetence and greed of officials appointed by family influence; the west india company was practically bankrupt. such was the state of the country in , when the outbreak of the austrian succession war found the republic without leadership, hopelessly undecided what course of action it should take, and only seeking to evade its responsibilities. * * * * * chapter xxii the austrian succession war. william iv, - the death of the emperor charles vi in october, , was the signal for the outbreak of another european war. all charles' efforts on behalf of the pragmatic sanction proved to have been labour spent in vain. great britain, the united provinces, spain, saxony, poland, russia, sardinia, prussia, most of the smaller german states, and finally france, had agreed to support ( ) the pragmatic sanction. the assent of spain had been bought by the cession of the two sicilies; of france by that of lorraine, whose duke francis stephen had married maria theresa and was compensated by the grand duchy of tuscany for the loss of his ancestral domain. the only important dissentient was charles albert, elector of bavaria, who had married the younger daughter of joseph i and who claimed the succession not only through his wife, but as the nearest male descendant of ferdinand i. on the death of charles vi, then, it might have been supposed that maria theresa would have succeeded to her inheritance without opposition. this was far from being the case. the elector of bavaria put forward his claims and he found unexpected support in frederick ii of prussia. frederick had just succeeded his father frederick william i, and being at once ambitious and without scruples he determined to seize the opportunity for the purpose of territorial aggression. while lulling the suspicions of vienna by friendly professions, he suddenly, in december, , invaded silesia. maria theresa appealed to the guarantors of the pragmatic sanction. she met no active response, but on the part of spain, sardinia and france veiled hostility. great britain, at war with spain since , and fearing the intervention of france, confined her efforts to diplomacy; and the only anxiety of the united provinces was to avoid being drawn into war. an addition was made to the army of , men and afterwards in , through dread of an attack on the austrian netherlands, a further increase of , was voted. the garrisons and fortifications of the barrier towns were strengthened and some addition was made to the navy. but the policy of the states continued to be vacillating and pusillanimous. the republican party, who held the reins of power, desiring peace at any price, were above all anxious to be on good terms with france. the orangist opposition were in favour of joining with england in support of maria theresa; but the prince would not take any steps to assert himself, and his partisans, deprived of leadership, could exert little influence. nor did they obtain much encouragement from england, where walpole was still intent upon a pacific policy. the events of , however, were such as to compel a change of attitude. the prussians were in possession of silesia; and spoliation, having begun so successfully, became infectious. the aged fleury was no longer able to restrain the war party in france. in may at nymphenburg a league was formed by france, spain, sardinia, saxony and poland, in conjunction with prussia and bavaria, to effect the overthrow of maria theresa and share her inheritance between them. resistance seemed hopeless. a franco-bavarian army penetrated within a few miles of vienna, and then overran bohemia. charles albert was crowned king of bohemia at prague and then (january, ) was elected emperor under the title of charles vii. before this election took place, however, english mediation had succeeded by the convention of klein-schnellendorf in securing a suspension of hostilities (october ) between austria and prussia. this left frederick in possession of silesia, but enabled the queen of hungary, supported by english and dutch subsidies, not only to clear bohemia from its invaders, but to conquer bavaria. at the very time when charles albert was elected emperor, his own capital was occupied by his enemies. in february, , the long ministry of walpole came to an end; and the party in favour of a more active participation in the war succeeded to office. george ii was now thoroughly alarmed for the safety of his hanoverian dominions; and lord stair was sent to the hague on a special mission to urge the states to range themselves definitely on the side of maria theresa. but fears of a french onslaught on the southern netherlands still caused timorous counsels to prevail. the french ambassador, de fénélon, on his part was lavish in vague promises not unmingled with veiled threats, so that the feeble directors of dutch policy, torn between their duty to treaty obligations urged upon them by england, and their dread of the military power of france, helplessly resolved to cling to neutrality as long as possible. but events proved too strong for them. without asking their permission, an english force of , men landed at ostend and was sent to strengthen the garrison of the barrier fortresses (may, ). the warlike operations of this year were on the whole favourable to maria theresa, who through english mediation, much against her will, secured peace with prussia by the cession of silesia. the treaty between the two powers was signed at berlin on july . hostilities with france continued; but, though both the maritime powers helped austria with subsidies, neither great britain nor the states were at the close of the year officially at war with the french king. such a state of precarious make-believe could not last much longer. the austrians were anxious that the english force in the netherlands, which had been reinforced and was known as the _pragmatic army_, should advance into bavaria to co-operate with the imperial forces. accordingly the army, commanded by george ii in person, advanced across the main to dettingen. here the king, shut in by french forces and cut off from his supplies, was rescued from a very difficult position by the valour of his troops, who on june , attacked and completely routed their opponents. the states-general had already, on june , recognised their responsibilities; and by a majority vote it was determined that a force of , men under the command of count maurice of nassau-ouwerkerk should join the _pragmatic army_. the fiction that the maritime powers were not at war with france was kept up until the spring of , when the french king in alliance with spain declared war on england. one of the projects of the war party at versailles was the despatch of a powerful expedition to invade england and restore the stewarts. as soon as news of the preparations reached england, a demand was at once made, in accordance with treaty, for naval aid from the states. twenty ships were asked for, but only eight were in a condition to sail; and the admiral in command, grave, was years of age and had been for fifteen years in retirement. what an object lesson of the utter decay of the dutch naval power! fortunately a storm dispersed the french fleet, and the services of the auxiliary squadron were not required. the news that marshal maurice de saxe was about to invade the austrian netherlands with a french army of , men came like a shock upon the peace party in the states. the memory of filled them with terror. the pretence of neutrality could no longer be maintained. the choice lay between peace at any price or war with all its risks; and it was doubtful which of the two alternatives was the worse. was there indeed any choice? it did not seem so, when de fénélon, who had represented france at the hague for nineteen years, came to take leave of the states-general on his appointment to a command in the invading army (april ). but a last effort was made. an envoy-extraordinary, the count of wassenaer-twickel, was sent to paris, but found that the king was already with his army encamped between lille and tournay. wassenaer was amused with negotiations for awhile, but there was no pause in the rapid advance of marshal saxe. the barrier fortresses, whose defences had been neglected, fell rapidly one after another. all west flanders was overrun. the allied forces, gathered at oudenarde, were at first too weak to offer resistance, and were divided in counsels. gradually reinforcements came in, but still the pragmatic army remained inactive and was only saved from inevitable defeat by the invasion of alsace by the imperialists. marshal saxe was compelled to despatch a considerable part of the invading army to meet this attack on the eastern frontier, and to act on the defensive in flanders. menin, courtrai, ypres, knocke and other places remained, however, in french hands. all this time the dutch had maintained the fiction that the states were not at war with france; but in january, , the pressure of circumstances was too strong even for the weak-kneed van der heim and his fellow-statesmen, and a quadruple alliance was formed between england, austria, saxony and the united provinces to maintain the pragmatic sanction. this was followed in march by the declaration of war between france and the states. meanwhile the position of austria had improved. the emperor charles vii died on january ; and his youthful successor maximilian joseph, in return for the restoration of his electorate, made peace with maria theresa and withdrew all bavarian claims to the austrian succession. affairs in flanders however did not prosper. the command-in-chief of the allied army had been given to the duke of cumberland, who was no match for such an opponent as maurice de saxe. the prince of waldeck was in command of the dutch contingent. the provinces of friesland, groningen, overyssel and gelderland had repeatedly urged that this post should be bestowed upon the prince of orange; and the states-general had in offered to give william the rank of lieutenant-general in the army, but holland and zeeland steadily refused. the campaign of was disastrous. the battle of fontenoy (may ) resulted in a victory for marshal saxe over the allied forces, a victory snatched out of the fire through the pusillanimous withdrawal from the fight of the dutch troops on the left wing. the british infantry with magnificent valour on the right centre had pierced through the french lines, only to find themselves deserted and overwhelmed by superior forces. this victory was vigorously followed up. the jacobite rising under charles edward, the young pretender, had necessitated the recalling not only of the greater part of the english expeditionary force, but also, under the terms of the treaties between great britain and the united provinces, of a body of dutch. before the year had ended, tournay, ghent, bruges, oudenarde, dendermonde, ostend, nieuport, ath fell in succession into the hands of marshal saxe, and after a brave defence brussels itself was forced to capitulate on february , . van der heim and the republican conclave in whose hands was the direction of foreign affairs, dreading the approach of the french armies to the dutch frontier, sent the count de larrey on a private mission to paris in november, , to endeavour to negotiate terms of peace. he was unsuccessful; and in february, another fruitless effort was made, wassenaer and jacob gilles being the envoys. the french minister, d'argenson, was not unwilling to discuss matters with them; and negotiations went on for some time in a more or less desultory way, but without in any way checking the alarming progress of hostilities. an army , strong under marshal saxe found for some months no force strong enough to resist it. antwerp, louvain, mechlin, mons, charleroi, huy and finally namur (september ) surrendered to the french. at last (october ) a powerful allied army under the command of charles of lorraine made a stand at roucoux. a hardly-fought battle, in which both sides lost heavily, ended in the victory of the french. liège was taken, and the french were now masters of belgium. these successes made the dutch statesmen at the hague the more anxious to conclude peace. d'argenson had always been averse to an actual invasion of dutch territory; and it was arranged between him and the dutch envoys, wassenaer and gilles, at paris, and between the council-pensionary van der heim and the abbé de la ville at the hague, that a congress should meet at breda in august, in which england consented to take part. before it met, however, van der heim had died (august ). he was succeeded by jacob gilles. the congress was destined to make little progress, for several of the provinces resented the way in which a small handful of men had secretly been committing the republic to the acceptance of disadvantageous and humiliating terms of peace, without obtaining the consent of the states-general to their proposals. the congress did not actually assemble till october, and never got further than the discussion of preliminaries, for the war party won possession of power at paris, and louis xv dismissed d'argenson. moderate counsels were thrown to the winds; and it was determined in the coming campaign to carry the war into dutch territory. alarm at the threatening attitude of the french roused the allies to collect an army of , men, of whom more than half were austrian; but, instead of charles of lorraine, the duke of cumberland was placed in command. marshal saxe, at the head of the main french force, held cumberland in check, while he despatched count löwenthal with , to enter dutch flanders. his advance was a triumphal progress. sluis, cadsand and axel surrendered almost without opposition. only the timely arrival of an english squadron in the scheldt saved zeeland from invasion. the news of these events caused an immense sensation. for some time popular resentment against the feebleness and jobbery of the stadholderless government had been deep and strong. indignation knew no bounds; and the revolutionary movement to which it gave rise was as sudden and complete in as in . all eyes were speedily turned to the prince of orange as the saviour of the country. the movement began on april at veere and middelburg in the island of walcheren. three days later the estates of the province proclaimed the prince stadholder and captain-and admiral-general of zeeland. the province of holland, where the stadholderless form of government was so deeply rooted and had its most stubborn and determined supporters, followed the example of zeeland on may , utrecht on may , and overyssel on may . the states-general appointed him captain-and admiral-general of the union. thus without bloodshed or disturbance of any kind or any personal effort on the part of the prince, he found himself by general consent invested with all the posts of dignity and authority which had been held by frederick henry and william iii. it was amidst scenes of general popular rejoicing that william visited amsterdam, the hague and middelburg, and prepared to set about the difficult task to which he had been called. one of the first results of the change of government was the closing of the congress of breda. there was no improvement, however, in the military position. the allied army advancing under cumberland and waldeck, to prevent marshal saxe from laying siege to maestricht, was attacked by him at lauffeldt on july . the fight was desperately contested, and the issue was on the whole in favour of the allies, when at a critical moment the dutch gave way; and the french were able to claim, though at very heavy cost, a doubtful victory. it enabled saxe nevertheless to despatch a force under löwenthal to besiege the important fortress of bergen-op-zoom. it was carried by assault on september , and with it the whole of dutch brabant fell into the enemy's hands. indignation against the rule of the burgher-regents, which had been instrumental in bringing so many disasters upon the republic, was very general; and there was a loudly expressed desire that the prince should be invested with greater powers, as the "eminent head" of the state. with this object in view, on the proposal of the nobles of holland, the estates of that province made the dignity of stadholder and of captain-and admiral-general hereditary in both the male and female lines. all the other provinces passed resolutions to the same effect; and the states-general made the offices of captain-and admiral-general of the union also hereditary. in the case of a minority, the princess-mother was to be regent; in that of a female succession the heiress could only marry with the consent of the states, it being provided that the husband must be of the reformed religion, and not a king or an elector. strong measures were taken to prevent the selling of offices and to do away with the system of farming out the taxes. the post-masterships in holland, which produced a large revenue, were offered to the prince; but, while undertaking the charge, he desired that the profits should be applied to the use of the state. indeed they were sorely needed, for though william would not hear of peace and sent count bentinck to england to urge a vigorous prosecution of the war in conjunction with austria and russia in , promising a states contingent of , men, it was found that, when the time for translating promises into action came, funds were wanting. holland was burdened with a heavy debt; and the contributions of most of the provinces to the generality were hopelessly in arrears. in holland a "voluntary loan" was raised, which afterwards extended to the other provinces and also to the indies, at the rate of per cent. on properties between fl. and fl.; of per cent. on those above fl. the loan (_mildegift_) produced a considerable sum, about , , fl.; but this was not enough, and the prince had the humiliation of writing and placing before the english government the hopeless financial state of the republic, and their need of a very large loan, if they were to take any further part in the war. this pitiful revelation of the condition of their ally decided great britain to respond to the overtures for peace on the part of france. the representatives of the powers met at aix-la-chapelle; and, as the english and french were both thoroughly tired of the war, they soon came to terms. the preliminaries of peace between them were signed on april , , on the principle of a restoration of conquests. in this treaty of aix-la-chapelle the united provinces were included, but no better proof could be afforded of the low estate to which the dutch republic had now fallen than the fact that its representatives at aix-la-chapelle, bentinck and van haren, were scarcely consulted and exercised practically no influence upon the decisions. the french evacuated the southern netherlands in return for the restoration to them of the colony of cape breton, which had fallen into the hands of the english; and the barrier towns were again allowed to receive dutch garrisons. it was a useless concession, for their fortifications had been destroyed, and the states could no longer spare the money to make them capable of serious defence. the position of william iv all this time was exceptionally responsible, and therefore the more trying. never before had any prince of orange been invested with so much power. the glamour attaching to the name of orange was perhaps the chief asset of the new stadholder in facing the serious difficulties into which years of misgovernment had plunged the country. he had undoubtedly the people at his back, but unfortunately they expected an almost magical change would take place in the situation with his elevation to the stadholderate. naturally they were disappointed. the revolution of was not carried out in the spirit of "thorough," which marked those of , and . william iv was cast in a mould different from that of maurice or william ii, still more from that of his immediate predecessor william iii. he was a man of wide knowledge, kindly, conciliatory, and deeply religious, but only a mediocre statesman. he was too undecided in his opinions, too irresolute in action, to be a real leader in a crisis. the first business was to bring back peace to the country; and this was achieved, not by any influence that the netherlands government was able to exercise upon the course of the negotiations at aix-la-chapelle, but simply as a part of the understanding arrived at by great britain and france. it was for the sake of their own security that the english plenipotentiaries were willing to give up their conquests in north america as compensation for the evacuation of those portions of belgium and of the republic that the french forces occupied, and the restoration of the barrier fortresses. after peace was concluded, not only the orange partisans but the great mass of the people, who had so long been excluded from all share of political power, desired a drastic reform of the government. they had conferred sovereign authority upon william, and would have willingly increased it, in the hope that he would in his person be a centre of unity to the state, and would use his power for the sweeping away of abuses. it was a vain hope. he never attempted to do away, root and branch, with the corrupt municipal oligarchies, but only to make them more tolerable by the infusion of a certain amount of new blood. the birth of an heir on march , , caused great rejoicings, for it promised permanence to the new order of things. whatever the prince had firmly taken in hand would have met with popular approval, but william had little power of initiative or firmness of principle. he allowed his course of action to be swayed now by one set of advisers, now by their opponents. even in the matter of the farmers of the revenue, the best-hated men throughout the republic and especially in holland, it required popular tumults and riots at haarlem, leyden, the hague and amsterdam, in which the houses of the obnoxious officials were attacked and sacked, to secure the abolition of a system by which the proceeds of taxation were diverted from the service of the state to fill the pockets of venal and corrupt officials. in amsterdam the spirit of revolt against the domination of the town council by a few patrician families led to serious disorders and armed conflicts in which blood was shed; and in september, , the prince, at the request of the estates, visited the turbulent city. as the town council proved obstinate in refusing to make concessions, the stadholder was compelled to take strong action. the council was dismissed from office, but here, as elsewhere, the prince was averse from making a drastic purge; out of the thirty-six members, more than half, nineteen, were restored. the new men, who thus took their seats in the town council, obtained the _sobriquet_ of "forty-eighters." the state of both the army and navy was deplorable at the end of the war in which the states had played so inglorious a part. william had neither the training nor the knowledge to undertake their reorganisation. he therefore sought the help of lewis ernest, duke of brunswick-wolfenbüttel ( - ), who, as an austrian field-marshal, had distinguished himself in the war. brunswick was with difficulty persuaded, in october, , to accept the post of dutch field-marshal, a salary of , fl. being guaranteed to him, the governorship of hertogenbosch, and the right to retain his rank in the austrian army. the duke did not actually arrive in holland and take up his duties until december, . the prince's efforts to bring about a reform of the admiralties, to make the dutch navy an efficient force and to restore the commerce and industries of the country were well meant, but were marred by the feebleness of his health. all through the year he had recurring attacks of illness and grew weaker. on october , , he died. it is unfair to condemn william iv because he did not rise to the height of his opportunities. when in power was thrust upon him so suddenly, no man could have been more earnest in his wish to serve his country. but he was not gifted with the great abilities and high resolve of william iii; and there can be no doubt that the difficulties with which he had to contend were manifold, complex and deep-rooted. a valetudinarian like william iv was not fitted to be the physician of a body-politic suffering from so many diseases as that of the united provinces in . * * * * * chapter xxiii the regency of anne and of brunswick. - on the death of william iv, his widow, anne of england, was at once recognised as regent and guardian of her son william v. bentinck and other leaders of the orangist party took prompt measures to secure that the hereditary rights of the young prince did not suffer by his father's early death. during the minority brunswick was deputed to perform the duties of captain-general. the new regent was a woman of by no means ordinary parts. in her domestic life she possessed all the virtues of her mother, queen caroline; and in public affairs she had been of much help to her husband and was deeply interested in them. she was therefore in many ways well-fitted to undertake the serious responsibilities that devolved upon her, but her good qualities were marred by a self-willed and autocratic temperament, which made her resent any interference with her authority. william bentinck, who was wont to be insistent with his advice, presuming on the many services he had rendered, the duke of brunswick, and the council-pensionary steyn were all alike distrusted and disliked by her. her professed policy was not to lean on any party, but to try and hold the balance between them. unfortunately william iv, after the revolution of , had allowed his old frisian counsellors (with otto zwier van haren at their head) to have his ear and to exercise an undue influence upon his decisions. this frisian court-cabal continued to exercise the same influence with princess anne; and the hollanders not unnaturally resented it. for holland, as usual, in the late war had borne the brunt of the cost and had a debt of , , fl. and an annual deficit of , , fl. the council-pensionary steyn was a most competent financier, and he with jan hop, the treasurer-general of the union, and with william bentinck, head and spokesman of the nobles in the estates of holland, were urgent in impressing upon the regent the crying need of retrenchment. anne accepted their advice as to the means by which economies might be effected and a reduction of expenses be brought about. among these was the disbanding of some of the military forces, including a part of the body-guard. to this the regent consented, though characteristically without consulting brunswick. the captain-general felt aggrieved, but allowed the reduction to be made without any formal opposition. no measure, however, of a bold and comprehensive financial reform, like that of john de witt a century earlier, was attempted. the navy had at the peace of aix-la-chapelle been in an even worse condition than the army; and the stadholder, as admiral-general, had been urging the admiralties to bestir themselves and to make the fleet more worthy of a maritime power. but william's premature death brought progress to a standstill; and it is noteworthy that such was the supineness of the states-general in that, while brunswick was given the powers of captain-general, no admiral-general was appointed. the losses sustained by the merchants and ship-owners through the audacity of the algerian pirates roused public opinion, however; and in successive years squadrons were despatched to the mediterranean to bring the sea-robbers to reason. admiral boudaen in contented himself with the protection of the merchantmen, but wassenaer in and was more aggressive and compelled the dey of algiers to make terms. meanwhile the rivalry between france and england on the one hand, and between austria and prussia on the other, led to the formation of new alliances, and placed the dutch republic in a difficult position. the peace of aix-la-chapelle was but an armed truce. the french lost no time in pushing forward ambitious schemes of colonial enterprise in north america and in india. their progress was watched with jealous eyes by the english; and in war broke out between the two powers. the republic was bound to great britain by ancient treaties; but the activities of the french ambassador, d'affry, had been successful in winning over a number of influential hollanders and also the court-cabal to be inclined to france and to favour strict neutrality. the situation was immensely complicated by the alliance concluded between austria and france on may , . this complete reversal of the policy, which from the early years of william iii had grouped england, austria and the states in alliance against french aggression, caused immense perturbation amongst the dutch statesmen. by a stroke of the pen the barrier treaty had ceased to exist, for the barrier fortresses were henceforth useless. the english ambassador, yorke, urged upon the dutch government the treaty right of great britain to claim the assistance of men and twenty ships; austria had the able advocacy of d'affry in seeking to induce the states to become parties to the franco-austrian alliance. the regent, though an english princess, was scarcely less zealous than were the council-pensionary steyn, brunswick and most of the leading burgher-regents in desiring to preserve strict neutrality. to england the answer was made that naval and military help were not due except in case of invasion. the french had meanwhile been offering the dutch considerable commercial privileges in exchange for their neutrality, with the result that dutch merchantmen were seized by the english cruisers and carried into english ports to be searched for contraband. the princess had a very difficult part to play. delegations of merchants waited upon her urging her to exert her influence with the english government not to use their naval supremacy for the injury of dutch trade. anne did her best, but without avail. england was determined to stop all commercial intercourse between france and the west indies. dutch merchantmen who attempted to supply the french with goods did so at their own risk. four deputations from amsterdam and the maritime towns waited upon the princess, urging an increase of the fleet as a protection against england. other deputations came from the inland provinces, asking for an increase of the army against the danger of a french invasion. the french were already in occupation of ostend and nieuport, and had threatening masses of troops on the belgian frontier. the regent, knowing on which side the peril to the security of the country was greatest, absolutely refused her consent to an increase of the fleet without an increase of the army. the estates of holland refused to vote money for the army; and, having the power of the purse, matters were at a deadlock. the republic lay helpless and without defence should its enemies determine to attack it. in the midst of all these difficulties and anxieties, surrounded by intrigues and counter-intrigues, sincerely patriotic and desirous to do her utmost for the country, but thwarted and distrusted on every side, the health of the regent, which had never been strong, gradually gave way. on december , , she went in person to the states-general, "with tottering steps and death in her face," to endeavour to secure unity of action in the presence of the national danger, but without achieving her object. the maritime provinces were obdurate. seeing death approaching, with the opening of the new year she made arrangements for the marriage of her daughter caroline with charles christian, prince of nassau-weilburg, and after committing her two children to the care of the duke of brunswick (with whom she had effected a reconciliation) and making him guardian of the young prince of orange, anne expired on january , , at the early age of forty-nine. the task brunswick had to fulfil was an anxious one, but by the exercise of great tact, during the seven years of william's minority, he managed to gather into his hands a great deal of the powers of a stadholder, and at the same time to ingratiate himself with the anti-orange states party, whose power especially in holland had been growing in strength and was in fact predominant. by politic concessions to the regents, and by the interest he displayed in the commercial and financial prosperity of the city of amsterdam, that chief centre of opposition gave its support to his authority; and he was able to do this while keeping at the same time on good terms with bentinck, steyn, fagel and the orange party. the political position of the united provinces during the early part of the brunswick guardianship was impotent and ignominious in the extreme. despite continued protests and complaints, dutch merchantmen were constantly being searched for contraband and brought as prizes into english ports; and the lucrative trade that had been carried on between the west indies and france in dutch bottoms was completely stopped. even the fitting out of twenty-one ships of the line, as a convoy, effected nothing, for such a force could not face the enormous superiority of the english fleet, which at that time swept the seas. the french ambassador, d'affry, made most skilful use of his opportunities to create a pro-french party in holland and especially in amsterdam, and he was not unsuccessful in his intrigues. but the dutch resolve to remain neutral at any cost remained as strong as ever, for, whatever might be the case with maritime holland, the inland provinces shrank from running any risks of foreign invasion. when at last the peace of paris came in , the representatives of the united provinces, though they essayed to play the part of mediators between the warring powers, no longer occupied a position of any weight in the councils of the european nations. the proud republic, which had treated on equal terms with france and with great britain in the days of john de witt and of william iii, had become in the eyes of the statesmen of a negligible quantity. one of the effects of the falling-off in the overseas trade of amsterdam was to transform this great commercial city into the central exchange of europe. the insecurity of sea-borne trade caused many of the younger merchants to deal in money securities and bills of exchange rather than in goods. banking houses sprang up apace, and large fortunes were made by speculative investments in stocks and shares; and loans for foreign governments, large and small, were readily negotiated. this state of things reached its height during the seven years' war, but with the settlement which followed the peace of disaster came. on july the chief financial house in amsterdam, that of de neufville, failed to meet its liabilities and brought down in its crash a very large number of other firms, not merely in holland, but also in hamburg and other places; for a veritable panic was caused, and it was some time before stability could be restored. the remaining three years of the brunswick _régime_ were uneventful in the home country. differences with the english east india company however led to the expulsion of the dutch from their trading settlements on the hooghley and coromandel; and in berbice there was a serious revolt of the negro slaves, which, after hard fighting in the bush, was put down with much cruelty. the young prince of orange on the attainment of his eighteenth year, march , , succeeded to his hereditary rights. his grandmother, maria louisa, to whose care he had owed much, had died on april , in the previous year. during the interval the princess caroline had taken her place as regent in friesland. * * * * * chapter xxiv william v. first period, - of all the stadholders of his line william v was the least distinguished. neither in appearance, character nor manner was he fitted for the position which he had to fill. he had been most carefully educated, and was not wanting in ability, but he lacked energy and thoroughness, and was vacillating and undecided at moments when resolute action was called for. like his contemporary louis xvi, had he been born in a private station, he would have adorned it, but like that unhappy monarch he had none of the qualities of a leader of men in critical and difficult times. it was characteristic of him that he asked for confirmation from the provincial estates of the dignities and offices which were his by hereditary right. in every thing he relied upon the advice of the duke of brunswick, whose methods of government he implicitly followed. to such an extent was this the case that, soon after his accession to power, a secret act was drawn up (may , ), known as the act of consultation, by which the duke bound himself to remain at the side of the stadholder and to assist him by word and deed in all affairs of state. during the earlier years therefore of william v's stadholderate he consulted brunswick in every matter, and was thus encouraged to distrust his own judgment and to be fitful and desultory in his attention to affairs of state. one of the first of brunswick's cares was to provide for the prince a suitable wife. william ii, william iii and william iv had all married english princesses, but the feeling of hostility to england was strong in holland, and it was not thought advisable for the young stadholder to seek for a wife in his mother's family. the choice of the duke was the prussian princess wilhelmina. the new princess of orange was niece on the paternal side of frederick the great and on the maternal side of the duke of brunswick himself. the marriage took place at berlin on october, . the bride was but sixteen years of age, but her attractive manners and vivacious cleverness caused her to win the popular favour on her first entry into her adopted country. the first eight years of william's stadholdership passed by quietly. there is little to record. commerce prospered, but the hollanders were no longer content with commerce and aimed rather at the rapid accumulation of wealth by successful financial transactions. stock-dealing had become a national pursuit. foreign powers came to amsterdam for loans; and vast amounts of dutch capital were invested in british and french funds and in the various german states. and yet all the time this rich and prosperous country was surrounded by powerful military and naval powers, and, having no strong natural frontiers, lay exposed defenceless to aggressive attack whether by sea or land. it was in vain that the stadholder, year by year, sent pressing memorials to the states-general urging them to strengthen the navy and the army and to put them on a war footing. the maritime provinces were eager for an increase of the navy, but the inland provinces refused to contribute their quota of the charges. utrecht, gelderland, overyssel and groningen on the other hand, liable as they were to suffer from military invasion, were ready to sanction a considerable addition to the land forces, but were thwarted by the opposition of holland, zeeland and friesland. so nothing was done, and the republic, torn by divided interests and with its ruling classes lapped in self-contented comfort and luxury, was a helpless prey that seemed to invite spoliation. this was the state of things when the british north american colonies rose in revolt against the mother-country. the sympathies of france were from the first with the colonials; and a body of volunteers raised by lafayette with the connivance of the french overnment crossed the atlantic to give armed assistance to the rebels. scarcely less warm was the feeling in the netherlands. the motives which prompted it were partly sentimental, partly practical. there was a certain similarity between the struggle for independence on the part of the american colonists against a mighty state like great britain, and their own struggle with the world-power of spain. there was also the hope that the rebellion would have the practical result of opening out to the dutch merchants a lucrative trade with the americans, one of whose chief grievances against the mother-country had been the severity of the restrictions forbidding all trading with foreign lands. at the same time the whole air was full of revolutionary ideas, which were unsettling men's minds. this was no less the case in the netherlands than elsewhere; and the american revolt was regarded as a realisation and vindication in practical politics of the teaching of montesquieu, voltaire and rousseau, whose works were widely read, and of the englishmen hume, priestley and richard price. foremost among the propagandists of these ideas were jan dirk van der capellen tot de pol, a nobleman of overyssel, and the three burgomasters of amsterdam, van berckel, de vrij temminck and hooft, all anti-orange partisans and pro-french in sentiment. amidst all these contending factions and opinions, the state remained virtually without a head, william v drifting along incapable of forming an independent decision, or of making a firm and resolute use of the great powers with which he was entrusted. torn by internal dissensions, the maintenance of neutrality by the republic became even more difficult than in the seven years' war. the old questions of illicit trade with the enemy and the carrying of contraband arose. the dutch islands of st eustatius and curaçoa became centres of smuggling enterprise; and dutch merchant vessels were constantly being searched by the british cruisers and often carried off as prizes into english ports. strong protests were made and great irritation aroused. amsterdam was the chief sufferer. naturally in this hot-bed of republican opinion and french sympathies, the prince was blamed and was accused of preferring english interests to those of his own country. the arrival of the duke de la vauguyon, as french ambassador, did much to fan the flame. vauguyon entered into close relations with the amsterdam regents and did all in his power to exacerbate the growing feeling of hostility to england, and to persuade the republic to abandon the ancient alliance with that country in favour of one with france. the british ambassador, yorke, lacked his ingratiating manners; and his language now became imperative and menacing in face of the flourishing contraband trade that was carried on at st eustatius. in consequence of his strong protest the governor of the island, van heyliger, was replaced by de graeff, but it was soon discovered that the new governor was no improvement upon his predecessor. he caused additional offence to the british government by saluting the american flag on november , . the threats of yorke grew stronger, but with small result. the americans continued to draw supplies from the dutch islands. the entry of france into the war on february , , followed by that of spain, complicated matters. england was now fighting with her back to the wall; and her sea-power had to be exerted to its utmost to make head against so many foes. she waged relentless war on merchant ships carrying contraband or suspected contraband, whether enemy or neutral. at last money was voted under pressure from amsterdam, supported by the prince, for the building of a fleet for protection against privateers and for purposes of convoy. but a fleet cannot be built in a day; and, when admiral van bylandt was sent out in , his squadron consisted of five ships only. meanwhile negotiations with england were proceeding and resulted in certain concessions, consent being given to allow what was called "limited convoy." the states-general, despite the opposition of amsterdam, accepted on november , , the proffered compromise. but the french ambassador vauguyon supported the protest of amsterdam by threatening, unless the states-general insisted upon complete freedom of trade, to withdraw the commercial privileges granted to the republic by france. finding that the states-general upheld their resolution of november , he carried his threat into execution. this action brought the majority of the estates of holland to side with amsterdam and to call for a repeal of the "limited convoy" resolution. the english on their part, well aware of all this, continued to do their utmost to stop all supplies reaching their enemies in dutch bottoms, convoy or no convoy. the british government, though confronted by so many foes, now took strong measures. admiral van bylandt, convoying a fleet of merchantmen through the channel, was compelled by a british squadron to strike his flag; and all the dutch vessels were taken into portsmouth. this was followed by a demand under the treaty of for dutch aid in ships and men, or the abrogation of the treaty of alliance and of the commercial privileges it carried with it. yorke gave the states-general three weeks for their decision; and on april , , the long-standing alliance, which william iii had made the keystone of his policy, ceased to exist. war was not declared, but the states-general voted for "unlimited convoy" on april ; and every effort was made by the admiralties to build and equip a considerable fleet. the reception given to the american privateer, paul jones, who, despite english protests, was not only allowed to remain in holland for three months, but was feted as a hero (october-december, ), accentuated the increasing alienation of the two countries. at this critical stage the difficult position of england was increased by the formation under the leadership of russia of a league of armed neutrality. its object was to maintain the principle of the freedom of the seas for the vessels of neutral countries, unless they were carrying contraband of war, _i.e._military or naval munitions. further a blockade would not be recognised if not effective. sweden and denmark joined the league; and the empress catherine invited the united provinces and several other neutral powers to do likewise. her object was to put a curb upon what was described by britain's enemies as the tyranny of the mistress of the seas. the republic for some time hesitated. conscious of their weakness at sea, the majority in the states-general were unwilling to take any overt steps to provoke hostilities, when an event occurred which forced their hands. in certain secret negotiations had taken place between the amsterdam regents and the american representatives at paris, franklin and lee. it chanced that henry lawrence, a former president of the congress, was on his way from new york to amsterdam in september, , for the purpose of raising a loan. pursued by an english frigate, the ship on which he was sailing was captured off newfoundland; and among his papers were found copies of the negotiations of and of the correspondence which then took place. great was the indignation of the british government, and it was increased when the estates of holland, under the influence of amsterdam, succeeded in bringing the states-general (by a majority of four provinces to three) to join the league of armed neutrality. better open war than a sham peace. instructions were therefore sent to the ambassador yorke to demand the punishment of the amsterdam regents for their clandestine transactions with the enemies of england. the reply was that the matter should be brought before the court of holland; and van welderen, the dutch ambassador in london, in vain endeavoured to give assurances that the states were anxious to maintain a strict neutrality. yorke demanded immediate satisfaction and once more called upon the republic to furnish the aid in men and ships in accordance with the treaty. further instructions were therefore sent to van welderen, but they were delayed by tempestuous weather. in any case they would have been of no avail. the british government was in no mood for temporising. on december , war was declared against the united provinces; and three days later yorke left the hague. * * * * * chapter xxv stadholderate of william v, _continued_, - the outbreak of war meant the final ruin of the dutch republic. its internal condition at the close of made it hopelessly unfitted to enter upon a struggle with the overwhelming sea-power of england. even had william v possessed the qualities of leadership, he would have had to contend against the bitter opposition and enmity of the anti-orange party among the burgher-regents, of which van der capellen was one of the most moving spirits, and which had its chief centre in amsterdam. but the prince, weak and incompetent, was apparently intent only on evading his responsibilities, and so laid himself open to the charges of neglect and mal-administration that were brought against him by his enemies. against an english fleet of more than vessels manned by a force of something like , seamen, the dutch had but twenty ships of the line, most of them old and of little value. large sums of money were now voted for the equipment of a fleet; and the admiralties were urged to press forward the work with all possible vigour. but progress was necessarily slow. everything was lacking--material, munitions, equipment, skilled labour--and these could not be supplied in time to prevent dutch commerce being swept from the seas and the dutch colonies captured. the republicans, or patriots, as they began to name themselves, were at first delighted that the orange stadholder and his party had been compelled to break with england and to seek the alliance of france; but their joy was but short-lived. bad tidings followed rapidly one upon another. in the first month of the war merchantmen were captured, of the value of , , florins. the fishing fleets dared not put out to sea. in more than vessels passed through the sound, in only eleven. on february st eustatius surrendered to admiral rodney, when one hundred and thirty merchantmen together with immense stores fell into the hands of the captors. surinam and curaçoa received warning and were able to put themselves into a state of defence, but the colonies of demerara, berbice and essequibo were taken, also st martin, saba and the dutch establishments on the coast of guinea. in the east indies negapatam and the factories in bengal passed into english possession; and the cape, java and ceylon would have shared the same fate, but for the timely protection of a french squadron under the command of suffren, one of the ablest and bravest of french seamen. the losses were enormous, and loud was the outcry raised in amsterdam and elsewhere against the prince of being the cause of his country's misfortunes. "orange," so his enemies said, "is to blame for everything. he possessed the power to do whatsoever he would, and he neglected to use it in providing for the navy and the land's defences." this was to a considerable extent unjust, for william from onwards had repeatedly urged an increase of the sea and land forces, but his proposals had been thwarted by bitter opposition, especially in amsterdam itself. the accusations were to this extent correct that he was undoubtedly invested with large executive power which he had not the strength of will to use. it was at this period that van der capellen and others started a most violent press campaign not only against the stadholder, but against the hereditary stadholdership and all that the house of orange-nassau stood for in the history of the dutch republic. brunswick was attacked with especial virulence. the "act of consultation" had become known; and, had the prince been willing to throw responsibility upon the duke for bad advice he might have gained some fleeting popularity by separating himself from the hated "foreigner." but william, weak though he was, would not abandon the man who in his youth had been to him and to his house a wise and staunch protector and friend; and he knew, moreover, that the accusations against brunswick were really aimed at himself. the duke, however, after appealing to the states-general, and being by them declared free from blame, found the spirit of hostility so strong at amsterdam and in several of the provincial estates that he withdrew first ( ) to hertogenbosch, of which place he was governor, and finally left the country in . the war meanwhile, which had been the cause, or rather the pretext, for this outburst of popular feeling against brunswick, was pursuing its course. in the summer of rear-admiral zoutman, at the head of a squadron of fifteen war-ships, was ordered to convoy seventy-two merchantmen into the baltic. he met an english force of twelve vessels, which were larger and better armed than the dutch, under vice-admiral hyde parker. a fierce encounter took place at the doggerbank on august , which lasted all day without either side being able to claim the victory. parker was the first to retreat, but zoutman had likewise to return to the texel to repair his disabled ships, and his convoy never reached the baltic. the dutch however were greatly elated at the result of the fight, and zoutman and his captains were feted as heroes. doggerbank battle was but, at the most, an indecisive engagement on a very small scale, and it brought no relaxation in the english blockade. no dutch admiral throughout all the rest of the war ventured to face the english squadrons in the north sea and in the channel; and the dutch mercantile marine disappeared from the ocean. england was strong enough to defy the armed neutrality, which indeed proved, as its authoress catherine ii is reported to have said, "an armed nullity." there was deep dissatisfaction throughout the country, and mutual recriminations between the various responsible authorities, but there was some justice in making the stadholder the chief scapegoat, for, whatever may have been the faults of others, a vigorous initiative in the earlier years of his stadholdership might have effected much, and would have certainly gained for him increased influence and respect. the war lasted for two years, if war that could be called in which there was practically no fighting. there were changes of government in england during that time, and the party of which fox was the leader had no desire to press hardly upon the dutch. several efforts were made to induce them to negotiate in london a separate peace on favourable terms, but the partisans of france in amsterdam and elsewhere rendered these tentative negotiations fruitless. being weak, the republic suffered accordingly by having to accept finally whatever terms its mightier neighbour thought fit to dictate. on november , , the preliminary treaty by which great britain conceded to the united states of america their independence was concluded. a truce between great britain and france followed in january, , in which the united provinces, as a satellite of france, were included. no further hostilities took place, but the negotiations for a definitive peace dragged on, the protests of the dutch plenipotentiaries at paris against the terms arranged between england and france being of no avail. finally the french government concluded a separate peace on september ; but it was not till may , , that the dutch could be induced to surrender negapatam and to grant to the english the right of free entry into the moluccas. nor was this the only humiliation the republic had at this time to suffer, for during the course of the english war serious troubles with the emperor joseph ii had arisen. joseph had in paid a visit to his belgian provinces, and he had seen with his own eyes the ruinous condition of the barrier fortresses. on the pretext that the fortresses were now useless, since france and the republic were allies, joseph informed the states-general of his intention to dismantle them all with the exception of antwerp and luxemburg. this meant of course the withdrawal of the dutch garrisons. the states-general, being unable to resist, deemed it the wiser course to submit. the troops accordingly left the barrier towns in january, . such submission, as was to be expected, inevitably led to further demands. the treaty of münster ( ) had left the dutch in possession of territory on both banks of the scheldt, and had given them the right to close all access by river to antwerp, which had for a century and a quarter ceased to be a sea-port. in , during his visit to belgium, joseph had received a number of petitions in favour of the liberation of the scheldt. at the moment he did not see his way to taking action, but in he took advantage of the embarrassments of the dutch government to raise the question of a disputed boundary in dutch flanders; and in the autumn of that year a body of imperial troops took forcible possession of some frontier forts near sluis. matters were brought to a head in may, , by the emperor sending to the states-general a detailed summary of all his grievances, _tableau sommaire des prétentions_. in this he claimed, besides cessions of territory at maestricht and in dutch flanders, the right of free navigation on the scheldt, the demolition of the dutch forts closing the river, and freedom of trading from the belgian ports to the indies. this document was in fact an ultimatum, the rejection of which meant war. for once all parties in the republic were united in resistance to the emperor's demands; and when in october, , two ships attempted to navigate the scheldt, the one starting from antwerp, the other from ostend, they were both stopped; the first at saftingen on the frontier, the second at flushing. war seemed imminent. an austrian army corps was sent to the netherlands; and the dutch bestirred themselves with a vigour unknown in the states for many years to equip a strong fleet and raise troops to repel invasion. it is, however, almost certain that, had joseph carried out his threat of sending a force of , men to avenge the insult offered to his ships, the hastily enlisted dutch troops would not have been able to offer effectual resistance. but the question the emperor was raising was no mere local question. he was really seeking to violate important clauses of two international treaties, to which all the great powers were parties, the treaty of münster and the treaty of utrecht. his own possession of the belgian netherlands and the independence and sovereign rights of the dutch republic rested on the same title. joseph had counted upon the help or at least the friendly neutrality of his brother-in-law, louis xvi, but france had just concluded an exhausting war in which the united provinces had been her allies. the french, moreover, had no desire to see the republic over-powered by an act of aggression that might give rise to european complications. louis xvi offered mediation, and it was accepted. it is doubtful indeed whether the emperor, whose restless brain was always full of new schemes, really meant to carry his threats into execution. in the autumn of a plan for exchanging the distant belgian netherlands for the contiguous electorate of bavaria was beginning to exercise his thoughts and diplomacy. he showed himself therefore ready to make concessions; and by the firmness of the attitude of france both the disputants were after lengthy negotiations brought to terms, which were embodied in a treaty signed at fontainebleau on november , . the dutch retained the right to close the scheldt, but had to dismantle some of the forts; the frontier of dutch flanders was to be that of ; and joseph gave up all claim to maestricht in consideration of a payment of , , florins. a few days later an alliance between france and the republic, known as "the defensive confederacy" of fontainebleau, was concluded, the french government advancing , , florins towards the ransom of maestricht. the return of peace, however, far from allaying the spirit of faction in the republic, was to lead to civil strife. the situation with which william v now had to deal was in some ways more difficult and dangerous than in the days of his greater predecessors. it was no longer a mere struggle for supremacy between the orange-stadholder party (_prins-gezinderi_) and the patrician-regents of the town corporations (_staats-gezinderi_); a third party had come into existence, the democratic or "patriot" party, which had imbibed the revolutionary ideas of rousseau and others about the rights of man and the social contract. these new ideas, spread about with fiery zeal by the two nobles, van der capellen tot de pol and his cousin van der capellen van den marsch, had found a fertile soil in the northern netherlands, and among all classes, including other nobles and many leading burgomasters. their aim was to abolish all privileges whether in church or state, and to establish the principle of the sovereignty of the people. these were the days, be it remembered, which immediately succeeded the american revolution and preceded the summoning of the states-general in france with its fateful consequences. the atmosphere was full of revolution; and the men of the new ideas had no more sympathy with the pretensions of an aristocratic caste of burgher-regents to exclude their fellow-citizens from a voice in the management of their own affairs, than they had with the quasi-sovereign position of an hereditary stadholder. among the orange party were few men of mark. the council-pensionary bleiswijk was without character, ready to change sides with the shifting wind; and count bentinck van rhoon had little ability. they were, however, to discover in burgomaster van de spiegel of goes a statesman destined soon to play a great part in the history of the country. during this period of acute party strife patriot and orangeman were not merely divided from one another on questions of domestic policy. the one party were strong adherents of the french alliance and leant upon its support; the other sought to renew the bonds which had so long united the republic with england. indeed the able representatives of france and england at the hague at this time, the count de vérac and sir james harris (afterwards lord malmesbury), were the real leaders and advisers, behind the scenes, of the opposing factions. the strength of parties varied in the different provinces. holland, always more or less anti-stadholder, was the chief centre of the patriots. with holland were the majority of the estates of friesland, groningen and overyssel. in utrecht the nobles and the regents were for the stadholder, but the townsmen were strong patriots. zeeland supported the prince, who had with him the army, the preachers and the great mass of small _bourgeoisie_ and the country folk. nothing could exceed the violence and unscrupulousness of the attacks that were directed against the stadholder in the press; and no efforts were spared by his opponents to curtail his rights and to insult him personally. corps of patriot volunteers were enrolled in different places with self-elected officers. the wearing of the orange colours and the singing of the _wilhelmus_ was forbidden, and punished by fine and imprisonment. in september, , a riot at the hague led to the estates of holland taking from the stadholder the command of the troops in that city. they likewise ordered the foot-guards henceforth to salute the members of the estates, and removed the arms of the prince from the standards and the facings of the troops. as a further slight, the privilege was given to the deputies, while the estates were in session, to pass through the gate into the binnenhof, which had hitherto been reserved for the use of the stadholder alone. filled with indignation and resentment, william left the hague with his family and withdrew to his country residence at het loo. such a step only increased the confusion and disorder that was filling every part of the country, for it showed that william had neither the spirit nor the energy to make a firm stand against those who were resolved to overthrow his authority. in utrecht the strife between the parties led to scenes of violence. the "patriots" found an eloquent leader in the person of a young student named ondaatje. the estates of the province were as conservative as the city of utrecht itself was ultra-democratic; and a long series of disturbances were caused by the burgher-regents of the town council refusing to accede to the popular demand for a drastic change in their constitution. finally they were besieged in the town hall by a numerous gathering of the "free corps" headed by ondaatje, and were compelled to accede to the people's demands. a portion of the estates thereupon assembled at amersfoort; and at their request a body of troops were sent there from nijmwegen. civil war seemed imminent, but it was averted by the timely mediation of the estates of holland. scarcely less dangerous was the state of affairs in gelderland. here the estates of the gelderland had an orange majority, but the patriots had an influential leader in van der capellen van den marsch. petitions and requests were sent to the estates demanding popular reforms. the estates not only refused to receive them but issued a proclamation forbidding the dissemination of revolutionary literature in the province. the small towns of elburg and hattem not only refused to obey, but the inhabitants proceeded by force to compel their councils to yield to their demands. the estates thereupon called upon the stadholder to send troops to restore order. this was done, and garrisons were placed in elburg and hattem. this step caused a very great commotion in holland and especially at amsterdam; and the patriot leaders felt that the time had come to take measures by which to unite all their forces in the different parts of the country for common defence and common action. the result of all this was that the movement became more and more revolutionary in its aims. to such an extent was this the case that many of the old aristocratic anti-stadholder regents began to perceive that the carrying out of the patriots' programme of popular reform would mean the overthrow of the system of government which they upheld, at the same time as that of the stadholderate. the reply of the estates of holland to the strong measures taken against elburg and hattem was the "provisional" removal of the prince from the post of captain-general, and the recalling, on their own authority, of all troops in the pay of the province serving in the frontier fortresses (august, ). as the year went on the agitation grew in volume; increasing numbers were enrolled in the free corps. the complete ascendancy of the ultra-democratic patriots was proved and assured by tumultuous gatherings at amsterdam (april , ), and a few days later at rotterdam, compelling the town councils to dismiss at amsterdam nine regents and at rotterdam seven, suspected of orange leanings. holland was now entirely under patriot control; and the democrats in other districts were eagerly looking to the forces which holland could bring into the field to protect the patriot cause from tyrannous acts of oppression by the stadholder's troops. in the summer of the forces on both sides were being mustered on the borders of the province of utrecht, and frequent collisions had already taken place. nothing but the prince's indecision had prevented the actual outbreak of a general civil war. at the critical moment of suspense an incident occurred, however, which was to effect a dramatic change in the situation. william's pusillanimous attitude (he was actually talking of withdrawing from the country to nassau) was by no means acceptable to his high-spirited wife. the princess was all for vigorous action, and she wrung from william a reluctant consent to her returning from nijmwegen, where for security she had been residing with her family, to the hague. in that political centre she would be in close communication with sir j. harris and van de spiegel, and would be able to organise a powerful opposition in holland to patriot ascendancy. it was a bold move, the success of which largely depended on the secrecy with which it was carried out. on june wilhelmina started from nijmwegen, but the commandant of the free corps at gouda, hearing that horses were being ordered at schoonhoven and haasrecht for a considerable party, immediately sent to headquarters for instructions. he was told not to allow any suspicious body of persons to pass. he accordingly stopped the princess and detained her at a farm until the arrival at woerden of the members of the committee of defence. by these her highness was treated (on learning her quality) with all respect, but she was informed that she could not proceed without the permit of the estates of holland. the indignant princess did not wait for the permit to arrive, but returned to nijmwegen. the british ambassador, harris, at once brought the action of the estates of holland before the states-general and demanded satisfaction; and on july a still more peremptory demand was made by the prussian ambassador, von thulemeyer. frederick william ii was incensed at the treatment his sister had received; and, when the estates of holland refused to punish the offending officials, on the ground that no insult had been intended, orders were immediately given for an army of , men under charles, duke of brunswick, to cross the frontier and exact reparation. the prussians entered in three columns and met with little opposition. utrecht, where "patriot" volunteers were encamped, was evacuated, the whole force taking flight and retreating in disorder to holland. gorkum, dordrecht, kampen and other towns surrendered without a blow; and on september brunswick's troops entered the hague amidst general rejoicings. the populace wore orange favours, and the streets rang with the cry of _oranje boven_. amsterdam still held out and prepared for defence, hoping for french succour; and thither the leaders of the patriot party had fled, together with the representatives of six cities. the nobility, the representatives of eight cities, and the council-pensionary remained at the hague, met as the estates of holland, repealed all the anti-orange edicts, and invited the prince to return. amidst scenes of great enthusiasm the stadholder made his entry into the binnenhof on september . the hopes held by the patriot refugees at amsterdam of french aid were vain, for the french government was in no position to help anyone. as soon as the prussian army appeared before the gates, the town council, as in , was unwilling to jeopardise the welfare of the city by armed resistance, and negotiations were opened with brunswick. on october amsterdam capitulated, and the campaign was over. the princess was now in a position to demand reparation for the insult she had received; and, though her terms were severe, the estates of holland obsequiously agreed to carry them out (october ). she demanded the punishment of all who had taken part in her arrest, the disbanding of the free corps, and the purging of the various town councils of obnoxious persons. all this was done. in the middle of november the main body of the prussians departed, but a force of men remained to assist the dutch troops in keeping order. the english ambassador, harris, and van de spiegel were the chief advisers of the now dominant orange government; and drastic steps were taken to establish the hereditary stadholderate henceforth on a firm basis. all persons filling any office were required to swear to maintain the settlement of , and to declare that "the high and hereditary dignities" conferred upon the princes of orange were "an essential part not only of the constitution of each province but of the whole state." an amnesty was proclaimed by the prince on november , but it contained so many exceptions that it led to a large number of the patriots seeking a place of refuge in foreign countries, as indeed many of the leaders had already done, chiefly in france and the belgian netherlands. it has been said that the exiles numbered as many as , , but this is possibly an exaggeration. the victory of the orange party was complete; but a triumph achieved by the aid of a foreign invader was dearly purchased. the prussian troops, as they retired laden with booty after committing many excesses, left behind them a legacy of hatred. * * * * * chapter xxvi the orange restoration. downfall of the republic, - one of the first steps taken, after the restoration of the stadholder's power had been firmly established, was the appointment of laurens pieter van de spiegel to the post of council-pensionary of holland in place of the trimmer bleiswijk. it was quite contrary to usage that a zeelander should hold this the most important post in the estates of holland, but the influence of the princess and of harris secured his unanimous election on december , . van de spiegel proved himself to be a statesman of high capacity, sound judgment and great moderation, not unworthy to be ranked among the more illustrious occupants of his great office. he saw plainly the hopeless deadlock and confusion of the machinery of government and its need of root-and-branch revision, but he was no more able to achieve it than his predecessors. the feebleness of the stadholder, the high-handedness of the princess, and the selfish clinging of the patrician-regents to their privileged monopoly of civic power were insuperable hindrances to any attempts to interfere with the existing state of things. such was the inherent weakness of the republic that it was an independent state in little more than name; its form of government was guaranteed by foreign powers on whom it had to rely for its defence against external foes. prussia by armed force, england by diplomatic support, had succeeded in restoring the hereditary stadholderate to a predominant position in the state. it was the first care of the triumvirate, harris, van de spiegel and the princess, to secure what had been achieved by bringing about a defensive alliance between the republic, great britain and prussia. after what had taken place this was not a difficult task; and two separate treaties were signed between the states-general and the two protecting powers on the same day, april , , each of the three states undertaking to furnish a definite quota of troops, ships or money, if called upon to do so. both prussia and england gave a strong guarantee for the upholding of the hereditary stadholderate. this was followed by the conclusion of an anglo-prussian alliance directed against france and austria (august ). the marriage of the hereditary prince with frederika louise wilhelmina of prussia added yet another to the many royal alliances of the house of orange; but, though it raised the prestige of the stadholder's position, it only served to make that position more dependent on the support of the foreigner. the council-pensionary, van de spiegel, did all that statesman could do in these difficult times to effect reforms and bring order out of chaos. it was fortunate for the republic that the stadholder should have discerned the merits of this eminent servant of the state and entrusted to him so largely the direction of affairs. internally the spirit of faction had, superficially at least, been crushed by prussian military intervention, but externally there was serious cause for alarm. van de spiegel watched with growing disquietude the threatening aspect of things in france, preluding the great revolution; and still more serious was the insurrection, which the reforming zeal of joseph ii had caused to break out in the austrian netherlands. joseph's personal visit to his belgian dominions had filled him with a burning desire to sweep away the various provincial privileges and customs and to replace them by administrative uniformity. not less was his eagerness to free education from clerical influence. he stirred up thereby the fierce opposition of clericals and democrats alike, ending in armed revolt in brabant and elsewhere. a desultory struggle went on during the years , ' and ' , ending in january, , in a meeting of the states-general at brussels and the formation of a federal republic under the name of "the united states of belgium." all this was very perturbing to the dutch government, who were most anxious lest an austrian attempt at reconquest might lead to a european conflict close to their borders. the death of joseph on february , , caused the danger to disappear. his brother, leopold ii, at once offered to re-establish ancient privileges, and succeeded by tact and moderation in restoring austrian rule under the old conditions. that this result was brought about without any intervention of foreign powers was in no small measure due to a conference at the hague, in which van de spiegel conducted negotiations with the representatives of prussia, england and austria for a settlement of the belgian question without disturbance of the peace. the council-pensionary found the finances of the country in a state of great confusion. one of his first cares was a re-assessment of the provincial quotas, some of which were greatly in arrears and inadequate in amount, thus throwing a disproportionate burden upon holland. it was a difficult task, but successfully carried out. the affairs of the east and west india companies next demanded his serious attention. both of them were practically bankrupt. the east india company had, during the th century, been gradually on the decline. its object was to extract wealth from java and its other eastern possessions; and, by holding the monopoly of trade and compelling the natives to hand over to the company's officials a proportion of the produce of the land at a price fixed by the company far below its real value (_contingent-en leverantie-stelsel_), the country was drained of its resources and the inhabitants impoverished simply to increase the shareholder's dividends. this was bad enough, but it was made worse by the type of men whom the directors, all of whom belonged to the patrician regent-families, sent out to fill the posts of governor-general and the subordinate governorships. for many decades these officials had been chosen, not for their proved experience or for their knowledge of the east or of the indian trade, but because of family connection; and the nominees went forth with the intention of enriching themselves as quickly as possible. this led to all sorts of abuses, and the profits of the company from all these causes kept diminishing. but, in order to keep up their credit, the board of xvii continued to pay large dividends out of capital, with the inevitable result that the company got into debt and had to apply for help to the state. the english war completed its ruin. in june, , the estates of holland appointed a commission to examine into the affairs of the company. too many people in holland had invested their money in it, and the indian trade was too important, for an actual collapse of the company to be permitted. accordingly an advance of , , florins was made to the directors, with a guarantee for , , of debt. but things went from bad to worse. in the indebtedness of the company amounted to , , florins. van de spiegel and others were convinced that the only satisfactory solution would be for the state to dissolve the company and take over the indian possessions in full sovereignty at the cost of liquidating the debt, a commission was appointed in to proceed to the east and make a report upon the condition of the colonies. before their mission was accomplished the french armies were overrunning the republic. it was not till that the existence of the company actually came to an end. to the west india company the effect of the english war was likewise disastrous. the guiana colonies, whose sugar plantations had been a source of great profit, had been conquered first by the english, then by the french; and, though they were restored after the war, the damage inflicted had brought the company into heavy difficulties. its charter expired in , and it was not renewed. the colonies became colonies of the state, the shareholders being compensated by exchanging their depreciated shares for government bonds. the orange restoration, however, and the efforts of van de spiegel to strengthen its bases by salutary reforms were doomed to be short-lived. the council-pensionary, in spite of his desire to relinquish office at the end of his quinquennial term, was reelected by the estates of holland on december , , and yielded to the pressure put upon him to continue his task. a form of government, which had been imposed against their will on the patriot party by the aid of foreign bayonets, was certain to have many enemies; and such prospect of permanence as it had lay in the goodwill and confidence inspired by the statesmanlike and conciliatory policy of van de spiegel. but it was soon to be swept away in the cataclysm of the french revolution now at the height of its devastating course. in france extreme revolutionary ideas had made rapid headway, ending in the dethronement and imprisonment of the king on august , . the invasion of france by the prussian and austrian armies only served to inflame the french people, intoxicated by their new-found liberty, to a frenzy of patriotism. hastily raised armies succeeded in checking the invasion at valmy on september , ; and in their turn invading belgium under the leadership of dumouriez, they completely defeated the austrians at jemappes on november . the whole of belgium was overrun and by a decree of the french convention was annexed. the fiery enthusiasts, into whose hands the government of the french republic had fallen, were eager to carry by force of arms the principles of liberty, fraternity and equality to all europe, declaring that "all governments are our enemies, all peoples are our friends." the southern netherlands having been conquered, it was evident that the northern republic would speedily invite attack. the dutch government, anxious to avoid giving any cause for hostilities, had carefully abstained from offering any encouragement to the emigrants or support to the enemies of the french republic. van de spiegel had even expressed to de maulde, the french ambassador, a desire to establish friendly relations with the republican government. but the jacobins looked upon the united provinces as the dependent of their enemies england and prussia; and, when after the execution of the king the english ambassador was recalled from paris, the national convention immediately declared war against england and at the same time against the stadholder of holland "because of his slavish bondage to the courts of st james and berlin." dumouriez at the head of the french army prepared to enter the united provinces at two points. the main body under his own command was to cross the moerdijk to dordrecht and then advance on rotterdam, the hague, leyden and haarlem. he was accompanied by the so-called _batavian legion_, enlisted from the patriot exiles under colonel daendels, once the fiery anti-orange advocate of hattem. general miranda, who was besieging maestricht, was to march by nijmwegen and venloo to utrecht. the two forces would then unite and make themselves masters of amsterdam. the ambitious scheme miscarried. at first success attended dumouriez. breda fell after a feeble resistance, also de klundert and geertruidenberg. meanwhile the advance of an austrian army under coburg relieved maestricht and inflicted a defeat upon the french at aldenhoven on march , . dumouriez, compelled to retreat, was himself beaten at neerwinden on march , and withdrew to antwerp. for the moment danger was averted. revolutionary movements at amsterdam and elsewhere failed to realise the hopes of the patriots, and the dutch government was able to breathe again. it indeed appeared that the french menace need no longer be feared. dumouriez changed sides and, failing to induce his troops to follow him, took refuge in the enemy's camp. a powerful coalition had now been formed by the energy of pitt against revolutionary france; and, in april, , a strong english army under the duke of york had joined coburg. they were supported by , dutch troops commanded by the two sons of the prince of orange. new french armies, however, organised by the genius of carnot, proved more than a match for the allied forces acting without any unity of place under slow-moving and incompetent leaders. coburg and the austrians were heavily defeated at fleurus by jourdan on june . york and prince william thereupon retreated across the frontier, followed by the french under pichegru, while another french general, moreau, took sluis and overran dutch flanders. this gave fresh encouragement to the patriot party, who in amsterdam formed a revolutionary committee, of which the leaders were gogel, van dam and kraijenhoff. nothing overt was done, but by means of a large number of so-called reading-societies (_leesgezelschappen_) secret preparations were made for a general uprising so soon as circumstances permitted, and communications were meanwhile kept up with the exiled patriots. but pichegru, though he captured maestricht and other towns, was very cautious in his movements and distrustful of the promises of the amsterdam convention that a general revolt would follow upon his entry into holland. in this way the year drew to its end; and, as no further help from england or prussia could be obtained, the states-general thought it might be possible to save the republic from the fate of belgium by opening negotiations for peace with the enemy. accordingly two envoys, brantsen and repelaer, were sent on december to the french headquarters, whence they proceeded to paris. fearing lest their plans for an uprising should be foiled, the amsterdam committee also despatched two representatives, blauw and van dam, to paris to counteract the envoys of van de spiegel, and to urge upon the french commanders an immediate offensive against holland. the withdrawal of the remains of the english army under the duke of york, and the setting in of a strong frost, lent force to their representations. the army of pichegru, accompanied by daendels and his batavian legion, were able to cross the rivers; and holland lay open before them. it was in vain that the two young orange princes did their utmost to organise resistance. in january, one town after another surrendered; and on the th daendels without opposition entered amsterdam. the revolution was completely triumphant, for on this very day the stadholder, despite the protests of his sons and the efforts of the council-pensionary, had left the country. the english government had offered to receive william v and his family; and arrangements had been quietly made for the passage across the north sea. the princess with her daughter-in-law and grandson were the first to leave; and on january , , william himself, on the ground that the french would never negotiate so long as he was in the country, bade farewell to the states-general and the foreign ambassadors. on the following day he embarked with his sons and household on a number of fishing-pinks at scheveningen and put to sea. with his departure the stadholderate and the republic of the united netherlands came to an end. * * * * * chapter xxvii the batavian republic, - on january , , amsterdam fell into the hands of the advancing french troops. daendels had previously caused a proclamation to be distributed which declared "that the representatives of the french people wished the dutch nation to make themselves free; that they do not desire to oppress them as conquerors, but to ally themselves with them as with a free people." a complete change of the city government took place without any disturbance or shedding of blood. at the summons of the revolutionary committee the members of the town council left the council hall and were replaced by twenty-one citizens "as provisional representatives of the people of amsterdam." of this body rutger jan schimmelpenninck, a former advocate of the council, was appointed president. the other towns, one after the other, followed in the steps of the capital. the patrician corporations were abolished and replaced by provisional municipal assemblies. everywhere the downfall of the old _régime_ was greeted with tumultuous joy by those large sections of the dutch population which had imbibed revolutionary principles; and the french troops were welcomed by the "patriots" as brothers and deliverers. "trees of liberty," painted in the national colours, were erected in the principal squares; and the citizens, wearing "caps of liberty" danced round them hand in hand with the foreign soldiers. feast-making, illuminations and passionate orations, telling that a new era of "liberty, fraternity and equality" had dawned for the batavian people, were the order of the day. the revolution was not confined to the town-corporations. at the invitation of the amsterdam committee and under the protection of the french representatives, deputations from fourteen towns met at the hague on january . taking possession of the assembly hall of the estates of holland and choosing as their president pieter paulus, a man generally respected, this provisional assembly proceeded to issue a series of decrees subverting all the ancient institutions of the land. the representation by estates and the offices of stadholder and of council-pensionary were abolished. the old colleges such as the commissioned councillors, the admiralties, the chamber of accounts, were changed into committees for general welfare, for war, for marine, for finance, etc. the other provinces in turn followed holland's example; and the changes in the provincial administrations were then quickly extended to the states-general. these retained their name, but were now to be representative of the citizens of the whole land. the council of state was transformed into a committee for general affairs; and a colonial council replaced the east and west india companies and the society of surinam. to the committee for general affairs was entrusted the task of drawing up a plan for the summoning of a national convention on march . so far all had gone smoothly with the course of the revolutionary movement, so much so that its leaders seem almost to have forgotten that the land was in the occupation of a foreign conqueror. the unqualified recognition of batavian independence, however, in the proclamation by daendels had caused dissatisfaction in paris. the committee of public safety had no intention of throwing away the fruits of victory; and two members of the convention, cochon and ramel, were despatched to holland to report upon the condition of affairs. they arrived at the hague on february . both reports recommended that a war-indemnity should be levied on the republic, but counselled moderation, for, though the private wealth of the dutch was potentially large, the state was practically insolvent. these proposals were too mild to please the committee of public safety. the new states-general had sent (march ) two envoys, van blauw and meyer, to paris with instructions to propose a treaty of alliance and of commerce with france, to ask for the withdrawal of the french troops and that the land should not be flooded with _assignats_. the independence of the batavian republic was taken for granted. very different were the conditions laid before them by merlin de douat, rewbell and siéyès. a war contribution of , , florins was demanded, to be paid in ready money within three months, a loan of like amount at per cent, and the surrender of all territory south of the waal together with dutch flanders, walcheren and south beveland. moreover there was to be no recognition of batavian independence until a satisfactory treaty on the above lines was drawn up. these hard conditions were on march rejected by the states-general. wiser counsels however prevented this point-blank refusal being sent to paris, and it was hoped that a policy of delay might secure better terms. the negotiations went on slowly through march and april; and, as blauw and meyer had no powers as accredited plenipotentiaries, the committee determined to send rewbell and siéyès to the hague, armed with full authority to push matters through. the envoys reached the hague on may , and found the states-general in a more yielding mood than might have been expected from their previous attitude. rewbell and siéyès knew how to play upon the fears of the provisional government by representing to them that, if the terms they offered were rejected, their choice lay between french annexation or an orange restoration. four members were appointed by the states-general with full powers to negotiate. the conferences began on may ; and in five days an agreement was reached. the batavian republic, recognised as a free and independent state, entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with the french republic. but the dutch had to cede maestricht, venloo and dutch flanders and to pay an indemnity of , , florins. flushing was to receive a french garrison, and its harbour was to be used in common by the two powers; , french troops were to be quartered in the republic and were to be fed, clothed and paid. the dutch were compelled to permit the free circulation of the worthless _assignats_ in their country. one of the first results of this treaty was a breach with great britain. the dutch coast was blockaded; british fleets stopped all sea-borne commerce; and the dutch colonies in the east and west indies were one after the other captured. the action of the prince of orange made this an easy task. william placed in the hands of the british commanders letters addressed to the governors of the dutch colonies ordering them "to admit the troops sent out on behalf of his britannic majesty and to offer no resistance to the british warships, but to regard them as vessels of a friendly power." the cape of good hope surrendered to admiral rodney; and in quick succession followed malacca, ceylon and the moluccas. a squadron of nine ships under rear-admiral lucas, sent out to recover the cape and the other east indian possessions, was compelled to surrender to the english in saldanha bay on august , , almost without resistance, owing to the orange sympathies of the crews. the west indian colonies fared no better. demerara, essequibo and berbice capitulated in the spring of ; surinam remained in dutch hands until ; java until . the occupation by the english of this island, the most important of all the dutch overseas possessions, made the tale of their colonial losses complete. the offensive and defensive alliance with france had thus brought upon the republic, as a trading and colonial power, a ruin which the efforts of the provisional government under french pressure to re-organise and strengthen their naval and military forces had been unable to prevent. the erstwhile exiles, daendels and dumonceau, who had attained the rank of generals in the french service, were on their return entrusted with the task of raising an army of , men, disciplined and equipped on the french system. the navy was dealt with by a special committee, of which pieter paulus was the energetic president. unfortunately for the committee, a large proportion of the officers and crews were strongly orangist. most of the officers resigned, and it was necessary to purge the crews. their places had to be supplied by less experienced and trustworthy material; but vice-admiral jan de winter did his utmost to create a fleet in fit condition to join the french and spanish fleets in convoying an expeditionary force to make a descent upon the coast of ireland. in july, , eighty ships were concentrated at the texel with troops on board, ready to join the franco-spanish squadrons, which were to sail from brest. but the junction was never effected. week after week the dutch admiral was prevented from leaving the texel by contrary winds. the idea of an invasion of ireland was given up, but so great was the disappointment in holland and such the pressure exerted on de winter by the commission of foreign affairs, that he was obliged against his will to put to sea on october , and attack the english fleet under the command of admiral duncan, who was blockading the dutch coast. the number of vessels on the two sides was not unequal, but neither officers nor crews under de winter could compare in seamanship and experience with their opponents. the fleets met off camperdown and the dutch fought with their traditional bravery, but the defeat was complete. out of sixteen ships of the line nine were taken, including the flag-ship of de winter himself. meanwhile there had arisen strong differences of opinion in the republic as to the form of government which was to replace the old confederacy of seven sovereign provinces. no one probably wished to continue a system which had long proved itself obsolete and unworkable. but particularism was still strong, especially in the smaller provinces. the country found itself divided into two sharply opposed parties of unitarians and federalists. the unitarians were the most active, and meetings were held all over the country by the local jacobin clubs. finally it was determined to hold a central meeting of delegates from all the clubs at the hague. the meeting took place on jan. , , and resolutions were passed in favour of summoning a national convention to draw up a new constitution on unitarian lines. holland and utrecht pressed the matter forward in the states-general, and they had the support of gelderland and overyssel, but zeeland, friesland and groningen refused their assent. their action was very largely financial, as provinces whose indebtedness was small dreaded lest unification should increase their burden. but even in the recalcitrant provinces there were a large number of moderate men; and through the intervention of the french ambassador, nöel, who gave strong support to the unitarians, the proposal of holland for a national assembly to meet on march was carried (february ) by a unanimous vote. the following provisional regulation was then rapidly drawn up by a special committee. the land was divided into districts each containing , inhabitants; these again into fundamental assemblies (_grondvergaderingen_) of persons; each of these assemblies chose an "elector" (_kiezer_); and then the group of thirty electors chose a deputy to represent the district. the national assembly was in this way to consist of one hundred and twenty-six members; its deliberations were to be public, the voting individualistic and the majority to prevail. a commission of twenty-one deputies was to be appointed, who were to frame a draft-constitution, which after approval by the assembly was to be submitted to the whole body of the people for acceptance or rejection. the assembly, having duly met on march , , in the binnenhof at the hague, elected pieter paulus as their president, but had the misfortune to lose his experienced direction very speedily. he had for some time been in bad health, and on march he died. it fell to his lot to assist at the ceremonial closing of the last meeting of the states-general, which had governed the republic of the united netherlands for more than two centuries. the national assembly reflected the pronounced differences of opinion in the land. orangist opinion had no representatives, although possibly more than half the population had orange sympathies. all the deputies had accepted in principle french revolutionary ideas, but there were three distinct parties, the unitarians, the moderates and the federalists. the moderates, who were in a majority, occupied, as their name implied, an intermediate position between the unitarians or revolutionary party, who wished for a centralised republic after the french model, and the federalists or conservatives, who aimed at retaining so far as possible the rights of the several provinces and towns to manage their own affairs. the leaders of the unitarians were vreede, midderigh, valckenier and gogel; of the moderates schimmelpenninck, hahn and kantelaur; of the federalists, vitringa, van marle and de mist. after the death of pieter paulus the most influential man in an assembly composed of politicians mostly without any parliamentary experience was the eloquent and astute schimmelpenninck, whose opportunist moderation sprang from a natural dislike of extreme courses. one of the first cares of the assembly was the appointment of the commission of twenty-one members to draw up a draft constitution. the (so-styled) regulation, representing the views of the moderate majority, was presented to the assembly on november . the republic was henceforth to be a unified state governed by the sovereign people; but the old provinces, though now named departments, were to retain large administrative rights and their separate financial quotas. the draft met fierce opposition from the unitarians, but after much discussion and many amendments it was at length accepted by the majority. it had, however, before becoming law, to be submitted to the people; and the network of jacobin clubs throughout the country, under the leadership of the central club at amsterdam, carried on a widespread and secret revolutionary propaganda against the regulation. they tried to enlist the open co-operation of the french ambassador, noël, but he, acting under the instruction of the cautious talleyrand, was not disposed to commit himself. the unitarian campaign was so successful that the regulation, on being submitted to the fundamental assemblies, was rejected by , votes to , . in these circumstances, as had been previously arranged by the provisional government, it was necessary to summon another national assembly to draw up another draft constitution. it met on september , . the moderates, though they lost some seats, were still in a majority; and the new commission of twenty-one had, as before, federalistic leanings. the unitarians, therefore, without awaiting their proposals, under the leadership of the stalwart revolutionary, vreede, determined to take strong action. the _coup d'état_ they planned was helped forward by two events. the first was the revolution in paris of september , , which led to the replacing of ambassador noël by the pronounced jacobin, charles delacroix. the other event was the disaster which befell the dutch fleet at camperdown, the blame for which was laid upon the provisional government. vreede and his confederates being assured by delacroix of the supportof the new french directory, and of the co-operation of the french general joubert and of daendels, the commander of the batavian army, chose for the execution of their plan the week in which midderigh, one of the confederates, took his turn as president of the assembly. midderigh, by virtue of his office, being in command of the hague civic force, on january , , seized and imprisoned the members of the committee for foreign affairs and twenty-two members of the assembly. the "rump" then met, protected by a strong body of troops, and declared itself a constituent assembly representing the batavian people. after the french model, an executive council was nominated, consisting of five members, vreede, fijnje, fokker, wildrik and van langen, and a new commission of seven to frame a constitution. the "regulation" was rejected; and the assembly solemnly proclaimed its "unalterable aversion" to the stadholderate, federalism, aristocracy and governmental decentralisation. french influence was henceforth paramount; and the draft of the new constitution, in the framing of which delacroix took a leading part, was ready on march . eleven days later it was approved by the assembly. the fundamental assemblies in their turn assented to it by , votes to , , considerable official pressure being exerted to secure this result; and the constitution came thus into legal existence. its principal provisions were directed to the complete obliteration of the old provincial particularism. the land was divided into eight departments, whose boundaries in no case coincided with those of the provinces. holland was split up among five departments; that of the amstel, with amsterdam as its capital, being the only one that did not contain portions of two or more provinces. each department was divided into seven circles; each of these returned one member; and the body of seven formed the departmental government. the circles in their turn were divided into communes, each department containing sixty or seventy. all these local administrations were, however, quite subordinate to the authority exercised by the central representative body. for the purpose of electing this body the land was divided into ninety-four districts; each district into forty "fundamental assemblies," each of persons. the forty "electors" chosen by these units in their turn elected the deputy for the department. the ninety-four deputies formed the representative body, which was divided into two chambers. the second chamber of thirty members was annually chosen by lot from the ninety-four, the other sixty-four forming the first chamber. the framing and proposing of all laws was the prerogative of the first chamber. the second chamber accepted or rejected these proposed laws, but for a second rejection a two-thirds majority was required. the executive power was vested in a directorate of five persons, one of whom was to retire every year. to supply his place the second chamber chose one out of three persons selected by the first chamber. the directorate had the assistance of eight agents or ministers: foreign affairs, war, marine, finance, justice, police, education, and economy. finance was nationalised, all charges and debts being borne in common. church and state were separated, payments to the reformed ministers from the state ceasing in three years. such was the project, but it was not to be carried into effect without another _coup d'état_. it was now the duty of the constituent assembly to proceed to the election of a representative body. instead of this, on may , , the assembly declared itself to be representative, so that power remained in the hands of the executive council, who were afraid of an election returning a majority of "moderates." but this autocratic act aroused considerable discontent amongst all except the extreme jacobin faction. the opponents of the executive council found a leader in daendels, who, strong "unionist" though he was, was dissatisfied with the arbitrary conduct of this self-constituted government, and more especially in matters connected with the army. daendels betook himself to paris, where he was favourably received by the foreign secretary, talleyrand, and with his help was able to persuade the french directory that it was not in their interest to support the jacobin council in their illegal retention of office. daendels accordingly returned to holland, where he found the french commander, joubert, friendly to his project, and three of the "agents," including pijman, the minister of war, ready to help him. placed in command of the troops at the hague, daendels (june , ) arrested the directors and the presidents of the two chambers. the constituent assembly was dissolved and a new representative body was (july ) elected. the moderates, as was expected, were in a considerable majority; and five members of that party, van hasselt, hoeth, van haersolte, van hoeft and ermerius were appointed directors. the country was now at length in the enjoyment of a settled constitution based upon liberal principles and popular representation. daendels, though his influence was great, never attempted to play the part of a military dictator; and, though party passions were strong, no political persecutions followed. nevertheless troubled times awaited the batavian republic, and the constitution of was not to have a long life. the emperor paul of russia had taken up arms with great britain and austria against revolutionary france, and the hopes of the orange party began to rise. the hereditary prince was very active and, though he was unable to move his brother-in-law, the king of prussia, to take active steps in his favour, he succeeded in securing the intervention of an anglo-russian force on his behalf. in august, , a strong english fleet under admiral duncan appeared off texel and in the name of the prince of orange demanded the surrender of the batavian fleet which lay there under rear-admiral story. story refused. a storm prevented the english from taking immediate action; but on the th a landing of troops was effected near callantroog and the batavian forces abandoned the helder. story had withdrawn his fleet to vlieter, but orangist sympathies were strong among his officers and crews, and he was compelled to surrender. the ships, hoisting the orange flag, became henceforth a squadron attached to the english fleet. such was the humiliating end of the batavian navy. the efforts of the hereditary prince to stir up an insurrection in overyssel and gelderland failed; and he thereupon joined the anglo-russian army, which, about , strong, was advancing under the command of the duke of york to invade holland. but york was an incompetent commander; there was little harmony between the british and russian contingents; and the french and batavians under generals brune and daendels inflicted defeats upon them at bergen (september ), and at castricum (october ). york thereupon entered upon negotiations with brune and was allowed to re-embark his troops for england, after restoration of the captured guns and prisoners. the expedition was a miserable fiasco. at the very time when the evacuation of north holland by invading armies was taking place, the directory in paris had been overthrown by bonaparte ( brumaire, or nov. ), who now, with the title of first consul, ruled france with dictatorial powers. the conduct of the batavian government during these transactions had not been above suspicion; and bonaparte at once replaced brune by augereau, and sent sémonville as ambassador in place of deforgues. he was determined to compel the batavian republic to comply strictly with the terms imposed by the treaty of , and demanded more troops and more money. in vain the executive council, by the mouth of its ambassador, schimmelpenninck, protested its inability to satisfy those demands. augereau was inexorable, and there was no alternative but to obey. but the very feebleness of the central government made bonaparte resolve on a revision of the constitution in an anti-democratic direction. augereau acted as an intermediary between him and the executive council. three of the directors favoured his views, the other two opposed them. the representative body, however, rejected all proposals for a revision. on this the three called in the aid of augereau, who suspended the representative body and closed the doors of its hall of meeting. the question was now referred to the fundamental assemblies. on october , , the voting resulted in , noes against , yeas. about , voters abstained, but these were declared to be "yeas"; and the new constitution became on october the law of the land. the constitution of placed the executive power in the hands of a state-government of twelve persons. the three directors chose seven others, who in their turn chose five more, amongst these the above-named three, to whom they owed their existence. with this state-government was associated a legislative body of members, who met twice in the year and whose only function was to accept without amendment, or to reject, the proposals of the executive body. the "agents" were abolished and replaced by small councils, who administered the various departments of state. considerable administrative powers were given to the local governments, and the boundaries of the eight departments, holland, zeeland, utrecht, overyssel (in which drente was included), gelderland, groningen, friesland, and brabant, were made to coincide largely with those of the old provinces. the aim of the new constitution was efficiency, the reconciliation of the moderate elements both of the federalist and unitarian parties, and the restraint alike of revolutionary and orangist intrigues. it began its course in fortunate circumstances. the long-wished-for peace was concluded at amiens on march , . it was signed by schimmelpenninck, as the representative of the batavian republic, but he had not been allowed to have any influence upon the decisions. great britain restored all the captured colonies, except ceylon; and the house of orange was indemnified by the grant of the secularised bishopric of fulda, the abbeys of korvey and weingarten, together with the towns of dortmund, isny and buchhorn. the hereditary prince, as his father refused to reside in this new domain, undertook the duties of government. william v preferred to live on his nassau estates. he died at brunswick in . the peace was joyfully welcomed in holland, for it removed the british blockade and gave a promise of the revival of trade. but all the hopes of better times were blighted with the fresh outbreak of war in . all the colonial possessions were again lost; and a new treaty of alliance, which the state-government was compelled to conclude with france, led to heavy demands. the republic was required to provide for the quartering and support of , french troops and , batavians under a french general. further, a fleet of ten ships of war was to be maintained, and flat-bottomed transports built for the conveyance of an invading army to england. these demands were perforce complied with. nevertheless napoleon was far from satisfied with the state-government, which he regarded as inefficient and secretly hostile. in holland itself it was hated, because of the heavy charges it was obliged to impose. bonaparte accordingly determined to replace it and to concentrate the executive power in a single person. the legislative body was to remain, but the head of the state was to bear the title of council-pensionary, and was to be elected for a period of five years. schimmelpenninck was designated for this post. referred to a popular vote, the new constitution was approved by , against ; about , abstained from voting. on april , , schimmelpenninck entered into office as council-pensionary. he was invested with monarchical authority. the executive power, finance, the army and navy, the naming of ambassadors, the proposing of legislation, were placed in his hands. he was assisted by a council of state, nominated by himself, of five members, and by six secretaries of state. the legislative body was reduced to nineteen members, appointed by the departmental governments. they met twice in the year and could accept or reject the proposals of the council-pensionary, but not amend them. schimmelpenninck was honest and able, and during the brief period of his administration did admirable work. with the aid of the accomplished financier gogel, who had already done much good service to his country in difficult circumstances, he, by spreading the burdens of taxation equally over all parts of the land and by removing restrictive customs and duties, succeeded in reducing largely the deficits in the annual balance-sheet. he also was the first to undertake seriously the improvement of primary education. but it was not napoleon's intention to allow the council-pensionary to go on with the good work he had begun. the weakening of schimmelpenninck's eyesight, through cataract, gave the emperor the excuse for putting an end to what he regarded as a provisional system of government, and for converting holland into a dependent kingdom under the rule of his brother louis. admiral verhuell, sent to paris at napoleon's request on a special mission, was bluntly informed that holland must choose between the acceptance of louis as their king, or annexation. on verhuell's return with the report of the emperor's ultimatum, the council-pensionary (april , ) summoned the council of state, the secretaries and the legislative body to meet together as an extraordinary committee and deliberate on what were best to be done. it was resolved to send a deputation to paris to try to obtain from napoleon the relinquishment, or at least a modification, of his demand. their efforts were in vain; napoleon's attitude was peremptory. the hague committee must within a week petition that louis bonaparte might be their king, or he would take the matter into his own hands. the committee, despite the opposition of schimmelpenninck, finding resistance hopeless, determined to yield. the deputation at paris was instructed accordingly to co-operate with the emperor in the framing of a new monarchical constitution. it was drawn up and signed on may ; and a few days later it was accepted by the hague committee. schimmelpenninck, however, refused to sign it and resigned his office on june , explaining in a dignified letter his reasons for doing so. verhuell, at the head of a deputation (june ), now went through the farce of begging the emperor in the name of the dutch people to allow his brother, louis, to be their king. louis accepted the proffered sovereignty "since the people desires and your majesty commands it." on june the new king left paris and a week later arrived at the hague, accompanied by his wife, hortense de beauharnais, napoleon's step-daughter. * * * * * chapter xxviii the kingdom of holland and the french annexation, - louis bonaparte was but years old, and of a kindly, gentle character very unlike his self-willed, domineering brother. he was weakly, and his ill-health made him at times restless and moody. he had given great satisfaction by his declaration that "as soon as he set foot on the soil of his kingdom he became a hollander," and he was well received. the constitution of the new kingdom differed little from that it superseded. the secretaries of state became ministers, and the number of members of the legislative body was raised to thirty-nine. the king had power to conclude treaties with foreign states without consulting the legislative body. the partition of the country was somewhat changed, holland being divided into two departments, amstelland and maasland. drente became a separate department; and in east friesland with jever was made into an eleventh department, as compensation for flushing, which was annexed to france. louis came to the hague with the best intentions of doing his utmost to promote the welfare of his kingdom, but from the first he was thwarted by the deplorable condition of the national finances. out of a total income of fifty million florins the interest on the national debt absorbed thirty-five millions. the balance was not nearly sufficient to defray the costs of administration, much less to meet the heavy demands of napoleon for contributions to war expenditure. all the efforts of the finance minister gogel to reduce the charges and increase the income were of small avail. the king was naturally lavish, and he spent considerable sums in the maintenance of a brilliant court, and in adding to the number of royal residences. dissatisfied with the hague, he moved first to utrecht, then to amsterdam, where the stadhuis was converted into a palace; and he bought the pavilion at haarlem as a summer abode. all this meant great expenditure. 'louis was vain, and was only prevented from creating marshals of his army and orders of chivalry by napoleon's stern refusal to permit it. he had to be reminded that by the bonaparte family-law he was but a vassal king, owning allegiance to the emperor. despite these weaknesses louis did much for the land of his adoption. the old rhine at leyden, which lost itself in the dunes, was connected by a canal with katwijk on the sea, where a harbour was created. the dykes and waterways were repaired and improved, and high-roads constructed from the hague to leyden, and from utrecht to het loo. dutch literature found in louis a generous patron. he took pains to learn the language from the instruction of bilderdijk, the foremost writer of his day. the foundation in of the "royal netherland institute for science, letters and the fine arts" was a signal mark of his desire to raise the standard of culture in holland on a national basis. the introduction of the _code napoléon,_ with some necessary modifications, replaced a confused medley of local laws and customs, varying from province to province, by a general unified legal system. as a statesman and administrator louis had no marked ability, but the ministers to whom he entrusted the conduct of affairs, verhuell, minister of marine, roëll, of foreign affairs, kragenhoff, of war, van maanen, of justice, and more especially the experienced gogel, in control of the embarrassed finances, were capable men. the state of the finances indeed was the despair of the dutch government. the imperious demands of napoleon for the maintenance of an army of , men, to be employed by him on foreign campaigns, and also of a considerable navy, made all attempts at economy and re-organisation of the finances almost hopeless. by the war with england the dutch had lost their colonies and most of their great sea-borne trade; and the situation was rendered more difficult by the decree of berlin in and the establishment of the "continental system" by the emperor, as a reply to the british blockade. all trade and even correspondence with england were forbidden. he hoped thus to bring england to her knees; but, though the decree did not achieve this object, it did succeed in bringing utter ruin upon the dutch commercial classes. in vain louis protested; he was not heard and only met with angry rebukes from his brother for not taking more vigorous steps to stop smuggling, which the character of the dutch coast rendered a comparatively easy and, at the same time, lucrative pursuit. the overthrow of austria and prussia by napoleon in and , followed in by the peace of tilsit with russia, made the emperor once more turn his attention to the project of an invasion of his hated enemy, england. a great french fleet was to be concentrated on the scheldt, with antwerp and flushing for its bases. for this purpose large sums of money were expended in converting antwerp into a formidable naval arsenal. but the british government were well aware of "the pistol that was being aimed at england's breast"; and in a powerful expedition under the command of lord chatham was despatched, consisting of more than warships and transports, with the object of destroying these growing dockyards and arsenals, and with them the threat of invasion. the attack was planned at a favourable moment, for the defensive force was very small, the bulk of the dutch army having been sent to fight in the austrian and spanish campaigns, and the french garrisons greatly reduced. chatham landed on the island of walcheren, captured middelburg and veere and on august compelled flushing to surrender after such a furious bombardment that scarcely any houses remained standing. the islands of schouwen, duiveland and zuid-beveland were overrun; and, had the british general pushed on without delay, antwerp might have fallen. but this he failed to do; and meanwhile louis had collected, for the defence of the town, a force of , men, which, to his deep chagrin, napoleon did not allow him to command. no attack however was made on antwerp by the british, who had suffered severely from the fevers of walcheren; and on the news of wagram and the treaty of schönbrunn they slowly evacuated their conquests. before the end of the year the whole force had returned to england. this invasion, though successfully repelled, only accentuated the dissensions between the two brothers. french troops remained in occupation of zeeland; and the french army of the north at antwerp, now placed under the command of marshal oudinot, lay ready to enforce the demands of the emperor should the dutch government prove recalcitrant. those demands included the absolute suppression of smuggling, the strictest enforcement of the decrees against trading with england, conscription, and a repudiation of a portion of the state debt. napoleon overwhelmed his brother with bitter gibes and angry threats, declaring that he wished to make holland an english colony, and that the whole land, even his own palace, was full of smuggled goods. at last, though unwillingly, louis consented to go in person to paris and try to bring about an amicable settlement of the questions at issue. he arrived on december , intending to return at the new year, meanwhile leaving the council of ministers in charge of the affairs of the kingdom. he soon found not only that his mission was in vain, but that he was regarded virtually as a prisoner. for three months he remained in paris under police _surveillance_; and his interviews with his brother were of the most stormy description. the dutch council, alarmed by the constant threat of french invasion, at first thought of putting amsterdam into a state of defence, but finally abandoned the idea as hopeless. the king did his utmost to appease napoleon by the offer of concessions, but his efforts were scornfully rejected, and at last he was compelled (march , ) to sign a treaty embodying the terms dictated by the emperor. "i must," he said, "at any price get out of this den of murderers." by this treaty brabant and zeeland and the land between the maas and the waal, with nijmwegen, were ceded to france. all commerce with england was forbidden. french custom-house officers were placed at the mouths of the rivers and at every port. further, the dutch were required to deliver up fifteen men-of-war and one hundred gunboats. louis was compelled to remain at paris for the marriage of napoleon with marie louise, but was then allowed to depart. discouraged and humiliated, he found himself, with the title of king, practically reduced to the position of administrative governor of some french departments. oudinot's troops were in occupation of the hague, utrecht and leyden; and, when the emperor and his bride paid a state visit to antwerp, louis had to do him homage. the relations between the two brothers had for some time been strained, napoleon having taken the part of his step-daughter hortense, who preferred the gaiety of paris to the dull court of her husband, reproached the injured man for not treating better the best of wives. matters were now to reach their climax. the coachman of the french ambassador, rochefoucault, having met with maltreatment in the streets of amsterdam, the emperor angrily ordered rochefoucault to quit the dutch capital (may ), leaving only a chargé d'affaires, and at the same time dismissed verhuell, the dutch envoy, from paris. this was practically a declaration of war. the council of ministers, on being consulted, determined that it was useless to attempt the defence of amsterdam; and, when the king learned towards the end of june that oudinot had orders to occupy the city, he resolved to forestall this final humiliation by abdication. on july , , he signed the deed by which he laid down his crown in favour of his elder son, napoleon louis, under the guardianship of queen hortense. he then left the country, and retired into bohemia. to this disposition of the kingdom napoleon, who had already made up his mind, paid not the slightest heed. on july an imperial decree incorporated holland in the french empire. "holland," said the emperor, "being formed by the deposits of three french rivers, the rhine, the meuse and the scheldt, was by nature a part of france." not till january , , was the complete incorporation to take place; meanwhile le brun, duke of piacenza, a man of years of age, was sent to amsterdam to be governor-general during the period of transition. it was a wise appointment, as le brun was a man of kindly disposition, ready to listen to grievances and with an earnest desire to carry out the transformation of the government in a conciliatory spirit. with him was associated, as intendant of home affairs, baron d'alphonse, like himself of moderate views, and a council of ministers. a deputation of twenty-two persons from the legislative assembly was summoned to paris for consultation with the imperial government. to amsterdam was given the position of the third city in the empire, paris being the first and rome the second. the country was divided into nine departments--bouches de l'escaut, bouches de la meuse, bouches du rhin, zuiderzee, issel supérieur, bouches de issel, frise, ems occidental and ems oriental. over the departments, as in france, were placed _préfets_ and under them _sous-préfets_ and _maires_. all the _préfets_ now appointed were native dutchmen with the exception of two, de celles at amsterdam and de standaart at the hague; both were belgians and both rendered themselves unpopular by their efforts to gain napoleon's favour by a stringent enforcement of his orders. the dutch representation in the legislative assembly at paris was fixed at twenty-five members; in the senate at six members. when these took their seats, the council of affairs at amsterdam was dissolved and at the same time the _code napoléon_ unmodified became the law of the land. napoleon's demands upon holland had always been met with the reply that the land's finances were unequal to the strain. the debt amounted to , , fl.; and, despite heavy taxation, there was a large annual deficit in the budget. the emperor at once took action to remedy this state of things by a decree reducing the interest on the debt to one-third. this was a heavy blow to those persons whose limited incomes were mainly or entirely derived from investments in the state funds--including many widows, and also hospitals, orphanages and other charitable institutions. at the same time this step should not be regarded as a mere arbitrary and dishonest repudiation of debt. the state was practically bankrupt. for some years only a portion of the interest or nothing at all had been paid; and the reduction in was intended to be but a temporary measure. the capital amount was left untouched, and the arrears of and were paid up at the new rate. that financial opinion was favourably impressed by this drastic action was shown by a considerable rise in the quotation of the stock on the bourse. a far more unpopular measure was the introduction of military and naval conscription in . there never had been any but voluntary service in holland. indeed during the whole period of the republic, though the fleet was wholly manned by dutch seamen, the army always included a large proportion of foreign mercenaries. by the law of all youths of twenty were liable to serve for five years either on land or sea; and the contingent required was filled by the drawing of lots. deep and strong resentment was felt throughout the country, the more so that the law was made retrospective to all who had reached the age of twenty in the three preceding years. the battalions thus raised were treated as french troops, and were sent to take part in distant campaigns--in spain and in russia. of the , men who marched with napoleon into russia in only a few hundreds returned. the strict enforcement of the continental system entailed great hardships upon the population. to such an extent was the embargo carried that all english manufactured goods found in holland were condemned to be burnt; and the value of what was actually consumed amounted to millions of florins. a whole army of custom-house officers watched the coast, and every fishing smack that put to sea had one on board. at the same time not till was the customs barrier with france removed. in consequence of this prices rose enormously, industries were ruined, houses were given up and remained unoccupied, and thousands upon thousands were reduced to abject poverty. such was the state of the treasury that in the reformed preachers received no stipends, and officials of all kinds had to be content with reduced salaries. nor were these the only causes of discontent. the police regulations and the censorship of the press were of the severest description, and the land swarmed with spies. no newspaper was permitted to publish any article upon matters of state or any political news except such as was sanctioned by the government, and with a french translation of the dutch original. this applied even to advertisements. all books had to be submitted for the censor's _imprimatur_. every household was subject to the regular visitation of the police, who made the most minute inquisition into the character, the opinions, the occupations and means of subsistence of every member of the household. nevertheless the french domination, however oppressive, had good results in that for the first time in their history the dutch provinces acquired a real unity. all the old particularism disappeared with the burgher-aristocracies, and the party feuds of orangists and patriots. a true sense of nationality was developed. all classes of the population enjoyed the same political rights and equality before the law. napoleon himself was not unpopular. in the autumn of he, accompanied by marie louise, made a state-progress through this latest addition to his empire. almost every important place was visited, and in all parts of the country he was received with outward demonstrations of enthusiasm and almost servile obsequiency. it is perhaps not surprising, as the great emperor was now at the very topmost height of his dazzling fortunes. but for holland napoleon's triumphs had their dark side, for his chief and most determined enemy, england, was mistress of the seas; and the last and the richest of the dutch colonies, java, surrendered to the english almost on the very day that the imperial progress began. hearing of the activity of the british squadron in the eastern seas, king louis had, shortly after his acceptance of the crown, taken steps for the defence of java by appointing daendels, a man of proved vigour and initiative, governor-general. the difficulties of reaching java in face of british vigilance were however well-nigh insurmountable, and it was not until a year after his nomination to the governorship that daendels reached batavia, on january , . his measures for the defence of the island, including the construction of important highways, were most energetic, but so oppressive and high-handed as to arouse hostility and alienate the native chiefs. napoleon, informed of daendels' harsh rule, sent out janssens with a body of troops to replace him. the new governor-general landed on april , , but he could make no effective resistance to a powerful british expedition under general auchmuty, which took possession of batavia on august , and after some severe fighting compelled (september ) the whole of the dutch forces to capitulate. the year of napoleon's invasion of russia, , was a year of passive endurance. the safety of the remnant of the grand army was secured (november ) by the courage and staunchness of the dutch pontoon-engineers, who, standing in the ice-cold water of the beresina, completed the bridge over which, after a desperate battle, the french troops effected their escape. the moscow catastrophe was followed in by a general uprising of the oppressed peoples of europe against the napoleonic tyranny. in this uprising the dutch people, although hopes of freedom were beginning to dawn upon them, did not for some time venture to take any part. the prince of orange however had been in london since april, trying to secure a promise of assistance from the british government in case of a rising; and he was working in collaboration with a number of patriotic men in holland, who saw in an orange restoration the best hopes for their country's independence. the news of leipzig (october - ) roused them to action. foremost among these leaders was gijsbert karel van hogendorp. he had been one of the orangist leaders at the time of the restoration of and had filled the post of pensionary of rotterdam. after the french conquest he had withdrawn from public life. with him were associated count van limburg-stirum and baron van der duyn van maasdam, like himself residents at the hague. van hogendorp could also count on a number of active helpers outside the hague, prominent among whom were falck, captain of the national guard at amsterdam, and kemper, a professor at leyden. plans were made for restoring the independence of the country under the rule of the prince of orange; but, in order to escape the vigilance of the french police, great care was taken to maintain secrecy, and nothing was committed to writing. the rapid march of allied troops, russians and prussians, towards the dutch frontiers after leipzig necessitated rapid action. van hogendorp and his friends wished that holland should free herself by her own exertions, for they were aware that reconquest by the allied forces might imperil their claims to independence. their opportunity came when general melliton, by order of the governor-general le brun, withdrew on november from amsterdam to utrecht. one of the orangist confederates, a sea-captain, named job may, on the following day stirred up a popular rising in the city; and some custom-houses were burnt. le brun himself on this retreated to utrecht and, on the th, after transferring the government of the country to melliton, returned to france. falck at the head of the national guard had meanwhile re-established order at amsterdam, and placed the town in charge of a provisional government. no sooner did this news reach the hague than van hogendorp and van limburg-stirum determined upon instant action (november ). with a proclamation drawn up by van hogendorp, and at the head of a body of the national guard wearing orange colours, van limburg-stirum marched through the streets to the town hall, where he read the proclamation declaring the prince of orange "eminent head of the state." no opposition being offered, after discussion with their chief supporters, the triumvirate, van hogendorp, van limburg-stirum and van der duyn van maasdam, took upon themselves provisionally the government of the country, until the arrival of the prince. emissaries were at once sent to amsterdam to announce what had taken place at the hague. at first the amsterdammers showed some hesitation; and it was not until the arrival of a body of cossacks at their gates (november ), that the city openly threw in its lot with the orangist movement, which now rapidly spread throughout the country. without delay the provisional government despatched two envoys, fagel and de perponcher, to london, to inform the prince of orange of what had occurred and to invite him to holland. william had been in england since april and had met with a favourable reception. in an interview with the british foreign secretary, lord castlereagh, support had been promised him (april , ) on the following conditions: ( ) the frontiers of holland should be extended "either by a sort of new barrier, more effective than the old one, or by the union of some portions of territory adjacent to the ancient republic; ( ) holland must wait until such time as great britain should deem convenient in her own interests for the restoration of the dutch colonies, which she had conquered during the war; ( ) a system of government must be set up which would reconcile the wishes of holland with those of the powers called to exercise so powerful an influence upon her future." william had gone to london knowing that he could rely on the active assistance of his brother-in-law, frederick william of prussia, and of the emperor alexander i, and that the goodwill of england was assured by the projected marriage of his son (now serving under wellington in spain) with the princess charlotte, heiress-presumptive to the british throne. he now therefore without hesitation accepted the invitation, and landed at scheveningen, november . he was received with unspeakable enthusiasm. at first there was some doubt as to what title william should bear and as to what should be the form of the new government. van hogendorp had drawn up a draft of a constitution on the old lines with an hereditary stadholder, a council-pensionary and a privileged aristocracy, but with large and necessary amendments, and the prince was himself inclined to a restoration of the stadholdership with enlarged powers. to the arguments of kemper is the credit due of having persuaded him that a return to the old system, however amended, had now become impossible. the prince visited amsterdam, december , and was there proclaimed by the title and quality of william i, sovereign-prince of the netherlands. he refused the title of king, but the position he thus accepted with general approval was that of a constitutional monarch, and the promise was given that as soon as possible a commission should be appointed to draw up a fundamental law _(grondwet)_ for the dutch state. * * * * * chapter xxix the formation of the kingdom of the netherlands, - when the prince of orange assumed the title of william i, sovereign-prince of the netherlands, at amsterdam, on december , , the principal towns were still occupied by french garrisons; but with the help of the allied forces, russians and prussians, these were, in the opening months of , one by one conquered. the helder garrison, under the command of admiral verhuell, did not surrender till may. by the end of that month the whole land was freed. the first step taken by the sovereign-prince (december ) was to appoint a commission to draw up a fundamental law according to his promise. the commission consisted of fifteen members, with van hogendorp as president. their labours were concluded early in march. the concept was on march submitted to an assembly of six hundred notables, summoned for the purpose, the voting to be 'for' or 'against' without discussion. the gathering took place in the nieuwe kerk at amsterdam, of the who were present, voted in favour of the new constitution. on the following day the prince of orange took the oath in the nieuwe kerk and was solemnly inaugurated as sovereign-prince of the netherlands. the principal provisions of the fundamental law of march, , were as follows: the sovereign shares the legislative power with the states-general, but alone exercises the executive power. all the sovereign prerogatives formerly possessed by provinces, districts or towns are now transferred to the sovereign. he is assisted by a council of state of twelve members, appoints and dismisses ministers, declares war and makes peace, has the control of finance and governs the overseas-possessions. the states-general consist of fifty-five members, elected by the nine provinces, holland, zeeland, utrecht, overyssel, gelderland, groningen, friesland, brabant and drente on the basis of population. the members are elected for three years, but one-third vacate their seats every year. they have the right of legislative initiative, and of veto. the finances are divided into ordinary and extraordinary expenditure, over the former the states-general exercise no control, but a general chamber of accounts _(algemeene rekenkamer)_ has the supervision over ways and means. the sovereign must be a member of the reformed church, but equal protection is given by the state to all religious beliefs. it was essentially an aristocratic constitution. at least one quarter of the states-general must belong to the nobility. the provincial estates had the control of local affairs only, but had the privilege of electing the members of the states-general. they were themselves far from being representative. for the country districts the members were chosen from the nobility and the land-owners; in the towns by colleges of electors _(kiezers)_, consisting of those who paid the highest contributions in taxes. except for the strengthening of the central executive power and the abolition of all provincial sovereign rights, the new constitution differed little from the old in its oligarchic character. it was, however, to be but a temporary arrangement. it has already been pointed out that, months before his actual return to holland, the prince had received assurances from the british government that a strong netherland state should be created, capable of being a barrier to french aggression. the time had now arrived for the practical carrying-out of this assurance. accordingly lord castlereagh in january, , when on his way, as british plenipotentiary, to confer with the allied sovereigns at basel, visited the sovereign-prince at the hague. the conversations issued in a proposal to unite (with the assent of austria) the belgic provinces as far as the meuse to holland together with the territory between the meuse and the rhine as far as the line maestricht-düren-cologne. castlereagh submitted this project to the allies at basel; and it was discussed and adopted in principle at the conference of châtillon (february to march ), the austrian emperor having renounced all claim to his belgian dominions in favour of an equivalent in venetia. this was done without any attempt to ascertain the wishes of the belgian people on the proposed transference of their allegiance, and a protest was made. an assembly of notables, which had been summoned to brussels by the military governor, the duke of saxe-weimar, sent a deputation to the allied headquarters at chaumont to express their continued loyalty to their habsburg sovereign and to ask that, if the emperor francis relinquished his claim, they might be erected into an independent state under the rule of an austrian archduke. a written reply (march ) informed them that the question of union with holland was settled, but assurances were given that in matters of religion, representation, commerce and the public debt their interests would be carefully guarded. meanwhile general baron vincent, a belgian in the austrian service, was made governor-general. the idea, however, of giving to holland a slice of cis-rhenan territory had perforce to be abandoned in the face of prussian objections. the preliminary treaty of peace signed at paris on may , , was purposely vague, art. vi merely declaring that "holland placed under the sovereignty of the house of orange shall receive an increase of territory--_un accroissement de territoire";_ but a secret article defined this increase as "the countries comprised between the sea, the frontiers of france, as defined by the present treaty; and the meuse shall be united in perpetuity to holland. the frontiers on the right bank of the meuse shall be regulated in accordance with the military requirements of holland and her neighbours." in other words the whole of belgium as far as the meuse was to be annexed to holland; beyond the meuse the military requirements of prussia were to be consulted. previously to this, castlereagh had written to the british minister at the hague, lord clancarty, suggesting that the sovereign-prince should summon a meeting of an equal number of dutch and belgian notables to draw up a project of union to be presented to the allied sovereigns at paris for their approbation. but william had already himself, with the assistance of his minister van nagell, drawn up in eight articles the fundamental conditions for the constitution of the new state; and, after revision by falck and lord clancarty, he in person took them to paris. they were laid by clancarty before the plenipotentiaries, and were adopted by the allied sovereigns assembled in london on june , . the principles which animated them were set forth in a protocol which breathes throughout a spirit of fairness and conciliation--but all was marred by the final clause--_elles mettent ces principes en exécution en vertu de leur droit de conquete de la belgique._ to unite belgium to holland, as a conquered dependency, could not fail to arouse bad feelings; and thus to proclaim it openly was a very grave mistake. it was not thus that that "perfect amalgamation" of the two countries, at which, according to the protocol, the great powers aimed, was likely to be effected. at the same time, as a standing proof of william's own excellent intentions, the text of the eight articles is given in full: ( ) _the union shall be intimate and complete, so that the two countries shall form but one state, to be governed by the fundamental law already established in holland, which by mutual consent shall be modified according to the circumstances._ ( ) _there shall be no change in those articles of the fundamental law which secure to all religious cults equal protection and privileges, and guarantee the admissibility of all citizens, whatever be their religious creed, to public offices and dignities._ ( ) _the belgian provinces shall be in a fitting manner represented in the states-general, whose sittings in time of peace shall be held by turns in a dutch and a belgian town._ ( ) _all the inhabitants of the netherlands thus having equal constitutional rights, they shall have equal claim to all commercial and other rights, of which their circumstances allow, without any hindrance or obstruction being imposed on any to the profit of others._ ( ) _immediately after the union the provinces and towns of belgium shall be admitted to the commerce and navigation of the colonies of holland upon the same footing as the dutch provinces and towns._ ( ) _the debts contracted on the one side by the dutch, and on the other side by the belgian provinces, shall be charged to the public chest of the netherlands._ ( ) _the expenses required for the building and maintenance of the frontier fortresses of the new state shall be borne by the public chest as serving the security and independence of the whole nation._ ( ) _the cost of the making and upkeep of the dykes shall be at the charge of the districts more directly interested, except in the case of an extraordinary disaster._ it is not too much to say that, if the provisions of these articles had been carried out fully and generously, there might have been at the present moment a strong and united netherland state. on july the articles, as approved by the powers, were returned to the sovereign-prince, who officially accepted them, and on august took over at brussels the government of the belgic provinces, while awaiting the decisions of the congress, which was shortly to meet at vienna, as to the boundaries and political status of the territories over which he ruled. the work of the congress, however, which met in october, was much delayed by differences between the powers. prussia wished to annex the entire kingdom of saxony; and, when it was found that such a claim, if persisted in, would be opposed by great britain, austria and france, compensation was sought in the rhenish provinces. thus the idea of strengthening the new netherland buffer-state by an addition of territory in the direction of the rhine had to be abandoned. it must be remembered that the sovereign-prince on his part was not likely to raise any objection to having an enlarged and strengthened prussia as his immediate neighbour on the east. william was both brother-in-law and first cousin of the king of prussia, and had spent much of his exile at berlin; and he no doubt regarded the presence of this strong military power on his frontier as the surest guarantee against french aggression. his relations with prussia were indeed of the friendliest character, as is shown by the fact that secret negotiations were at this very time taking place for the cession to prussia of his hereditary nassau principalities of dillenburg, siegen, dietz and hadamar in exchange for the duchy of luxemburg. the proceedings of the inharmonious congress of vienna were, however, rudely interrupted by the sudden return of napoleon from elba. weary of waiting for a formal recognition of his position, william now (march , ) issued a proclamation in which he assumed the title of king of the netherlands and duke of luxemburg. no protest was made; and the _fait accompli_ was duly accepted by the powers (may ). the first act of the king was to call upon all his subjects, dutch and belgians alike, to unite in opposing the common foe. this call to arms led to a considerable force under the command of the hereditary prince being able to join the small british army, which wellington had hurriedly collected for the defence of brussels. the sudden invasion of belgium by napoleon (june ) took his adversaries by surprise, for the anglo-netherland forces were distributed in different cantonments and were separated from the prussian army under blücher, which had entered belgium from the east. napoleon in person attacked and defeated blücher at ligny on june ; and on the same day a french force under ney was, after a desperate encounter, held in check by the british and dutch regiments, which had been pushed forward to quatre bras. blücher retreated to wavre and wellington to waterloo on the following day. the issue of the battle of waterloo, which took place on june , is well known. the belgian contingent did not play a distinguished part at waterloo, but it would be unfair to place to their discredit any lack of steadiness that was shown. these belgian troops were all old soldiers of napoleon, to whom they were attached, and in whose invincibility they believed. the prince of orange distinguished himself by great courage both at quatre bras and waterloo. william, after his assumption of the regal title, at once proceeded to regularise his position by carrying out that necessary modification of the dutch fundamental law to which he was pledged by the eight articles. he accordingly summoned a commission of twenty-four members, half dutch and half belgian, catholics and protestants being equally represented, which on april met under the presidency of van hogendorp. their activity was sharpened by the threat of french invasion, and in three months (july ) their difficult task was accomplished. the new fundamental law made no change in the autocratic powers conferred on the king. the executive authority remained wholly in his hands. the states-general were now to consist of two chambers, but the first chamber was a nominated chamber. it contained forty to sixty members appointed by the king for life. the second chamber of members, equally divided between north and south, _i.e._ fifty-five dutch and fifty-five belgian representatives, was elected under a very restricted franchise by the seventeen provinces into which the whole kingdom was divided. the ordinary budget was voted for ten years, and it was only extraordinary expenses which had to be considered annually. the other provisions strictly followed the principles and the liberties guaranteed in advance by the eight articles. the new fundamental law was presented to the dutch states-general on august , and was approved by a unanimous vote. very different was its reception in belgium. the king had summoned a meeting of notables to brussels, of these were present. the majority were hostile. it had been strongly urged by the belgian delegates on the commission that the belgic provinces, with three and a half millions of inhabitants, ought to return to the second chamber of the states-general a number of members proportionately greater than the dutch provinces, which had barely two millions. the dutch on their part argued that their country had been an independent state for two centuries and possessed a large colonial empire, while belgium had always been under foreign rule, and had now been added to holland "as an increase of territory." it was finally arranged, however, that the representation of the northern and southern portions of the new kingdom should be equal, each. belgian public opinion loudly protested, especially as the belgian deputies included four representatives of luxemburg, which had been created a separate state under the personal rule of king william. still more bitter and determined was the opposition of the powerful clerical party to the principle of religious equality. about per cent, of the belgian population was catholic; and the bishops were very suspicious of what might be the effect of this principle in the hands of an autocratic calvinist king, supported by the predominant protestant majority in holland. a further grievance was that the heavy public debt incurred by holland should be made a common burden. considerable pressure was brought to bear upon the notables, but without avail. the fundamental law was rejected by votes to . confronted with this large hostile majority, the king took upon himself to reverse the decision by an arbitrary and dishonest manipulation of the return. he chose to assume that the notables who had not voted were in favour of the law, and added their votes to the minority. he then declared that votes had been wrongly given in opposition to the principle of religious equality, which, by the second of the eight articles approved by the powers was binding and fundamental to the union, and he then not only deducted them from the majority, but added them also to the minority. he then announced that the fundamental law had been accepted by a majority of votes. such an act of chicanery was not calculated to make the relations between north and south work smoothly. having thus for reasons of state summarily dealt with the decision of the belgian notables, william (september ), made his state entry into brussels and took his oath to the constitution. already the congress of vienna had given the official sanction of the powers to the creation of the kingdom of the netherlands by a treaty signed at paris on may , . by this treaty the whole of the former austrian netherlands (except the province of luxemburg) together with the territory which before had been ruled by the prince-bishops of liège, the duchy of bouillon and several small pieces of territory were added to holland; and the new state thus created was placed under the sovereignty of the head of the house of orange-nassau. as stated above, however, it had been necessary in making these arrangements to conciliate prussian claims for aggrandisement in the cis-rhenan provinces. this led to a number of complicated transactions. william ceded to prussia his ancient hereditary nassau principalities--dillenburg, dietz, siegen and hadamar. the equivalent which william received was the sovereignty of luxemburg, which for this purpose was severed from the belgian netherlands, of which it had been one of the provinces since the time of the burgundian dukes, and was erected into a grand-duchy. further than this, the grand-duchy was made one of the states of the germanic confederation; and the town of luxemburg was declared to be a federal fortress, the garrison to consist of prussian and dutch detachments under a prussian commandant. there was a double object in this transaction: ( ) to preserve to the grand-duke his rights and privileges as a german prince, ( ) to secure the defence of this important borderland against french attack. another complication arose from the fact that in the th century the house of nassau had been divided into two branches, walram and otto, the younger branch being that of which the prince of orange was the head. but by a family-pact[ ], agreed upon in and renewed in , the territorial possessions of either line in default of male-heirs had to pass to the next male-agnate of the other branch. this pact therefore, by virtue of the exchange that had taken place, applied to the new grand-duchy. it is necessary here to explain what took place in some detail, for this arbitrary wrenching of luxemburg from its historical position as an integral part of the netherlands was to have serious and disconcerting consequences in the near future. the new kingdom of the netherlands naturally included luxemburg, so that william was a loser rather than a gainer by the cession of his nassau possessions; but his close relation by descent and marriage with the prussian royal house made him anxious to meet the wishes of a power on whose friendship he relied. all evidence also points to the conclusion that in accepting the personal sovereignty of the grand-duchy he had no intention of treating luxemburg otherwise than as part of his kingdom. the fundamental law was made to apply to luxemburg, in the same way as to brabant or flanders; and of the members allotted to the belgic provinces, four were representatives of the grand-duchy, which was subject to the same legislation and taxes as the kingdom. at first the king had thought of nominating his second son frederick as his successor in luxemburg, but he changed his mind and gave him an indemnity elsewhere; and he himself states the reason, "since we have judged it advisable _(convenable)_ in the general interest of the kingdom to unite the grand-duchy to it and to place it under the same constitutional laws." the boundaries of the new kingdom and of the grand-duchy were fixed by the treaty of may , , and confirmed by the general act of the congress of vienna. by this treaty prussia received a considerable part of the old province of luxemburg as well as slices of territory taken from the bishopric of liège. a separate boundary treaty a year later (june , ) between the netherlands and prussia filled in the details of that of ; and that prussia herself acquiesced in the fusion of the kingdom and the grand-duchy is shown by the fact that the boundary between prussia and luxemburg is three times referred to in the later treaty as the boundary between prussia and the kingdom of the netherlands. * * * * * chapter xxx the kingdom of the netherlands--union of holland and belgium, - the autocratic powers that were conferred upon king william by the fundamental law rendered his personality a factor of the utmost importance in the difficult task which lay before him. william's character was strong and self-confident, and he did not shrink from responsibility. his intentions were of the best; he was capable, industrious, a good financier, sparing himself no trouble in mastering the details of state business. but he had the defects of his qualities, being self-opinionated, stubborn and inclined, as in the matter of the vote of the belgian notables, to override opposition with a high hand. he had at the beginning of his reign the good fortune of being on the best of terms with castlereagh, the british foreign minister. to castlereagh more than to any other statesman the kingdom of the netherlands owed its existence. the peace of paris saw great britain in possession by conquest of all the dutch colonies. by the convention of london (august , ), which was castlereagh's work, it was arranged that all the captured colonies, including java, the richest and most valuable of all, should be restored, with the exception of the cape of good hope and the guiana colonies--demerara, berbice and essequibo. in the latter the plantations had almost all passed into british hands during the eighteen years since their conquest; and cape colony was retained as essential for the security of the sea-route to india. but these surrenders were not made without ample compensation. great britain contributed £ , , towards erecting fortresses along the french frontier; £ , , to satisfy a claim of sweden with regard to the island of guadeloupe; and £ , , or one-half of a debt from holland to russia, _i.e._ a sum of £ , , in all. one of the most urgent problems with which the sovereign-prince had to deal on his accession to power was the state of the finances. napoleon by a stroke of the pen had reduced the public debt to one-third of its amount. william, however, was too honest a man to avail himself of the opportunity for partial repudiation that was offered him. he recalled into existence the two-thirds on which no interest had been paid and called it "deferred debt" (_uitgestelde schuld_); the other third received the name of "working debt" (_werkelijke schuld_). the figures stood at million florins and million florins respectively. every year four millions of the "working debt" were to be paid off, and a similar amount from the "deferred" added to it. other measures taken in for effecting economies were of little avail, as the campaign of waterloo in the following year added million florins to the debt. heavier taxation had to be imposed, but even then the charges for the debt made it almost impossible to avoid an annual deficit in the budget. it was one of the chief grievances of the belgians that they were called upon to share the burden of a crushing debt which they had not incurred. the voting of ways and means for ten years gave the king the control over all ordinary finance; it was only extraordinary expenditure that had to be submitted annually to the representatives of the people. the dislike of the catholic hierarchy in belgium to dutch rule had been intensified by the manner in which the king had dealt with the vote of the notables. their leader was maurice de broglie, bishop of ghent, a frenchman by birth. his efforts by speech and by pen to stir up active enmity in belgium to the union aroused william's anger, and he resolved to prosecute him. it was an act of courage rather than of statesmanship, but the king could not brook opposition. broglie refused to appear before the court and fled to france. in his absence he was condemned to banishment and the payment of costs. the powerful clerical party regarded him as a martyr and continued to criticise the policy of the protestant king with watchful and hostile suspicion. nor were the belgian liberal party more friendly. they did not indeed support the clerical claim to practical predominance in the state, but they were patriotic belgians who had no love for holland and resented the thought that they were being treated as a dependency of their northern neighbours. they were at one with the clericals in claiming that the belgian representation in the second chamber of the states-general should be proportional to their population. but this grievance might have been tolerated had the king shown any inclination to treat his belgian subjects on a footing of equality with the dutch. he was, as will be seen, keenly interested in the welfare and progress of the south, but in spirit and in his conduct of affairs he proved himself to be an out-and-out hollander. the provision of the fundamental law that the seat of government and the meetings of the states-general should be alternately from year to year at the hague and at brussels was never carried out. all the ministries were permanently located at the hague; and of the seven ministers who held office in only one, the duke d'ursel, was a belgian, and he held the post of minister of public works and waterways. fourteen years later (at the time of the revolt) six out of seven were still northerners. the military establishments were all in holland, and nearly all the diplomatic and civil posts were given to dutchmen. nor was this merely due to the fact that, when the union took place, holland already possessed an organised government and a supply of experienced officials, while belgium lacked both. on the contrary, the policy of the king remained fixed and unwavering. in out of diplomatists were dutch. all the chief military posts were filled by dutchmen. nor was it different in the civil service. in the home department there were dutch, belgians; in the war department dutch, belgians; in finance dutch, belgians. such a state of things was bound to cause resentment. parties in the belgic provinces were in the early days of the union divided very much as they have been in recent years. the catholic or clerical party had its stronghold in the two flanders and antwerp, _i.e._ in the flemish-speaking districts. in walloon belgium the liberals had a considerable majority. the opposition to the fundamental law came overwhelmingly from flemish belgium; the support from liège, namur, luxemburg and other walloon districts. but the sense of injustice brought both parties together, so that in the representative chamber the belgian members were soon found voting solidly together, as a permanent opposition, while the dutch voted _en bloc_ for the government. as the representation of north and south was equal, members each, the result would have been a deadlock, but there were always two or three belgians who held government offices; and these were compelled, on pain of instant dismissal, to vote for a government measure or at least to abstain. thus the king could always rely on a small but constant majority, and by its aid he did not hesitate to force through financial and legislative proposals in the teeth of belgian opposition. it is only fair, however, to the arbitrary king to point out how earnestly he endeavoured to promote the material and industrial welfare of the whole land, and to encourage to the best of his power literary, scientific and educational progress. in holland the carrying-trade, which had so long been the chief source of the country's wealth, had been utterly ruined by napoleon's continental system. on the other hand, belgian industries, which had been flourishing through the strict embargo placed upon the import of british goods, were now threatened with british competition. the steps taken by the energy and initiative of the king were, considering the state of the national finances, remarkable in the variety of their aims and the results that they achieved. the old amsterdam bank was transformed into a bank of the netherlands. a number of canals were planned and constructed. chief among these was the north holland canal, connecting amsterdam with the helder. the approaches to rotterdam were improved, so that this port became the meeting-point of sea-traffic from england and river-traffic by the rhine from germany. but both these ports were quickly overshadowed by the rapid recovery of antwerp, now that the scheldt was free and open to commerce. other important canals, begun and wholly or in part constructed, during this period were the zuid-willemsvaart, the zederik, the appeldoorn and the voorne canals. water communication was not so necessary in the south as in the north, but care was there also bestowed upon the canals, especially upon the canal of terneuzen connecting ghent with the western scheldt, and many highways were constructed. to restore the prosperity of the dutch carrying-trade, especially that with their east indies, in a company--_de nederlandsche handekmaatschappij_--was founded; and at the same time a commercial treaty was concluded with great britain, by which both nations were to enjoy free trade with each other's east indian possessions. the _handekmaatschappij_ had a capital of million florins; to this the king contributed four millions and guaranteed to the shareholders for years a dividend of / per cent. the company at first worked at a loss, and in william had to pay four million florins out of his privy purse to meet his guarantee. this was partly due to the set-back of a revolt in java which lasted some years. agriculture received equal attention. marshy districts were impoldered or turned into pasture-land. more especially did the _maatschappij van weldadigheid_, a society founded in by general van den bosch with the king's strong support, undertake the task of reclaiming land with the special aim of relieving poverty. no less zealous was the king for the prosperity of belgian industries; ghent with its cotton factories and sugar refineries, tournai with its porcelain industry, and liège with its hardware, all were the objects of royal interest. the great machine factory at seraing near liège under the management of an englishman, cockerill, owed its existence to the king. nor was william's care only directed to the material interests of his people. in the university at utrecht was restored; and in belgium, besides louvain, two new foundations for higher education were in created at ghent and liège. royal academies of the arts were placed at amsterdam and antwerp, which were to bear good fruit. his attention was also given to the much-needed improvement of primary education, which in the south was almost non-existent in large parts of the country. here the presence of a number of illiterate dialects was a great obstacle and was the cause of the unfortunate effort to make literary dutch into a national language for his whole realm. nevertheless the king's political mistakes (of which the attempted compulsory use of dutch was one) rendered all his thoughtful watchfulness over his people's welfare unavailing. great as were the autocratic powers conferred upon the sovereign, he overstepped them. plans, in which he was interested, he carried out without consulting the states-general. his ministers he regarded as bound to execute his orders. if their views differed from his, they were dismissed. this was the fate even of van hogendorp, to whom he owed so much; roëll and falck also had to make way for less competent but more obsequious ministers. the chief difficulty with which the king had to contend throughout this period was the ceaseless and irreconcilable opposition of the catholic hierarchy and clergy to the principle of absolute religious equality established by the fundamental law (articles cxc-cxciii). their leader, maurice de broglie, bishop of ghent, actually published a _jugement doctrinal_ in which he declared that the taking of the oath to the constitution was an act of treason to the catholic church. in this defiance to the government he had the support of the pope, who only permitted the count de méan to take the oath on his appointment to the archbishopric of malines on the understanding that he held articles cxc-cxciii to refer only to civil matters. from this time to take the oath "dans le sens de m. méan" became with the ultra-clerical party a common practice. other measures of the government aroused catholic hostility. in this year, , a decree forbade the holding of more than two religious processions in a year. in such a country as belgium this restriction was strongly resented. but the establishment in by the king of a _collegium philosophicum_ at louvain, at which all candidates for the priesthood were by royal decree required (after ) to have a two-years' course before proceeding to an episcopal seminary, met with strenuous resistance. the instruction was in ancient languages, history, ethics and canon-law; and the teachers were nominated by the king. the first effect of this decree was that young men began to seek education in foreign seminaries. another royal decree at once forbade this, and all youths were ordered to proceed either to the _collegium_ or to one of the high schools of the land; unless they did so, access to the priesthood or to any public office was barred to them. this was perhaps the most serious of all the king's mistakes. he miscalculated both the strength and the sincerity of the opposition he thus deliberately courted. his decrees were doomed to failure. the bishops on their part refused to admit to their seminaries or to ordination anyone who attended the _collegium philosophicum_. the king, in the face of the irrevocable decision of the belgian hierarchy, found himself in an untenable position. he could not compel the bishops to ordain candidates for holy orders, and his decrees were therefore a dead letter; nor on the other hand could he trample upon the convictions of the vast majority of his belgian subjects by making admission to the priesthood impossible. he had to give way and to send a special envoy--de celles--to the pope in to endeavour to negotiate a concordat. it was accomplished. by article iii of the concordat, there were to be eight bishops in the netherlands instead of five. they were to be chosen by the pope, but the king was to have the right of objection, and they were required to take the oath of allegiance. the course at the _collegium philosophicum_ was made optional. william thus yielded on practically all the points at issue, but prided himself on having obtained the right of rejecting a papal nominee. the pope, however, in an allocution made no mention of this right, and declared that the decree about the _collegium_ was annulled, and that in matters of education the bishops would act in accordance with instructions from rome. the government immediately issued a confidential notice to the governors of provinces, that the carrying-out of the concordat was indefinitely postponed. thus the effort at conciliation ended in the humiliation of the king, and the triumph of the astute diplomacy of the vatican. the financial situation, as we have seen, was from the outset full of difficulty. the king was personally parsimonious, but his many projects for the general welfare of the land involved large outlay, and the consequence was an annual average deficit of seven million florins. at first the revenue was raised by the increase of customs and excise, including colonial imports. this caused much dissatisfaction in holland, especially when duties were placed on coffee and sugar. the complaint was that thus an undue share of taxation fell on the maritime north. in order to lighten these duties on colonial wares, other taxes had to be imposed. in accordingly it was proposed to meet the deficit by two most unwise and obnoxious taxes, known as _mouture_ and _abbatage_. the first was on ground corn, the second on the carcases of beasts, exacted at the mill or the slaughter-house--in other words on bread and on butcher's meat. both were intensely unpopular, and the _mouture_ in particular fell with especial severity on the belgian working classes and peasantry, who consumed much more bread per head than the dutch. nevertheless by ministerial pressure the bill was passed (july , ) by a narrow majority of four-- to . all the minority were belgians, only two belgians voted with the majority. it is inconceivable how the government could have been so impolitic as to impose these taxes in face of such a display of national animosity. the _mouture_ only produced a revenue of , , fl.; the _abbatage_ , , fl. this amount, though its exaction pressed heavily on the very poor, afforded little relief; and to meet recurring deficits the only resource was borrowing. to extricate the national finances from ever-increasing difficulties the _amortisatie-syndikaat_ was created in december, . considerable sources of income from various public domains and from tolls passed into the hands of the seven members of the syndicate, all of whom were bound to secrecy, both as to its public and private transactions. its effect was to diminish still further the control of the representative chamber over the national finances. the syndicate did indeed assist the state, for between and it advanced no less than , , fl. to meet the deficits in the budget, but the means by which it achieved this result were not revealed. yet another device to help the government in its undertakings was the _million de l'industrie_, which was voted every year, as an extraordinary charge, but of which no account was ever given. that this sum was beneficially used for the assistance of manufacturing and industrial enterprise, as at seraing and elsewhere, and that it contributed to the growing prosperity of the southern provinces, is certain. but the needless mystery which surrounded its expenditure led to the suspicion that it was used as a fund for secret service and political jobbery. the autocratic temper of the king showed itself not merely in keeping the control of finance largely in his own hands, but also in carrying out a series of measures arousing popular discontent by simple _arrêtés_ or decrees of the council of state without consultation with the representative chamber. such were the decree of november , , abolishing trial by jury and making certain other changes in judicial proceedings; that of april , , imposing great restrictions on the liberty of the press; that of september , , making dutch the official language of the country; that of june , , establishing the _collegium philosophicum_; and finally that of june , , making the hague the seat of the supreme court of justice. all these produced profound discontent and had a cumulative effect. the language decree of was tentative, declaring a knowledge of dutch obligatory for admission to all public offices, but it was followed by a much more stringent decree in by which, in the two flanders, south brabant and limburg, dutch was to be used in the law-courts and in all public acts and notices. although the operation of this decree was confined to the flemish-speaking districts, it must be remembered that, from the time of the burgundian dukes right through the spanish and austrian periods, french had always been the official language of the country, the upper classes only spoke french, and with few exceptions the advocates could only plead in that language. this was a great hardship upon the belgian bar, which would have been greatly increased had the royal decree (june , ), placing the court of appeal for the whole kingdom at the hague, been carried into effect. more serious in its results was the infringement of art. ccxxvii of the fundamental law guaranteeing liberty of the press. the return of napoleon from elba, and the imminent danger to which the, as yet, unorganised kingdom of the netherlands was exposed, led to the issue of an _arrêté_ of the severest character. by it all persons publishing news of any kind, or giving information injurious to the state, or writing or distributing political pamphlets, were to be brought before a special tribunal of nine judges holding office at the king's pleasure; and, if condemned, were liable to be sentenced to exposure in the pillory, deprivation of civic rights, branding, imprisonment, and fines varying from to , francs. this harsh measure was possibly justifiable in an extreme emergency upon the plea that it was necessary for the safety of the state. when the danger was over, and the fundamental law was passed, there was no excuse for its further maintenance on the statute-book. yet before this court abbé de foere was summoned for having defended in the _spectateur beige_ the _jugement doctrinal_ of bishop de broglie, and he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. in the following year, , the government obtained the approval of the states-general (with slight modification) for the continuance of this war-time censorship of the press. the penalties remained, but the court consisted of a judge and four assessors, all government nominees. under this law a brussels advocate, van der straeten, was fined fl. for a brochure attacking the ministers; and several other advocates were disbarred for protesting that this sentence was in conflict with the fundamental law. prosecutions henceforth followed prosecutions, and the press was gagged. as a result of these press persecutions, the two belgian political parties, the clericals and the liberals, poles apart as they were in their principles, drew closer together. all differences of religious and political creed were fused in a common sense of national grievances under what was regarded as a foreign tyranny. this brought about in the formation of the _union_, an association for the co-operation of belgians of all parties in defence of liberty of worship, liberty of instruction and liberty of the press. the ultra-clericals, who looked to the vatican for their guidance, and the advanced liberals who professed the principles of the french revolution were thus by the force of events led on step by step to convert an informal into a formal alliance. the abbe de foere in the _spectateur_ and mm. d'ellougue and donker in the _observateur_ had been for some years advocating united action; and it was their success in winning over to their side the support and powerful pen of louis de potter, a young advocate and journalist of franco-radical sympathies, that the _union_, as a party, was actually effected. from this time the onslaughts in the press became more and more violent and embittered, and stirred up a spirit of unrest throughout the country. petitions began to pour in against the _mouture_ and _abbatage_ taxes and other unpopular measures, especially from the walloon provinces. these were followed by a national petition, signed by representatives of every class of the community asking for redress of grievances, but it met with no response from the unyielding king. he had in the early summer of this year, , made a tour in belgium and had in several towns, especially in antwerp and ghent, met with a warm reception, which led him to underestimate the extent and seriousness of the existing discontent. at liège, a centre of walloon liberalism, he was annoyed by a number of petitions being presented to him; and, in a moment of irritation, he described the conduct of those who there protested against "pretended grievances" as infamous, "une conduite in-fâme." the words gave deep offence; and the incident called forth a parody of the league of the beggars in , an order of infamy being started with a medal bearing the motto _fidèles jusqu' à l'infamie._ the movement spread rapidly, but it remains a curious fact that the animosity of the belgians, as yet, was directed against the dutch ministers (especially van maanen the minister of justice) and the dutch people, whose overbearing attitude was bitterly resented, rather than against the king or the house of orange. william's good deeds for the benefit of the country were appreciated; his arbitrary measures in contravention to the fundamental law were attributed chiefly to his bad advisers. the month of december, , was however to bring the king and his belgian subjects into violent collision. a motion was brought forward in the second chamber (december ) by m. charles de broukère, an eminent belgian liberal supported by the catholics under the leadership of m. de gerlache, for the abolition of the hated press law of . the motion was defeated by the solid dutch vote, supplemented by the support of seven belgians. the decennial budget was due, and opposition to it was threatened unless grievances were remedied--the cry was "point de redressements de griefs, point d'argent." on december came a royal message to the states-general which, while promising certain concessions regarding the taxes, the _collegium philosophicum_ and the language decree, stated in unequivocal terms the principle of royal absolutism. to quote the words of a competent observer of these events: the message declared in substance that the constitution was an act of condescension on the part of the throne; that the king had restrained rather than carried to excess the rights of his house; that the press had been guilty of sowing discord and confusion throughout the state; and that the opposition was but the fanatic working of a few misguided men, who, forgetting the benefits they enjoyed, had risen up in an alarming and scandalous manner against a paternal government[ ]. the minister of justice, van maanen, on the next day issued a circular calling upon all civil officials to signify their adherence to the principles of the message within hours. several functionaries, who had taken part in the petition-agitation, were summarily dismissed; and prosecutions against the press were instituted with renewed energy. from this time van maanen became the special object of belgian hatred. the threat of the belgian deputies to oppose the decennial budget was now carried out. at the end of december the ministerial proposals were brought before the states-general. the expenditure was sanctioned, the ways and means to meet it were rejected by votes to . the finance minister in this emergency was obliged to introduce fresh estimates for one year only, from which the _mouture_ and _abbatage_ taxes were omitted. this was passed without opposition, but in his vexation at this rebuff the king acted unworthily of his position by issuing an _arrêté_ (january , ) depriving six deputies, who had voted in the majority, of their official posts. meanwhile the virulence of the attacks in the press against the king and his ministers from the pens of a number of able and unscrupulous journalists were too daring and offensive to be overlooked by any government. foremost in the bitterness of his onslaught was louis de potter, whose _lettre de démophile au roi_ was throughout a direct challenge to the autocratic claims advanced by the royal message. nor was de potter content only with words. an appeal dated december , of which he and his friend tielemans were originators, appeared (january , ) in seventeen news-papers, for raising a national subscription to indemnify the deputies who had been ejected from their posts and salaries for voting against the budget. proceedings were taken against de potter and tielemans, and also against barthels, editor of the _catholique_, and the printer, de nève, and all were sentenced by the court to banishment--de potter for eight years, tielemans and barthels for seven years, denève for five years. these men had all committed offences which the government were fully justified in punishing, for their language had passed the limits not only of good order but of decency, and was subversive of all authority. nevertheless they were regarded by their belgian compatriots as political martyrs suffering for the cause of their country's liberties. their condemnation was attributed to van maanen, already the object of general detestation. the ministry had meanwhile taken the wise step of starting an organ, the _national_, at brussels to take their part in the field of controversy. but in the circumstances it was an act of almost inconceivable folly to select as the editor a certain libri-bagnano, a man of italian extraction, who, as it was soon discovered by his opponents, had twice suffered heavy sentences in france as a forger. he was a brilliant and caustic writer, well able to carry the polemical war into his adversaries' camp. but his antecedents were against him, and he aroused a hatred second only to the aversion felt for van maanen. we have now arrived at the eve of the belgian revolt, which had its actual origin in a riot. but the riot was not the cause of the revolt; it was but the spark which brought about an explosion, the materials for which had been for years preparing. the french secret agent, julian, reports a conversation which took place between the king and count bylandt on july , [ ]. the following extract proves that, so early as this date, william had begun to perceive the impossibility of the situation: i say it and i repeat it often to clancarty (the british minister) that i should love much better to have my holland quite alone. i should be then a hundred times happier.... when i am exerting myself to make a whole of this country, a party, which in collusion with the foreigner never ceases to gain ground, is working to disunite it. besides the allies have not given me this kingdom to submit it to every kind of influence. this situation cannot last. another extract from a despatch of the french minister at the hague, lamoussaye, dated december , , depicts a state of things in the relations between the two peoples, tending sooner or later to make a political separation of some kind inevitable: the belgian hates the hollander and he (the hollander) despises the belgian, besides which he assumes an infinite _hauteur_, both from his national character, by the creations of his industry and by the memories of his history. disdained by their neighbour of the north, governed by a prince whose confidence they do not possess, hindered in the exercise of their worship, and, as they say, in the enjoyment of their liberties, overburdened with taxes, having but a share in the national representation disproportionate to the population of the south, the belgians ask themselves whether they have a country, and are restless in a painful situation, the outcome of which they seek vainly to discover[ ]. from an intercepted letter from louvain, dated july , : what does one see? hesitation uncertainty, embarrassment and fear in the march of the government; organisation, re-organisation and finally disorganisation of all and every administration. again a rude shock and the machine crumbles. a true forecast of coming events. * * * * * chapter xxxi the belgian revolution, - during the last days of july, , came the revolution at paris that overthrew charles x and placed the duke of orleans at the head of a constitutional monarchy with the title of louis philippe, king of the french. the belgian liberals had always felt drawn towards france rather than holland, and several of the more influential among them were in paris during the days of july. through their close intercourse with their friends in brussels the news of all that had occurred spread rapidly, and was eagerly discussed. probably at this time few contemplated the complete separation of belgium from holland, but rather looked to the northern and southern provinces becoming administratively autonomous under the same crown. this indeed appeared to be the only practical solution of the _impasse_ which had been reached. even had the king met the complaints of the belgians by large concessions, had he dismissed van maanen, removed libri-bagnano from the editorship of the _national_, and created a responsible ministry--which he had no intention of doing--he could not have granted the demand for a representation of the south in the second chamber proportionate to the population. for this would have meant that the position of holland would have henceforth been subordinate to that of belgium; and to this the dutch, proud of their history and achievements, would never have submitted. it had been proved that amalgamation was impossible, but the king personally was popular with those large sections of the belgian mercantile and industrial population whose prosperity was so largely due to the royal care and paternal interest; and, had he consented to the setting-up of a separate administration at brussels, he might by a conciliatory attitude have retained the loyalty of his belgian subjects. he did none of these things; but, when in august, he and his two sons paid a visit to brussels at a time when the town was celebrating with festivities the holding of an exhibition of national industry, he was well received and was probably quite unaware of the imminence of the storm that was brewing. it had been intended to close the exhibition by a grand display of fireworks on the evening of august , and to have a general illumination on the king's birthday (august ). but the king had hurried back to the hague to keep his birthday, and during the preceding days there were abundant signs of a spirit of revolutionary ferment. inscriptions were found on blank walls--_down with van maanen; death to the dutch; down with libri-bagnano and the national_; and, more ominous still, leaflets were distributed containing the words _le août, feu d'artifice; le août, anniversaïre du roi; le août, révolution._ in consequence of these indications of subterranean unrest, which were well known to baron van der fosse, the civil governor of brabant, and to m. kuyff, the head of the city police, the municipal authorities weakly decided on the ground of unfavourable weather to postpone the fireworks and the illumination. the evening of the rd, as it turned out, was exceedingly fine. at the same time the authorities permitted, on the evening of the th, the first performance of an opera by scribe and auber, entitled _la muette de portici_, which had been previously proscribed. the hero, masaniello, headed a revolt at naples in against foreign (spanish) rule. the piece was full of patriotic, revolutionary songs likely to arouse popular passion. the evening of the performance arrived, and the theatre was crowded. the excitement of the audience grew as the play proceeded; and the thunders of applause were taken up by the throng which had gathered outside. finally the spectators rushed out with loud cries of vengeance against libri-bagnano and van maanen, in which the mob eagerly joined. brussels was at that time a chosen shelter of political refugees, ready for any excesses; and a terrible riot ensued. the house of van maanen and the offices of the _national_ were attacked, pillaged and burnt. the city was given over to wild confusion and anarchy; and many of the mob secured arms by the plunder of the gun-smiths' shops. meanwhile the military authorities delayed action. several small patrols were surrounded and compelled to surrender, while the main body of troops, instead of attacking and dispersing the rioters, was withdrawn and stationed in front of the royal palace. thus by the extraordinary passiveness of lieut.-general bylandt, the military governor of the province, and of major-general wauthier, commandant of the city, who must have been acting under secret orders, the wild outbreak of the night began, as the next day progressed and the troops were still inactive, to assume more of the character of a revolution. this was checked by the action of the municipal authorities and certain of the principal inhabitants, who called together the civic-guard to protect any further tumultuary attacks by marauders and ne'er-do-wells on private property. the guard were joined by numbers of volunteers of the better classes and, under the command of baron d'hoogvoort, were distributed in different quarters of the town, and restored order. the french flags, which at first were in evidence, were replaced at the town hall by the brabant tricolor--red, yellow and black. the royal insignia had in many places been torn down, and the orange cockades had disappeared; nevertheless there was at this time no symptom of an uprising to overthrow the dynasty, only a national demand for redress of grievances. meanwhile news arrived that reinforcements from ghent were marching upon the city. the notables however informed general bylandt that no troops would be allowed to enter the city without resistance; and he agreed to stop the advance and to keep his own troops in their encampment until he received further orders from the hague. for this abandonment of any attempt to re-assert the royal authority he has been generally blamed. there is no lack of evidence to show that the riot of august and its consequences were not the work of the popular leaders. the correspondence of gendebien with de potter at this time, and the tone of the belgian press before and after the outbreak, are proofs of this. the _catholique_ of ghent (the former organ of barthels) for instance declared: there is no salvation for the throne, but in an ample concession of our rights. the essential points to be accorded are royal inviolability and ministerial responsibility; the dismissal of van maanen; liberty of education and the press; a diminution of taxation ... in short, justice and liberty in all and for all, in strict conformity with the fundamental law. the _coursier des pays bos_ (the former organ of de potter), after demanding the dismissal of van maanen as the absolute condition of pacification, adds: we repeat that we are neither in a state of insurrection nor revolution; all we want is a mitigation of the grievances we have so long endured, and some guarantees for a better future. in accordance with such sentiments an infuencial meeting on the on the th at the townhall appointed a deputation of five, headed by alexandre de gendebien and felix, count de mérode, to bear to the king a loyal address setting forth the just grievances which had led to the brussels disturbances, and asking respectfully for their removal. the news of the uprising reached the king on the th, and he was much affected. at a council held at the hague the prince of orange earnestly besought his father to accept the proffered resignation of van maanen, and to consider in a conciliatory spirit the grievances of the belgians. but william refused flatly to dismiss the minister or to treat with rebels. he gave the prince, however, permission to visit brussels, not armed with powers to act, but merely with a mission of enquiry. he also consented to receive the deputation from brussels, and summoned an extraordinary meeting of the states-general at the hague for september . troops were at once ordered to move south and to join the camp at vilvoorde, where the regiments sent to reinforce the brussels garrison had been halted. the prince of orange and his brother frederick meanwhile had left the hague and reached vilvoorde on august . here frederick assumed command of the troops; and orange sent his _aide-de-camp_ to baron d'hoogvoort to invite him to a conference at headquarters. the news of the gathering troops had aroused immense excitement in the capital; and it was resolved that hoogvoort, at the head of a representative deputation, should go to vilvoorde to urge the prince to stop any advance of the troops on brussels, as their entrance into the town would be resisted, unless the citizens were assured that van maanen was dismissed, and that the other grievances were removed. they invited orange to come to brussels attended only by his personal suite, and offered to be sureties for his safety. the prince made his entry on september , the streets being lined with the civic guard. he was personally popular, but, possessing no powers, he could effect nothing. after three days of parleying he returned to the camp, and his mission was a failure. on the same day when orange entered brussels the deputation of five was received by king william at the hague. his reply to their representations was that by the fundamental law he had the right to choose his ministers, that the principle of ministerial responsibility was contrary to the constitution, and that he would not dismiss van maanen or deal with any alleged grievances with a pistol at his head. william, however, despite his uncompromising words, did actually accept the resignation of van maanen (september ); but when the prince of orange, returning from his experiences at brussels, urged the necessity of an administrative separation of north and south, and offered to return to the belgian capital if armed with full authority to carry it out, his offer was declined. the king would only consent to bring the matter to the consideration of the states-general, which was to meet on the th. instead of taking any immediate action he issued a proclamation, which in no way faced the exigencies of the situation, and was no sooner posted on the walls at brussels than it was torn down and trampled underfoot. it is only just to say that the king had behind him the unanimous support of the dutch people, especially the commercial classes. to them separation was far preferable to admitting the belgians to that predominant share of the representation which they claimed on the ground of their larger population. meanwhile at brussels, owing to the inaction of the government, matters were moving fast. the spirit of revolt had spread to other towns, principally in the walloon provinces. liège and louvain were the first to move. charles rogier, an advocate by profession and a frenchman by birth, was the leader of the revolt at liège; and such was his fiery ardour that at the head of some men, whom he had supplied with arms from the armourer's warehouses, he marched to brussels, and arrived in that disturbed city without encountering any dutch force. the example of liège was followed by jemappes, wavre, and by the miners of the borinage; and brussels was filled with a growing crowd of men filled with a revolutionary spirit. their aim was to proclaim the independence of belgium, and set up a provisional government. for such a step even pronounced liberals like gendebien, van de weyer and rouppe, the veteran burgomaster of the city, were not yet prepared; and they combined with the moderates, count felix de mérode and ferdinand meeus, to form a committee of public safety. they were aided, in the maintenance of order, by the two barons d'hoogvoort (emmanuel and joseph), the first the commander of the civic guard, and both popular and influential, and by the municipality. while these were still struggling to maintain their authority, the states-general had met at the hague on september . it was opened by a speech from the king which announced his firm determination to maintain law and order in the face of revolutionary violence. he had submitted two questions to the consideration of the states-general: ( ) whether experience had shown the necessity for a modification of the fundamental law; ( ) whether any change should be made in the relations between the two parts of the kingdom. both questions were, after long debate (september ) answered in the affirmative; but, before this took place, events at brussels had already rendered deliberations at the hague futile and useless. the contents of the king's speech were no sooner known in brussels than they were used by the revolutionary leaders to stir up the passions of the mob by inflammatory harangues. rogier and ducpétiaux, at the head of the liègeois and the contingents from the other walloon towns, with the support of the lowest elements of the brussels population, demanded the dissolution of the committee of public safety and the establishment of a provisional government. the members of the committee and of the municipality, sitting in permanence at the hotel de ville, did their utmost to maintain order with the strong support of baron d'hoogvoort and the civic guard. but it was in vain. on the evening of september an immense mob rushed the hotel de ville, after disarming the civic guard; and rogier and ducpétiaux were henceforth masters of the city. the committee of public safety disappeared and is heard of no more. hoogvoort resigned his command. on receipt of this news prince frederick at vilvoorde was ordered to advance upon the city and compel submission. but the passions of the crowd had been aroused, and the mere rumour that the dutch troops were moving caused the most vigorous steps to be taken to resist _à outrance_ their penetrating into the town. the royal forces, on the morning of september , entered the city at three gates and advanced as far as the park. but beyond that point they were unable to proceed, so desperate was the resistance, and such the hail of bullets that met them from barricades and from the windows and roofs of the houses. for three days almost without cessation the fierce contest went on, the troops losing ground rather than gaining it. on the evening of the th the prince gave orders to retreat, his troops having suffered severely. the effect of this withdrawal was to convert a street insurrection into a national revolt. the moderates now united with the liberals, and a provisional government was formed, having amongst its members rogier, van de weyer, gendebien, emmanuel d'hoogvoort, felix de mérode and louis de potter, who a few days later returned triumphantly from banishment. the provisional government issued a series of decrees declaring belgium independent, releasing the belgian soldiers from their allegiance, and calling upon them to abandon the dutch standard. they were obeyed. the revolt, which had been confined mainly to the walloon districts, now spread rapidly over flanders. garrison after garrison surrendered; and the remnants of the disorganised dutch forces retired upon antwerp (october ). two days later the provisional government summoned a national congress to be elected by all belgian citizens of years of age. the news of these events caused great perturbation at the hague. the prince of orange, who had throughout advocated conciliation, was now permitted by his father to go to antwerp (october ) and endeavour to place himself at the head of the belgian movement on the basis of a grant of administrative separation, but without severance of the dynastic bond with holland. king william meanwhile had already (october ) appealed to the great powers, signatories of the articles of london in , to intervene and to restore order in the belgic provinces. the difficulties of the prince at antwerp were very great, for he was hampered throughout by his father's unwillingness to grant him full liberty of action. he issued a proclamation, but it was coldly received; and his attempts to negotiate with the provisional government at brussels met with no success. things had now gone too far, and any proposal to make belgium connected with holland by any ties, dynastic or otherwise, was unacceptable. the well-meaning prince returned disappointed to the hague on october . a most unfortunate occurrence now took place. as general chassé, the dutch commander at antwerp, was withdrawing his troops from the town to the citadel, attacks were made upon them by the mob, and some lives were lost. chassé in reprisal (october ) ordered the town to be bombarded from the citadel and the gunboats upon the river. this impolitic act increased throughout belgium the feeling of hatred against the dutch, and made the demand for absolute independence deeper and stronger. the appeal of william to the signatory powers had immediate effect; and representatives of austria, prussia, russia and great britain, to whom a representative of france was now added, met at london on november . this course of action was far from what the king expected or wished. their first step was to impose an armistice; their next to make it clear that their intervention would be confined to negotiating a settlement on the basis of separation. a whig ministry in england had (november ) taken the place of that of wellington; and lord palmerston, the new foreign secretary, was well-disposed to belgium and found himself able to work in accord with talleyrand, the french plenipotentiary. austria and russia were too much occupied with their own internal difficulties to think of supporting the dutch king by force of arms; and prussia, despite the close family connection, did not venture to oppose the determination of the two western powers to work for a peaceful settlement. while they were deliberating, the national congress had met at brussels, and important decisions had been taken. by overwhelming majorities (november ) belgium was declared to be an independent state; and four days later, after vigorous debates, the congress (by votes to ) resolved that the new state should be a constitutional monarchy and (by votes to ) that the house of orange-nassau be for ever excluded from the throne. a committee was appointed to draw up a constitution. william had appealed to the powers to maintain the treaties of paris and vienna and to support him in what he regarded, on the basis of those treaties, as his undoubted rights; and it was with indignation that he saw the conference decline to admit his envoy, falck, except as a witness and on precisely the same terms as the representatives of the brussels congress. on december a protocol was issued by the powers which defined their attitude. they accepted the principle of separation and independence, subject to arrangements being made for assuring european peace. the conference, however, declared that such arrangements would not affect the rights of king william and of the german confederation in the grand duchy of luxemburg. this part of the protocol was as objectionable to the belgians as the former part was to the dutch king. the london plenipotentiaries had in fact no choice, for they were bound by the unfortunate clauses of the treaties of , which, to gratify prussian ambition for cis-rhenan territory, converted this ancient belgian province into a german state. this ill-advised step was now to be the chief obstacle to a settlement in . the mere fact that william had throughout the period of union always treated luxemburg as an integral part of the southern portion of his kingdom made its threatened severance from the belgic provinces a burning question. for luxemburgers had taken a considerable part in the revolt, and luxemburg representatives sat in the national congress. of these eleven voted for the perpetual exclusion of the orange-nassau dynasty, one only in its favour. it is not surprising, therefore, that a strong protest was made against the decision of the london conference to treat the status of luxemburg as outside the subject of their deliberations. the conference, however, unmoved by this protest, proceeded in a protocol of january , , to define the conditions of separation. holland was to retain her old boundaries of the year , and belgium to have the remainder of the territory assigned to the kingdom of the netherlands in . luxemburg was again excluded. the five powers, moreover, declared that within these limits the new belgian state was to be perpetually neutral, its integrity and inviolability being guaranteed by all and each of the powers. a second protocol (january ) fixed the proportion of the national debt to be borne by belgium at sixteen parts out of thirty-one. the sovereign of belgium was required to give his assent to these protocols, as a condition to being recognised by the powers. but the congress of brussels was in no submissive mood. they had already (january ) resolved to proceed to the election of a king without consulting anyone. the territorial boundaries assigned to belgium met with almost unanimous reprobation, a claim being made to the incorporation not merely of luxemburg, but also of maestrieht, limburg and dutch flanders, in the new state. nor were they more contented with the proportion of the debt belgium was asked to bear. on february the five powers had agreed that they would not assent to a member of any of the reigning dynasties being elected to the throne of belgium. nevertheless (february ) the duc de nemours, son of louis philippe, was elected by votes, as against recorded for the duke of leuchtenberg, son of eugène beauharnais. the conference took immediate action by refusing to permit either nemours or leuchtenberg to accept the proffered crown. these acute differences between the conference and the belgian congress were a cause of much satisfaction to the dutch king, who was closely watching the course of events; and he thought it good policy (february ) to signify his assent to the conditions set forth in the protocols of january and . he had still some hopes of the candidature of the prince of orange (who was in london) being supported by the powers, but for this the time was past. at this juncture the name of leopold of saxe-coburg, who had resided in england since the death of his wife the princess charlotte, was put forward. this candidature was supported by great britain; france raised no objection; and in belgium it met with official support. early in april a deputation of five commissioners was sent to offer the crown provisionally to the prince, subject to his endeavouring to obtain some modification of the protocols of january and . the five powers, however, in a protocol, dated april , announced to the belgian government that the conditions of separation as laid down in the january protocols were final and irrevocable, and, if not accepted, relations would be broken off. leopold was not discouraged, however; and such was his influence that he did succeed in obtaining from the conference an undertaking that they would enter into negotiations with king william in regard both to the territorial and financial disputes with a view to a settlement, _moyennant de justes compensations_. the saxe-coburg prince was elected king by the congress (june ); and in redemption of their undertaking the conference promulgated (june ) the preliminary treaty, generally known as the treaty of the xviii articles. by this treaty the question of luxemburg was reserved for a separate negotiation, the _status quo_ being meanwhile maintained. other boundary disputes (maestricht, limburg and various _enclaves_) were to be amicably arranged, and the share of belgium in the public debt was reduced. leopold had made his acceptance of the crown depend upon the assent of the congress being given to the treaty. this assent was given, but in the face of strong opposition (july ); and the new king made his public entry into brussels and took the oath to the constitution twelve days later. on the same day (july ) the dutch king refused to accept the xviii articles, declaring that he adhered to the protocols of january and , which the plenipotentiaries had themselves declared (april ) to be fundamental and irrevocable. nor did he confine himself to a refusal. he declared that if any prince should accept the sovereignty of belgium or take possession of it without having assented to the protocols as the basis of separation he could only regard such prince as his enemy. he followed this up (august ) by a despatch addressed to the foreign ministers of the five powers, announcing his intention "to throw his army into the balance with a view to obtaining more equitable terms of separation." these were no empty words. the facile success of the belgian revolution had led to the dutch army being branded as a set of cowards. the king, therefore, despite a solemn warning from the conference, was determined to show the world that holland was perfectly able to assert her rights by armed force if she chose to do so. in this course he had the whole-hearted support of his people. it was a bold act politically justified by events. unexpectedly, on august , the prince of orange at the head of an army of , picked men with guns crossed the frontier. the belgians were quite taken by surprise. their army, though not perhaps inferior in numbers to the invaders, was badly organised, and was divided into two parts--the army of the scheldt and the army of the meuse. the prince knew that he must act with promptness and decision, and he thrust his army by rapid movements between the two belgian corps. that of the meuse fell back in great disorder upon liège; that of the scheldt was also forced to beat a rapid retreat. leopold, whose reign was not yet a fortnight old, joined the western corps and did all that man could do to organise and stiffen resistance. at louvain (august ) he made a last effort to save the capital and repeatedly exposed his life, but the belgians were completely routed and brussels lay at the victor's mercy. it was a terrible humiliation for the new belgian state. but the prince had accomplished his task and did not advance beyond louvain. on hearing that a french army, at the invitation of king leopold, had entered belgium with the sanction of the powers, he concluded an armistice, by the mediation of the british minister, sir robert adair, and undertook to evacuate belgian territory. his army recrossed the dutch frontier (august ), and the french thereupon withdrew. the ten days' campaign had effected its purpose; and, when the conference met to consider the new situation, it was felt that the xviii articles must be revised. belgium, saved only from conquest by french intervention, had to pay the penalty of defeat. a new treaty in xxiv articles was drawn up, and was (october ) again declared to be final and irrevocable. by this treaty the northwestern (walloon) portion of luxemburg was assigned to belgium, but at the cost of ceding to holland a considerable piece of belgian limburg giving the dutch the command of both banks of the river meuse from maestricht to the gelderland frontier. the proportion of the debt was likewise altered in favour of holland. king william was informed that he must obtain the assent of the germanic confederation and of the nassau agnates to the territorial adjustments. these conditions created profound dissatisfaction both in belgium and holland. it was again the unhappy luxemburg question which caused so much heart-burning. the conference however felt itself bound by the territorial arrangements of the congress of vienna; and palmerston and talleyrand, acting in concert throughout, could not on this matter overrule the opposition of prussia and austria supported by russia. all they could do was to secure the compromise by which walloon luxemburg was given to belgium in exchange for territorial compensation in limburg. belgian feeling was strong against surrendering any part either of luxemburg or limburg; but king leopold saw that surrender was inevitable and by a threat of abdication he managed to secure, though against vehement opposition, the acceptance of the treaty of the xxiv articles by the belgian chambers (november ). the treaty was signed at london by the plenipotentiaries of the five great powers and by the belgian envoy, van de weyer, on november , ; and belgium was solemnly recognised as an independent state, whose perpetual neutrality and inviolability was guaranteed by each of the signatories severally[ ]. once more the obstinacy of king william proved an insuperable obstacle to a settlement. he had expected better results from the ten days' campaign, and he emphatically denied the right of the conference to interfere with the grand duchy of luxemburg, as this was not a belgian question, but concerned only the house of nassau and the germanic confederation. he also objected to the proposed regulations regarding the navigation of the river scheldt, and refused to evacuate antwerp or other places occupied by dutch troops. he was aware that great britain and france had taken the leading part in drawing up the treaty, but he relied for support upon his close family relations with prussia and russia[ ], with whom austria acted. but, although these powers bore him good will, they had no intention of encouraging his resistance. their object in delaying their ratification of the treaty was to afford time to bring good advice to bear upon the unbending temper of the dutch king. the tsar even sent count alexis orloff on a special mission to the hague, with instructions to act with the prussian and austrian envoys in urging william to take a reasonable course. all their efforts ended in failure. during the first nine months of the year a vigorous exchange of notes took place between london and the hague; and the conference did its utmost to effect an accommodation. at last patience was exhausted, and the powers had to threaten coercion. the three eastern powers declined indeed to take any active share in coercive measures, but were willing that great britain and france should be their delegates. palmerston and talleyrand, however, were determined that the king of holland should no longer continue to defy the will of the european great powers; and on october the english and french governments concluded a convention for joint action. notice was given to king william (november ) that he must withdraw his troops before november from all places assigned to belgium by the treaty of the xxiv articles. if he refused, the dutch ports would be blockaded and an embargo placed upon dutch ships in the allies' harbours. further, if on november any dutch garrisons remained on belgian soil, they would be expelled by armed force. william at once (november ) replied to the notice by a flat refusal. in so acting he had behind him the practically unanimous support of dutch public opinion. the allies took prompt measures. an anglo-french squadron set sail (november ) to blockade the dutch ports and the mouth of the scheldt; and in response to an appeal from the belgian government (as was required by the terms of the convention) a french army of , men under marshal gérard crossed the belgian frontier (november ) and laid siege to the antwerp citadel, held by a garrison of men commanded by general chassé. the siege began on november , and it was not until december that chassé, after a most gallant defence, was compelled to capitulate. rear-admiral koopman preferred to burn his twelve gunboats rather than surrender them to the enemy. marshal gérard offered to release his prisoners if the dutch would evacuate the forts of lillo and liefkenshoeck, lower down the river. his offer was refused; and the french army, having achieved its purpose, withdrew. for some time longer the blockade and embargo continued, to the great injury of dutch trade. an interchange of notes between the hague and london led to the drawing up of a convention, known as the convention of london, on may , . by this agreement king william undertook to commit no acts of hostility against belgium until a definitive treaty of peace was signed, and to open the navigation of the scheldt and the meuse for commerce. the convention was in fact a recognition of the _status quo_ and was highly advantageous to belgium, as both luxemburg and limburg were _ad interim_ treated as if they were integral parts of the new kingdom. the cessation of hostilities, however, led to a fresh attempt to reach a settlement. in response to an invitation sent by the western powers to austria, prussia and russia, the conference again met in london on july . the thread of the negotiations was taken up; but the belgian government insisted, with the full support of palmerston, that as a preliminary to any further discussion the king of holland must obtain the assent of the german confederation and of the nassau agnates to the proposed territorial rearrangements. william declined to ask for this assent. the conference on this was indefinitely suspended. that the king's refusal in august was a part of his fixed policy of waiting upon events was shown by his actually approaching the confederation and the agnates in the following november ( ). neither of these would consent to any partition of luxemburg, unless they received full territorial compensation elsewhere. so matters drifted on through the years - . meanwhile in holland a change of opinion had been gradually taking place. the heavy taxes consequent upon the maintenance of an army on a war footing pressed more and more upon a country whose income was insufficient to meet its expenses. people grew tired of waiting for a change in the political position that became every year more remote. luxemburg was of little interest to the dutch; they only saw that belgium was prosperous, and that the maintenance of the _status quo_ was apparently all to her advantage. the dissatisfaction of the dutch people, so long patient and loyal, made itself heard with increasing insistence in the states-general; and the king saw that the time had arrived for abandoning his obstinate _non-possumus_ attitude. accordingly, in march, , he suddenly instructed his minister in london (dedel) to inform palmerston that he (the king) was ready to sign the treaty of the xxiv articles, and to agree _pleinement et entièrement_ to the conditions it imposed. the unexpected news of this sudden step came upon the belgians like a thunderclap. from every part of the kingdom arose a storm of protest against any surrender of territory. the people of luxemburg and limburg appealed to their fellow-citizens not to abandon them; and their appeal met with the strongest support from all classes and in both chambers. they argued that holland had refused to sign the treaty of , which had been imposed on belgium in her hour of defeat; and that now, after seven years, the treaty had ceased to be in force and required revision. the belgians expected to receive support from great britain and france, and more especially from palmerston, their consistent friend. but palmerston was tired of the endless wrangling; and, acting on his initiative, the five powers determined that they would insist on the treaty of the xxiv articles being carried out as it stood. the conference met again in october, ; and all the efforts of the belgian government, and of king leopold personally, to obtain more favoured terms proved unavailing. an offer to pay sixty million francs indemnity for luxemburg and limburg was rejected both by king william and the germanic confederation. such was the passionate feeling in belgium that there was actually much talk of resisting in the last resort by force of arms. volunteers poured in; and in holland also the government began to make military preparations. but it was an act of sheer madness for isolated belgium to think of opposing the will of the great powers of europe. the angry interchange of diplomatic notes resulted only in one modification in favour of belgium. the annual charge of , , francs placed upon belgium on account of her share in the public debt of the netherlands was reduced to a payment of , , francs. the dutch king signed the treaty on february , . finally the proposal that the treaty should be signed, opposition being useless, met with a sullen assent from the two belgian chambers. on april , , the belgian envoy, van de weyer, affixed his signature at the foreign office in london and so brought to an end the long controversy, which had lasted for nine years. there were still many details to be settled between the two kingdoms, which from this time became two separate and distinct political entities; but these were finally arranged in an amicable spirit, and were embodied in a subsidiary treaty signed november , . * * * * * chapter xxxii william ii. revision of the constitution. - the dutch nation welcomed the final separation from belgium with profound relief. the national charges had risen from million florins in to million florins in . taxation was oppressive, trade stagnant, and the financial position growing more and more intolerable. the long-tried loyalty of the people, who had entrusted their sovereign with such wide and autocratic powers, had cooled. the king's belgian policy had obviously been a complete failure; and the rotten state of public finance was naturally in large part attributed to the sovereign, who had so long been practically his own finance minister. loud cries began to be raised for a revision of the constitution on liberal lines. to the old king any such revision was repugnant; but, unable to resist the trend of public opinion, he gave his assent to a measure of constitutional reform in the spring of . its limited concessions satisfied no one. its principal modifications of the fundamental law were: ( ) the division of the province of holland into two parts; ( ) the reduction of the civil list; ( ) the necessary alteration of the number of deputies in the second chamber due to the separation from belgium; ( ) abolition of the distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary budget; ( ) a statement of the receipts and expenditure of the colonies to be laid before the states-general. finally the principle of ministerial responsibility was granted most reluctantly, the king yielding only after the chambers had declined to consider the estimates without this concession. but william had already made up his mind to abdicate, rather than reign under the new conditions. he knew that he was unpopular and out-of-touch with the times; and his unpopularity had been increased by his announced intention of marrying the countess henriette d'oultremont, a belgian and a catholic. on october he issued a proclamation by which he handed over the government to his son william frederick, prince of orange. he then retired quietly to his private estates in silesia. he died at berlin in . william ii was forty-eight years of age on his accession to the throne. he was a man of a character very different from that of his father. amiable, accessible, easily influenced, liberal-handed even to extravagance, he was deservedly popular. he had shown himself in the peninsula, at quatre bras and waterloo and later in the ten days' campaign, to be a capable and courageous soldier, but he possessed few of the qualities either of a statesman or a financier. he had married in anna paulovna, sister of the tsar alexander i, after his proposed marriage with the princess charlotte of england had been broken off. he entered upon his reign in difficult times. there was a loud demand for a further sweeping revision of the constitution. religious movements, which had been gathering force during the reign of william i, required careful handling. one minister after another had tried to grapple with the financial problem, but in vain. in the public debt amounted to million florins; and the burden of taxation, though it had become almost unendurable, failed to provide for the interest on the debt and the necessary expenses of administration. the state was in fact on the verge of bankruptcy. the appointment in of f.a. van hall (formerly an amsterdam advocate, who had held the post of minister of justice) to be finance minister opened out a means of salvation. the arrears to amounted to million florins; the deficit for - had to be covered, and means provided for the expenditure for - . van hall's proposals gave the people the choice between providing the necessary money by an extraordinary tax of one and a half per cent, on property and income, and raising a voluntary loan of million florins at per cent. after long debates the states-general accepted the proposal for the voluntary loan, but the amount was reduced to millions. the success of the loan, though at first doubtful, was by march, , complete. the amsterdam bourse gave its utmost support; and the royal family set a good example by a joint subscription of million florins. by this means, and by the capitalisation of the annual belgian payment of five million francs, van hall was able to clear off the four years' arrears and to convert the and - / per cent. scrip into per cent. he was helped by the large annual payments, which now began to come in from the dutch east indies; and at length an equilibrium was established in the budget between receipts and expenditure. in the years preceding the french revolution the reformed church in the united provinces had become honey-combed with rationalism. the official orthodoxy of the dort synod had become "a fossilised skeleton." by the constitution of church and state were separated, and the property of the church was taken by the state, which paid however stipends to the ministers. under king louis subsidies were paid from the public funds to teachers of every religious persuasion; and this system continued during the union of holland and belgium. a movement known as the _reveil_ had meanwhile been stirring the dry-bones of calvinistic orthodoxy in holland. its first leaders were bilderdijk, de costa and capadose. like most religious revivals, this movement gave rise to extravagancies and dissensions. in a new sect was founded by a sea-captain, staffel mulder, on communistic principles after the example of the first jerusalem converts, which gathered a number of followers among the peasantry. the "new lighters"--such was the name they assumed--established in their headquarters at zwijndrecht. the first enthusiasm however died down, and the sect gradually disappeared. more serious was the liberal revolt against the cut-and-dried orthodoxy of dort. slowly it made headway, and it found leaders in hofstede de groot, professor at groningen, and in two eloquent preachers, de cocq at ulrum and scholte at deventer. these men, finding that their views met with no sympathy or recognition by the synodal authorities, resolved (october , ) on the serious step of separating from the reformed church and forming themselves and their adherents into a new church body. they were known as "the separatists" (_de afgescheidenen_). though deprived of their pulpits, fined and persecuted, the separatists grew in number. in the government refused to recognise them as a church, but permitted local congregations to hold meetings in houses. in more favourable conditions were offered, which de cocq and scholte finally agreed to accept, but no subsidies were paid to the sect by the state. william ii, in , made a further concession by allowing religious teaching to be given daily in the public schools (out of school hours) by the separatist ministers, as well as by those of other denominations. all this while, however, certain congregations refused to accept the compromise of ; and a large number, headed by a preacher named van raalte, in order to obtain freedom of worship, emigrated to michigan to form the nucleus of a flourishing dutch colony. the accession of william ii coincided with a period of political unrest, not only in holland but throughout europe. a strong reaction had set in against the system of autocratic rule, which had been the marked feature of the period which followed . liberal and progressive ideas had during the later years been making headway in holland under the inspiring leadership of johan rudolf thorbecke, at that time a professor of jurisprudence at leyden. he had many followers; and the cause he championed had the support of the brilliant writers and publicists, donker-curtius, luzac, potgieter, bakhuizen van der brink and others. a strong demand arose for a thorough revision of the constitution. in a body of nine members of the second chamber, chief amongst them thorbecke, drew up a definite proposal for a revision; but the king expressed his dislike to it, and it was rejected. the van hall ministry had meanwhile been carrying out those excellent financial measures which had saved the credit of the state, and was now endeavouring to conduct the government on opportunist lines. but the potato famine in - caused great distress among the labouring classes, and gave added force to the spirit of discontent in the country. the king himself grew nervous in the presence of the revolutionary ferment spreading throughout europe, and was more especially alarmed (february, ) by the sudden overthrow of the monarchy of louis philippe and the proclamation of a republic at paris. he now resolved himself to take the initiative. he saw that the proposals hitherto made for revision did not satisfy public opinion; and on march , without consulting his ministers, he took the unusual step of sending for the president of the second chamber, boreel van hogelanden. he asked him to ascertain the opinions and wishes of the chamber on the matter of revision and to report to him. the ministry on this resigned and a new liberal ministry was formed, at the head of which was count schimmelpenninck, formerly minister in london. on march a special commission was appointed to draw up a draft scheme of revision. it consisted of five members, four of whom, thorbecke, luzac, donker-curtius and kempenaer, were prominent liberals and the fifth a catholic from north brabant. their work was completed by april and the report presented to the king. schimmelpenninck, not agreeing with the proposals of the commission, resigned; and on may a new ministry under the leadership of donker-curtius was formed for the express purpose of carrying out the proposed revision. a periodical election of the second chamber took place in july, and difficulties at first confronted the new scheme. these were, however, overcome; and on october the revised constitution received the king's assent. it was solemnly proclaimed on november . the constitution of left in the hands of the king the executive power, i.e. the conduct of foreign affairs, the right of declaring war and making peace, the supreme command of the military and naval forces, the administration of the overseas possessions, and the right of dissolving the chambers; but these prerogatives were modified by the introduction of the principle of ministerial responsibility. the ministers were responsible for all acts of the government, and the king could legally do no wrong. the king was president of the council of state ( members), whose duty it was to consider all proposals made to or by the states-general. the king shared the legislative power with the states-general, but the second chamber had the right of initiative, amendment and investigation; and annual budgets were henceforth to be presented for its approval. all members of the states-general were to be at least years of age. the first chamber of members was elected by the provincial estates from those most highly assessed to direct taxation; the members sat for nine years, but one-third vacated their seats every third year. all citizens of full age paying a certain sum to direct taxation had the right of voting for members of the second chamber, the country for this purpose being divided into districts containing , inhabitants. the members held their seats for four years, but half the chamber retired every second year. freedom of worship to all denominations, liberty of the press and the right of public meeting were guaranteed. primary education in public schools was placed under state control, but private schools were not interfered with. the provincial and communal administration was likewise reformed and made dependent on the direct popular vote. the ministry of donker-curtius at once took steps for holding fresh elections, as soon as the new constitution became the fundamental law of the country. a large majority of liberals was returned to the second chamber. the king in person opened the states-general on february , , and expressed his intention of accepting loyally the changes to which he had given his assent. he was, however, suffering and weak from illness, and a month later (march ) he died at tilburg. his gracious and kindly personality had endeared him to his subjects, who deeply regretted that at this moment of constitutional change the states should lose his experienced guidance. he was succeeded by his son, william iii. * * * * * chapter xxxiii reign of william iii to the death of thorbecke, - william iii succeeded to the throne at a moment of transition. he was thirty-two years of age, and his natural leanings were autocratic; but he accepted loyally the principle of ministerial responsibility, and throughout his long reign endeavoured honestly and impartially to fulfil his duties as a constitutional sovereign. there were at this time in holland four political parties: ( ) the old conservative party, which after gradually dwindled in numbers and soon ceased to be a power in the state; ( ) the liberals, under the leadership of thorbecke; ( ) the anti-revolutionary or orthodox protestant party, ably led by g. groen van prinsterer, better known perhaps as a distinguished historian, but at the same time a good debater and resourceful parliamentarian; ( ) the catholic party. the catholics for the first time obtained in the full privileges of citizenship. they owed this to the liberals, and for some years they gave their support to that party, though differing from them fundamentally on many points. the anti-revolutionaries placed in the foreground the upholding of the reformed (orthodox calvinistic) faith in the state, and of religious teaching in the schools. in this last article of their political creed they were at one with the catholics, and in its defence the two parties were destined to become allies. the liberal majority in the newly elected states-general was considerable; and it was the general expectation that thorbecke would become head of the government. the king however suspected the aims of the liberal leader, and personally disliked him. he therefore kept in office the donker-curtius-de kempenaer cabinet; but, after a vain struggle against the hostile majority, it was compelled to resign, and thorbecke was called upon to form a ministry. thorbecke was thus the first constitutional prime-minister of holland. his answer to his opponents, who asked for his programme, was contained in words which he was speedily to justify: "wait for our deeds." a law was passed which added , votes to the electorate; and by two other laws the provincial and communal assemblies were placed upon a popular representative basis. the system of finance was reformed by the gradual substitution of direct for indirect taxation. by the navigation laws all differential and transit dues upon shipping were reduced; tolls on through-cargoes on the rivers were abolished, and the tariff on raw materials lowered. it was a considerable step forward in the direction of free-trade. various changes were made to lighten the incidence of taxation on the poorer classes. among the public works carried to completion at this time ( ) was the empoldering of the haarlem lake, which converted a large expanse of water into good pasture land. it was not on political grounds that the thorbecke ministry was to be wrecked, but by their action in matters which aroused religious passions and prejudices. the prime-minister wished to bring all charitable institutions and agencies under state supervision. their number was more than ; and a large proportion of these were connected with and supported by religious bodies. it is needless to say the proposal aroused strong opposition. more serious was the introduction of a catholic episcopate into holland. by the fundamental law of complete freedom of worship and of organisation had been guaranteed to every form of religious belief. it was the wish of the catholics that the system which had endured ever since the th century of a "dutch mission" under the direction of an italian prelate (generally the internuncio) should come to an end, and that they should have bishops of their own. the proposal was quite constitutional and, far from giving the papal curia more power in the netherlands, it decreased it. a petition to pius ix in met with little favour at rome; but in another petition, much more widely signed, urged the pope to seize the favourable opportunity for establishing a native hierarchy. negotiations were accordingly opened by the papal see with the dutch government, which ended (october, ) in a recognition of the right of the catholic church in holland to have freedom of organisation. it was stipulated, however, that a previous communication should be made to the government of the papal intentions and plans, before they were carried out. the only communication that was made was not official, but confidential; and it merely stated that utrecht was to be erected into an archbishopric with haarlem, breda, hertogenbosch and roeremonde, as suffragans. the ministry regarded the choice of such protestant centres as utrecht and haarlem with resentment, but were faced with the _fait accompli_. this strong-handed action of the roman authorities was made still more offensive by the issuing of a papal allocution, again without any consultation with the dutch government, in which pius ix described the establishment of the new hierarchy as a means of counteracting in the netherlands the heresy of calvin. a wave of fierce indignation swept over protestant holland, which united in one camp orthodox calvinists (anti-revolutionaries), conservatives and anti-papal liberals. the preachers everywhere inveighed against a ministry which had permitted such an act of aggression on the part of a foreign potentate against the protestantism of the nation. utrecht took the lead in drawing up an address to the king and to the states-general (which obtained two hundred thousand signatures), asking them not to recognise the proposed hierarchy. at the meeting of the second chamber of the states-general on april , thorbecke had little difficulty in convincing the majority that the pope had proceeded without consultation with the ministry, and that under the constitution the catholics had acted within their rights in re-modelling their church organisation. but his arguments were far from satisfying outside public opinion. on the occasion of a visit of the king to amsterdam the ministry took the step of advising him not to receive any address hostile to the establishment of the hierarchy, on the ground that this did not require the royal approval. william, who had never been friendly to thorbecke, was annoyed at being thus instructed in the discharge of his duties; and he not only received an address containing , signatures but expressed his great pleasure in being thus approached (april ). at the same time he summoned van hall, the leader of the opposition, to amsterdam for a private consultation. the ministry, on hearing of what had taken place, sent its resignation, which was accepted on april . thus fell the thorbecke ministry, not by a parliamentary defeat, but because the king associated himself with the uprising of hostile public opinion, known as the "april movement." a new ministry was formed under the joint leadership of van hall and donker-curtius; and an appeal to the electors resulted in the defeat of the liberals. the majority was a coalition of conservatives and anti-revolutionaries. the followers of groen van prinsterer were small in number, but of importance through the strong religious convictions and debating ability of the leader. the presence of donker-curtius was a guarantee for moderation; and, as van hall was an adept in political opportunism, the new ministry differed from its liberal predecessor chiefly in its more cautious attitude towards the reforms which both were ready to adopt. as it had been carried into office by the april movement, a church association bill was passed into law making it illegal for a foreigner to hold any church office without the royal assent, and forbidding the wearing of a distinctive religious dress outside closed buildings. various measures were introduced dealing with ministerial responsibility, poor-law administration and other matters, such as the abolition of the excise on meat and of barbarous punishments on the scaffold. the question of primary education was to prove for the next half-century a source of continuous political and religious strife, dividing the people of holland into hostile camps. the question was whether the state schools should be "mixed" i.e. neutral schools, where only those simple truths which were common to all denominations should be taught; or should be "separate" i.e. denominational schools, in which religious instruction should be given in accordance with the wishes of the parents. a bill was brought in by the government (september, ) which was intended to be a compromise. it affirmed the general principle that the state schools should be "neutral," but allowed "separate" schools to be built and maintained. this proposal was fiercely opposed by groen and gave rise to a violent agitation. the ministry struggled on, but its existence was precarious and internal dissensions at length led to its resignation (july, ). the elections of had effected but little change in the constitution of the second chamber, and the anti-revolutionary j.j.l. van der brugghen was called upon to form a ministry. groen himself declined office, van der brugghen made an effort to conciliate opposition; and a bill for primary education was introduced ( ) upholding the principle of the "mixed" schools, but with the proviso that the aim of the teaching was to be the instruction of the children "in christian and social virtues"; at the same time "separate" schools were permitted and under certain conditions would be subsidised by the state. groen again did his utmost to defeat this bill, but he was not successful; and after stormy debates it became law (july, ). the liberals obtained a majority at the elections of , and van der brugghen resigned. but the king would not send for thorbecke; and j.j. rochussen, a former governor-general of the dutch east indies, was asked to form a "fusion" ministry. during his tenure of office ( - ) slavery was abolished in the east indies, though not the cultivation-system, which was but a kind of disguised slavery. the way in which the javanese suffered by this system of compulsory labour for the profit of the home country--the amount received by the dutch treasury being not less than million florins in thirty years--was now scathingly exposed by the brilliant writer douwes dekker. he had been an official in java, and his novel _max havelaar_, published in under the pseudonym "multatuli," was widely read, and brought to the knowledge of the dutch public the character of the system which was being enforced. holland was at this time far behind belgium in the construction of a system of railroads, to the great hindrance of trade. a bill, however, proposed by the ministry to remedy this want was rejected by the first chamber, and rochussen resigned. the king again declined to send for thorbecke; and van hall was summoned for the third time to form a ministry. he succeeded in securing the passage of a proposal to spend not less than million florins annually in the building of state railways. all van hall's parliamentary adroitness and practised opportunism could not, however, long maintain in office a ministry supported cordially by no party. van hall gave up the unthankful task (february, ), but still it was not thorbecke, but baron s. van heemstra that was called upon to take his place. for a few months only was the ministry able to struggle on in the face of a liberal majority. there was now no alternative but to offer the post of first minister to thorbecke, who accepted the office (january , ). the second ministry of thorbecke lasted for four years, and was actively engaged during that period in domestic, trade and colonial reforms. thorbecke, as a free-trader, at once took in hand the policy of lowering all duties except for revenue purposes. the communal dues were extinguished. a law for secondary and technical education was passed in ; and in the same year slavery was abolished in surinam and the west indies. other bills were passed for the canalising of the hook of holland, and the reclaiming of the estuary of the y. this last project included the construction of a canal, the canal of holland, with the artificial harbour of ymuiden at its entrance, deep enough for ocean liners to reach amsterdam. with the advent of fransen van de putte, as colonial minister in , began a series of far-reaching reforms in the east indies, including the lowering of the differential duties. his views, however, concerning the scandal of the cultivation-system in java did not meet with the approval of some of his colleagues; and thorbecke himself supported the dissentients. the ministry resigned, and van de putte became head of the government. he held office for four months only. his bill for the abolition of the cultivation-system and the conversion of the native cultivators into possessors of their farms was thrown out by a small majority, thorbecke with a few liberals and some catholics voting with the conservatives against it. this was the beginning of a definite liberal split, which was to continue for years. a coalition-ministry followed under the presidency of j. van heemskerk (interior) and baron van zuylen van nyevelt (foreign affairs). the colonial minister mijer shortly afterwards resigned in order to take the post of governor-general of the east indies. this appointment did not meet with the approval of the second chamber; and the government suffered a defeat. on this they persuaded the king not only to dissolve the chamber, but to issue a proclamation impressing upon the electors the need of the country for a more stable administration. the result was the return of a majority for the heemskerk-van zuylen combination. it is needless to say that thorbecke and his followers protested strongly against the dragging of the king's name into a political contest, as gravely unconstitutional. the ministry had a troubled existence. the results of the victory of prussia over austria at sadowa, and the formation of the north german confederation under prussian leadership, rendered the conduct of foreign relations a difficult and delicate task, especially as regards luxemburg and limburg, both of which were under the personal sovereignty of william iii, and at the same time formed part of the old german confederation. the rapid success of prussia had seriously perturbed public opinion in france; and napoleon iii, anxious to obtain some territorial compensation which would satisfy french _amour-propre,_ entered into negotiations with william iii for the sale of the grand duchy of luxemburg. the king was himself alarmed at the prussian annexations, and queen sophie and the prince of orange had decided french leanings; and, as bismarck had given the king reason to believe that no objection would be raised, the negotiations for the sale were seriously undertaken. on march , , the prince of orange actually left the hague, bearing the document containing the grand duke's consent; and on april the cession was to be finally completed. on that very day the prussian ambassadors at paris and the hague were instructed to say that any cession of luxemburg to france would mean war with prussia. it was a difficult situation; and a conference of the great powers met at london on may to deal with it. its decision was that luxemburg should remain as an independent state, whose neutrality was guaranteed collectively by the powers, under the sovereignty of the house of nassau; that the town of luxemburg should be evacuated by its prussian garrison; and that limburg should henceforth be an integral part of the kingdom of the netherlands. van zuylen was assailed in the second chamber for his exposing the country to danger and humiliation in this matter; and the foreign office vote was rejected by a small majority. the ministry resigned; but, rather than address himself to thorbecke, the king sanctioned a dissolution, with the result of a small gain of seats to the liberals. heemskerk and van zuylen retained office for a short time in the face of adverse votes, but finally resigned; and the king had no alternative but to ask thorbecke to form a ministry. he himself declined office, but he chose a cabinet of young liberals who had taken no part in the recent political struggles, p.p. van bosse becoming first minister. from this time forward there was no further attempt on the part of the royal authority to interfere in the constitutional course of parliamentary government. van bosse's ministry, scoffingly called by their opponents "thorbecke's marionettes," maintained themselves in office for two years( - ), passing several useful measures, but are chiefly remembered for the abolition of capital punishment. the outbreak of the franco-german war in found, however, the dutch army and fortresses ill-prepared for an emergency, when the maintenance of strict neutrality demanded an efficient defence of the frontiers. the ministry was not strong enough to resist the attacks made upon it; and at last the real leader of the liberal party, the veteran thorbecke, formed his third ministry (january, ). but thorbecke was now in ill-health, and the only noteworthy achievement of his last premiership was an agreement with great britain by which the dutch possessions on the coast of guinea were ceded to that country in exchange for a free hand being given to the dutch in surinam. the ministry, having suffered a defeat on the subject of the cost of the proposed army re-organisation, was on the point of resigning, when thorbecke suddenly died (june , ). his death brought forth striking expressions of sympathy and appreciation from men and journals representing all parties in the state. for five-and-twenty years, in or out of office, his had been the dominating influence in dutch politics; and it was felt on all sides that the country was the poorer for the loss of a man of outstanding ability and genuine patriotism. * * * * * chapter xxxiv the later reign of william iii, and the regency of queen emma, - the death of thorbecke was the signal for a growing cleavage between the old _doctrinaire_ school of liberals, who adhered to the principles of , and the advanced liberalism of many of the younger progressive type. to gerrit de vries was entrusted the duty of forming a ministry, and he had the assistance of the former first minister, f. van de putte. his position was weakened by the opposition of the catholic party, who became alienated from the liberals, partly on the religious education question, but more especially because their former allies refused to protest against the italian occupation of rome. the election of did not improve matters, for it left the divided liberals to face an opposition of equal strength, whenever the conservatives, anti-revolutionaries and catholics acted together. this same year saw the first phase of the war with the piratical state of achin. an expedition of men under general köhler was sent out against the defiant sultan in april, , but suffered disaster, the general himself dying of disease. a second stronger expedition under general van swieten was then dispatched, which was successful; and the sultan was deposed in january, . this involved heavy charges on the treasury; and the ministry, after suffering two reverses in the second chamber, resigned (june, ), being succeeded by a heemskerk coalition ministry. heemskerk in his former premiership had shown himself to be a clever tactician, and for three years he managed to maintain himself in office against the combined opposition of the advanced liberals, the anti-revolutionaries and the catholics. groen van prinsterer died in may, ; and with his death the hitherto aristocratic and exclusive party, which he had so long led, became transformed. under its new leader, abraham kuyper, it became democratised, and, by combining its support of the religious principle in education with that of progressive reform, was able to exercise a far wider influence in the political sphere. kuyper, for many years a calvinist pastor, undertook in the editorship of the anti-revolutionary paper, _de standdard_. in he was elected member for gouda, but resigned in order to give his whole time to journalism in the interest of the political principles to which he now devoted his great abilities. the heemskerk ministry had the support of no party, but by the opportunist skill of its chief it continued in office for three years; no party was prepared to take its place, and "the government of the king must be carried on." the measures that were passed in this time were useful rather than important. an attempt to deal with primary instruction led to the downfall of the ministry. the elections of strengthened the liberals; and, an amendment to the speech from the throne being carried, heemskerk resigned. his place was taken by joannes kappeyne, leader of the progressive liberals. a new department of state was now created, that of waterways and commerce, whose duties in a country like holland, covered with a net-work of dykes and canals, was of great importance. a measure which denied state support to the "private" schools was bitterly resisted by the anti-revolutionaries and the catholics, whose union in defence of religious education was from this time forward to become closer. the outlay in connection with the costly achin war, which had broken out afresh, led to a considerable deficit in the budget. in consequence of this a proposal for the construction of some new canals was rejected by a majority of one. the financial difficulties, which had necessitated the imposing of unpopular taxes, had once more led to divisions in the liberal ranks; and kappeyne, finding that the king would not support his proposals for a revision of the fundamental law, saw no course open to him but resignation. in these circumstances the king decided to ask an anti-revolutionary, count van lynden van sandenburg, to form a "ministry of affairs," composed of moderate men of various parties. van lynden had a difficult task, but with the strong support of the king his policy of conciliation carried him safely through four disquieting and anxious years. the revolt of the boers in the transvaal against british rule caused great excitement in holland, and aroused much sympathy. van lynden was careful to avoid any steps which might give umbrage to england, and he was successful in his efforts. the achin trouble was, however, still a cause of much embarrassment. worst of all was the series of bereavements which at this time befell the house of orange-nassau. in queen sophie died, affectionately remembered for her interest in art and science, and her exemplary life. the king's brother, henry, for thirty years stadholder of luxemburg, died childless early in ; and shortly afterwards in june the prince of orange, who had never married, passed away suddenly at paris. the two sons of william iii's uncle frederick predeceased their father, whose death took place in . alexander, the younger son of the king, was sickly and feeble-minded; and with his decease in , the male line of the house of orange-nassau became extinct. foreseeing such a possibility in january, , the already aged king took in second wedlock the youthful princess emma of waldeck-pyrmont. great was the joy of the dutch people, when, on august , , she gave birth to a princess, wilhelmina, who became from this time forth the hope of a dynasty, whose history for three centuries had been bound up with that of the nation. the van lynden administration, having steered its way through many parliamentary crises for four years, was at last beaten upon a proposal to enlarge the franchise, and resigned (february , ). to heemskerk was confided the formation of a coalition ministry of a neutral character; and this experienced statesman became for the third time first minister of the crown. the dissensions in the liberal party converted the second chamber into a meeting-place of hostile factions; and heemskerk was better fitted than any other politician to be the head of a government which, having no majority to support it, had to rely upon tactful management and expediency. the rise of a socialist party under the enthusiastic leadership of a former lutheran pastor, domela nieuwenhuis, added to the perplexities of the position. it soon became evident that a revision of the fundamental law and an extension of the franchise, which the king no longer opposed, was inevitable. meanwhile the death of prince alexander and the king's growing infirmities made it necessary to provide, by a bill passed on august , , that queen emma should become regent during her daughter's minority. everything conspired to beset the path of the heemskerk ministry with hindrances to administrative or legislative action. the bad state of the finances (chiefly owing to the calls for the achin war) the subdivision of all parties into groups, the socialist agitation and the weak health of the king, created something like a parliamentary deadlock. a revision of the constitution became more and more pressing as the only remedy, though no party was keenly in its favour. certain proposals for revision were made by the government (march, ), but the anti-revolutionaries, the catholics and the conservatives were united in opposition, unless concessions were made in the matter of religious education. such concessions as were finally offered were rejected (april, ), and heemskerk offered his resignation. baron mackay (anti-revolutionary) declining office, a dissolution followed. the result of the elections, however, was inconclusive, the liberals of all shades having a bare majority of four; but there was no change of ministry. a more conciliatory spirit fortunately prevailed under stress of circumstances in the new chamber; and at last, after many debates, the law revising the constitution was passed through both chambers, and approved by the king (november , ). it was a compromise measure, and no violent changes were made. the first chamber was to consist of members, appointed by the provincial councils; the second chamber of members, chosen by an electorate of male persons of not less than years of age with a residential qualification and possessing "signs of fitness and social well-being"--a vague phrase requiring future definition. the number of electors was increased from (in round numbers) , to , , but universal male suffrage, the demand of the socialists and more advanced liberals, was not conceded. the elections of were fought on the question of religious education in the primary schools. the two "christian" parties, the calvinist anti-revolutionaries under the leadership of dr kuyper, and the catholics, who had found a leader of eloquence and power in dr schaepman, a catholic priest, coalesced in a common programme for a revision of kappeyne's education act of . the coalition obtained a majority, anti-revolutionaries and catholics being returned as against liberals of various groups. for the first time a socialist, domela nieuwenhuis, was elected. the conservative party was reduced to one member. in the first chamber the liberals still commanded a majority. in april, , baron mackay, an anti-revolutionary of moderate views, became first minister. the coalition made the revision of the education act of their first business; and they obtained the support of some liberals who were anxious to see the school question out of the way. the so-called "mackay law" was passed in . it provided that "private" schools should receive state support on condition that they conformed to the official regulations; that the number of scholars should be not less than twenty-five; and that they should be under the management of some body, religious or otherwise, recognised by the state. this settlement was a compromise, but it offered the solution of an acute controversy and was found to work satisfactorily. the death of king william on november , , was much mourned by his people. he was a man of strong and somewhat narrow views, but during his reign of years his sincere love for his country was never in doubt, nor did he lose popularity by his anti-liberal attitude on many occasions, for it was known to arise from honest conviction; and it was amidst general regret that the last male representative of the house of orange-nassau was laid in his grave. a proposal by the catholic minister borgesius for the introduction of universal personal military service was displeasing however to many of his own party, and it was defeated with the help of catholic dissidents. an election followed, and the liberals regained a majority. a new government was formed of a moderate progressive character, the premier being cornelis van tienhoven. it was a ministry of talents, tak van poortvliet (interior) and n.g. pierson (finance) being men of marked ability. pierson had more success than any of his predecessors in bringing to an end the recurring deficits in the annual balance sheet. he imposed an income tax on all incomes above florins derived from salaries or commerce. all other sources of income were capitalised (funds, investments, farming, etc.); and a tax was placed on all capital above , florins. various duties and customs were lowered, to the advantage of trade. there was, however, a growing demand for a still further extension of the franchise, and for an official interpretation of that puzzling qualification of the revision of --"signs of fitness and social well-being." tak van poortvliet brought in a measure which would practically have introduced universal male suffrage, for he interpreted the words as including all who could write and did not receive doles from charity. this proposal, brought forward in , again split up the liberal party. the moderates under the leadership of samuel van houten vigorously opposed such an increase of the electorate; and they had the support of the more conservative anti-revolutionaries and a large part of the catholics. the more democratic followers of kuyper and schaepman and the progressive radicals ranged themselves on the side of tak van poortvliet. all parties were thus broken up into hostile groups. the election of was contested no longer on party lines, but between takkians and anti-takkians. the result was adverse to tak, his following only mustering votes against for their opponents. a new administration therefore came into office (may, ) under the presidency of jonkheer johan roëll with van houten as minister of the interior. on van houten's shoulders fell the task of preparing a new electoral law. his proposals were finally approved in . before this took place the minister of finance, spenger van eyk, had succeeded in relieving the treasury by the conversion of the public debt from a - / to a per cent, security. the van houten reform of the franchise was very complicated, as there were six different categories of persons entitled to exercise the suffrage: ( ) payers of at least one guilder in direct taxation; ( ) householders or lodgers paying a certain minimum rent and having a residential qualification; ( ) proprietors or hirers of vessels of tons at least; ( ) earners of a certain specified wage or salary; ( ) investors of guilders in the public funds or of guilders in a savings bank; ( ) persons holding certain educational diplomas. this very wide and comprehensive franchise raised the number of electors to about , . the election of , after first promising a victory to the more conservative groups, ended by giving a small majority to the liberals, the progressive section winning a number of seats, and the socialists increasing their representation in the chamber. a liberal-concentration cabinet took the place of the roell-van houten ministry, its leading members being pierson (finance) and goeman-borgesius (interior). for a right understanding of the parliamentary situation at this time and during the years that follow, a brief account of the groups and sections of groups into which political parties in holland were divided, must here interrupt the narrative of events. it has already been told that the deaths of thorbecke and groen van prinsterer led to a breaking up of the old parties and the formation of new groups. the education act of brought about an alliance of the two parties, who made the question of religious education in the primary schools the first article of their political programme--the anti-revolutionaries led by the ex-calvinist pastor dr abraham kuyper and the catholics by dr schaepman, a catholic priest. kuyper and schaepman were alike able journalists, and used the press with conspicuous success for the propagation of their views, both being advocates of social reform on democratic lines. the anti-revolutionaries, however, did not, as a body, follow the lead of kuyper. an aristocratic section, whose principles were those of groen van prinsterer, "orthodox" and "conservative," under the appellation of "historical christians," were opposed to the democratic ideas of kuyper, and were by tradition anti-catholic. their leader was jonkheer savornin lohman. for some years there was a separate frisian group of "historical christians," but these finally amalgamated with the larger body. the liberals meanwhile had split up into three groups: ( ) the old independent _(vrij)_ liberals; ( ) the liberal progressive union _(unie van vooruitstrevende liberalen)_; ( ) liberal-democrats _(vrijzinnig-democratischen bond)_. the socialist party was a development of the _algemeene nederlandsche werklieden verbond_ founded in . ten years later, by the activities of the fiery agitator, domela nieuwenhuis, the social-democratic bond was formed; and the socialists became a political party. the loss of nieuwenhuis' seat in had the effect of making him abandon constitutional methods for a revolutionary and anti-religious crusade. the result of this was a split in the socialist party and the formation, under the leadership of troelstra, van kol and van der goes, of the "social-democratic workmen's party," which aimed at promoting the welfare of the proletariat on socialistic lines, but by parliamentary means. the followers of domela nieuwenhuis, whose openly avowed principles were "the destruction of actual social conditions by all means legal and illegal," were after known as "the socialist bond." this anarchical party, who took as their motto "neither god nor master," rapidly decreased in number; their leader, discouraged by his lack of success in , withdrew finally from the political arena; and the socialist bond was dissolved. this gave an accession of strength to the "social-democratic workmen's party," which has since the beginning of the present century gradually acquired an increasing hold upon the electorate. * * * * * chapter xxxv the reign of queen wilhelmina, - the pierson-borgesius ministry had not been long in office when queen wilhelmina attained her majority (august , ) amidst public enthusiasm. at the same time the queen-mother received many expressions of high appreciation for the admirable manner in which for eight years she had discharged her constitutional duties. the measures passed by this administration dealt with many subjects of importance. personal military service was at last, after years of controversy, enforced by law, ecclesiastics and students alone being excepted. attendance at school up to the age of was made obligatory, and the subsidies for the upkeep of the schools and the payment of teachers were substantially increased. the year was memorable for the meeting of the first peace congress (on the initiative of the tsar nicholas ii) at the _huis in't bosch_. the deliberations and discussions began on may and lasted until june . by the irony of events, a few months later (october ) a war broke out, in which the dutch people felt a great and sympathetic interest, between the two boer republics of south africa and great britain. bitter feelings were aroused, and the queen did but reflect the national sentiment when she personally received in the most friendly manner president krüger, who arrived in holland as a fugitive on board a dutch man-of-war in the summer of . the official attitude of the government was however perfectly correct, and there was never any breach in the relations between great britain and the netherlands. the marriage of queen wilhelmina, on february , , with prince henry of mecklenburg-schwerin was welcomed by the people, as affording hopes, for some years to be disappointed, of the birth of an heir to the throne. the elections of found the liberal ministry out of favour through the laws enforcing military service and obligatory attendance at school. against them the indefatigable dr kuyper, who had returned to active politics in , had succeeded in uniting the three "church" groups--the democratic anti-revolutionaries, the aristocratic historical christians (both orthodox calvinists) and the catholics of all sections--into a "christian coalition" in support of religious teaching in the schools. the victory lay with the coalition, and dr kuyper became first minister. the new administration introduced a measure on higher education, which was rejected by the first chamber. a dissolution of this chamber led to the majority being reversed, and the measure was passed. another measure revised the mackay law and conferred a larger subsidy on "private" schools. the socialist party under the able leadership of troelstra had won several seats at the election; and in a general strike was threatened unless the government conceded the demands of the socialist labour party. the threat was met with firmness; an anti-strike law was quickly passed; the military was called out; and the strike collapsed. the costly war in achin, which had been smouldering for some years, burst out again with violence in the years - , and led to sanguinary reprisals on the part of the dutch soldiery, the report of which excited indignation against the responsible authorities. various attempts had been made in and to introduce protectionist duties, but unsuccessfully. the quadrennial elections of found all the liberal groups united in a combined assault upon the christian coalition. a severe electoral struggle ensued, with the result that liberals and socialists were returned against coalitionists. dr kuyper resigned; and a new ministry, under the leadership of the moderate liberal, de meester, took its place. the de meester government was however dependent upon the socialist vote, and possessed no independent majority in either chamber. for the first time a ministry of agriculture, industry and trade was created. such an administration could only lead a precarious existence, and in an adverse vote upon the military estimates led to its resignation. th. heemskerk undertook the task of forming a new cabinet from the anti-revolutionary and catholic groups, and at the next general election of he won a conclusive victory at the polls. this victory was obtained by wholesale promises of social reforms, including old age pensions and poor and sick relief. as so often happens, such a programme could not be carried into effect without heavy expenditure; and the means were not forthcoming. to meet the demand a bill was introduced in august, , by the finance minister, dr kolkmar, to increase considerably the existing duties, and to extend largely the list of dutiable imports. this bill led to a widespread agitation in the country, and many petitions were presented against it, with the result that it was withdrawn. a proposal made by this ministry in to spend , , florins on the fortification of flushing excited much adverse criticism in the press of belgium, england and france, on the ground that it had been done at the suggestion of the german government, the object being to prevent the british fleet from seizing flushing in the event of the outbreak of an anglo-german war. the press agitation met, however, with no countenance on the part of responsible statesmen in any of the countries named; it led nevertheless to the abandonment of the original proposal and the passing of a bill in for the improvement of the defences of the dutch sea-ports generally. the election of reversed the verdict of . probably in no country has the principle of the "swing of the pendulum" been so systematically verified as it has in holland in recent times. the returns were in : church parties, ; liberals of all groups, ; socialists, . the most striking change was the increase in the socialist vote, their representation being more than doubled; and, as in , they held the balance of parties in their hands. with some difficulty dr cort van den linden succeeded in forming a liberal ministry. the outbreak of the great war in august, , prevented them from turning their attention to any other matters than those arising from the maintenance of a strict neutrality in a conflict which placed them in a most difficult and dangerous position. one of the first questions on which they had to take a critical decision was the closing of the scheldt. as soon as great britain declared war on germany (august ), holland refused to allow any belligerent vessels to pass over its territorial waters. the events of the six years that have since passed are too near for comment here. the liberal ministry at least deserves credit for having steered the country safely through perilous waters. nevertheless, at the quadrennial election of there was the customary swing of the pendulum; and an anti-liberal ministry (september ) was formed, with a catholic, m. ruys de beerenbronck, as first minister. * * * * * epilogue the dynastic connection of luxemburg with holland ceased with the accession of queen wilhelmina. the conditions under which the belgian province of luxemburg was created, by the treaty of vienna in , a grand-duchy under the sovereignty of the head of the house of orange-nassau with succession in default of heirs-male by the family compact, known as the _nassauischer erbverein_, to the nearest male agnate of the elder branch of the nassau family, have already been related. with the death of william iii the male line of the house of orange-nassau became extinct; and the succession passed to adolphus, duke of nassau-weilburg. how unfortunate and ill-advised was the action of the congress of vienna in the creation of the grand-duchy of luxemburg was abundantly shown by the difficulties and passions which it aroused in the course of the negotiations for the erection of belgium into an independent state ( - ). by the treaty of april , , the walloon portion of luxemburg became part of the kingdom of belgium, but in exchange for this cession the grand-duke obtained the sovereignty of a strip of the belgian province of limburg. this caused a fresh complication. luxemburg in was not merely severed from the netherlands; it, as a sovereign grand-duchy, was made a state of the germanic confederation. by virtue of the exchange sanctioned by the treaty of , the ceded portion of limburg became a state of the confederation. but with the revision of the dutch constitution, which in followed the final separation of holland and belgium, by the wish of the king his duchy of limburg was included in the new fundamental law, and thus became practically a dutch province. the limburgers had thus a strange and ambiguous position. they had to pay taxes, to furnish military contingents and to send deputies to two different sovereign authorities. this state of things continued with more or less friction, until the victory of prussia over austria in led to the dissolution of the germanic confederation. at the conference of london, , luxemburg was declared to be an independent state, whose neutrality was guaranteed by the great powers, while limburg became an integral portion of the kingdom of the netherlands. since the middle of the last century the financial position of holland has been continuously improving. the heavy indebtedness of the country, in the period which followed the separation from belgium, was gradually diminished. this was effected for a number of years by the doubtful expedient of the profits derived from the exploitation of the east indian colonies through the "cultivation system." with the passing of the revised fundamental law of the control of colonial affairs and of the colonial budget was placed in the hands of the states-general; and a considerable section of the liberal party began henceforth to agitate for the abolition of a system which was very oppressive to the javanese population. it was not, however, until that the reform was carried out. meanwhile, chiefly by the efforts of thorbecke, the methods of home finance had been greatly improved by the removal, so far as possible, of indirect imposts, and the introduction of a free trade policy, which since his days has been steadily maintained. such a policy is admirably suitable to a country which possesses neither minerals nor coal[ ], and whose wealth is mainly due to sea-or river-borne trade, to dairy farming and to horticulture. for its supply of corn and many other necessary commodities holland has to look to other countries. the fisheries still form one of the staple industries of the land, and furnish a hardy sea-faring population for the considerable mercantile marine, which is needed for constant intercourse with a colonial empire (the third in importance at the present time) consisting chiefly of islands in a far-distant ocean. between and , , , fl. have been devoted to the reduction of debt; and the sinking fund in was , , fl. since that date holland has suffered from the consequences of the great war, but, having successfully maintained her neutrality, she has suffered relatively far less than any of her neighbours. taxation in holland has always been high. it is to a large extent an artificial country; and vast sums have been expended and must always be expended in the upkeep of the elaborate system of dykes and canals, by which the waters of the ocean and the rivers are controlled and prevented from flooding large areas of land lying below sea level. culture in holland is widely diffused. the well-to-do classes usually read and speak two or three languages beside their own; and the dutch language is a finished literary tongue of great flexibility and copiousness. the system of education is excellent. since attendance at the primary schools between the ages of six and thirteen is compulsory. between the primary schools intermediate education (_middelbaaronderwijs_) is represented by "burgher night-schools" and "higher burgher schools." the night-schools are intended for those engaged in agricultural or industrial work; the "higher schools" for technical instruction, and much attention is paid to the study of the _vier talen_--french, english, german and dutch. in connection with these there is an admirable school of agriculture, horticulture and forestry at wageningen in gelderland. to the teaching at wageningen is largely due the acknowledged supremacy of holland in scientific horticulture. there is a branch establishment at groningen for agricultural training, and another at deventer for instruction in subjects connected with colonial life. the _gymnasia_, which are to be found in every town, are preparatory to the universities. the course lasts six years; and the study of latin and greek in addition to modern languages is compulsory. there are four universities, leyden, utrecht, groningen and amsterdam. the possession of a doctor's degree at one of these universities is necessary for magistrates, physicians, advocates, and for teachers in the _gymnasia_ and higher burgher schools. in so small a country the literary output is remarkable, and, marked as it is by scientific and intellectual distinction, deserves to be more widely read. the dutch are justly proud of the great part their forefathers played during the war of independence, and in the days of john de witt and william iii. for scientific historical research in the national archives, and in the publication of documents bearing upon and illustrating the national annals, dutch historians can compare favourably with those of any other country. special mention should be made of the labours of robert fruin, who may be described as the founder of a school with many disciples, and whose collected works are a veritable treasure-house of brilliant historical studies, combining careful research with acute criticism. among his many disciples the names of dr p.j. blok and dr h.t. colenbrander are perhaps the best known. in the department of biblical criticism there have been in holland several writers of european repute, foremost among whom stands the name of abraham kuenen. dutch writers of fiction have been and are far more numerous than could have been expected from the limited number of those able to read their works. in the second half of the th century, j. van lennep and mevrouw bosboom-toussaint were the most prolific writers. both of these were followers of the walter scott tradition, their novels being mainly patriotic romances based upon episodes illustrating the past history of the dutch people. van lennep's contributions to literature were, however, by no means confined to the writing of fiction, as his great critical edition of vondel's poetical works testifies. mevrouw bosboom-toussaint's novels were not only excellent from the literary point of view, but as reproductions of historical events were most conscientiously written. her pictures, for instance, of the difficult and involved period of leicester's governor-generalship are admirable. the writings of douwes dekker (under the pseudonym multatuli) are noteworthy from the fact that his novel _max havelaar_, dealing with life in java and setting forth the sufferings of the natives through the "cultivation system," had a large share in bringing about its abolition. the th century school of dutch novelists is of a different type from their predecessors and deals with life and life's problems in every form. among the present-day authors of fiction, the foremost place belongs to louis conperus, an idealist and mystic, who as a stylist is unapproached by any of his contemporaries. no account of modern holland would be complete without a notice of the great revival of dutch painting, which has taken place in the past half century. without exaggeration it may indeed be said that this modern renascence of painting in holland is not unworthy to be compared with that of the days of rembrandt. the names of joseph israels, hendrik mesdag, vincent van gogh, anton maure, and, not least, of the three talented brothers maris, have attained a wide and well-deserved reputation. and to these must be added others of high merit: bilders, scheffer, bosboom, rochussen, bakhuysen, du chattel, de haas and haverman. the traditional representation of the dutchman as stolid, unemotional, wholly absorbed in trade and material interests, is a caricature. these latter-day artists, like those of the th century, conclusively prove that the dutch race is singularly sensitive to the poetry of form and colour, and that it possesses an inherited capacity and power for excelling in the technical qualities of the painter's art. * * * * * footnotes: [footnote : hollandais, holländer, olandesi, olandeses, etc.] [footnote : in french books and documents, jacqueline.] [footnote : bois-le-duc.] [footnote : by english and french writers generally translated grand pensionary.] [footnote : it must be remembered that the states-general and the holland estates sat in the same building.] [footnote : adam smith, _wealth of nations_, i, .] [footnote : busken huet, _land van rembrant_, iii, .] [footnote : _acte van seclusie._] [footnote : nassauischer erbverein.] [footnote : charles white, _the belgic revolution_, , vol. , p. .] [footnote : _correspondence sécrète des pays-bas_. julian received his report of the conversation direct from count bylandt by permission of the king.] [footnote : from van maanen's private papers. see colenbrander's _belgische omwenteling_, p. .] [footnote : the ratification by the powers took place on the following dates:--france and great britain, january ; austria and prussia, april ; russia, may , .] [footenote : the prince of orange had married anna paulovna, sister of alexander i, in .] [footnote : the belgian coal field extends into dutch limburg.] * * * * * bibliography general (_a_) archivalia. books of reference aa, a.j. van der. biographisch woordenboek d. nederlanden bevatt. levensbeschrijvingen der personen, die zich in ons vaderland hebben vermaard gemacht, voortgezet door k.j.r. v. harderwijk en g.d.j. schotel. vols. haarlem. - . bergh, l. ph.c. van den. over mss betr. onze geschiedenis in het britsch museum bewaard. arnhem. . blok, p.j. onze archieven. amsterdam. . verslag aangaande een onderzoek in duitschland naar archivalia, belangrijk voor de geschiedenis van nederland. vols. the hague. - . verslag aangaande een voorloopig onderzoek in engelandt naar archivalia, belangrijk voor de gesch. v.n. the hague. . verslag aangaande een voorloopig onderzoek in parijs naar archivalia, belangrijk voor de gesch. v.n. the hague. . brink, r.c. bakhuizen van den. overzigt van het nederl. rijk's archief. the hague. . knuttel, w.p.c. nederlandsche bibliographic voor kerkgeschiedenis. amsterdam. . catalogus van de pamfletten-verzameling berustende in de koninklijke biblioteek. vols. the hague. , , . kok, j. vaderlandsch woordenboek. vols. amsterdam. - . petit, louis d. repertorium der verhandelingen en bijdragen betreff. de geschied. des vaterlands in tijdschriften en mengelwerken tot op verschenen. leyden. . riemsdijk, th.v. het rijk's archief te's gravenhage. the hague. . scheltema, p. inventaris van het amsterdamsch archief. vols. amsterdam. - . uhlenbeek, c.c. verslag aangaande een onderzoek in de archieven van rusland ten bate der nederl. geschiedenis. the hague. . (_b_) general history of the netherlands arend, j.p. algemeene geschiedenis des vaderlands van de vroegste tijden tot op heden, voortgezet.... vols. amsterdam. - . bilderdijk, w. geschiedenis des vaderlands. vols. amsterdam. - . blok, p.j. geschiedenis des vaderlands. vols. groningen. - . english translation in five parts. london and new york. davies, c.m. history of holland and of the dutch. vols. london. . fruin, r. geschiedenis der staat-instellingen in nederland tot den val der republiek. the hague. . groen v. prinsterer, g. handboek der geschied. des vaterlands. vols. leyden. . jonge, j.c. de. geschiedenis v. het nederlandsche zee-wesen. vols. the hague. - . nijhoff, i.a. staatkundige geschiedenis van nederland. vols. zutphen. - . rijsens, f. geschiedenis van ons vaderland. groningen. . rogers, j.e. thorold. history of holland. london. . vos, j.m. geschiedenis van ons vaderland van oude tijden tot heden. groningen. . vreede, g.w. inleiding tot eene geschiedenis der nederlandsche diplomatie. vols. utrecht. - . wagenaar, j. vaderlandsche historie. vols. amsterdam. - . wenzelberger, k. th. geschichte der niederlande. vols. gotha. - . wijne, j.a. geschiedenis van het vaderland. groningen. . xvith century (_a_) contemporary works and collections of original documents bor, p. oorspronck, begin en ende aenvang der nederlandsche oorlogen, beroerten ende borgelijcke oneenicheyden. vols. amsterdam and leyden. . bruce, j. correspondence of leicester during his government in the low countries. london. . carnero, a. historia de las guerras civiles que han avido en los estados de flandes des del anno hasta el de , y las causas de la rebelion de dichos estados. brussels. . coloma, c. las guerras de los estados baxos, desde el anno de hasta el de . antwerp. . gachard, p.l. correspondance de philippe ii sur les affaires des pays-bas. vols. brussels. - . --correspondance de guillaume le taciturne. vols. brussels. - --correspondance d'alexandre farnese, prince de parma, gouv.-gen. des pays-bas avec philippe ii, - . brussels. . groen v. prinsterer, g. archives ou correspondance inédite de la maison d'orange-nassau. i^e série. vols. leyden. ^e série. vols. utrecht. - . grotius, hugo. annales et historiae de rebus belgicis. amsterdam. . hooft, p.c. nederlandsche historien, - . amsterdam. . juste, th. charles quint et marguerite d'autriche. brussels. . le glay, a. maximilian i et marguerite d'autriche. paris. . lettenhove, j.m. kervyn de. relations politiques des pays-bas et de l'angleterre sous le règne de philippe ii. vols. brussels. - . meteren, e. van. belgische ofte nederlandsche historien van onzen tijden tot . delft. . petit, j.f. le. grande chronique de hollande, zelande, etc. jusqu'à la fin de . vols. dordrecht. . reyd, e. van. vornaemste gheschiedennissen in de nederlanden, - . arnhem. . weiss, c. papiers d'État de cardinal granvelle. vols. paris. - . 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(bishop of salisbury). history of my own times. vols. london. - . capellen, alex. van der. gedenkschriften, - , uitg. d. r.j. v. d. capellen. vols. utrecht. - . d'estrades, comte g. lettres, memoires, negotiations depuis . vols. london. . gardiner, s.r. letters and papers rel. to the first dutch war, - . vols. london. - . groen v. prinsterer, g. archives ou correspondance de la maison d'orange. e série. vols. utrecht. - . grotius, hugo. epistolae ad gallos. leyden. . hooft, p.c. brieven ( - ) met toelichtingen door v. vloten. vols. leyden. - . huyghens, constantijn. dagboek, - . ed. j.h. unger. amsterdam. . mémoires. ed. t. jorissen. the hague. . huyghens, constantijn de zoon. journael gedurende de veldtochten der jaren , , , en . utrecht. . laet, j. de. historic ofte jaerlijck verhael van de verrichtingen der west indische compagnie, sedert . leyden. . marie, reine d'angleterre, é'pouse de guillaume iii, lettres et mémoires de collection de doc. authent. inédits publ. par mad. comtesse bentinck. the hague. . mary, queen of england, memoirs of. ed. e. doelmer. leipzig. . temple, sir w. letters written by w. temple and other ministers of state containing an account of the most important transactions that passed from - . vols. london. - . letters written during his being ambassador at the hague to the earl of arlington and john trevor, secretaries of state, by d. jones. london. . thurloe, j. collection of state papers, etc. vols. london. - . wicquefort, abraham de. histoire des provinces unies des pays-bas depuis la paix de munster, - . edd. lenting and van buren. vols. amsterdam. - . witt, j. de. brieven ...gewisselt tusschen den heer johann de witt ... ende de gevolmagtigden v. d. staet d. vereen. nederlanden, so in vrankryck, engelandt, zweden, denemarken, poolen enz. - . vols. the hague. - . ( _b_)later works beins, l. jean de witt en zijne buitenlandsche politick, - . groningen. . brill, w.c. cromwell's strijving naar eene coalitie tusschen de nederlanden en de britsche republiek. amsterdam. . edmundson, george. anglo-dutch rivalry in the first half of the th century. oxford. . fruin, r. de oorlogsplannen van prins willem ii na zijn aanslag op amsterdam in . the hague. . het process van buat, . the hague. . geddes, j. history of the administration of john de witt. the hague. . japikse, n. de verwikkelingen tusschen de republiek en engeland, - . london. . lefevre-pontalis, a. vingt années de république parlementaire au xvii^e siècle. jean de witt, grand pensionaris de hollande. vols. paris. . muller, p.l. wilhelm iii von oranien und georg friedrich van waldeck. ein beitrag zur geschichte des kampfes um das euro-paische gleichgewicht, - . vols. the hague. - . nederland en de groote keurvorst. the hague. . mutzukuri, g. englisch-niederländische unionsstrebungen im zeit-alter cromwell's. tubingen. . sirtema de grovestins. guillaume iii et louis xiv. vols. paris. . treitschke, h. von. die republik der vereinigten niederlande. historische und politische aufsatze. vols. leipzig. . (_c_) biographical baumgÄrtner, alexander. joost van den vondel, zijn leven en zijne werken. (trs. from german.) amsterdam. . brandt, c. leven en bedrijf van michiel de ruyter. amsterdam. . dalton, c. life and times of sir edward cecil, viscount wimbledon, colonel of an english regiment in the dutch service, - . vols. london. . edmundson, g. frederick henry, prince of orange. (eng. hist. rev. , -- .) louis de geer. (eng. hist. rev. -- .) pieter cornelisz. hooft. (eng. hist. rev. -- .) geer, j.l.w. de. lodewijk de geer van finspong en leufsta, - . utrecht. . kemp, ... maurits van nassau, prins v. oranje, in zijn leven en verdiensten. vols. rotterdam. . le clercq, p. het leven van frederick hendrick. vols. the hague. . markham, c.b. the fighting veres. lives of sir francis vere and sir horace vere, successively generals of the queen's forces in the low countries. boston. . michel, e. rembrandt, sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. paris. . motley, j.l. life and death of john of barneveldt. vols. the hague. . oostkamp, j.a. leven en daden van marten harpzn. tromp en jacob van wassenaar van obdam. deventer. . schotel, g.d.j. anna maria van schuurman. 'shertogenbosch. . simons, p. johan de witt en zijn tijd. vols. amsterdam. - . traill, h.d. william iii. london. . trevor, a. life and times of william iii, - . vols. london. - . vloten, j. van. tesselschade roemers en hare vrienden, - . leyden. . (_d_) colonization, commerce, voyages deventer, m.l. v. geschiedenis der nederlanders op java. vols. haarlem. - . dijk, ..d. nederland's vroegste betrekkingen met borneo, den solo archipels, cambodja, siam en cochin china. amsterdam. . edmundson, g. the dutch power in brazil ( ) the struggle for bahia, - . ( ) the first conquests. (eng. hist. rev. -- ; -- .) --the dutch in western guiana. (eng. hist. rev. -- .) --the dutch on the amazon and negro in the th century. (eng. hist. rev. -- ; -- .) --the swedish legend in guiana. (eng. hist. rev. -- .) huet, p.d. mémoires sur le commerce des hollandais dans tous les etats et empires du monde. amsterdam. . jonge, j.k.j. de. de opkomst van het nederl. gezag in oost indie. vols. the hague. - . kampen, n.g. van. geschiedenis der nederlanders buiten europa. vols. haarlem. - . lauts, g. geschiedenis van de vestiging, uitbreiding ... van de magt der nederlanders in indie. vols. groningen and amsterdam. - . leupe, p.a. reisen der nederlanders naar het zuidland of nieuw holland in de e en e eeuw. amsterdam. . luzac, e. holland's rijkdom, behoudende den oorsprong van der koophandel en de magt van dezer staat. vols. leyden. . netscher, p.m. les hollandais au bresil. the hague. . netscher, p.m. geschiedenis van de kolonien essequibo, demerary en berbice van de vestiging der nederlanders tot op onzen tijd. the hague. . rees, o. van. geschiedenis der nederl. volkplantingen in noord america. tiel. . ---- geschiedenis der koloniale politiek. utrecht. . valentijn, f. oud-en nieuw-oost-indien, vervatt. eene verhandelinge v. nederlands mogentheyd in die gewesten, also eene verhandelinge over ...kaap der goede hoop. vols. dort. . (_e_) literature, culture, fine arts brink, j. ten. geschiedenis der nederlandsche letterkunde. amsterdam. . busken huËt, c. het land van rembrandt. studien over de noord nederlandsche beschaving in de vxii'e eeuw. vols. haarlem. . collot d'escury, h. holland's roem in kunsten en wetenschappen. vols. the hague. - . edmundson, g. milton and vondel. london. . haar, b. ter. holland's bloei in schoone kunsten en wetenschappen by het sluiten van de munstersche vrede. leyden. . harting, p. leven en werken van christiaan huyghens. amsterdam. . havard, henri. l'art et les artistes hollandais. paris. . hellwald, f. von. geschichte des holländischen theaters. rotterdam. . jonckbloet, w.j.a. geschiedenis des nederlandsche letterkunde in de zeventiende eeuw. vols. groningen. . koning, j. geschiedenis van het slot te muiden en hooft's leven op hetselve. amsterdam. . korteweg, d.j. het bloeitijdperk der wiskundige wetenschappen in nederland. amsterdam. - . mÜller, lucian. geschichte der klassischen philologie in den niederlanden. leipzig. . siegenbeek, m. geschiedenis van der leidsche hooge school. leyden. - . straeten, e. van der. la musique aux pays-bas avant le 'e siècle. brussels. . vloten, j. van. het nederlandsche kluctspel van de 'e tot de 'e eeuw. vols. haarlem. - . vondel, j. van den. werken in verband gebracht met zijn leven en voorzien van verldaring en aanteekeningen d. j. v. lennep. vols. amsterdam. - . willems, a. les elzevier. histoire et annales typographiques. the hague. . witsen geysbeek, p.g. biographisch, anthologisch, en critisch woordenboek der nederlandsche dicters. vols. amsterdam. - . wybrants, c.e. het amsterdamsch tooneel. amsterdam. . (_f_) religious and ecclesiastical brandt, g. historic der reformatie en andere kerkelijke geschiedennissen in en omtrent de nederlanden tot . vols. amsterdam. - . chatelain, n. histoire du synode de dordrecht dès à . amsterdam. . fruin, r. de wederopluiking van het katholicisme in noord-nederland omtrent den aanvang der 'e eeuw. amsterdam. . knuttel, w.p.c. de toestand der nederl. katholieken ten tijde der republiek. vols. the hague. - . montanus, a. kerkelijke historic van nederland. amsterdam. . montijn, g.g. geschiedenis der hervorming in de nederlanden. vols. arnhem. - . nuijens, w.j.f. geschiedenis der kerkelijke en politieke geschillen in de republiek der zeven vereen. prov., - . vols. amsterdam. . regenborg, j. historic der remonstranten. vols. amsterdam. . veen, a.j.v.d. remonstranten en contra-remonstranten. vols. sneek. . xviiith century (_a_) original authorities and collections of documents actes, mémoires et autres pièces authentiques concernant la paix d'utrecht. vols. utrecht. - . bowdler, t. letters written in holland in the months of september and october, , to which is added a collection of letters and other papers relating to the journey of the princess of orange on june , . london. . brieven en negotiatien van l.l. van de spiegel. amsterdam. . brieven van prins willem v aan baron v. leynden. the hague. . de jonge, j.k.j. documents politiques et diplomatiques sur les revolutions de et dans la republique des provinces unies. (ned. rijk's archief.) the hague. . lettres et mémoires sur la conduite de la présente guerre et sur les negotiations de paix, jusqu'à la fin des conferences de geertruidenbergh. vols. the hague. - . linguet, s.n.h. lettres au comte de trauttmansdorf, ministre plenipotentiaire par empereur [joseph ii] aux pays-bas, et . brussels. . maguette, f. joseph ii et la liberté de l'escaut. mémoires couronnés et autres mémoires publiés par l'académie royale des sciences de belgique. vol. xv. brussels. . malmesbury, diaries and correspondence of james harris, earl of. vols. london. . mandrillon, j.h. mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la révolution des provinces unies en . paris. . marlborough, despatches of john, duke of. ed. sir g. murray. vols. london. . torcy, marquis de. mémoires pour servir a l'histoire des négotiations depuis le traité de rijswijck jusqu'a la paix d'utrecht. paris. . vreede, c.g. correspondance diplomatique et militaire du duc de marlborough, du grand-pensionaris heinsius, et du trésorier-général j. hop. amsterdam. . (_b_) historical narratives bossche, e. van der. le traité de la barrière. bruges. . colenbrander, h.t. de patrioten tijd, - . vols. the hague. - . ---- de bataafsche republiek. the hague. . ellis, george. history of the late revolution in the dutch republic. london. . history of the internal affairs of the united provinces, from the year to the commencement of hostilities in june, . london. . jorissen, t. de patriotten te amsterdam in . amsterdam. . kane, richard. campaigns of king william and of the duke of marlborough. nd ed. london. . kluit, a. historic der hollandsche staatsregering tot . vols. amsterdam. - . legrand, l. la révolution française en hollande; la république batave. paris. . loon, h.w.v. the fall of the dutch republic. london. . meulen, a.j.v.d. studies over de ministrie van van de spiegel. leyden. . ondaatje, q. bijdragen tot de geschiedenis der omwenteling van . dunkirk. . schimmelpennick, rutger. j.s. en eenige gebeurtenissen van zijn tijd. amsterdam. . verenet, g. pierre le grand en hollande, et . utrecht. . weber, o. die quadrupel-allianz vom jahre . vienna. . wreede, g.w. geschiedenis der diplomatic van de bataafsche republiek. vols. utrecht. . (_c_) biographical arneth, a., ritter von. prinz eugen van savoyen. vols. vienna. . kollewijn, b. bilderdijk. vols. amsterdam. . mendels, m.h.w. daendels, - . vols. the hague. . nijhoff, i.a. de hertog van brunswijk. the hague. . schenk, w.g.f. wilhelm der fünfte. stuttgart. . sillem, j.a. gogel. amsterdam. . ---- dirk van hogendorp. amsterdam. . xixth century and after (_a_) original authorities and collections of documents barthels, a. documents historiques sur la révolution belge. brussels. . bonaparte, louis (comte de st leu). documents historiques et réflexions sur le gouvernement de la hollande. vols. london. . falck, a.r. brieven - met levensberigt d.o.w. hora siccama. the hague. . ---- amtsbrieven, - . the hague. . handelingen van de staten general ( 'e en 'e kamer), - . vols. the hague. - . histoire parlementaire du traité de paix du avril, , entre la belgique et la hollande, contenant tous les discours. vols. brussels. . krayenhoff, c.r.t. bijdragen tot de vaderlandsche geschiedenis van de belangrijke jaren - . nimwegen. . lipman, s.p. nederlandsch constitutioneel archief van alle koninklijke aanspraken en parlementaire addressen, - . vols. amsterdam. -- . rocquais, f. napoléon et le roi louis d'après les documents conservés aux archives nationales. paris. . soelen, verstolk van. recueil de pièces diplomatiques relatives aux affaires de la hollande et de la belgique, - . vols. the hague. - . thorbecke, j.r. brieven aan groen v. prinsterer, - . amsterdam. . ---- parlementaire redevoeringen. vols. deventer. - . (_b_) historical narratives beaufort, w.h.de. de eerste regierings jaren van koning willem i. amsterdam. . bosch kemper, j. de. staatkundige geschiedenis van nederland na . vols. amsterdam. - . bruyne, j.a. geschiedenis van nederland in onzen tijd. vols. schiedam. - . colenbrander, h.t. de belgische omwenteling. the hague. . gerlache, e.c.de. histoire du royaume des pays-bas depuis jusqu'en . vols. brussels. . houten, s. van. vijf en twintig jaar in de kamer, - . haarlem. . keppers, g.l. de regeering van koning willem iii. groningen. . ---- het regentschap van koningin emma. the hague. . lastdrager, a.j. nieuwste geschiedenis v. nederland in jaarlijksche overzigten ( - ). vols. amsterdam. - . nothomb, baron j.b. essai historique et politique sur la révolution belge. vols. th ed. brussels. . nuyens, w.j.f. geschiedenis van het nederlandsche volk van tot op onze dagen. vols. amsterdam. - . rengers, w.j. van walderen. schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis van nederland sedert . vols. the hague. . witkamp en craandijk. vereeniging en scheiding. geschiedenis van noord-nederland en belgie van - . doesburgh. . wolf, n.h. de regeering van koningin wilhelmina. rotterdam. . wÜpperman, w.e.a. geschiedenis van den tiendagschen veldtocht. amsterdam. . (_c_) biographical abbink, j.j. leven van koning willem ii. amsterdam. . arnoldi, j. van. leven en karakter-schets van koning willem i. zutphen. . bos, f. de. prins frederik der nederlanden. vols. schiedam. - . bosscha, j. het leven van willem ii, koning der nederlanden, - . amsterdam. . brink, j. ten. prins frederik der nederlanden. the hague. . deschamps, p. la reine wilhelmina. paris. . mees az, g. levenschets van g.k. hogendorp. amsterdam. . pierson, allard. onze tijdgenooten. amsterdam. . thijm, j.a. alberdingk, door a.j. amsterdam. . vos, a.j. de. groen van prinsterer en zijn tijd. dordrecht. . (_d_) colonial boys, h. scott. some notes on java and its administration by the dutch. allahabad. . day, c. the policy and administration of the dutch in java. new york. . perselaer, m.t.h. nederlandsche indië. vols. leyden. - . pierson, n.g. koloniale politiek. amsterdam. . staatsblad voor nederl. indië - . vols. the hague and batavia. - . verslag van het beheer en der staat der nederlandsche bezittingen in oost-en west-indië en ter kust van guinea. vols. the hague. - . (_e_) general boissevain, j.h.g. de limburgsche questie. tiel. . brink, j. ten. geschiedenis der noord-nederlandsche letteren in de xix^e eeuw. eendegeest, g. van. over de droogmaking van het haarlemmer meer. vol. i. leyden. . vol. ii. the hague. . vol. iii. amsterdam. . fruin, j.a. de nederlandsche wetboeken tot . utrecht. . heringa, dr a. free trade and protection in holland. london. . lohman, a.f. de savornin. onze constitutie. utrecht. . marius, g. hermine. dutch painting in the th century. (trans. by de mattos.) london. . nippold, f. die römische katholische kirche im königreich der niederlände. leipzig. . painting, modern dutch. edinburgh review. july, . robertson scott, j.w. war-time and peace in holland. london. . root, e.w. de. geschiedenis van den nederlandsche handel. amsterdam. . seckenga, f.w. geschiedenis der nederlandsche belastingen sedert . the hague. . verschave, p. la hollande politique. the hague. . * * * * * [illustration: the netherlands _about_ ] * * * * * index aachen, , aalst, _abbatage_, , f. abel tasman river, abjuration, act of ( ), _académie des sciences_ (paris), achin, ff., adair, sir robert, admiralty colleges, , f., , f., , , adolf, duke of gelderland, ff. adolphus, duke of nassau-weilburg, adolphus of nassau, advocate, land's, or council-pensionary, powers and functions of, f. aerschot, duke of, , , aerssens, cornelis van, lord of sommelsdijk, aerssens, francis van, lord of sommelsdijk, , , , f., , f., agincourt, battle of, agriculture, horticulture and forestry hool of, aine, aix-la-chapelle, treaty of ( ), , ; ( ), f., alberoni, cardinal, albert, cardinal archduke, , f., ff., , albert of saxe-meissen, duke, stadholder, f. albertina agnes, wife of william frederick, , albuquerque, duarte de, , albuquerque, matthias de, ff., _alcabala_, aldenhoven, alexander i, tsar of russia, , , alexander, prince, son of william iii, alexander of parma, _see_ farnese _algemeene nederlandsche werklieden verbond_, algerian pirates, algiers, dey of, alkmaar, , , , all saints, bay of (_bahia de todos los santos_), , alliance, treaties of, f., , , , ff., almanza, almonde, philip van, alsace, alva, duke of, , - , - , , , , amalia von solms, countess, , , , , , amazon river, f. amboina, , f., , f., amboise, american revolution, amerongen, amersfoort, , , amiens, peace of ( ), _amortisatie-syndikaat_, the, amstel, the, , amstelland, amsterdam, _passim_; university of, , _amsterdam_, ship, anabaptists, f. anastro, gaspar, anglo-prussian alliance, anjou, duke of, , , , - , anna paulovna, , anne, princess royal, wife of william iv, , - anne, queen, , , anne de beaujeu, regent, anne of austria, wife of philip ii, anne of austria, regent of france, , anne of brittany, anne of egmont, anne of saxony, wife of william, prince of orange, , f., anthony, duke of brabant, husband of duchess elizabeth of görlitz, anthony of burgundy, younger brother of john the fearless, antonio vaz, island, antwerp, _passim_; treaty concluded at ( ), appeldoorn canal, the, "april movement," the, f. archangel, , , architofsky, colonel, aremberg, count of, stadholder, , arlington, lord, , armada, , , armed neutrality, league of, , armenteros (_argenteros_), secretary of the duchess of parma, f. arminius (jacob harmenz), , arnhem, arnhem cape, arnold of egmont, duke, arras, diocese of, f.; union of ( ), f. _arreyal de bom jesus_, , artois, , , , , , , , , ath, , auchmuty, general, augereau, general, augsburg, , augustus of saxony, australia, austrian netherlands, insurrection in, austrian succession war, , - austruweel, axel, ayscue, vice-admiral, , f., aysma, agent of leicester, backhuizen, ludolf, baden, , bahia, , f., , bakhuysen, artist, balance of power in europe, , f., , baltic trade, , , , , , , , , , , banckers, vice-admiral, banda islands, f., , f. baner, bank of the netherlands, banking houses, bantam, , , barendtsz, william, barlaeus, caspar, , barlaymont, baron de, , , f., barra, the, f. barrier treaties, , f., bart, jean, barthels, , basel, , batavia, java, , f., , batavian legion, f. batavian republic, the, - bavaria, , , f., beachy head, beauharnais, eugène, beerenbronck, ruys de, "beggars of the sea," f., , ff., belgian limburg, belgian netherlands, , , belgian revolution, , - belgium, , , , , , ff., , etc.; union of, with holland, - bender abbas, bengal, bentinck, count william, , , bentinck, william, earl of portland, , , , berbice, , , , , berbice river, berchem, nicolas, beresina, the, bergen, f., bergen-op-zoom, , berghen, marquis of, , , berkeley, vice-admiral, berlin, , , , , ; decree of ( ), bernard of saxe-weimar, berwick, béthune, , beukelsz, william, of biervliet, , beverweert, f., biberibi river, bicker, andries, f., bicker, cornelis, f., bicker, wendela, , bilderdijk, , bilders, artist, binnenhof, the (at the hague), , f., , , , bishoprics, creation of, f. bismarck, blaeu, willem jansz, blake, naval commander, - bleiswijk, council-pensionary, , blenheim, blok, dr p.j., blood, council of, , , blood-placards, , f. "blossoming eglantine," , blücher, boer war, boers, revolt of the, bogerman of leeuwarden, johannes, f., bohemia, , , bois-le-duc, , f. boisot, commanding the sea beggars, ff. bol, ferdinand, _bolduc la pucelle_, bolingbroke, viscount, _see_ st john bologna, bonn, , bontekoe, willem, bor, chronicler, borgesius, catholic minister, , borinage, the, borkelo, lordship of, borneo, , borselen, wolferd van, lord of veere, stadholder, bosboom, artist, bosboom-toussaint, mevrouw, bosse, p.p. van, bossu, stadholder, , f. both, andreas, both, jan, both, pieter, governor-general, , bouchain, , bouches de issel, bouches de l'escaut, bouches de la meuse, bouches du rhin, boudaen, admiral, boufflers, marshal, , , bouillon, duchy of, bourges, boyne, battle of the, brabant, _passim_ brandenburg, , , ff., , , brandenburg, elector of, f., , , f., brandt, biographer, brantsen, envoy, brazil, , f., , , ff., ff., , "bread and cheese folk," breda, , , , , , , , , ff., , , ; congress of, f.; treaty of, , , , brederode, field-marshal, , , brederode, frans van, brederode, henry, count of, , - , brederode, lancelot, brederôo, gerbrand adriansz, , breedevoort, brest, , brill, f., , , , brink, bakhuizen van der, brittany, broeck, pieter van der, broglie, maurice de, bishop of ghent, , , brömsebro, treaty of, bronkhorst, dirk van, broodhuis, the (at brussels), broukère, charles de, brouwer, adrian, brouwershaven, browne, scottish official, bruges, f., , , , f., , , , , , , , ff., brugghen, j.j.l. van der, f. brun, spanish envoy, brune, general, brunswick, , , brunswick, charles, duke of, f. brunswick-lüneburg, brunswick-wolfenbüttel, lewis ernest, duke of, , - , , brussels, _passim_; congress of, f.; union of, , buat, the lord of, bubble companies, buchhorn, bulbs, trade in, burchgrave, daniel de, buren, count of, burgos, , burgundian netherlands, - burgundy, , , , , burnet, bishop, bushey park, buys, paul, advocate, , f., , buys, pensionary, , bylandt, count, lieut-general, , f. cabelliau, abraham, cabo corso, cadiz, , cadsand, , caerden, paulus van, calais, , , , callantroog, callenberg, calmar, calvin, calvinism, calvinists, , ff., , f., , , cambray, ; league of, ; peace congress at ( ), camisaders, camperdown, , canal of holland, canals, , , canary islands, capadose, calvinistic leader, cape breton, cape colony, , cape of good hope, , , , , , , capibaribi river, carib tribes, caribbean sea, carleton, sir dudley, , , , carnot, caroline, princess, regent, f. caroline, queen, carolingian empire, tripartite division of, caron, francis, caron cape, carpentaria, gulf of, f. carpentier, pieter, f. carrying-trade, , , , f., , , , f., , , cartagena, cartesian system, the, castel-rodrigo, spanish governor, castlereagh, lord, , f., castricum, castro, alphonso de, catalonia, cateau-cambresis, treaty of ( ), , catherine ii, empress, , catholic episcopate, establishment of, f. _catholique_, the, , cats, jacob, council-pensionary, , , , , , , ; _hofwijck, cluijswerck, voorhout_ and _zeestraet_ of, cautionary towns, , , , , ceylon, , , , , , , , chamber of accounts, college of, , chambers of rhetoric, champagney, governor of antwerp, charleroi, , , , charles i of england, f., , f., , f., , charles ii of england, f., , , - , , , , f., f., ff., - charles ii of spain, ff. charles v, emperor, - , , - , , , , , , charles v of france, charles vi, emperor, , , charles vii (charles albert, elector of bavaria), emperor, , , f., charles viii of france, charles ix of france, , charles ix of sweden, charles x gustavus of sweden, , ff. charles x of france, charles xii of sweden, , charles, archduke, , , ff., f. charles christian, prince of nassau-weilburg, charles edward, the young pretender, charles of egmont (gelderland), , f., charles of lorraine, f. charles the bold (_le téméraire_), ff., - charlotte, princess of england, , , charlotte de bourbon, , charnacé, french ambassador, chassé, general, , chatham, chatham, lord, châtillon, conference of ( ), châtillon, french commander, châtillon, french envoy, chaumont, cheribon, chesapeake bay, chesterfield, lord, china, , christian iv of denmark, f., - "christian coalition," christianopel, treaty of, christina of sweden, christopher, duke, son of the elector palatine, church association act, churchill, john, _see_ marlborough clancarty, lord, , clarendon, claude, sister of philibert, prince of orange-châlons, clement vii, pope, cleves, cloppenburch, coburg, austrian commander, f. coccaeus, cochon, member of national convention, cockayne, alderman, cockerill, of seraing machine factory _code napoléon_, the, , cods of holland, coehoorn, coelim, coevorden, , colberg heath, colbert, colenbrander, dr h.t., , coligny, admiral, , , coligny (téligny), louise de, f., , , , _collegium philosophicum_, , , cologne, , , , f., f., f., , , cologne, archbishop of, cologne, elector-archbishop of, bishop of liège, colombo, colonies, , , , , , , , etc. commercial and economic expansion, - commissioned councillors, college of, , "compromise," the, - "concept of harmony," , , condé, , condé, princess of, conperus, louis, constance, _league of_ ( ), constantine the great, constantinople, , constitution, revision of the, - _consulta_, , consultation, act of ( ), , contarini, tommaso, continental system, , , contra-remonstrants, ff., f., _contra-remonstratie_, cook's strait, coornheert, dirk volkertz, copenhagen, f. coromandel, , council of state, powers and functions of, f. council-pensionaries, powers and functions of, f. _coursier des pays bas_, the, courtrai, , , , crécy, battle of, cromwell, , , - , , , cuba, culemberg, count of, f., cultivation-system, f., , cumberland, duke of, , f. curaçoa, , , cuyp, albert, d'affry, french ambassador, ff. d'allègne, marquis, d'alphonse, baron, d'argenson, french minister, f. d'avaux, french ambassador, , , d'avila, sancho, , , d'ellougue, d'estrades, count, , , f., d'estrées, , , d'hoogvoort, baron emmanuel, - d'hoogvoort, baron joseph, d'oultremont, countess henriette, d'ursel, duke, daendels, general, f., f., , - , dale, sir thomas, danube, the, danzig, , david, son of philip the good and bishop of utrecht, , davis' straits, de beaufort, admiral, , de beauharnais, hortense, , f. de berg, count, f. de brézé, french commander, de celles, _préfet_, , de cocq, preacher, de costa, calvinistic leader, de fénelon, french ambassador, , de foere, abbé, f. de gerlache, catholic leader, de graeff, governor of st eustatius, de groot, pensionary, - , f. de haan, pensionary, de haas, artist, de hembyze, calvinist leader, de héze, baron, de klundert, de la vauguyon, duke, f. de la ville, abbé, de laet, historian, de larrey, count, de maulde, french ambassador, de méan, count, f. de meester, ministry of, de mist, leader of the federalists, de nemours, duc, f. de neufville, de nève, printer, de perponcher, envoy, de rosne, seigneur, de ryhove, calvinist leader, de standaart, _préfet_, de vérac, count, de vries, admiral, de vrij temminck, de with, cornelisz witte, vice-admiral, , f., , f., de witt, cornelis, ruwaard, , , , , - de witt, jacob, , , , de witt, john, , , - , - , - , - , , , , , deane, commanding english fleet, dedel, belgian minister, "defensive confederacy," the, deforgues, dekker, douwes, , ; _max havelaar_ of, , delacroix, charles, delft, f., ff., , , , , , , , delftware, delfziil, demerara, , , denain, dendermonde, , , , deputed-estates, functions of, descartes, réné, dettingen, deventer, f., , , , deventer, gerard prounick, , devolution, law of, , diamond industry, dieden, colonel, dieren, f. diest, dietz, , dijkveld, , , , dillenburg, town and principality of, , , , , , , djapara, doce river, does, jan van der, doesburg, , doggerbank, the, dohna, swedish ambassador, f. dokkum, dolhain, the lord of, dolman, colonel, donker, donker-curtius, f., , dordrecht, f., , , , ff., , , , f., , , , f., . , , doreslaer, dr, f., f. dort, synod at, , , f., dorth, colonel jan van, lord of horst, f. dortmund, douat, merlin de, douay, , , , douw, gerard, dover, , ; secret treaty of, f. downing, george, , downs, battle of the, f., , , , drake, drebbel, cornelius, drente, , , , , , , , , , , , , , du chattel, artist, ducpétiaux, dudley, robert, earl of leicester, , - , , f., , , , duiveland, , dumonceau, general, dumouriez, f. duncan, admiral, , dungeness, f. dunkirk, , ff., , , f., , , , , , , düren, dutch brabant, dutch flanders, , , , f., , f., "dutch mission," dutch republic, beginnings of the, - east friesland, east india company (dutch), , , , , - , , , , , , f., east india company (english), , , east indies, ff., , , , , f., , , , , , , , f., edam, , education act ( ), educational affairs, , , , , , , f., , edward i of england, edward, prince, of bohemia, effingham, egmont, _see_ lamoral elba, , elbing, elburg, elizabeth, queen of england, , , , f., , , - , f., f., , f. elizabeth of bohemia, elizabeth of görlitz, duchess of luxemburg, elizabeth of parma, elsass, elseviers, the, elsinore, emma of waldeck-pyrmont, princess, queen-regent, emmanuel philibert, duke of savoy, regent, f. ems, the, ems occidental, ems oriental, enghien, duke of, english muscovy company, , , enkhuizen, , , , , , enschede, episcopius, simon, , ermerius, ernest casimir of nassau, stadholder, , , ernest of austria, archduke, f. erp, christina van, essequibo river and colony, , , , , eternal edict, f., eugene of savoy, prince, f., - "evangelicals," evertsen, cornelis, admiral, f., , evertsen, jan, vice-admiral, , , exclusion, act of (_acte van seclusie_), - , exeter, exhibition at brussels, f. fadrique de toledo, don, fagel, caspar, council-pensionary, , f. fagel, francis, council-pensionary, , , , , , , falck, captain of the national guard, f., , , farnese, alexander, prince of parma, - , - , , ff., f., f., federation, act of ( ), femern, ferdinand i, ferdinand, cardinal infante, ff., ferdinand of aragon, ff., f. ferrara, fiji archipelago, fijnje, member of executive council, finance, chamber of, , finspong, fisheries, , , , , , fishing rights dispute, , - , , , fivelingoo, flanders, _passim_ flemish belgium, fleurus, , fleury, cardinal, , flinck, govaert, florence, floriszoon, vice-admiral, , flushing, , , f., , , f., , , , , , flushing and veere, marquisate of, , fokker, member of executive council, fontainebleau, ; treaty of ( ), fontenoy, battle of, formosa, fort zelandia, forth, firth of, "forty-eighters," fox, france, treaty with ( ), franche-comté, , , , , franchise, reforms of the, - francis i, f. francis, emperor, francis stephen, duke of lorraine, franco-german war ( ), franeker, university of, , frankfort, franklin, frederick ii the great, of prussia, , f., frederick iii, emperor, f., frederick iii of denmark, , f. frederick, elector palatine, king of bohemia, , frederick, prince, second son of king william i, , , , frederick henry, prince of orange, stadholder, f., , , , f., - , - , - , , f., , , , , , , , f., frederick henry bay, frederick henry cape, frederick of toledo, don, , f. frederick william i of prussia, frederick william ii of prussia, , frederick william of brandenburg (the great elector), frederikshald, french annexation, - "french fury," french revolution, friendly or tonga islands, friesland, _passim_ frise, friso, john william, of nassau-siegen, , , fruin, robert, fryscell, fuchs, paul, fuentes, count of, f. fulda, bishopric of, fundamental assemblies, fundamental law, f., , f., f, , , f., f., , , , f., f. funen, f. furnes, fürstenberg, cardinal archbishop, gabbard, the, galle, ganges, the, _gecommitteerde-raden_, _gedeputeerde-staten_, geer, louis de, ff., f. geertruidenberg, , , f., gelder, gelderland, _passim_ gembloux, gendebien, alexandre de, ff., genlis, huguenot leader, gennep, genoa, george ii of england, , f. george of saxe-meissen, gérard, balthazar, gérard, marshal, gevangenpoort, the, ghent, , , ff., , , , f., f., , , , , , , , ff., , , f., , ; pacification of, f., f., , gibraltar, , gilds, gilles, jacob, f. goa, goch, godolphin, , goeman-borgesius, goerce, gogel, finance minister, , , , f. golden fleece, order of the, gomarus, franciscus, , gomez, ruy, gondomar, count of, gonzales de cordova, don, gooiland, gorkum, , , gotheborg, gouda, , , , , , ; convention at ( ), goyen, jan van, graeff, cornelis de, , graeff, jacob van der, grain, traffic in, f. grand alliance ( ), f., f., , , , f. granson, battle at, granvelle, anthony perrenot de, cardinal, bishop of arras, archbishop of mechlin, , f., - , , , grave, , , grave, admiral, gravelines, , great assembly, the, - great fire of london, great privilege, the, f., great rebellion, the, great war ( ), the, , greenland, grobendonc, governor of hertogenbosch, groenloo, groll, _grondwet_, groningen, _passim_; university of, , groot, hofstede de, groot, pieter de, pensionary, , f., ff. groote eylandt cape, grotius, hugo (huig van groot), , f.; _mare liberum _ of, , guadeloupe, "gueux, les," _gueux de mer_, guiana, , f., , , guinea, , f., , gustavus adolphus, , ff., guyon, francis (balthazar gérard), _gymnasia_, haarlem, f., , , , , , , , f., , , , , , haarlem lake, , haasrecht, habsburg rule in the netherlands, - hadamar, , haersolte, f. haga, cornells, , hagen, steven van der, hague, the, _passim_ hahn, leader of the moderates, hainault, , , , , , , , , hals, frans, f. hamburg, , hanover, , , , hanse league, hanse towns, , , f. harderwijk, university of, harlingen, harmensz, jacob, _see_ arminius harmignies, f. harris, sir james (lord malmesbury), , ff. harwich, harwood, colonel, hattem, , haverman, artist, havré, commander, heemskerk, th., heidelberg, , heidelberg catechism, , heiligerlee, heim, antony van der, council-pensionary, f., ff. hein, piet, vice-admiral, , ff. heinsius, antony, council-pensionary, , , f., ff., f., , heinsius, daniel, heinsius, nicolas, helder, the, , , hellemans, heleonore, f. helst, bartolomaus van der, f. helvoetsluis, hendrikszoon, boudewyn, f. heneage, lord, henrietta, duchess of orleans, henrietta maria, f. henry iii of france, , f., henry iv of france (henry of navarre), , ff., , , , , henry vii of england, f. henry, stadholder of luxemburg, henry casimir, stadholder, son of william frederick, , , , , , , henry casimir of nassau, , henry of bavaria, bishop of utrecht, henry of mecklenburg-schwerin, prince, henry of nassau, brother of the prince of orange, , henry of nassau, friend and adviser of charles v, herbert, admiral, heresy, extirpation of, , ff., ff., , f., herring fisheries, , , hertogenbosch (bois-le-duc), , , - , , , , , , , hesse, hesse-cassel, het loo, , higher education, , , "high-mightinesses," "historical christians," , hobbema, meindert, hochstädt, hoeth, hohenlo, count of, holland, _passim_; incorporation of, with zeeland in the burgundian dominion, ; union of, with belgium, - holmes, admiral, f. holstein, honthorst, gerard, hooft, burgomaster of amsterdam, hooft, cornelis pietersz, hooft, party leader, , hooft, pieter cornelisz, - ; _geerard van velzen, warenar_ and _baeto_ of, ; _netherland histories_ of, hoogerbeets, pensionary, - , hoogh, pieter van der, hooghley, the, hooghly on the ganges, hoogstraeten, count of, , , f., f., hook faction, ff. hook of holland, hoorn, , , , , , hoorn, count of, _see_ montmorency hoorn, dowager countess of, hop, jan, , houtman, cornelis, hudde, johan, hudson, henry, hugonet, the lord, huguenot refugees, f., _huis in't bosch,_ the, hulst, , , , humbercourt, the lord, hume, hunsingoo, huy, , , huyghens, christian, f. huyghens, constantine, , , f. india, , indies, trade in the, ff., , , ff., , , , , , , infamy, order of, inquisition, - , , , isabel, queen of portugal, f. isabel clara eugenia, infanta, archduchess, , f., , , - isabel of castile, ff., isabel of portugal, wife of philip the good, isny, israels, joseph, issel supérieur, ita, pieter adriansz, itamarca, jacatra, jacoba, heiress of william vi of holland, jacobin clubs, f. james i of england, , ff., , , , f., , james ii of england, duke of york, , , f., , , f., - , james iii of england, son of james ii so termed, , , janssens, governor-general of java, japan, , japara, jarnac, battle of, jaureguy, juan, , f. java, , ff., , , , , f., , , f., jeannin, president, f. jemappes, , jemmingen, , jever, joachimi, , joan maurice of nassau, ff., , , , , joanna, duchess of brabant, joão iv of portugal, john ii of france, john iii, count of namur, john iv, son of anthony of burgundy and husband of tacoba of holland, john casimir, f. john de marnix, lord of thoulouse, john of austria, don, , -- john of bavaria, husband of duchess elizabeth of görlitz, john of leyden, john of nassau, count, stadholder, f., , , , , , , , john the fearless, f. jones, paul, joseph i, emperor, , , joseph ii, emperor, f., joseph ferdinand, f. joubert, general, , jourdan, juan, infante, son of ferdinand and isabel, juan de vargas, f. juana, infanta, daughter of ferdinand and isabel and wife of philip the fair, ff., julian, french secret agent, jülich, fortress of, jülich and cleves, duke of, jülich-cleves duchies, question concerning succession to, f., junius, jutland, kaiserwerth, f. kampen, , kandy, kantelaur, leader of the moderates, kappeyne, joannes, ; education act of ( ), katwijk, , kempenaer, , kemper, f. kennemerland, kentish knock, keppel, earl of albemarle, kerkoven, jan van der, lord of heenyliet, kijkduin, kitzingen, klein-schnellendorf, convention of, knocke, , knodsenburg, koen, jan pieterzoon, governor-general, , ff., köhler, general, kolkmar, dr, koning, salomon, koningh, pieter de, koopman, rear-admiral, korvey, abbey of, kragenhoff, minister of war, kraijenhoff, revolutionary leader, kronborg, krüger, president, kuenen, abraham, kuyff, head of city police, kuyper, dr abraham, f., , - l'oyseleur, pierre, seigneur de villiers, la hogue, la motte, la rochelle, laaland, "ladies' peace," the ( ), lafayette, lalaing, george, count of renneberg, stadholder, , , lamoral, count of egmont, stadholder, f., , - , - , f., lamoussaye, french minister, landrecies, land's advocate or council-pensionary, office of, f. landskrona, language decree ( ), , lauffeldt, law, edward, lawrence, henry, le brun, duke of piacenza, , league of the beggars, ledenburg, f. lee, leeuwarden, leeuwenhoek, antoni van, leffingen, leghorn, leicester, earl of, _see_ dudley leipzig, f. leopold i, emperor, leopold ii, emperor, leopold, archduke, bishop of passau, f. leopold of saxe-coburg, king of belgium, ff., leuchtenberg, duke, of lewis ernest, duke of brunswick-wolfenbüttel, _see_ brunswick-wolfenbüttel lewis of baden, lewis of nassau, f., , , f., , , - , f. ley, the, leyden, , , f., - , , f., , , , f., f., , , , , , , , , ; university of, , , , "libertines," libri-bagnano, , f. liefkenshoek, , liège, district and town of, f., , , f., , f., , f., , , , , lievens, jan, ligny, lilienrot, count, lille, , , , , , lillo, limburg, , , , , , , f., , f., f., f. linden, cort van den, lindhoven, lingen, , linschoten, jan huyghen van, lionne, french minister, lipsius, justus, lisbon, f., f., f., , listerdiep passage, literary gilds, , literature, f. livonia, loevestein, , , , lohman, jonkheer savornin, lombardy, lonck, hendrik cornelisz, f. london, , , f., _et passim_; articles of ( ), ; conferences at, , ; conventions of, , loos, admiral, lorraine, ff., , , lothaire, louis ii, count of flanders, louis xi of france, ff., , louis xiii of france, , , louis xiv of france, , , ff., f., ff., f., ff., - , , f., - , , - , louis xv of france, , louis xvi of france, , louis, king of hungary, louis bonaparte, - , louis de male, count of flanders, louis del rio, f. louis philippe, duke of orleans, king of the french, , , f. louise henrietta, wife of frederick william of brandenburg, louise of savoy, louvain, , , , , , f., , , louvois, minister of war, löwenthal, count, f. lübeck, lucas, rear-admiral, luis de requesens, don, f. lumbres, the lord of, f. lüneburg, luther, martin, , f. lützen, , luxemburg, duchy and town of, , , , , , , , , ff., , ff., , f., , , luxemburg, french marshal, , f., , f., luzac, maas, the, , , , , , , maasland, _maatschappij van weldadigheid_, macassar, , mackay, baron, f. mackay law, , madagascar, madrid, , , ff., , , f., , , , , , , , , , , , f., , maerlandt, maes, nicholas, maestricht, , , f., , f., , , f., , f., , f., f., , , f., magellan, straits of, f., _magnus intercursus, _ f., , main, the, malacca, , , malaga, malay archipelago, , f. "malcontents," the, malines, malmesbury, lord, _see_ harris malplaquet, _mains intercursus_, manhattan, , mansfeld, count of, , , maranhão, marcelis, gabriel, margaret, archduchess, daughter of mary and maximilian, regent, f., , - , f., margaret, daughter of louis de male, count of flanders, and wife of philip the hardy, f. margaret, dowager countess of flanders, widow of louis ii, margaret, duchess of parma, regent, f., , ff., , , ff., margaret, sister of william vi of holland and wife of john the fearless, margaret of burgundy, wife of william vi of holland, margaret of york, wife of charles the bold, , maria cape, maria island, maria louisa of hesse-cassel, , maria theresa, queen of louis xiv, , , , maria theresa of austria, , - maria van diemen cape, marie de' medici, regent, , marie louise, wife of napoleon, , maris brothers, marlborough, duke of (john churchill), , ff., - mary, princess royal, wife of william ii of orange, , , mary, princess, wife of william iii of orange, , , , , mary, regent, queen of louis of hungary, , ff., f., f., mary of burgundy, daughter of charles the bold and wife of maximilian of austria, - mary of modena, mary tudor, queen, f. massa, isaac, matanzas bay, f. matelief, cornelis, f., matsjan, matthias, archduke, f., , maure, anton, maurice of nassau, prince of orange, stadholder, ff., - , , - , - , , ff., , , - , ff., , , , , , , , maurice of nassau-ouwerkerk, count, maurice of saxony, , maurier, aubrey du, mauritius, , f. mauritshuis, the hague, mauritsstad, f. maximilian emmanuel, elector of bavaria, maximilian joseph, emperor, maximilian of austria, emperor, king of the romans, , - , ff., may, job, mazarin, cardinal, f., , , mechlin, , , , , , , , , , ff., , medemblik, medina-coeli, duke of, , medway, the, , meer, jan van der, meerman, john, meeus, ferdinand, meghem, count of, , , f., melliton, general, mendoça furdado, diogo de, mendoza, admiral of aragon, , menin, , , mennonites, , mercantile marine, dutch, formation of, merchant adventurers, fellowship of, mérode, count felix de, f., mesdag, hendrik, mesnager, metzu, gabriel, meurs, , meuse, the, , , , , , , , f., f., mexico, , meyer, envoy, f. michigan, middelburg, , , , , , , , , f., midderigh, revolutionary leader, f. middle kingdom, restoration of, f., f. mijer, colonial minister, milan, milanese, the, , military service, , , _million de l'industrie_, the, milton, john, , miranda, general, mississippi company, moerdijk, the, mohacs, battle of, moluccas, , , f., - , , f., , moncontour, battle of, mondragon, spanish commander, f., , monk, commanding english fleet, f., - monmouth, commanding english force, monnikendam, , mons, , , , f., , mont-cassel, montesquieu, montigny, the lord of, , , , , montmorency, philip de, count of hoorn, admiral of flanders, , ff., , ff., f., montpensier, duke of, mook, , , morat, battle at, moreau, general, morgan, colonel, f. moscow, moucheron, balthazar de, , _mouture_, , f. mozambique, the, muiden, ff., _muidener kring_, mulder, staffel, "multatuli" (douwes dekker), , münster, , f., f., f., f., ; congress of, ; treaty of ( ), f., , , , , , , f. muscovy, music, modern development of, naarden, f., f. namur, , , , f., , , , , , , nancy, f. nantes, the edict of, revocation of, naples, , , napoleon iii, napoleon bonaparte, - , f., , , napoleon louis, nassau, nassau river, _nassauische erbverein_, the, nassau-siegen, house of, , _national_, the, , f. national assembly, formation of, ff. navigation act, , , f., _nederlandsche handelsmaatschappij, de_, neer, aart van der, neerwinden, , negapatam, , negro slave trade, negumbo, netherland confession, , netherlands, the revolt of, - ; formation of the kingdom of, - , - netscher, caspar, neuss, battle at, nevers, new amsterdam, , new england, new guinea, "new lighters," new netherland, , , ; company of, new south wales, new york, , , new zealand, f. newfoundland, , ney, commanding french force, neyen, father john, , nicholas ii, tsar, nicolas de harnes, nieuport, , f., , nieuwenaar, count, stadholder, , , nieuwenhuis, domela, f., nieuwerbrug, nieuwpoort, ff. nijmwegen, , , , ff., , , , , , ; treaty of ( ), - , , nobles, league of, - , noël, french ambassador, ff. noircarmes, royalist noble, nördlingen, battle of, nore, the, norrköping, north american colonies, british, revolt of, f. north brabant, , , , , north holland, , north holland canal, north quarter, the, ff., northern or greenland company, , nova zembla, nyborg, nymphenburg, obdam, _see_ wassenaer oberstein, count, _observateur_, the, ogle, colonel, oldenbarneveldt, john van, advocate, pensionary, , - , , ff., , ff., , ff., , - , ff., , , , , oldenzaal, , olinda, f., oliva, peace of, ommelanden, ondaatje, party leader, oostergoo, ootmarsum, oquendo, antonio de, admiral, f., ff. orange, princes of, _see_ fred. henry, maurice, philip william, william orange-nassau, house of, f., f., , , orchies, , orinoco, the, , orleans, duke of, _see_ louis philippe orloff, count alexis, ormonde, duke of, , f. ostade, adrian van, ostade, isaac van, ostend, , ff., , , , , , , ostend company, f. otto, branch of house of nassau, oudenarde, , f. oudinot, marshal, ff. ouwerkerk, field-marshal, overyssel, _passim_ oxenstierna, axel, , - , oxford, earl of, colonel, painting, art of, f., palembang, palmerston, lord, , - _pangeran_, the, native ruler, pappenheim, commanding imperialist army, para, paris,_passim_; treaties of, , , , , parker, hyde, vice-admiral, parma, partition treaties, f. pater, adrian jansz, , f. patrician oligarchy, , , , , , patriot party, - , paul iv, pope, paul of russia, emperor, paulus, pieter, , ff. pauw, adrian, pensionary, , , , , , f., pauw, reinier, , "pays de par deçà," f. peace congress, the first ( ), pecquinius, chancellor of brabant, peñaranda, spanish envoy, penn, naval commander, pennington, vice-admiral, f. pernambuco, , f. "perpetual edict," the, perre, paulus van der, perrenot, nicholas, peru, , peter the great, tsar, philibert, prince of orange-châlons, philip ii of spain, , , - , - , , ff., , , , - , , , - , , f., , ff., f., , , , philip iii of spain, , , philip iv of spain, , , f., , philip v of spain, f., , - , f., philip de marnix, lord of sainte aldegonde, , , , , f., , philip of anjou, duke, f., philip of baden, bishop of utrecht, philip of cleef, philip of hesse, , philip of st pol, philip the fair, archduke, - , philip the good, ff., ff., philip the hardy, duke of burgundy, f. philip william, count of buren, prince of orange, , , , philippines, the, picardy, , piccolomini, commanding imperialist troops, pichegru, commander, piedmont, pierson, n.g., f., pijman, minister of war, pitt, pius iv, pope, pius ix, pope, f. plancius, petrus, plessis-les-tours ( ), , plymouth, poeloe-rum, , , poictiers, battle of, pondicherry, portland, portsmouth, potgieter, potter, louis de, ff., , ; _lettre de démophile au roi_ of, potter, paul, povo, or the reciff, pozo, f. "pragmatic army," the, f. pragmatic sanction, the, , prague, , "precisians," press laws, ff., , price, richard, priestley, primary education, , , , , , , , _prins willem_, ship, f. prinsenhof, delft, f. provincial estates, powers and functions of, ff. _provintie van utrecht_, ship, prussian invasion, f. pultova, purmerend, putte, fransen van de, , putten, pyrenees, peace of the ( ), , f., quadruple alliance, quatre bras, f., quesnoy, f. _quotisatie_, raad-pensionaris, powers and functions of, railways, ramel, member of national convention, ramillies, rammekens, , rastatt, peace of ( ), ratisbon, truce of ( ), reading-societies, reciff, the, - , "reduction, treaty of," reformation movements, ff. "reformed" congregations, regnier, lord of groeneveldt, reingoud, jacques, reinierz, rembrandt van rhyn, ff., remonstrants, , f., f., , _remonstratie_, réné of lorraine, duke, f. réné of nassau, _repartìtie_, repelaer, envoy, requesens, f., "request," the, f. _reveil_ movement, rewbell, plenipotentiary, f. rheims, rheinberg, , , , , rhetoric, chambers of, f. rhine, the, , , , , , , , , , , , , , rhineland, , , , ricardot, president of the privy council, richelieu, cardinal, f., f., rights of man, the, rijks museum, amsterdam, rio de janeiro, rio grande, the, rio negro, the, ripperda, ambassador, ripperda, calvinist leader, robert de la marck, rochefoucault, rochussen, artist, rochussen, j.j., rocroi, roda, rodney, admiral, , roëll, jonkheer johan, roëll, minister of foreign affairs, , roemerswaal, , roeremonde, f., , , roeskilde, rogier, charles, ff. rome, , , ronkens, burgomaster, rooke, sir george, admiral, rotterdam, , , , , f., , , , . f., , , , , , roucoux, rouillé, french agent, rouppe, burgomaster, rousseau, , royal academies of the arts, royal african company, _royal charles_, flag-ship, _royal james_, flag-ship, royal netherland institute for science, letters and the fine arts, rudolph ii, emperor, rump parliament, the, rupert, prince, , - , russell, admiral, russian trade, , , , ruysch, nicholas, ruysdael, jacob, ruyter, michael adriansz de, admiral, , ff., f., f., , f., f., f., , , , ryswyck, , , ; peace of, saba, sadowa, saftingen, sainte aldegonde, _see_ philip de marnix salamanca, saldanha bay, sallant, salmasius, san francisco fort, f. san jorge fort, f. san salvador, ff. san thomé de guiana, sandwich, earl of, sasbout, councillor of state, sas-van-gent, , savoy, , saxe, maurice de, marshal, - saxe-weimar, duke of, saxony, scaliger, josephus justus, schaep, gerard, , schaepman, dr, , f. scheffer, artist, scheldt, the, , , , f., f., , , , , , f., , , , , f., schenck, _schepens_, or sheriffs, scheveningen, , , , , schiedam, , _schieringers_, schimmelpenninck, count, f. schimmelpenninck, rutger jan, council-pensionary, , , - schleswig, scholte, preacher, schomberg, marshal, schönbrunn, treaty of, schonen, schools, f., , f., ff., schoonhoven, , schouburg (theatre), the, amsterdam, _schout_, or chief judge, schouten, willem, schouwen, , _schutterij_, f. schuurman, anna maria, f. scribe and auber, _la muette de portici_ of, "sea terror of delft," the, secondary and technical education, , seeland, selden, _mare clausum_ of, sémonville, french ambassador, seneff, senlis, treaty of ( ), "separatists," the (_de afgescheidenen_), seraing, , _settinge_, seven bishops, acquittal of ( ), seven years' war, , seventeen, college of the, "sharp resolution," the, sheerness, , shetlands, the, ship-money, siam, , sicilies, the two, sidney, sir philip, siegen, , siéyès, f. sigismund of austria, duke, silesia, ff., simonszoon, menno, six, burgomaster, skagerak, the, slaak, the, slangenburg, general, slave trade, ; abolition of, f. slingelandt, pensionary, sluis, f., , , , , , , social contract, the, social-democratic bond, the, "social-democratic workmen's party," the, "socialist bond," the, sommelsdijk, lord of, _see_ aerssens sonoy, diedrich, stadholder, , ff. sophie, queen, , sound, the, ff., ff. south beveland, , south brabant, south holland, , , , south sea company, southampton, treaty of ( ), southwold bay, , spa, "spanish fury," the, spanish succession, war of the, ff., - , _spectateur belge_, the, f. spice trade, , ff., spiegel, hendrik laurensz, f. spinola, ambrosio de, ff., , , f., , spinoza, baruch, spinozan system, the, spitsbergen, , f., , st agatha, convent of, st anthony fort, st antonio de padua, st bartholomew, massacre of, , st denis, st dizier, st eustatius, , st germain, st germain-en-laye, st isabella fort, _st jago_, ship, st john, henry, viscount bolingbroke, f. st john, oliver, ff. st martin, st omer, st quentin, battle at ( ), st trond, st venant, st vincent, _stad en landen_, , stadholders, powers and functions of, f., f. stair, lord, _standdard, de_, stanley, sir william, f. staten river, states-flanders, states-general, constitution of, f., f., steen, jan, steenbergen, steenwijk, , steinkirk, stevin, simon, steyn, council-pensionary, , f. stock-dealing, stockholm, , , stoke, melis, story, rear-admiral, strafford, earl of, strafford, lord, strasburg, , strickland, walter, f., f. strickland, william, stuyvesant, peter, suffren, french admiral, sugar plantations, , sumatra, surat, surinam, , , , , , , , ; society of, _survivance acte de_ ( ), , swammerdam, jan, sweden and holland, relations of, - swedo-dutch company, swiss cantons, the, _tableau sommaire des prétensions_, tagus, the, tallard, marshal, talleyrand, , , , f. tasman, abel, tasmania, f. tasman's head, tasman's peninsula, tasso's _gerusalemme liberata_, dutch translation of, téligny, louise de, _see_ coligny téligny, sieur de, temple, sir william, f., f., ten days' campaign, f., terburg, gerard, termonde, ternate, , terneuzen, canal of, terschelling, island, terscholen, texel, the, , , , , , textile industries, thames, the, , , , , thijssen, marten, f., f. thirty years' war, , , , , , , tholen island, thomas of savoy, prince, thorbecke, johan rudolf, , ff., - , , tichelaer, barber, , tidor, , tielemans, tilburg, tilly, count, f. tilsit, peace of ( ), tonga islands, torbay, , torcy, french minister, torre, count de, f. torrington, admiral, torstensson, general, , ff. toulon, , ff. toulouse, count of, tournay, , , , , , , f., tourville, admiral, towerson, gabriel, trade and industries, prosperous state of, , ff., ff. transvaal, treaty of the xviii articles, ff. treaty of the xxiv articles, f., trent, council of, f. treves, trevor, english ambassador, trier, f. trip, elias, , triple alliance, , troelstra, , tromp, cornelis, f., f. tromp, martin, admiral, f., , , - , troubles, council of, , tulip mania, turenne, general, , , , turkish advance, , turnhout, tuscany, grand duchy of, twelve years' truce, f., - , , twente, , uilenburg, saskia, uitgeest, dirk simonsz, ulrum, union, act of, utrecht, _union_, the, association, f. united east-india company, creation of, "united states of belgium," universities, , , ff., , upper gelderland, usselincx, willem, ff. utrecht, town, bishopric, and district of, _passim_; treaties of, - , ; union of, f., , ; university of, , , , uyttenbogaert, johannes, , , valckenier, gillis, , , , f. valckenier, revolutionary leader, valdez, commander, f. valenciennes, , f., vallecilla, francisco de, vice-admiral, valmy, van alphen river, van asperen, van bankhem, banker, f. van berckel, burgomaster, van beuningen, diplomatist, , f., , , f. van beverningh, treasurer-general, - , , , , f., van blauw, envoy, , f. van bylandt, admiral, van dam, revolutionary leader, van de spiegel of goes, laurens pieter, council-pensionary, , - van de weyer, envoy, , , , van den berg, count, stadholder, van den bosch, general, van der capellen, van der capellen tot de pol, jan dirk, , f., van der capellen van den marsch, ff. van der duyn van maasdam, baron, f. van der fosse, baron, van der goes, van der myle, , , van der straeten, advocate, van diemen, antony, f. van diemen, maria, van diemen cape, van diemen gulf, van diemen river, van diemen's land, van dussen, envoy, van eyk, spenger, van galen, jan, admiral, f. van ghent, admiral, van gogh, vincent, van haersolte, van hagenbach, peter, van hall, f.a., , , ff. van haren, otto zwier, , van hasselt, van heemskerk, j., f., ff., van heemskerk, jacob, , , van heemstra, baron s., van heyliger, governor of st eustatius, van hoeft, van hogelanden, boreel, van hogendorp, gijsbert karel, - , , van hoogstraeten, samuel, van hoornbeck, isaac, pensionary, van hout, jan, van houten, samuel, f. van knuyt, plenipotentiary, van kol, van langen, member of executive council, van lennep, j., , van limburg-stirum, count, f. van lynden van sandenburg, count, f. van maanen, minister of justice, , - van marle, leader of the federalists, van meteren, chronicler, van mieris, frans, van naaldwijk, jan, van nagell, van neck, jacob, van noort, olivier, van odijk, seigneur, , , van poortvliet, tak, f. van prinsterer, g. groen, , f., , f. van raalte, preacher, van rechteren, count, van reigersberg, nicholas, van rheede, godard, lord of amerongen, van rhoon, count bentinck, van rhyn, _see_ rembrandt van riebeck, jan, van schooten, francis, van slingelandt, simon, , , f. van speult, governor of amboina, van stoutenberg, william, van stralen, antony, van swieten, general, van tienhoven, cornelis, van waesberg, van weede, everhard, lord of dijkveld, van welderen, ambassador, f. van zuylen van nyevelt, baron, f. "vaste colleges," establishment of, vauban, vaucelles, peace of ( ), vecht river, veere, , , , , velde, adrian van der, velde, william van der, vendôme, f. venetia, venice, , venloo, , , , verdugo, spanish commander, f. verdun, treaty of ( ), vere, sir francis, , f. vere, sir horace, _vereenigte provintien_, ship, f. verhoef, goldsmith, f. verhuell, admiral, f., , , versailles, , , vervins, peace of ( ), _vetkoopers_, victoria, vienna, , , f., , f.; congress of, f., , , ; treaties of, , , , , viglius van zwychem van aytta, councillor, , , , , f., vigo, villars, marshal, - , villeroy, marshal, , , vilvoorde, , vin et pain, colonel, vincent, general baron, virginia, visscher, anna, visscher, maria tesselschade, visscher, roemer, , vitringa, leader of the federalists, vivien, pensionary, , vlieter, voetius, vollenhove, voltaire, von thulemeyer, prussian ambassador, vondel, joost van den, ff., , voorne, voorne canal, the, vossius, gerardus johannes, vossius, isaac, vreede, revolutionary leader, f. vries, gerrit de, waal, the, , , , , , _waardgelders_, - waas, waerdenburgh, jonckheer diederik van, f., waerwyck, wybrand van, , wageningen, wagram, waigat, the, walcheren, , , , , , , , _walcheren_, ship, waldeck, george frederick von, count, , , , , , waldeck, prince of, , walpole, robert, , walram, branch of house of nassau, walraven, lord of brederode, warneton, warnsfeld, combat of, wassenaer, jacob van, lord of obdam, , f., f. wassenaer-twickel, count of, ff., waterloo, f., , wauthier, major-general, wavre, , webb, general, weingarten, abbey of, wellington, , , werf, pieter adriaanzoon van der, wesel, , wesenbeke, jacob van, west coast of africa, the, company for trading on, west flanders, , , west friesland, , , , west india company, , , - , , , f., west indies, , , f., , , f., f., westergoo, westminster, peace of ( ), westphalia, treaty of, , west-quarter, district of groningen, whale fishery, , white, charles, white sea trade, , wild coast of guiana, the, traders on, wildrik, member of executive council, wilhelmina, queen, , - , wilhelmina of prussia, frederika louise, wife of william v, , - _wilhelmus_, the, willebroek, willekens, jacob, admiral-in-chief, william the silent, prince of orange, stadholder, ff., - , - , f., , - , , , , , ff., , , , , ; _apology_ of, william ii of orange, stadholder, , , , , - , , , , , , , , william iii of orange, stadholder, , , , , , , f., ff., f., f., f., - , - , , , , ff., , , , f., , f., , william iv of orange, stadholder, f., - , f., william v of orange, stadholder, , , - , - , , , william i, king of the netherlands, vi prince of orange, ff., , - , - , f., ff., , , f., - , - william ii (william frederick), king of the netherlands, f., , f., , - william iii, king of the netherlands, , - , - , ; prince of orange, son of, , william, count of holland, husband of margaret of burgundy, william, count-palatine of neuburg, f. william de blois, lord of treslong, f. william de la marck, lord of lumey, william de la marck, ruler of liège, william frederick, stadholder, , , ff., f., , , , , william lewis of nassau, stadholder, , - , , f., , , f., , william of jülich and cleves, william of nassau, count, william of nassau, lord of zuilestein, william of nassau-dillenburg, count, willoughby, hugh, willoughby, lord, winter, jan de, vice-admiral, winwood, sir ralph, witsen, nicolaes, , witt, jacob de, _see_ de witt witt, john de, _see_ de witt witte de with, _see_ de with woerden, , wool and cloth trade, , , worcester, battle of, , worms, diet of ( ), , wouvermans, philip, wouw, wrangel, swedish admiral, , wynendael, wyvants, jan, xanten, treaty of ( ), y, the, , , , ymuiden, york, duke of, second son of george iii, f., york, royal camp at, yorke, british ambassador, , ff. yorke, sir robert, f. ypres, , , , , , , , , yssel, the, , , zaandam, , zederik canal, the, zeeland, _passim_ zevenwolden, zierikzee, , , zoutman, rear-admiral, f. zuid-beveland, zuid-willemsvaart canal, the, zuilestein, zutphen, , f., , , f., , zuyder-zee, the, , , , , , ; department, zwijn, the, zwijndrecht, zwingli, zwinglians, , zwolle, , * * * * * printed in england by j.b. peace, m.a. at the cambridge university press a wanderer in holland by e.v. lucas with twenty illustrations in colour by herbert marshall and thirty-four illustrations after old dutch masters contents preface i rotterdam ii the dutch in english literature iii dordrecht and utrecht iv delft v the hague vi scheveningen and katwyk vii leyden viii leyden's painters, a fanatic and a hero ix haarlem x amsterdam xi amsterdam's pictures xii around amsterdam; south and south-east xiii around amsterdam: north xiv alkmaar and hoorn, the helder and enkhuisen xv friesland: stavoren to leeuwarden xvi friesland (continued): leeuwarden and neighbourhood xvii groningen to zutphen xviii arnheim to bergen-op-zoom xix middelburg xx flushing list of illustrations in colour sunrise on the maas rotterdam gouda the great church, dort utrecht on the beach, scheveningen leyden the turf market, haarlem st. nicolas church, amsterdam canal in the jews' quarter, amsterdam volendam cheese market, alkmaar the harbour tower, hoorn market place, weigh-house, hoorn the dromedaris tower, enkhuisen harlingen kampen arnheim the market place, nymwegen middelburg in monotone girl's head. jan vermeer of delft (mauritshuis) the store cupboard. peter de hooch (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl portrait of a youth. jan van scorel (boymans museum, rotterdam) the sick woman. jan steen (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the anxious family. josef israels view of dort. albert cuyp (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the never-ending prayer. nicholas maes (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl a lady. paulus moreelse (ryks) pilgrims to jerusalem. jan van scorel (kunstliefde museum, utrecht) view of delft. jan vermeer (mauritshuis) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the school of anatomy. rembrandt (mauritshuis) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl a young woman. rembrandt (mauritshuis) the steen family. jan steen (mauritshuis) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the menagerie. jan steen (mauritshuis) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl portrait of g. bicker, landrichter of muiden. van der heist (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the syndics. rembrandt (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the oyster feast. jan steen (mauritshuis) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the young housekeeper. gerard dou (mauritshuis) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl breakfast. gabriel metsu (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the groote kerk. johannes bosboom (boymans museum, rotterdam) the painter and his wife (?). frans hals (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl group of arquebusiers. frans hals (haarlem) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the cat's dancing lesson. jan steen (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the "night watch". rembrandt (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the reader. jan vermeer (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl milking time. anton mauve paternal advice. gerard terburg (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the spinner. nicholas maes (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl clara alewijn. dirck santvoort (ryks) family scene. jan steen (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the little princess. paulus moreelse (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl the shepherd and his flock. anton mauve helene van der schalke. gerard terburg (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl elizabeth bas. rembrandt (ryks) from a photograph by franz hanfstaengl preface it would be useless to pretend that this book is authoritatively informing. it is a series of personal impressions of the dutch country and the dutch people, gathered during three visits, together with an accretion of matter, more or less pertinent, drawn from many sources, old and new, to which i hope i have given unity. for trustworthy information upon the more serious side of dutch life and character i would recommend mr. meldrum's _holland and the hollanders_. my thanks are due to my friends, mr. and mrs. emil lüden, for saving me from many errors by reading this work in ms. e.v.l. a wanderer in holland chapter i rotterdam to rotterdam by water--to rotterdam by rail--holland's monotony of scenery--holland in england--rotterdam's few merits--the life of the river--the rhine--walt whitman--crowded canals--barge life--the dutch high-ways--a perfect holiday--the canal's influence on the national character--the florin and the franc--lady mary wortley montagu--the old and the poor--holland's health--funeral customs--the chemists' shops--erasmus of rotterdam--latinised names--peter de hooch--true aristocracy--the boymans treasures--modern dutch art--matthew maris--the rotterdam zoo--the herons--the stork's mission--the ourang-outang--an eighteenth-century miser--a successful merchant--the queen-mother--tom hood in rotterdam--gouda. it was once possible to sail all the way to rotterdam by either of the two lines of steamships from england--the great eastern, _viâ_ harwich, and the batavier, direct from london. but that is possible now only by the batavier, passengers by the better-known harwich route being landed now and henceforward at the hook at five a.m. i am sorry for this, because after a rough passage it was very pleasant to glide in the early morning steadily up the maas and gradually acquire a sense of dutch quietude and greyness. no longer, however, can this be done, as the batavier boats reach rotterdam at night; and one therefore misses the river, with the little villages on its banks, each with a tiny canal-harbour of its own; the groups of trees in the early mist; the gulls and herons; and the increasing traffic as one drew nearer schiedam and at last reached that forest of masts which is known as rotterdam. but now that the only road to rotterdam by daylight is the road of iron all that is past, and yet there is some compensation, for short as the journey is one may in its progress ground oneself very thoroughly in the characteristic scenery of holland. no one who looks steadily out of the windows between the hook and rotterdam has much to learn thereafter. only changing skies and atmospheric effects can provide him with novelty, for most of holland is like that. he has the formula. nor is it necessarily new to him if he knows england well, north holland being merely the norfolk broads, the essex marshlands about burnham-on-crouch, extended. only in its peculiarity of light and in its towns has holland anything that we have not at home. england has even its canal life too, if one cared to investigate it; the broads are populous with wherries and barges; cheese is manufactured in england in a score of districts; cows range our meadows as they range the meadows of the dutch. we go to holland to see the towns, the pictures and the people. we go also because so many of us are so constituted that we never use our eyes until we are on foreign soil. it is as though a cook's ticket performed an operation for cataract. but because one can learn the character of dutch scenery so quickly--on a single railway journey--i do not wish to suggest that henceforward it becomes monotonous and trite. one may learn the character of a friend very quickly, and yet wish to be in his company continually. holland is one of the most delightful countries to move about in: everything that happens in it is of interest. i have never quite lost the sense of excitement in crossing a canal in the train and getting a momentary glimpse of its receding straightness, perhaps broken by a brown sail. in a country where, between the towns, so little happens, even the slightest things make a heightened appeal to the observer; while one's eyes are continually kept bright and one's mind stimulated by the ever-present freshness and clearness of the land and its air. rotterdam, it should be said at once, is not a pleasant city. it must be approached as a centre of commerce and maritime industry, or not at all; if you do not like sailor men and sailor ways, noisy streets and hurrying people, leave rotterdam behind, and let the train carry you to the hague. it is not even particularly dutch: it is cosmopolitan. the dutch are quieter than this, and cleaner. and yet rotterdam is unique--its church of st. lawrence has a grey and sombre tower which has no equal in the country; there is a windmill on the cool singel which is essentially holland; the boymans museum has a few admirable pictures; there is a curiously fascinating stork in the zoological gardens; and the river is a scene of romantic energy by day and night. i think you must go to rotterdam, though it be only for a few hours. at rotterdam we see what the londoner misses by having a river that is navigable in the larger sense only below his city. to see shipping at home we must make our tortuous way to the pool; rotterdam has the pool in her midst. great ships pass up and down all day. the thames, once its bustling mercantile life is cut short by london bridge, dwindles to a stream of pleasure; the maas becomes the rhine. walt whitman is the only writer who has done justice to a great harbour, and he only by that sheer force of enumeration which in this connection rather stands for than is poetry. as a matter of fact it is the reader of such an inventory as we find in "crossing brooklyn ferry" that is the poet: whitman is only the machinery. whitman gives the suggestion and the reader's own memory or imagination does the rest. many of the lines might as easily have been written of rotterdam as of brooklyn:-- the sailors at work in the rigging or out astride the spars, the round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants, the large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses, the white wake left by the passage, the quick tremulous whirl of the wheels, the flags of all nations, the falling of them at sunset, the scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests and glistening, the stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the grey walls of the granite storehouses by the docks, on the river the shadowy group, the big steam-tug closely flank'd on each side by the barges, the hay-boat, the belated lighter, on the neighbouring shore the fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and glaringly into the night, casting their flicker of black contrasted with wild red and yellow light over the tops of the houses, and down into the clefts of streets. there is of course nothing odd in the description of one harbour fitting another, for harbours have no one nationality but all. whitman was not otherwise very strong upon holland. he writes in "salut au monde" of "the sail and steamships of the world" which in his mind's eye he beholds as they wait steam'd up ready to start in the ports of australia, wait at liverpool, glasgow, dublin, marseilles, lisbon, naples, hamburg, bremen, bordeaux, the hague, copenhagen. it is not easy for one of the "sail or steamships of the world" to wait steamed up at the hague; because the hague has no harbour except for small craft and barges. shall we assume, with great charity, that walt feared that the word rotterdam might impair his rhythm? not only big shipping: i think one may see barges and canal boats in greater variety at rotterdam than anywhere else. one curious thing to be noticed as they lie at rest in the canals is the absence of men. a woman is always there; her husband only rarely. the only visible captain is the fussy, shrewish little dog which, suspicious of the whole world, patrols the boat from stem to stern, and warns you that it is against the law even to look at his property. i hope his bite is not equal to his bark. every barge has its name. what the popular style was seven years ago, when i was here last, i cannot remember; but to-day it is "wilhelmina". english suburban villas have not a greater variety of fantastic names than the canal craft of holland; nor, with all our monopoly of the word "home," does the english suburban villa suggest more compact cosiness than one catches gleams of through their cabin windows or down their companions. spring cleaning goes on here, as in the dutch houses, all the year round, and the domiciliary part of the vessels is spotless. every bulwark has a washing tray that can be fixed or detached in a moment. "it's a fine day, let us kill something," says the englishman; "here's an odd moment, let us wash something," says the dutch vrouw. in some of the rotterdam canals the barges are so packed that they lie touching each other, with their burgees flying all in the same direction, as the vanes of st. sepulchre's in holborn cannot do. how they ever get disentangled again and proceed on their free way to their distant homes is a mystery. but in the shipping world incredible things can happen at night. one does not, perhaps, in rotterdam realise all at once that every drop of water in these city-bound canals is related to every other drop of water in the other canals of holland, however distant. from any one canal you can reach in time every other. the canal is really much more the high road of the country than the road itself. the barge is the pickford van of holland. here we see some of the secret of the dutch deliberateness. a country which must wait for its goods until a barge brings them has every opportunity of acquiring philosophic phlegm. after a while one gets accustomed to the ever-present canal and the odd spectacle (to us) of masts in the streets and sails in the fields. all the dutch towns are amphibious, but some are more watery than others. the dutch do not use their wealth of water as we should. they do not swim in it, they do not race on it, they do not row for pleasure at all. water is their servant, never a light-hearted companion. i can think of no more reposeful holiday than to step on board one of these barges wedged together in a rotterdam canal, and never lifting a finger to alter the natural course of events--to accelerate or divert--be earned by it to, say, harlingen, in friesland: between the meadows; under the noses of the great black and white cows; past herons fishing in the rushes; through little villages with dazzling milk-cans being scoured on the banks, and the good-wives washing, and saturnine smokers in black velvet slippers passing the time of day; through big towns, by rows of sombre houses seen through a delicate screen of leaves; under low bridges crowded with children; through narrow locks; ever moving, moving, slowly and surely, sometimes sailing, sometimes quanting, sometimes being towed, with the wide dutch sky overhead, and the plovers crying in it, and the clean west wind driving the windmills, and everything just as it was in rembrandt's day and just as it will be five hundred years hence. holland when all is said is a country of canals. it may have cities and pictures, windmills and cows, quaint buildings, and quainter costumes, but it is a country of canals before all. the canals set the tune. the canals keep it deliberate and wise. one can be in rotterdam, or in whatever town one's travels really begin, but a very short time without discovering that the dutch unit--the florin--is a very unsatisfactory servant. the dearness of holland strikes one continually, but it does so with peculiar force if one has crossed the frontier from belgium, where the unit is a franc. it is too much to say that a sovereign in holland is worth only twelve shillings: the case is not quite so extreme as that; but a sovereign in belgium is, for all practical purposes, worth twenty-five shillings, and the contrast after reaching dutch soil is very striking. one has to recollect that the spidery letter "f," which in those friendly little restaurants in the rue hareng at brussels had stood for a franc, now symbolises that far more serious item the florin; and f. . , which used to be a trifle of one and threepence, is now half a crown. even in our own country, where we know something about the cost of things, we are continually conscious of the fallacy embodied in the statement that a sovereign is equal to twenty shillings. we know that in theory that is so; but we know also that it is so only as long as the sovereign remains unchanged. change it and it is worth next to nothing--half a sovereign and a little loose silver. but in holland the disparity is even more pathetic. to change a sovereign there strikes one as the most ridiculous business transaction of one's life. certain things in holland are dear beyond all understanding. at the hague, for example, we drank eau d'evian, a very popular bottled water for which in any french restaurant one expects to pay a few pence; and when the bill arrived this simple fluid cut such a dashing figure in it that at first i could not recognise it at all. when i put the matter to the landlord, he explained that the duty made it impossible for him to charge less than f. . (or half a crown) a bottle; but i am told that his excuse was too fanciful. none the less, half a crown was the charge, and apparently no one objects to pay it. the dutch, on pleasure or eating bent, are prepared to pay anything. one would expect to get a reasonable claret for such a figure; but not in holland. wine is good there, but it is not cheap. only in one hotel--and that in the unspoiled north, at groningen--did i see wine placed automatically upon the table, as in france. rotterdam must have changed for the worse under modern conditions; for it is no longer as it was in lady mary wortley montagu's day. from rotterdam in she sent the countess of mar a pretty account of the city: "all the streets are paved with broad stones, and before the meanest artificers' doors seats of various coloured marbles, and so neatly kept that, i will assure you, i walked all over the town yesterday, _incognita_, in my slippers, without receiving one spot of dirt; and you may see the dutch maids washing the pavement of the street with more application than ours do our bed-chambers. the town seems so full of people, with such busy faces, all in motion, that i can hardly fancy that it is not some celebrated fair; but i see it is every day the same. "the shops and warehouses are of a surprising neatness and magnificence, filled with an incredible quantity of fine merchandise, and so much cheaper than what we see in england, i have much ado to persuade myself i am still so near it. here is neither dirt nor beggary to be seen. one is not shocked with those loathsome cripples, so common in london, nor teased with the importunities of idle fellows and wenches, that choose to be nasty and lazy. the common servants and the little shopwomen here are more nicely clean than most of our ladies; and the great variety of neat dresses (every woman dressing her head after her own fashion) is an additional pleasure in seeing the town." the claims of business have now thrust aside many of the little refinements described by lady mary, her description of which has but to be transferred to some of the smaller dutch towns to be however in the main still accurate. but what she says of the dutch servants is true everywhere to this minute. there are none more fresh and capable; none who carry their lot with more quiet dignity. not the least part of the very warm hospitality which is offered in dutch houses is played by the friendliness of the servants. every one in holland seems to have enough; no one too much. great wealth there may be among the merchants, but it is not ostentatious. holland still seems to have no poor in the extreme sense of the word, no rags. doubtless the labourers that one sees are working at a low rate, but they are probably living comfortably at a lower, and are not to be pitied except by those who still cherish the illusion that riches mean happiness. the dirt and poverty that exist in every english town and village are very uncommon. nor does one see maimed, infirm or very old people, except now and then--so rarely as at once to be reminded of their rarity. one is struck, even in rotterdam, which is a peculiarly strenuous town, by the ruddy health of the people in the streets. in england, as one walks about, one sees too often the shadow of death on this face and that; but in holland it is difficult to believe in his power, the people have so prosperous, so permanent, an air. that the dutch die there is no doubt, for a funeral is an almost daily object, and the aanspreker is continually hurrying by; but where are the dead? the cemeteries are minute, and the churches have no churchyards. of death, however, when he comes the nation is very proud. the mourning customs are severe and enduring. no expense is spared in spreading the interesting tidings. it is for this purpose that the aanspreker flourishes in his importance and pomp. draped heavily in black, from house to house he moves, wherever the slightest ties of personal or business acquaintanceship exist, and announces his news. a lady of hilversum tells me that she was once formally the recipient of the message, "please, ma'am, the baker's compliments, and he's dead," the time and place of the interment following. i said draped in black, but the aanspreker is not so monotonous an official as that. he has his subtleties, his nuances. if the deceased is a child, he adds a white rosette; if a bachelor or a maid, he intimates the fact by degrees of trimming. the aanspreker was once occasionally assisted by the huilebalk, but i am afraid his day is over. the huilebalk accompanied the aansprekers from house to house and wept on the completion of their sad message. he wore a wide-awake hat with a very large brim and a long-tailed coat. if properly paid, says my informant, real tears coursed down his cheeks; in any case his presence was a luxury possible only to the rich. the aanspreker is called in also at the other end of life. assuming a more jocund air, he trips from house to house announcing little strangers. that the dutch are a healthy people one might gather also from the character of their druggists. in this country, even in very remote towns, one may reveal one's symptoms to a chemist or his assistant feeling certain that he will know more or less what to prescribe. but in holland the chemists are often young women, who preside over shops in which one cannot repose any confidence. one likes a chemist's shop at least to look as if it contained reasonable remedies. these do not. either our shops contain too many drugs or these too few. the chemist's sign, a large comic head with its mouth wide open (known as the gaper), is also subversive of confidence. a chemist's shop is no place for jokes. in holland one must in short do as the dutch do, and remain well. rotterdam's first claim to consideration, apart from its commercial importance, is that it gave birth to erasmus, a bronze statue of whom stands in the groote market, looking down on the stalls of fruit. erasmus of rotterdam--it sounds like a contradiction in terms. gherardt gherardts of rotterdam is a not dishonourable cacophany--and that was the reformer's true name; but the fashion of the time led scholars to adopt a hellenised, or latinised, style. erasmus desiderius, his new name, means beloved and long desired. grotius, barlaeus, vossius, arminius, all sacrificed local colour to smooth syllables. we should be very grateful that the fashion did not spread also to the painters. what a loss it would be had the magnificent rugged name of rembrandt van rhyn been exchanged for a smooth emasculated latinism. rotterdam had another illustrious son whose work as little suggests his birthplace--the exquisite painter peter de hooch. according to the authorities he modelled his style upon rembrandt and fabritius, but the influence of rembrandt is concealed from the superficial observer. de hooch, whose pictures are very scarce, worked chiefly at delft and haarlem, and it was at haarlem that he died in . if one were put to it to find a new standard of aristocracy superior to accidents of blood or rank one might do worse than demand as the ultimate test the possession of either a vermeer of delft or a peter de hooch. one only of peter de hooch's pictures is reproduced in this book--"the store cupboard". this is partly because there are, i think, better paintings of his in london than at amsterdam. at least it seems to me that his picture in our national gallery of the waiting maid is finer than anything by de hooch in holland. but in no other work of his that i know is his simple charm so apparent as in "the store cupboard". this is surely the christmas supplement carried out to its highest power--and by its inventor. the thousands of domestic scenes which have proceeded from this one canvas make the memory reel; and yet nothing has staled the prototype. it remains a sweet and genuine and radiant thing. de hooch had two fetishes--a rich crimson dress or jacket and an open door. his compatriot vermeer, whom he sometimes resembles, was similarly addicted to a note of blue. no one has managed direct sunlight so well as de hooch. the light in his rooms is the light of day. one can almost understand how rembrandt and gerard dou got their concentrated effects of illumination; but how this omnipresent radiance streamed from de hooch's palette is one of the mysteries. it is as though he did not paint light but found light on his canvas and painted everything else in its midst. rotterdam has some excellent pictures in its boymans museum; but they are, i fancy, overlooked by many visitors. it seems no city in which to see pictures. it is a city for anything rather than art--a mercantile centre, a hive of bees, a shipping port of intense activity. and yet perhaps the quietest little albert cuyp in holland is here, "de oude oostpoort te rotterdam," a small evening scene, without cattle, suffused in a golden glow. but all the cuyps, and there are six, are good--all inhabited by their own light. among the other boymans treasures which i find i have marked (not necessarily because they are good--for i am no judge--but because i liked them) are ferdinand bols fine free portrait of dirck van der waeijen, a boy in a yellow coat; erckhart's "boaz and ruth," a small sombre canvas with a suggestion of velasquez in it; hobbema's "boomrijk landschap," one of the few paintings of this artist that holland possesses. the english, i might remark, always appreciative judges of dutch art, have been particularly assiduous in the pursuit of hobbema, with the result that his best work is in our country. holland has nothing of his to compare with the "avenue at middelharnis," one of the gems of our national gallery. and his feathery trees may be studied at the wallace collection in great comfort. other fine landscapes in the boymans museum are three by johan van kessel, who was a pupil of hobbema, one by jan van der meer, one by koninck, and, by jacob van ruisdael, a corafield in the sun and an amsterdam canal with white sails upon it. the most notable head is that by karel fabritius; hendrick pot's "het lokstertje" is interesting for its large free manner and signs of the influence of hals; and emmanuel de witte's amsterdam fishmarket is curiously modern. but the figure picture which most attracted me was "portret van een jongeling," by jan van scorel, of whom we shall learn more at utrecht. this little portrait, which i reproduce on the opposite page, is wholly charming and vivid. the boymans museum contains also modern dutch paintings. wherever modern dutch paintings are to be seen, i look first for the delicate art of matthew maris, and next for anton mauve. here there is no matthew maris, and but one james maris. there is one mauve. the modern dutch painter for the most part paints the same picture so often. but matthew maris is full of surprises. if a new picture by any of his contemporaries stood with its face to the wall one would know what to expect. from israels, a fisherman's wife; from mesdag, a grey stretch of sea; from bosboom, a superb church interior; from mauve, a peasant with sheep or a peasant with a cow; from weissenbruch, a stream and a willow; from breitner, an amsterdam street; from james maris a masterly scene of boats and wet sky. usually one would have guessed aright. but with matthew maris is no certainty. it may be a little dainty girl lying on her side and watching butterflies; it may be a sombre hillside at montmartre; it may be a girl cooking; it may be scaffolding in amsterdam, or a mere at evening, or a baby's head, or a village street. he has many moods, and he is always distinguished and subtle. rotterdam has a zoological garden which, although inferior to ours, is far better than that at amsterdam, while it converts the hague's zoo into a travesty. last spring the lions were in splendid condition. they are well housed, but fewer distractions are provided for them than in regent's park. i found myself fascinated by the herons, who were continually soaring out over the neighbouring houses and returning like darkening clouds. in england, although the heron is a native, we rarely seem to see him; while to study him is extremely difficult. in holland he is ubiquitous: both wild and tame. more interesting still was the stork, whose nest is set high on a pinnacle of the buffalo house. he was building in the leisurely style of the british working man. he would negligently descend from the heavens with a stick. this he would lay on the fabric and then carefully perform his toilet, looking round and down all the time to see that every one else was busy. whenever his eye lighted upon a toddling child or a perambulator it visibly brightened. "my true work!" he seemed to say; "this nest building is a mere by-path of industry." after prinking and overlooking, and congratulating himself thus, for a few minutes, he would stroll off, over the housetops, for another stick. he was the unquestionable king of the garden. why are there no heronries in the english public parks? and why is there no stork? the dutch have a proverb, "where the stork abides no mother dies in childbed". still more, why are there no storks in france? the author of _fécondité_ should have imported them. no zoo, however well managed, can keep an ourang-outang long, and therefore one should always study that uncomfortably human creature whenever the opportunity occurs. i had great fortune at rotterdam, for i chanced to be in the ourang-outang's house when his keeper came in. entering the enclosure, he romped with him in a score of diverting ways. they embraced each other, fed each other, teased each other. the humanness of the creature was frightful. perhaps our likeness to ourang-outangs (except for our ridiculously short arms, inadequate lower jaws and lack of hair) made him similarly uneasy. rotterdam, i have read somewhere, was famous at the end of the eighteenth century for a miser, the richest man in the city. he always did his own marketing, and once changed his butcher because he weighed the paper with the meat he bought his milk in farthingsworths, half of which had to be delivered at his front door and half at the back, "to gain the little advantage of extra measure". different travellers note different things, and william chambers, the publisher, in his _tour in holland_ in , selected for special notice another type of rotterdam resident: "one of the most remarkable men of this [the merchant] class is mr. van hoboken of rhoon and pendrecht, who lives on one of the havens. this individual began life as a merchant's porter, and has in process of time attained the highest rank among the dutch mercantile aristocracy. he is at present the principal owner of twenty large ships in the east india trade, each, i was informed, worth about fourteen thousand pounds, besides a large landed estate, and much floating wealth of different descriptions. his establishment is of vast extent, and contains departments for the building of ships and manufacture of all their necessary equipments. this gentleman, until lately, was in the habit of giving a splendid fête once a year to his family and friends, at which was exhibited with modest pride the porter's truck which he drew at the outset of his career. one seldom hears of british merchants thus keeping alive the remembrance of early meanness of circumstances." at one of rotterdam's stations i saw the queen-mother, a smiling, maternal lady in a lavender silk dress, carrying a large bouquet, and saying pretty things to a deputation drawn up on the platform. rotterdam had put out its best bunting, and laid six inches of sand on its roads, to do honour to this kindly royalty. the band played the tender national anthem, which is always so unlike what one expects it to be, as her train steamed away, and then all the grave bearded gentlemen in uniforms and frock coats who had attended her drove in their open carriages back to the town. not even the presence of the mounted guard made it more formal than a family party. everybody seemed on the best of friendly terms of equality with everybody else. tom hood, who had it in him to be so good a poet, but living in a country where art and literature do not count, was permitted to coarsen his delicate genius in the hunt for bread, wrote one of his comic poems on rotterdam. in it are many happy touches of description:-- before me lie dark waters in broad canals and deep, whereon the silver moonbeams sleep, restless in their sleep; a sort of vulgar venice reminds me where i am; yes, yes, you are in england, and i'm at rotterdam. tall houses with quaint gables, where frequent windows shine, and quays that lead to bridges, and trees in formal line, and masts of spicy vessels from western surinam, all tell me you're in england, but i'm in rotterdam. with headquarters at rotterdam one may make certain small journeys into the neighbourhood--to dordrecht by river, to delft by canal, to gouda by canal; or one may take longer voyages, even to cologne if one wishes. but i do not recommend it as a city to linger in. better than rotterdam's large hotels are, i think, the smaller, humbler and more dutch inns of the less commercial towns. this indeed is the case all over holland: the plain dutch inn of the neighbouring small town is pleasanter than the large hotels of the city; and, as i have remarked in the chapter on amsterdam, the distances are so short, and the trains so numerous, that one suffers no inconvenience from staying in the smaller places. gouda (pronounced howda) it is well to visit from rotterdam, for it has not enough to repay a sojourn in its midst. it has a groote kerk and a pretty isolated white stadhuis. but gouda's fame rests on its stained glass--gigantic representations of myth, history and scripture, chiefly by the brothers crabeth. the windows are interesting rather than beautiful. they lack the richness and mystery which one likes to find in old stained glass, and the church itself is bare and cold and unfriendly. hemmed in by all this coloured glass, so able and so direct, one sighs for a momentary glimpse of the rose window at chartres, or even of the too heavily kaleidoscopic patterns of brussels cathedral. no matter, the gouda windows in their way are very fine, and in the sixth, depicting the story of judith and holofernes, there is a very fascinating little düreresque tower on a rock under siege. if one is taking gouda on the way from rotterdam to amsterdam, the surrounding country should not be neglected from the carriage windows. holland is rarely so luxuriant as here, and so peacefully beautiful. chapter ii the dutch in english literature hard things against the dutch--andrew marvell's satire--the iniquity of living below sea-level--historic sarcasms--"invent a shovel and be a magistrate"--heterogeneity--foot warmers--a champion of the hollow land--_the dutch drawn to the life_--dutch suspicion--sir william temple's opinion--and sir thomas overbury's--dr. johnson's project--dutch courtesy--dutch discourtesy--national manners--a few phrases--the origin of "dutch news"--a vindication of dutch courage. to say hard things of the dutch was once a recognised literary pastime. at the time of our war with holland no poet of any pretensions refrained from writing at least one anti-batavian satire, the classical example of which is andrew marvell's "character of holland" (following samuel butler's), a pasquinade that contains enough wit and fancy and contempt to stock a score of the nation's ordinary assailants. it begins perfectly:-- holland, that scarce deserves the name of land, as but th' off-scouring of the british sand, and so much earth as was contributed by english pilots when they heav'd the lead, or what by the ocean's slow alluvion fell of shipwrackt cockle and the muscle-shell: this indigested vomit of the sea fell to the dutch by just propriety. glad then, as miners who have found the ore they, with mad labour, fish'd the land to shoar and div'd as desperately for each piece of earth, as if't had been of ambergreece; collecting anxiously small loads of clay, less than what building swallows bear away; or than those pills which sordid beetles roul, transfusing into them their dunghil soul. how did they rivet, with gigantick piles, thorough the center their new-catchèd miles; and to the stake a struggling country bound, where barking waves still bait the forcèd ground; building their wat'ry babel far more high to reach the sea, than those to scale the sky! yet still his claim the injur'd ocean laid, and oft at leap-frog ore their steeples plaid: as if on purpose it on land had come to show them what's their _mare liberum_. a daily deluge over them does boyl; the earth and water play at level-coyl. the fish oft times the burger dispossest, and sat, not as a meat, but as a guest, and oft the tritons and the sea-nymphs saw whole sholes of dutch serv'd up for cabillau; or, as they over the new level rang'd for pickled herring, pickled _heeren_ chang'd. nature, it seem'd, asham'd of her mistake, would throw their land away at duck and drake. the poor dutch were never forgiven for living below the sea-level and gaining their security by magnificent feats of engineering and persistence. why the notion of a reclaimed land should have seemed so comic i cannot understand, but marvell certainly justified the joke. later, napoleon, who liked to sum up a nation in a phrase, accused holland of being nothing but a deposit of german mud, thrown there by the rhine: while the duke of alva remarked genially that the dutch were of all peoples those that lived nighest to hell; but marvell's sarcasms are the best. indeed i doubt if the literature of droll exaggeration has anything to compare with "the character of holland". the satirist, now thoroughly warmed to his congenial task, continues:-- therefore necessity, that first made kings, something like government among them brings; for, as with pygmees, who best kills the crane, among the hungry, he that treasures grain, among the blind, the one-ey'd blinkard reigns, so rules among the drowned he that draines: not who first sees the rising sun, commands, but who could first discern the rising lands; who best could know to pump an earth so leak, him they their lord, and country's father, speak; to make a bank, was a great plot of state, invent a shov'l, and be a magistrate. so much for the conquest of neptune, which in another nation were a laudable enough enterprise. marvell then passes on to the national religion and the heterogeneity of amsterdam:-- 'tis probable religion, after this, came next in order, which they could not miss, how could the dutch but be converted, when th' apostles were so many fishermen? besides, the waters of themselves did rise, and, as their land, so them did re-baptize. though herring for their god few voices mist, and poor-john to have been th' evangelist, faith, that could never twins conceive before, never so fertile, spawn'd upon this shore more pregnant than their marg'ret, that laid down for hans-in-kelder of a whole hans-town. sure when religion did itself imbark, and from the east would westward steer its ark, it struck, and splitting on this unknown ground, each one thence pillag'd the first piece he found: hence amsterdam, turk-christian-pagan-jew, staple of sects, and mint of schisme grew; that bank of conscience, where not one so strange opinion but finds credit, and exchange. in vain for catholicks ourselves we bear; the universal church is only there. nor can civility there want for tillage, where wisely for their court, they chose a village: how fit a title clothes their governours, themselves the hogs, as all their subject bores! let it suffice to give their country fame, that it had one civilis call'd by name, some fifteen hundred and more years ago, but surely never any that was so. there is something rather splendid in the attitude of a man who can take a whole nation as his butt and bend every circumstance to his purpose of ridicule and attack. our satirists to-day are contented to pillory individuals or possibly a sect or clique. marvell's enjoyment in his own exuberance and ingenuity is so apparent and infectious that it matters nothing to us whether he was fair or unfair. the end is inconclusive, being a happy recollection that he had omitted any reference to _stoofjes_, the footstools filled with burning peat which are used to keep the feet warm in church. such a custom was of course not less reprehensible than the building of dykes to keep out the sea. hence these eight lines, which, however, would have come better earlier in the poem:-- see but their mermaids, with their tails of fish, reeking at church over the chafing-dish! a vestal turf, enshrin'd in earthen ware, fumes through the loopholes of a wooden square; each to the temple with these altars tend, but still does place it at her western end; while the fat steam of female sacrifice fills the priest's nostrils, and puts out his eyes. not all the poets, however, abused the dutch. john hagthorpe, in his _england's exchequer_ in (written before the war: hence, perhaps, his kindness) thus addressed the "hollow land":-- fair holland, had'st thou england's chalky rocks, to gird thy watery waist; her healthful mounts, with tender grass to feed thy nibbling flocks: her pleasant groves, and crystalline clear founts, most happy should'st thou be by just accounts, that in thine age so fresh a youth do'st feel though flesh of oak, and ribs of brass and steel. but what hath prudent mother nature held from thee--that she might equal shares impart unto her other sons--that's not compell'd to be the guèrdons of thy wit and art? and industry, that brings from every part of every thing the fairest and the best, like the arabian bird to build thy nest? like the arabian bird thy nest to build, with nimble wings thou flyest for indian sweets, and incense which the sabáan forests yield, and in thy nest the goods of each pole meets,-- which thy foes hope, shall serve thy funeral rites-- but thou more wise, secur'd by thy deep skill, dost build on waves, from fires more safe than hill. to return to the severer critics--in was published a little book called _the dutch drawn to the life_, a hostile work not improbably written with the intention of exciting english animosity to the point of war. a great deal was made of the success of the dutch fisheries and the mismanagement of our own. the nation was criticised in all its aspects--"well nigh three millions of men, well-proportioned, great lovers of our english beer". the following passage on the drinking capacity of the dutch would have to be modified to-day:-- by their excise, which riseth with their charge, the more money they pay, the more they receive again, in that insensible but profitable way: what is exhaled up in clouds, falls back again in showers: what the souldier receives in pay, he payes in drink: their very enemies, though they hate the state, yet love their liquor, and pay excise: the most idle, slothful, and most improvident, that selleth his blood for drink, and his flesh for bread, serves at his own charge, for every pay day he payeth his sutler, and he the common purse. here are other strokes assisting to the protraiture "to the life" of this people: "their habitations are kept handsomer than their bodies, and their bodies than their soules".--"the dutch man's building is not large, but neat; handsome on the outside, on the inside hung with pictures and tapestry. he that hath not bread to eat hath a picture."--"they are seldom deceived, for they will trust nobody. they may always deceive, for you must trust them, as for instance, if you travel, to ask a bill of particulars is to purre in a wasp's nest, you must pay what they ask as sure as if it were the assessment of a subsidy." but the wittiest and shrewdest of the prose critics of holland was owen feltham, from whom i quote later. his little book on the low countries is as packed with pointed phrase as a satire by pope: the first half of it whimsically destructive, the second half eulogistic. it is he who charges the dutch convivial spirits with drinking down the evening starre and drinking up the morning starre. the old literature tells us also that the dutch were not always clean. indeed, their own painters prove this: ostade pre-eminently. there are many allusions in elizabethan and early stuart literature to their dirt and rags. in earle's _microcosmography_, for example, a younger brother's last refuge is said to be the low countries, "where rags and linen are no scandal". but better testimony comes perhaps from _the english schole-master_, a seventeenth-century dutch-english manual, from which i quote at some length later in this book. here is a specimen scrap of dialogue:-- s. may it please you to give me leave to go out? m. whither? s. home. m. how is it that you goe so often home? s. my mother commanded that i and my brother should come to her this day. m. for what cause? s. that our mayd may beat out our clothes. m. what is that to say? are you louzie? s. yea, very louzie. sir william temple, the patron of swift, the husband of dorothy osborne, and our ambassador at the hague--where he talked horticulture, cured his gout by the remedy known as moxa, and collected materials for the leisurely essays and memoirs that were to be written at moor park--knew the dutch well and wrote of them with much particularity. in his _observations upon the united provinces_ he says this: "holland is a country, where the earth is better than the air, and profit more in request than honour; where there is more sense than wit; more good nature than good humour, and more wealth than pleasure: where a man would chuse rather to travel than to live; shall find more things to observe than desire; and more persons to esteem than to love. but the same qualities and dispositions do not value a private man and a state, nor make a conversation agreeable, and a government great: nor is it unlikely, that some very great king might make but a very ordinary private gentleman, and some very extraordinary gentleman might be capable of making but a very mean prince." among other travellers who have summed up the dutch in a few phrases is sir thomas overbury, the author of some witty characters, including that very charming one of a happy milk maid. in he thus generalised upon the netherlander: "concerning the people: they are neither much devout, nor much wicked; given all to drink, and eminently to no other vice; hard in bargaining, but just; surly and respectless, as in all democracies; thirsty, industrious, and cleanly; disheartened upon the least ill-success, and insolent upon good; inventive in manufactures, and cunning in traffick: and generally, for matter of action, that natural slowness of theirs, suits better (by reason of the advisedness and perseverance it brings with it) than the rashness and changeableness of the french and florentine wits; and the equality of spirits, which is among them and switzers, renders them so fit for a democracy: which kind of government, nations of more stable wits, being once come to a consistent greatness, have seldom long endured." many englishmen have travelled in holland and have set down the record of their experiences, from thomas coryate downwards. but the country has not been inspiring, and dutch travels are poor reading. had dr. johnson lived to accompany boswell on a projected journey we should be the richer, but i doubt if any very interesting narrative would have resulted. one of johnson's contemporaries, samuel ireland, the engraver, and the father of the fraudulent author of _vortigern_, wrote _a picturesque tour through holland, brabant, and part of france_, in , while a few years later one of charles lamb's early "drunken companions," fell, wrote _a tour through the batavian republic_, ; and both of these books yield a few experiences not without interest. fell's is the duller. i quote from them now and again throughout this volume, but i might mention here a few of their more general observations. fell, for example, was embarrassed by the very formal politeness of the nation. "the custom of bowing in holland," he writes, "is extremely troublesome. it is not sufficient, as in england, that a person slightly moves his hat, but he must take it off his head, and continue uncovered till the man is past him to whom he pays the compliment. the ceremony of bowing is more strictly observed at leyden and haarlem, than at rotterdam or the hague. in either of the former cities, a stranger of decent appearance can scarcely walk in the streets without being obliged every minute to pull off his hat, to answer some civility of the same kind which he receives; and these compliments are paid him not only by opulent people, but by mechanics and labourers, who bow with all the gravity and politeness of their superiors." such civilities to strangers have become obsolete. so far from courtesy being the rule of the street, it is now, as i have hinted in the next chapter, impossible for an english-woman whose clothes chance to differ in any particular from those of the dutch to escape embarrassing notice. staring is carried to a point where it becomes almost a blow, and laughter and humorous sallies resound. i am told that the boer war to a large extent broke down old habits of politeness to the english stranger. when one thinks of it, the dutch habit of staring at the visitor until he almost wishes the sea would roll in and submerge him, argues a want of confidence in their country, tantamount to a confession of failure. had they a little more trust in the attractive qualities of their land, a little more imagination to realise that in other eyes its flatness and quaintness might be even alluring, they would accept and acknowledge the compliment by doing as little as possible to make their country's admirers uncomfortable. "dutch courage," to which i refer below, is not our only use of dutch as a contemptuous adjective. we say "dutch gold" for pinchbeck, "dutch myrtle" for a weed. "i shall talk to you like a dutch uncle" is another saying, not in this case contemptuous but rather complimentary--signifying "i'll dress you down to some purpose". one piece of slang we share with holland: the reference to the pawnbroker as an uncle. in holland the kindly friend at the three brass balls (which it may not be generally known are the ancient arms of lombardy, the lombards being the first money lenders,) is called oom jan or uncle john. there is still another phrase, "dutch news," which might be explained. the term is given by printers to very difficult copy--dean stanley's manuscript, for example, was probably known as dutch news, so terrible was his hand,--and also to "pie". the origin is to be found in the following paragraph from _notes and queries_. (the sir richard phillips concerned was the vegetarian publisher so finely touched off by borrow in _lavengro_.) in his youth sir richard phillips edited and published a paper at leicester, called the _herald_. one day an article appeared in it headed 'dutch mail,' and added to it was an announcement that it had arrived too late for translation, and so had been cut up and printed in the original. this wondrous article drove half of england crazy, and for years the best dutch scholars squabbled and pored over it without being able to arrive at any idea of what it meant. this famous 'dutch mail' was, in reality, merely a column of pie. the story sir richard tells of this particular pie he had a whole hand in is this:-- "one evening, before one of our publications, my men and a boy overturned two or three columns of the paper in type. we had to get ready in some way for the coaches, which, at four o'clock in the morning, required four or five hundred papers. after every exertion we were short nearly a column; but there stood on the galleys a tempting column of pie. it suddenly struck me that this might be thought dutch. i made up the column, overcame the scruples of the foreman, and so away the country edition went with its philological puzzle, to worry the honest agricultural reader's head. there was plenty of time to set up a column of plain english for the local edition." sir richard tells of one man whom he met in nottingham who for thirty-four years preserved a copy of the leicester _herald_, hoping that some day the matter would be explained. i doubt if any one nation is braver than any other; and the fact that from holland we get the contemptuous term "dutch courage," meaning the courage which is dependent upon spirits (originally as supplied to malefactors about to mount the scaffold), is no indication that the dutch lack bravery. to one who inquired as to the derivation of the phrase a poet unknown to me thus replied, somewhen in the reign of william iv. the retort, i think, was sound:-- do _you_ ask what is dutch courage? ask the thames, and ask the fleet, that, in london's fire and plague years, with de ruyter yards could mete: ask prince robert and d'estrées, ask your solebay and the boyne, ask the duke, whose iron valour with our chivalry did join, ask your wellington, oh ask him, of our prince of orange bold, and a tale of nobler spirit will to wond'ring ears be told; and if ever foul invaders threaten your king william's throne, if dark papacy be running, or if chartists want your own, or whatever may betide you, that needs rid of foreign will, only ask of your dutch neighbours, and you'll _see_ dutch courage still. chapter iii dordrecht and utrecht by water to dordrecht--her four rivers--the milkmaid and the coat of arms--the staple of dort--overhanging houses--albert cuyp--nicolas maes--ferdinand bol--ary scheffer--g.h. breitner--a dort carver--the synod of dort--"the exquisite rancour of theologians"--_la tulipe noire_--bernard mandeville--the exclusive englishman--the castle of loevenstein--the escape of grotius--gorcum's taste outraged--by rail to utrecht--a free church--the great storm of --utrecht cathedral--jan van scorel--paul moreelse--a too hospitable museum. dordrecht must be approached by water, because then one sees her as she was seen so often, and painted so often, by her great son albert cuyp, and by countless artists since. i steamed from rotterdam to dordrecht on a grey windy morning, on a passenger boat bound ultimately for nymwegen. we carried a very mixed cargo. in a cage at the bows was a friesland mare, while the whole of the deck at the stern was piled high with motor spirit. between came myriad barrels of beer and other merchandise. the course to dordrecht (which it is simpler to call dort) is up the maas for some miles; past shipbuilding yards, at sylverdyk (where is a great heronry) and kinderdyk; past fishermen dropping their nets for salmon, which they may take only on certain days, to give their german brethren, higher up the river, a chance; past meadows golden with marsh marigolds; past every kind of craft, most attractive of all being the tjalcks with their brown or black sails and green-lined hulls, not unlike those from rochester which swim so steadily in the reaches of the thames about greenwich. the journey takes an hour and a half, the last half-hour being spent in a canal leading south from the maas and ultimately joining dort's confluence of waters. it is these rivers that give dort her peculiar charm. there is a little café on the quay facing the sunset where one may sit and lose oneself in the eternally interesting movement of the shipping. i found the town distracting under the incessant clanging of the tram bell (yet grass grows among the paving-stones between the rails); but there is no distraction opposite the sunset. on the evening that i am remembering the sun left a sky of fiery orange barred by clouds of essential blackness. dort's rivers are the maas and the waal, the linge and the merwede; and when in philip of spain visited the city, she flourished this motto before him:-- me mosa, me vahalis, me linga morvaque cingunt biternam batavæ virginis ecce fidens. the fidelity, at least to philip and spain, disappeared; but the four rivers still as of old surround dort with a cincture. i must give, in the words of the old writer who tells it, the pretty legend which explains the origin of the dort coat of arms: "there is an admirable history concerning that beautiful and maiden city of holland called dort. the spaniards had intended an onslaught against it, and so they had laid thousands of old soldiers in ambush. not far from it there did live a rich farmer who did keep many cows in his ground, to furnish dort with butter and milk. the milkmaid coming to milk saw all under the hedges soldiers lying; seemed to take no notice, but went singing to her cows; and having milked, went as merrily away. coming to her master's house, she told what she had seen. the master wondering at it, took the maid with him and presently came to dort, told it to the burgomaster, who sent a spy immediately, found it true, and prepared for their safety; sent to the states, who presently sent soldiers into the city, and gave order that the river should be let in at such a sluice, to lay the country under water. it was done, and many spaniards were drowned and utterly disappointed of their design, and the town saved. the states, in the memory of the merry milkmaid's good service to the country, ordered the farmer a large revenue for ever, to recompense his loss of house, land, and cattle; caused the coin of the city to have the milkmaid under her cow to be engraven, which is to be seen upon the dort dollar, stivers, and doights to this day; and so she is set upon the water gate of dort; and she had, during her life, and her's for ever, an allowance of fifty pounds per annum. a noble requital for a virtuous action." dort's great day of prosperity is over; but once she was the richest town in holland--a result due to the privilege of the staple. in other words, she obtained the right to act as intermediary between the rest of holland and the outer world in connection with all the wine, corn, timber and whatever else might be imported by way of the rhine. at dort the cargoes were unloaded. for some centuries she enjoyed this privilege, and then in rotterdam began to resent it so acutely as to take to arms, and the financial prosperity of the town, which would be tenable only by the maintenance of a fleet, steadily crumbled. to-day she is contented enough, but the cellars of wyn straat, once stored with the juices of rhenish vineyards, are empty. the staple is no more. dort is perhaps the most painted of all dutch towns, and with reason; for certainly no other town sits with more calm dignity among the waters, nor has any other town so quaintly medieval a canal as that which extends from end to end, far below the level of the streets, crossed by a series of little bridges. seen from these bridges it is the nearest thing to venice in all holland--nearer than anything in amsterdam. one may see it not only from the bridges, but also from little flights of steps off the main street, and everywhere it is beautiful: the walls rising from its surface reflected in its depths, green paint splashed about with perfect effect, bright window boxes, here and there a woman washing clothes, odd gables above and bridges in the distance. dordrecht's converging facades, which incline towards each other like deaf people, are, i am told, the result not of age and sinking foundations, but of design. when they were built, very many years ago, the city had a law directing that its roofs should so far project beyond the perpendicular as to shed their water into the gutter, thus enabling the passers-by on the pavement to walk unharmed. i cannot give chapter or verse for this comfortable theory; which of course preceded the ingenious jonas hanway's invention of the umbrella. in a small and very imperfect degree the enactment anticipates the covered city of mr. h.g. wells's vision. a dutch friend to whom i put the point tells me that more probably the preservation of bricks and mural carvings was intended, the dryness of the wayfarer being quite secondary or unforeseen. dort's greatest artist was albert cuyp, born in . his body lies in the church of the augustines in the same city, where he died in --true to the dutch painters' quiet gift of living and dying in their birthplaces. cuyp has been called the dutch claude, but it is not a good description. he was more human, more simple, than claude. the symbol for him is a scene of cows; but he had great versatility, and painted horses to perfection. i have also seen good portraits from his busy brush. faithful to his native town, he painted many pictures of dort. we have two in the national gallery. i have reproduced opposite page his beautiful quiet view of the town in the ryks museum. dort has changed but little since then; the schooner would now be a steamer--that is almost all. the reproduction can give no adequate suggestion of cuyp's gift of diffusing golden light, his most precious possession. another dort painter, below albert cuyp in fame, but often above him, i think, in interest and power, is nicolas maes, born in --a great year in dutch art, for it saw the birth also of vermeer of delft and peter de hooch. maes, who studied in rembrandt's studio, was perhaps the greatest of all that master's pupils. england, as has been so often the case, appreciated maes more wisely than holland, with the result that some of his best pictures are here. but one must go to the ryks museum in amsterdam to see his finest work of all--"the endless prayer," no. , reproduced on the opposite page. we have at the national gallery or the wallace collection no maes equal to this. his "card players," however, at the national gallery, a free bold canvas, more in the manner of velasquez than of his immediate master, is in its way almost as interesting. to "the endless prayer" one feels that maes's master, rembrandt, could have added nothing. it is even conceivable that he might have injured it by some touch of asperity. from this picture all newlyn seems to have sprung. according to pilkington, maes gave up his better and more rembrandtesque manner on account of the objection of his sitters to be thus painted. such are sitters! dordrecht claims also ferdinand bol, the pupil and friend of rembrandt, and the painter of the four regents of the leprosy hospital in the amsterdam stadhuis. he was born in . for a while his pictures were considered by connoisseurs to be finer than those of his master. we are wiser to-day; yet bol had a fine free way that is occasionally superb, often united, as in the portrait of dirck van der waeijen at rotterdam, to a delicate charm for which rembrandt cared little. his portrait of an astronomer in our national gallery is a great work, and at the ryks museum at amsterdam his "roelof meulenaer," no. , should not be missed. bol's favourite sitter seems to have been admiral de ruyter--if one may judge by the number of his portraits of that sea ravener which holland possesses. by a perversity of judgment dort seems to be more proud of ary scheffer than of any of her really great sons. it is ary scheffer's statue--not albert cuyp's or nicolas maes's--which rises in the centre of the town; and ary scheffer's sentimental and saccharine inventions fill three rooms in the museum. it is amusing in the midst of this riot of meek romanticism to remember that scheffer painted carlyle. dort has no right to be so intoxicated with the excitement of having given birth to scheffer, for his father was a german, a mere sojourner in the dutch town. the old museum of dort has just been moved to a new building in the lindengracht, and in honour of the event a loan exhibition of modern paintings and drawings was opened last summer. the exhibition gave peculiar opportunity for studying the work of g. h. breitner, the painter of amsterdam canals. the master of a fine sombre impressionism, breitner has made such scenes his own. but he can do also more tender and subtle things. in this collection was a little oil sketch of a mere which would not have suffered had it been hung between a corot and a daubigny; and a water-colour drawing of a few cottages and a river that could not have been strengthened by any hand. another artist of dort was jan terween aertz, born in , whose carvings in the choir of the groote kerk are among its chief glories. it is amazing that such spirit and movement can be suggested in wood. that the very semblance of life can be captured by a painter is wonderful enough; but there seems to me something more extraordinary in the successful conquest of the difficulties which confront an artist of such ambition as this dort carver. his triumph is even more striking than that of the sculptor in marble. the sacristan of dort's groote kerk seems more eager to show a brass screen and a gold christening bowl than these astounding choir stalls; but tastes always differ. by the irony of fate it was dort--the possessor of terween's carving of the triumph of charles v. (a pendant to the triumph of the church and the eucharist)--that, in , only a few years after the carving was made, held the congress which virtually decided the fate of spain in the netherlands. brill had begun the revolution (as we shall see in our last chapter), flushing was the first to follow suit, enkhuisen then caught the fever; but these were individual efforts: it was the congress of dort that authorised and systematised the revolt. the scheme of this book precludes a consecutive account of the great struggle between holland and spain--a struggle equal almost to that between holland and her other implacable foe, the sea. i assume in the reader a sufficient knowledge of history to be able to follow the course of the contest as it moves backwards and forwards in these pages--the progress of the narrative being dictated by the sequence of towns in the itinerary rather than by the sequence of events in time. the death of william the silent, for example, has to be set forth in the chapter on delft, where the tragedy occurred, and where he lies buried, long before we reach the description of the siege of haarlem and the capture of de bossu off hoorn, while for the insurrection of brill, which was the first tangible token of dutch independence, we have to wait until the last chapter of all. the reader who is endowed with sufficient history to reconcile these divagations should, i think, by the time the book is finished, have (with motley's assistance) a vivid idea of this great war, so magnificently waged by holland, which lowers in the background of almost every dutch town. a later congress at dort was the famous synod in - , in which a packed house of gomarians or contra-remonstrants, pledged to carry out the wishes of maurice, prince of orange, the stadtholder, affected to subject the doctrines of the arminians or remonstrants to conscientious examination. these doctrines as contained in the five articles of the arminians were as follows, in the words of davies, the historian of holland: "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; and, on the contrary, had resolved to leave the obstinate and unbelieving to eternal damnation; secondly, 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 regenerate and renew the understanding and affections; fourthly, that this grace is the beginning, continuance, and end of salvation, and that all good works proceed 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, yet man can by his own act fall away from this state of grace." after seven months wrangling and bitterness, at a cost of a million guelders, the synod came to no conclusion more christian than that no punishment was too bad for the holder of such opinions, which were dangerous to the state and subversive of true religion. the result was that holland's calvinism was intensified; barneveldt (who had been in prison all the time) was, as we shall see, beheaded; grotius and hoogenbeets were sentenced to imprisonment for life; and episcopius, the remonstrant leader at the synod, was, together with many others, banished. episcopius heard his sentence with composure, merely remarking, "god will require of you an account of your conduct 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." davies has a story of episcopius which is too good to be omitted. on banishment he was given his expenses by the states. among the dollars 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. it is impossible for any one who has read _la tulipe noire_ not to think of that story when wandering about dort; but it is a mistake to read it in the town itself, for the great alexandre's fidelity to fact will not bear the strain. dumas never wore his historical, botanical, geographical and ethnographical knowledge more like a flower than in this brave but breathless story. in boxtel's envy we may perhaps believe; in gryphon's savagery; and in the craft and duplicity of the stadtholder; but if ever a french philosopher and a french grisette masqueraded as a dutch horticulturist and a frisian waiting-maid they are cornelius van baerle and his rosa; and if ever a tulip grew by magic rather than by the laws of nature it was the tulipe noire. no matter; there is but one dumas. according to flotow the composer, william iii. of holland told dumas the story of the black tulip at his coronation in , remarking that it was time that the novelist turned his attention to holland; but two arguments are urged against this origin, one being that paul lacroix--the "bibliophile jacob"--is said, on better authority, to have supplied the germ of the romance, and the other (which is even better evidence), that had the stimulus come from a monarch dumas would hardly have refrained from saying so (and more) in the preface of the book. cornelius de witt, whose tragedy is at the threshold of the romance, was apprehended at dort, on his bed of sickness, and carried thence to the hague, to be imprisoned in the gevangenpoort, which we shall visit, and torn to pieces by the populace close by. another literary association. from dort came the english cynical writer bernard mandeville, born in , author of _the fable of the bees_, that very shrewd and advanced commentary upon national hypocrisies--so advanced, indeed, that several of the more revolutionary of the thinkers of the present day, whose ideas are thought peculiarly modern, have not really got beyond it. after leaving leyden as a doctor of medicine, mandeville settled in england, somewhen at the end of the seventeenth century, and became well known in the coffee houses as a wit and good fellow. we are a curious people when we travel. at dort i heard a young englishman inquiring of the landlord how best to spend his sunday. "one can hardly go on one of the river excursions," he remarked; "they are so mixed." and the landlord, with a lunch at two florins, fifty, in his mind, which it was desirable that as many persons as possible should eat and pay for, heartily agreed with him. none the less it seemed well to join the excursion to gorinchem; and thence we steamed on a fine cloudy sunday, the river whipped grey by a strong cross wind, and the little ships that beat up and passed us, all aslant. at gorinchem (pronounced gorcum) we changed at once into another steamer, a sorry tub, as wide as it was short, and steamed to woudrichem (called worcum) hoping to explore the fortress of loevenstein. but loevenstein is enisled and beyond the reach of the casual visitor, and we had therefore to sit in the upper room of the bellevue inn, overlooking the river, and await the tub's deliberate return, while the tugs and the barges trailed past. save for modifications brought about by steam, the scene can be now little different from that in the days when hugo grotius was imprisoned in the castle. the philosopher's escape is one of the best things in the history of wives. two ameliorations were permitted him by maurice--the presence of the vrouw grotius and the solace of books. as it happened, this lenience could not have been less fortunately (or, for grotius, more fortunately) framed. books came continually to the prisoner, which, when read, were returned in the same chest that conveyed his linen to the gorcum wash. at first the guard carefully examined each departing load; but after a while the form was omitted. grotius's wife, a woman of no common order (when asked why she did not sue for her husband's pardon, she had replied, "i will not do it: if he have deserved it let them strike off his head"), was quick to notice the negligence of the guard, and giving out that her husband was bedridden, she concealed him in the chest, and he was dumped on a tjalck and earned over to gorcum. while on his journey he had the shuddering experience of hearing some one remark that the box was heavy enough to have a man in it; but it was his only danger. a gorcum friend extricated him; and, disguised as a carpenter armed with a footrule, he set forth on his travels to antwerp. once certain that grotius was safe, his wife informed the guard, and the hue and cry was raised. but it was raised in vain. at first there was a suggestion that the lady should be retained in his stead, but all holland applauded her deed and she was permitted to go free. the river, as i have said, must be still much the same as in grotius's day; while the two towns gorcum and worcum cluster about their noble church towers as of old. worcum is hardly altered; but gorcum's railway and factories have enlarged her borders. she has now twelve thousand inhabitants, some eleven thousand of whom were in the streets when, the tub having at length crawled back with us, we walked through them to the station. odd how one nation's prettiness is another's grotesque. my companion was wearing one of those comely straw hats trimmed with roses which we call early victorian, and which the hot summer of brought into fashion again on account of their peculiar suitability to keep off the sun. in england we think them becoming; upon certain heads they are charming. but no head must wear such a hat at gorcum unless it would court disaster. the town is gay and spruce, bright as a new pin; the people are outrageous. i suppose that the hat turned down at the precise point at which, according to gorcum's canons of taste, it should have turned up. whatever it did was unpardonable, and we had to be informed of the solecism. we were informed in various ways; the men whistled, the women sniggered, the girls laughed, the children shouted and ran beside us. the same hat had been disregarded by the sweet-mannered friendly middelburgians; it had raised no smile at breda. at dordrecht, it is true, eyes had been opened wide; at bergen-op-zoom mouths had opened too; but such attention was nothing compared with gorcum's pains to make two strangers uncomfortable. as it happened, we had philosophy, and the discomfort was very slight. indeed, after a while, as we ran the gauntlet to the station, annoyance gave way to interest. we found ourselves looking ahead for distant wayfarers who had not yet tasted the rare joy which rippled like a ship's wake behind us. we waited for the ecstatic moment when their faces should light with the joke. sometimes a mother standing at the door would see us and call to her family to come--and come quickly, if they would not be disappointed! women, lurking behind holland's blue gauze blinds, would be seen to break away with a hasty summoning movement. children down side streets who had just realised their exceptional fortune would be heard shouting the glad tidings to their friends. the porter who wheeled our luggage was stopped again and again to answer questions concerning his fantastic employers. in course of time--it is a long way to the station--we grew to feel a shade of pique if any one passed us and took no notice. to bulk so hugely in the public eye became a new pleasure. i had not known before what britannia must feel like on the summit of the largest of the cars in a circus procession. i am convinced that such costly and equivocal success as the british arms achieved over the boers had nothing to do with gorcum's feelings. the town's æsthetic ideals were honestly outraged, and it took the simplest means of making its protest. we did not mean to wait at the station; having left our luggage there, we had intended to explore the town. but there is a limit even to the passion for notoriety, and we had reached it, passed it. we read and wrote letters in that waiting-room for nearly three hours. at gorcum was born, in , jan van der heyden, a very attractive painter of street scenes, combining exactitude of detail with rich colour, who used to get andreas van der velde to put in the figures. he has a view of cologne in the national gallery which is exceedingly pleasing, and a second version in the wallace collection. i shall never forget his birthplace. we came into utrecht in the evening. at culemberg the country begins to grow very green and rich: smooth meadows and vast woods as far as one can see: plovers all the way. the light transfiguring this scene was exactly the golden light which one sees in albert cuyp's most peaceful landscapes. when i was last on this journey the time was spring, and the sliding, pointed roofs of the ricks were at their lowest, with their four poles high and naked above them, like scaffolding. but now, in august, they were all resting on the top pegs, a solid square tower of hay beneath each; looking in the evening light for all the world as if every farmer had his private norman church. the note of utrecht is superior satisfaction. it has discreet verdant parks, a wonderful campanile, a university, large comfortable houses, carriages and pairs. its cathedral is the only church in holland (with the exception of the desecrated fane at veere) for the privilege of entering which i was not asked to pay. i have an uneasy feeling that it was an oversight, and that if by any chance this statement meets an authoritative eye some one may be removed to one of the penal establishments and steps be taken to collect my debt. but so it was. and yet it is possible that the free right of entrance is intentional; since to charge for a building so unpardonably disfigured would be a hardy action. the gothic arches have great beauty, but it is impossible from any point to get more than a broken view on account of the high painted wooden walls with which the pews have been enclosed. the cathedral is only a fragment; the nave fell in, isolating the bell tower, during a tempest in , and by that time all interest in churches as beautiful and sacred buildings having died out of holland, never to return, no effort was made to restore it. but it must, before the storm, have been superb, and of a vastness superior to any in the country. i find a very pleasant passage upon holland's great churches, and indeed upon its best architecture in general, in an essay on utrecht cathedral by mr. l.a. corbeille. "gothic churches on a grand scale are as abundant in the netherlands as they are at home, but to find one of them drawn or described in any of the otherwise comprehensive architectural works, which appear from time to time, is the rarest of experiences. the hollanders are accused of mere apishness in employing the gothic style, and of downright dulness in apprehending its import and beauty. yet a man who has found that bit of rotterdam which beats venice; who has seen, from under delft's lindens on a summer evening, the image of the oude kerk's leaning tower in the still canal, and has gone to bed, perchance to awake in the moonlight while the nieuwe kerk's many bells are rippling a silver tune over the old roofs and gables; who has drunk his beer full opposite the stadhuis at leyden, and seen haarlem's huge church across magnificent miles of gaudy tulips, and watched from a brown-sailed boat on the zuider zee a buoy on the horizon grow into the water-gate of hoorn; who knows his gouda and bois-le-duc and alkmaar and kampen and utrecht: this man does not fret over wasted days." mr. corbeille continues, later: "looking down a side street of rotterdam at the enormous flank of st. lawrence's, and again at st. peter's in leyden, it seems as if all the bricks in the world have been built up in one place. apart from their smaller size, bricks appear far more numerous in a wall than do blocks of stone, because they make a stronger contrast with the mortar. in the laborious articulation of these millions of clay blocks one first finds egypt; then quickly remembers how indigenous it all is, and how characteristic of the untiring hollander, who rules the waves even more proudly than the briton, and has cheated them of the very ground beneath his feet. and if sermons may be found in bricks as well as stones, one has a thought while looking at them about christianity itself. certainly there is often pitiful littleness and short-comings in the individual believer, just as each separate brick of these millions is stained or worn or fractured; and yet the christian church, august and significant, still towers before men; even as these old blocks of clay compile vastly and undeniably in an overpowering whole." among a huddle of bad and indifferent pictures in the kunstliefde museum is a series of four long paintings by jan van scorel (whom we met at rotterdam), representing a band of pilgrims who travelled from utrecht to jerusalem in the sixteenth century. two of these pictures are reproduced on the opposite page, the principal figure in the lower one--in the middle, in white--being jan van scorel himself. the faces are all such as one can believe in; just so, we feel, did the pilgrims look, and what a thousand pities there was no jan van scorel to accompany chaucer! these are the best pictures in utrecht, which cannot have any great interest in art or it would not allow that tramway through its bell tower. in the reproduction the faces necessarily become very small, but they are still full of character, and one may see the sympathetic hand of a master in all. jan van scorel was only a settler in utrecht; the most illustrious citizen to whom it gave birth was paulus moreelse, but the city has, i think, only one of his pictures, and that not his best. he was born in , and he died at utrecht in . his portraits are very rich: either he had interesting sitters or he imparted interest to them. opposite page i have reproduced his portrait of a lady in the ryks museum at amsterdam, which amongst so many fine pictures one may perhaps at the outset treat with too little ceremony, but which undoubtedly will assert itself. it is a picture that, as we say, grows on one: the unknown lady becomes more and more mischievous, more and more necessary. the little archiepiscopal museum at utrecht is as small--or as large--as a museum should be: one can see it comfortably. it has many treasures, all ecclesiastical, and seventy different kinds of lace; but to me it is memorable for the panel portrait of a woman by jan van scorel, a very sweet sedate face, beautifully painted, which one would like to coax into a less religious mood. utrecht is very proud of a wide avenue of lime trees--a triple avenue, as one often sees in holland--called the maliebaan; but more beautiful are the semi-circular oude and nieuwe grachts, with their moat-like canals laving the walls of serene dignified houses, each gained by its own bridge. at the north end of the maliebaan is the hoogeland park, with a fringe of spacious villas that might be in kensington; and here is the antiquarian museum, notable among its very miscellaneous riches, which resemble the bankrupt stock of a curiosity dealer, for the most elaborate dolls' house in holland--perhaps in the world. its date is , and it represents accurately the home of a wealthy aristocratic doll of that day. nothing was forgotten by the designer of this miniature palace; special paintings, very nude, were made for its salon, and the humblest kitchen utensils are not missing. i thought the most interesting rooms the office where the major domo sits at his intricate labours, and the store closet. the museum has many very valuable treasures, but so many poor pictures and articles--all presents or legacies--that one feels that it must be the rule to accept whatever is offered, without any scrutiny of the horse's teeth. chapter iv delft to delft by canal--house-cleaning by immersion--the new church--william the silent's tomb--his assassin--the story of the crime--the tomb of grotius--dutch justice--the old church--admiral tromp--the mission of the broom--the sexton's pipe--vermeer of delft--lost masterpieces--the wooden petticoat--modern delft pottery and old breweries. i travelled to delft from rotterdam in a little steam passenger barge, very long and narrow to fit it for navigating the locks; which, as it is, it scrapes. we should have started exactly at the hour were it not that a very small boy on the bank interrupted one of the crew who was unmooring the boat by asking for a light for his cigar, and the transaction delayed us a minute. it rained dismally, and i sat in the stuffy cabin, either peering at the country through the window or talking with a young dutchman, the only other traveller. at one village a boy was engaged in house-cleaning by immersing the furniture, piece by piece, bodily in the canal. now and then we met a barge in full sail on its way to rotterdam, or overtook one being towed towards delft, the man at the rope bent double under what looked like an impossible task. little guides to the tombs in both the old and the new church of delft have been prepared for the convenience of visitors by dr. g. morre, and translations in english have been made by d. goslings, both gentlemen, i presume, being local savants. the new church contains the more honoured dust, for there repose not only william the silent, who was perhaps the greatest of modern patriots and rulers, but also grotius. the tomb of william the silent is an elaborate erection, of stone and marble, statuary and ornamentation. justice and liberty, religion and valour, represented by female figures, guard the tomb. it seems to me to lack impressiveness: the man beneath was too fine to need all this display and talent. more imposing is the simplicity of the monument to the great scholar near by. yet remembering the struggle of william the silent against spain and rome, it is impossible to stand unmoved before the marble figure of the prince, lying there for all time with his dog at his feet--the dog who, after the noble habit of the finest of such animals, refused food and drink when his master died, and so faded away rather than owe allegiance and affection to a lesser man. there is an eloquent latin epitaph in gold letters on the tomb; but a better epitaph is to be found in the last sentence of motley's great history, perhaps the most perfect last sentence that any book ever had: "as long as he lived, he was the guiding-star of a whole brave nation, and when he died the little children cried in the streets". opposite the old church is the gymnasium publicum. crossing the court-yard and entering the confronting doorway, one is instantly on the very spot where william the silent, whose tomb we have just seen, met his death on july th, . the prince had been living at delft for a while, in this house, his purpose partly being to be in the city for the christening of his son frederick henry. to him on july th came a special messenger from the french court with news of the death of the duke of anjou; the messenger, a _protégé_ of the prince's, according to his own story being francis guion, a mild and pious protestant, whose father had been martyred as a calvinist. how far removed was the truth motley shall tell: "francis guion, the calvinist, son of the martyred calvinist, was in reality balthazar gérard, a fanatical catholic, whose father and mother were still living at villefans in burgundy. before reaching man's estate, he had formed the design of murdering the prince of orange, 'who, so long as he lived, seemed like to remain a rebel against the catholic king, and to make every effort to disturb the repose of the roman catholic apostolic religion'. when but twenty years of age, he had struck his dagger with all his might into a door, exclaiming, as he did so, 'would that the blow had been in the heart of orange!'" in , however, the news had gone out that jaureguy had killed the prince at antwerp, and gérard felt that his mission was at an end. but when the prince recovered, his murderous enthusiasm redoubled, and he offered himself formally and with matter-of-fact precision to the prince of parma as heaven's minister of vengeance. the prince, who had long been seeking such an emissary, at first declined the alliance: he had become too much the prey of soldiers of fortune who represented themselves to be expert murders but in whom he could put no trust. in motley's words: "many unsatisfactory assassins had presented themselves from time to time, and alexander had paid money in hand to various individuals--italians, spaniards, lorrainers, scotchmen, englishmen, who had generally spent the sums received without attempting the job. others were supposed to be still engaged in the enterprise, and at that moment there were four persons--each unknown to the others, and of different nations--in the city of delft, seeking to compass the death of william the silent. shag-eared, military, hirsute ruffians, ex-captains of free companies and such marauders, were daily offering their services; there was no lack of them, and they had done but little. how should parma, seeing this obscure, undersized, thin-bearded, runaway clerk before him, expect pith and energy from _him_? he thought him quite unfit for an enterprise of moment, and declared as much to his secret councillors and to the king." gérard, however, had supporters, and in time the prince of parma came to take a more favourable view of his qualifications and sincerity, but his confidence was insufficient to warrant him in advancing any money for the purpose. the result was that gérard, whose dominating idea amounted to mania, proceeded in his own way. his first step was to ingratiate himself with the prince of orange. this he did by a series of misrepresentations and fraud, and was recommended by the prince to the signeur of schoneval, who on leaving delft on a mission to the duke of anjou, added him to his suite. the death of the duke gave gérard his chance, and he obtained permission to carry despatches to the prince of orange, as we have seen. the prince received him in his bedroom, after his wont. motley now relates the tragedy: "here was an opportunity such as he (gérard) had never dared to hope for. the arch-enemy to the church and to the human race, whose death would confer upon his destroyer wealth and nobility in this world, besides a crown of glory in the next, lay unarmed, alone, in bed, before the man who had thirsted seven long years for his blood. "balthazar could scarcely control his emotions sufficiently to answer the questions which the prince addressed to him concerning the death of anjou, but orange, deeply engaged with the despatches, and with the reflections which their deeply important contents suggested, did not observe the countenance of the humble calvinistic exile, who had been recently recommended to his patronage by villiers. gérard had, moreover, made no preparation for an interview so entirely unexpected, had come unarmed, and had formed no plan for escape. he was obliged to forego his prey most when within his reach, and after communicating all the information which the prince required, he was dismissed from the chamber. "it was sunday morning, and the bells were tolling for church. upon leaving the house he loitered about the courtyard, furtively examining the premises, so that a sergeant of halberdiers asked him why he was waiting there. balthazar meekly replied that he was desirous of attending divine worship in the church opposite, but added, pointing to his shabby and travel-stained attire, that, without at least a new pair of shoes and stockings, he was unfit to join the congregation. insignificant as ever, the small, pious, dusty stranger excited no suspicion in the mind of the good-natured sergeant. he forthwith spoke of the want of gérard to an officer, by whom they were communicated to orange himself, and the prince instantly ordered a sum of money to be given him. thus balthazar obtained from william's charity what parma's thrift had denied--a fund for carrying out his purpose! "next morning, with the money thus procured he purchased a pair of pistols, or small carabines, from a soldier, chaffering long about the price because the vendor could not supply a particular kind of chopped bullets or slugs which he desired. before the sunset of the following day that soldier had stabbed himself to the heart, and died despairing, on hearing for what purpose the pistols had been bought. "on tuesday, the th of july, , at about half-past twelve, the prince, with his wife on his arm, and followed by the ladies and gentlemen of his family, was going to the dining-room. william the silent was dressed upon that day, according to his usual custom, in very plain fashion. he wore a wide-leaved, loosely shaped hat of dark felt, with a silken cord round the crown,--such as had been worn by the beggars in the early days of the revolt. a high ruff encircled his neck, from which also depended one of the beggars' medals, with the motto, '_fidèles au roy jusqu'à la besace_,' while a loose surcoat of gray frieze cloth, over a tawny leather doublet, with wide slashed underclothes completed his costume. [ ] "gérard presented himself at the doorway, and demanded a passport. the princess, struck with the pale and agitated countenance of the man, anxiously questioned her husband concerning the stranger. the prince carelessly observed, that 'it was merely a person who came for a passport,' ordering, at the same time, a secretary forthwith to prepare one. the princess, still not relieved, observed in an undertone that 'she had never seen so villanous a countenance'. orange, however, not at all impressed with the appearance of gérard, conducted himself at table with his usual cheerfulness, conversing much with the burgomaster of leeuwarden, the only guest present at the family dinner, concerning the political and religious aspects of friesland. at two o'clock the company rose from table. the prince led the way, intending to pass to his private apartments above. the dining-room, which was on the ground-floor, opened into a little square vestibule which communicated, through an arched passage-way, with the main entrance into the court-yard. this vestibule was also directly at the foot of the wooden staircase leading to the next floor, and was scarcely six feet in width. [ ] "upon its left side, as one approached the stairway, was an obscure arch, sunk deep in the wall, and completely in the shadow of the door. behind this arch a portal opened to the narrow lane at the side of the house. the stairs themselves were completely lighted by a large window, half-way up the flight. the prince came from the dining-room, and began leisurely to ascend. he had only reached the second stair, when a man emerged from the sunken arch, and, standing within a foot or two of him, discharged a pistol full at his heart." when jaureguy had fired at the prince two years earlier, the ball passing through his jaw, the prince, at he faltered under the shock, cried, "do not kill him--i forgive him my death!" but he had no time to express any such plea for his assailant after gérard's cruel shots. "three balls," says motley, "entered his body, one of which, passing quite through him, struck with violence against the wall beyond. the prince exclaimed in french, as he felt the wound, 'o my god, have mercy upon my soul! o my god, have mercy upon this poor people!' "these were the last words he ever spoke, save that when his sister, catherine of schwartzburgh, immediately afterwards asked him if he commended his soul to jesus christ, he faintly answered, 'yes'." never has the pistol done worse work. the prince was only fifty-one; he was full of vigour; his character had never been stronger, his wisdom never more mature. had he lived a few years longer the country would have been saved years of war and misery. one may stand to-day exactly where the prince stood when he was shot. the mark of a bullet in the wall is still shown. the dining-room, from which he had come, now contains a collection of relics of his great career. let us return to the new church, past the statue of grotius in the great square, in order to look again at that philosopher's memorial. grotius, who was born at delft, was extraordinarily precocious. he went to leyden university and studied under scaliger when he was eleven; at sixteen he was practising as a lawyer at the hague. this is d. goslings' translation of the inscription on his tomb:-- _sacred to hugo grotius_ the wonder of europe, the sole astonishment of the learned world, the splendid work of nature surpassing itself, the summit of genius, the image of virtue, the ornament raised above mankind, to whom the defended honour of true religion gave cedars from the top of lebanon, whom mars adorned with laurels and pallas with olive branches, when he had published the right of war and peace: whom the thames and the seine regarded as the wonder of the dutch, and whom the court of sweden took in its service: here lies _grotius_. shun this tomb, ye who do not burn with love of the muses and your country. grotius can hardly have burned with love of the sense of justice of his own country, for reasons with which we are familiar. his sentence of life-long imprisonment, passed by prince maurice of orange, who lies hard by in the same church, was passed in . his escape in the chest (like general monk in _twenty years after_) was his last deed on dutch soil. thenceforward he lived in paris and sweden, england and germany, writing his _de jure belli et pacis_ and other works. he died in , when holland claimed him again, as oxford has claimed shelley. the principal tomb in the old church of delft is that of admiral tromp, the dutch nelson. while quite a child he was at sea with his father off the coast of guinea when an english cruiser captured the vessel and made him a cabin boy. tromp, if he felt any resentment, certainly lived to pay it back, for he was our victor in thirty-three naval engagements, the last being the final struggle in the english-dutch war, when he defeated monk off texel in the summer of , and was killed by a bullet in his heart. the battle is depicted in bas-relief on the tomb, but the eye searches the marble in vain for any reminder of the broom which the admiral is said to have lashed to his masthead as a sign to the english that it was his habit to sweep their seas. the story may be a myth, but the dutch sculptor who omitted to remember it and believe in it is no friend of mine. this is d. goslings' translation of tromp's epitaph:-- _for an eternal memorial_ you, who love the dutch, virtue and true labour, read and mourn. the ornament of the dutch people, the formidable in battle, lies low, he who never lay down in his life, and taught by his example that a commander should die standing, he, the love of his fellow-citizens, the terror of his enemies, the wonder of the ocean. _maarten harpertszoon tromp_, a name comprehending more praise than this stone can contain, a stone truly too narrow for him, for whom east and west were a school, the sea the occasion of triumph, the whole world the scene of his glory, he, a certain ruin to pirates, the successful protector of commerce; useful through his familiarity, not low; after having ruled the sailors and the soldiers, a rough sort of people, in a fatherly and efficaciously benignant manner; after fifty battles in which he was commander or in which he played a great part; after incredible victories, after the highest honours though below his merits, he at last in the war against the english, nearly victor but certainly not beaten, on the th of august, , of the christian era, at the age of fifty-six years, has ceased to live and to conquer. the fathers of the united netherlands have erected this memorial in honour of this highly meritorious hero. there lie in delft's old church also pieter pieterzoon hein, lieut.-admiral of holland; and elizabeth van marnix, wife of the governor of bergen-op-zoom, whose epitaph runs thus:-- here am i lying, i _elizabeth_, born of an illustrious and ancient family, wife to morgan, i, daughter of marnix, a name not unknown in the world, which, in spite of time, will always remain. there is virtue enough in having pleased one husband, which his so precious love testifies. the tomb of antony van leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope, is also to be seen in the church. "as everybody, o wanderer," the epitaph concludes, "has respect for old age and wonderful parts, tread this spot with respect; here grey science lies buried with leeuwenhoek." each of the little guide-books, which are given to every purchaser of a ticket to enter the churches, is prefaced by four "remarks," of which i quote the third and fourth:-- . visitors are requested not to bestow gifts on the sexton or his assistants, as the former would lose his situation, if he accepted; he is responsible for his assistants. . the sexton or his assistants will treat the visitors with the greatest politeness. i am not certain about the truth of either of these clauses, particularly the last. let me explain. the sexton of the old church hurried me past these tombs with some impatience. i should naturally have taken my time, but his attitude of haste made it imperative to do so. sextons must not be in a hurry. after a while i found out why he chafed: he wanted to smoke. he fumbled his pipe and scraped his boots upon the stones. i studied the monuments with a scrutiny that grew more and more minute and elaborate; and soon his matches were in his hand. i wanted to tell him that if i were the only obstacle he might smoke to his heart's content, but it seemed to be more amusing to watch and wait. my return to the tomb of the ingenious constructor of the microscope settled the question. probably no one had ever spent more than half a minute on poor leeuwenhoek before; and when i turned round again the pipe was alight. the sexton also was a changed man: before, he had been taciturn, contemptuous; now he was communicative, gay. he told me that the organist was blind--but none the less a fine player; he led me briskly to the carved pulpit and pointed out, with some exaltation, the figure of satan with his legs bound. the cincture seemed to give him a sense of security. in several ways he made it impossible for me to avoid disregarding clause in the little guide-books; but i feel quite sure that he has not in consequence lost his situation. delft's greatest painter was johannes vermeer, known as vermeer of delft, of whom i shall have much to say both at the hague and amsterdam. he was born at delft in , he died there in ; and of him but little more is known. it has been said that he studied under karel fabritius (also of delft), but if this is so the term of pupil-age must have been very brief, for fabritius did not reach delft (from rembrandt's studio) until , when vermeer was twenty, and he was killed in an explosion in . one sees the influence of fabritius, if at all, most strongly in the beautiful early picture at the hague, in the grave, grand manner, of diana? but the influence of italy is even more noticeable. fabritius's "siskin" is hung beneath the new girl's head by vermeer (opposite page of this book), but they have nothing in common. to see how vermeer derived from rembrandt viâ fabritius one must look at the fine head by fabritius in the boymans museum at rotterdam, so long attributed to rembrandt, but possessing a certain radiance foreign to him. how many pictures vermeer painted between , when he was admitted to the delft guild as a master, and , when he died, cannot now be said; but it is reasonable to allot to each of those twenty-three years at least five works. as the known pictures of vermeer are very few--fewer than forty, i believe--some great discoveries may be in store for the diligent, or, more probably, the lucky. i have read somewhere--but cannot find the reference again--of a ship that left holland for russia in the seventeenth century, carrying a number of paintings by the best artists of that day--particularly, if i remember, gerard dou. the vessel foundered and all were lost. it is possible that vermeer may have been largely represented. only comparatively lately has fame come to him, his first prophet being the french critic thoré (who wrote as "w. burger"), and his second mr. henri havard, the author of very pleasant books on holland from which i shall occasionally quote. both these enthusiasts wrote before the picture opposite page was exhibited, or their ecstasies might have been even more intense. in the senate house at delft in john evelyn the diarist saw "a mighty vessel of wood, not unlike a butter-churn, which the adventurous woman that hath two husbands at one time is to wear on her shoulders, her head peeping out at the top only, and so led about the town, as a penance". i did not see this; but the punishment was not peculiar to delft. at nymwegen these wooden petticoats were famous too. nor did i visit the porcelain factory, having very little interest in its modern products. but the old delft ware no one can admire more than i do. a history of delft written by dirk van bleyswijck and published in , tells us that the rise of the porcelain industry followed the decline of brewing. the author gives with tears a list of scores of breweries that ceased to exist between and . all had signs, among them being:-- the popinjay. the great bell. the white lily. the three herrings. the double battle-axe. the three acorns. the black unicorn. the three lilies. the curry-comb. the three hammers. the double halberd. i would rather have explored any of those breweries than the modern delft factory. ireland, by the way, mentions a whimsical sign-board which he saw somewhere in holland, but which i regret to say i did not find. "it was a tree bearing fruit, and the branches filled with little, naked urchins, seemingly just ripened into life, and crying for succour: beneath, a woman holds up her apron, looking wistfully at the children, as if intreating them to jump into her lap. on inquiry, i found it to be the house of a sworn midwife, with this dutch inscription prefixed to her name:-- 'vang my, ik zal zoet zyn,' that is, 'catch me, i'll be a sweet boy'. this new mode of procreation, so truly whimsical, pleased me," ireland adds, "not a little." let me close this chapter by quoting from an essay by my friend, mr. belloc, a lyrical description of the old church's wonderful wealth of bells: "thirdly, the very structure of the thing is bells. here the bells are more even than the soul of a christian spire; they are its body, too, its whole self. an army of them fills up all the space between the delicate supports and framework of the upper parts. for i know not how many feet, in order, diminishing in actual size and in the perspective also of that triumphant elevation, stand ranks on ranks of bells from the solemn to the wild, from the large to the small, a hundred, or two hundred or a thousand. there is here the prodigality of brabant and hainaut and the batavian blood, a generosity and a productivity in bells without stint, the man who designed it saying: 'since we are to have bells, let us have bells; not measured out, calculated, expensive, and prudent bells, but careless bells, self-answering multitudinous bells; bells without fear, bells excessive and bells innumerable; bells worthy of the ecstacies that are best thrown out and published in the clashing of bells. for bells are single, like real pleasures, and we will combine such a great number that they may be like the happy and complex life of a man. in a word, let us be noble and scatter our bells and reap a harvest till our town is famous in its bells,' so now all the spire is more than clothed with them; they are more than stuff or ornament: they are an outer and yet sensitive armour, all of bells. "nor is the wealth of these bells in their number only, but also in their use--for they are not reserved in any way, out ring tunes and add harmonies at every half and a quarter and at all the hours both by night and by day. nor must you imagine that there is any obsession of noise through this; they are far too high and melodious, and (what is more) too thoroughly a part of all the spirit of delft to be more than a perpetual and half-forgotten impression of continual music; they render its air sacred and fill it with something so akin to an uplifted silence as to leave one--when one has passed from their influence--asking what balm that was which soothed all the harshness of sound about one." chapter v the hague dutch precision--shaping hands--nature under control--willow _v_. neptune--the lost star--s'gravenhage--the mauritshuis--rembrandt--the "school of anatomy"--jan vermeer of delft--the frontispiece--other pictures--the municipal museum--baron steengracht's collection--the mesdag treasures--french romantics at the hague--the binnenhof--john van olden barneveldt--man's cruelty to man--the churches--the fish market and first taste of scheveningen--a crowded street--holland's reading--the bosch--the club--the house in the wood--mr. "secretary" prior--old marvels--howell the receptive and coryate the credulous. although often akin to the english, the dutch character differs from it very noticeably in the matter of precision. the englishman has little precision; the dutchman has too much. he bends everything to it. he has at its dictates divided his whole country into parellelograms. even the rushes in his swamps are governed by the same law. the carelessness of nature is offensive to him; he moulds and trains on every hand, as one may see on the railway journey to the hague. trees he endures only so long as they are obedient and equidistant: he likes them in avenues or straight lines; if they grow otherwise they must be pollarded. it is true that he has not touched the bosch, at the hague; but since his hands perforce have been kept off its trees, he has run scores of formal straight well-gravelled paths beneath their branches. this passion for interference grew perhaps from exultation upon successful dealings with the sea. a man who by his own efforts can live in security below sea-level, and graze cattle luxuriantly where sand and pebbles and salt once made a desert, has perhaps the right to feel that everything in nature would be the better for a little manipulation. eyes accustomed to the careless profusion that one may see even on a short railway journey in england are shocked to find nature so tractable both in land and water. the dutchman's pruning, however, is not done solely for the satisfaction of exerting control. these millions of pollarded willows which one sees from the line have a deeper significance than might ever be guessed at: it is they that are keeping out holland's ancient enemy, the sea. in other words, a great part of the basis of the strength of the dykes is imparted by interwoven willow boughs, which are constantly being renewed under the vigilant eyes of the dyke inspectors. for the rest, the inveterate trimming of trees must be a comparatively modern custom, for many of the old landscapes depict careless foliage--koninck's particularly. and look, for instance, at that wonderful picture--perhaps the finest landscape in dutch art--rembrandt's etching "the three trees". there is nothing in north holland to-day as unstudied as that. i doubt if you could now find three trees of such individuality and courage. when i was first at the hague, seven years ago, i stayed not, as on my last visit, at the oude doelen, which is the most comfortable hotel in holland, but at a more retired hostelry. it was spacious and antiquated, with large empty rooms, and cool passages, and an air of decay over all. servants one never saw, nor any waiter proper; one's every need was carried out by a very small and very enthusiastic boy. "is the hroom good, sare?" he asked, as he flung open the door of the bedroom with a superb flourish. "is the sham good, sare?" he asked as he laid a pot of preserve on the table. he was the landlady's son or grandson, and a better boy never lived, but his part, for all his spirit and good humour, was a tragic one. for the greatest misfortune that can come upon an hotel-keeper had crushed this house: bædeker had excised their star! the landlady moved in the background, a disconsolate figure with a grievance. she waylaid us as we went out and as we came in. was it not a good hotel? was not the management excellent? had we any complaints? and yet--see--once she had a star and now it was gone. could we not help to regain it? here was the secret of the grandson's splendid zeal. the little fellow was fighting to hitch the old hotel to a star once more, as emerson had bidden. alas, it was in vain; for that was seven years ago, and i see that bædeker still withholds the distinction. what a variety of misfortune this little world holds! while some of us are indulging our right to be unhappy over a thousand trivial matters, such as illness and disillusion, there are inn-keepers on the continent who are staggering and struggling under real blows. i wondered if it were better to have had a star and lost it, than never to have had a star at all. but i did not ask. the old lady's grief was too poignant, her mind too practical, for such questions. s'gravenhage or den haag, or the hague as we call it, being the seat of the court, is at once the most civilised and most expensive of the dutch cities. but it is not conspicuously dutch, and is interesting rather for its pictures and for its score of historic buildings about the vyver than for itself. take away the vyver and its surrounding treasures and a not very noteworthy european town would remain. and yet to say so hardly does justice to this city, for it has a character of its own that renders it unique: cosmopolitan and elegant; catholic in its tastes; indulgent to strangers; aristocratic; well-spaced and well built; above all things, bland. and the vyver is a jewel set in its midst, beautiful by day and beautiful by night, with fascinating reflections in it at both times, and a special gift for the transmission of bells in a country where bells are really honoured. on its north side is the vyverberg with pleasant trees and a row of spacious and perfectly self-composed white houses, one of which, at the corner, has in its windows the most exquisite long lace curtains in this country of exquisite long lace curtains. on the south side are the binnenhof and the mauritshuis--in the mauritshuis being the finest works of the two greatest dutch painters, rembrandt of the rhine and vermeer of delft. it is largely by these possessions that the hague holds her place as a city of distinction. rembrandt's "school of anatomy" and paul potter's "bull" are the two pictures by which every one knows the mauritshuis collection; and it is the bull which maintains the steadier and larger crowd. but it is not a work that interests me. my pictures in the mauritshuis are above all the "school of anatomy," vermeer's "view of delft," his head of a young girl, and the jan steens. we have magnificent rembrandts in london; but we have nothing quite on the same plane of interest or mastery as the "school of anatomy ". holland has not always retained her artists' best, but in the case of rembrandt and hals, jan steen and vermeer, she has made no mistakes. rembrandt's "school of anatomy," his "night watch," and his portrait of elizabeth bas are all in holland. i can remember no landscape in holland in the manner of that in our national gallery in which, in conformity with the taste of certain picture buyers, he dropped in an inessential tobias and angel; but for the finest examples of his distinction and power as a painter of men one must go to the hague and amsterdam. in the mauritshuis are sixteen rembrandts, including the portrait of himself in a steel casque, and (one of my favourites) the head of the demure nun-like and yet merry-hearted dutch maiden reproduced opposite the next page, which it is impossible to forget and yet difficult, when not looking at it, to recall with any distinctness--as is so often the case with one's friends in real life. if any large number of visitors to holland taken at random were asked to name the best of rembrandt's pictures they would probably say the "night watch". but i fancy that a finer quality went to the making of the "school of anatomy". i fancy that the "school of anatomy" is the greatest work of art produced by northern europe. to jan steen and his work we come later, in the chapter on leyden, but of vermeer, whom we saw at delft, this is one place to speak. of the "view of delft" there is a reproduction opposite page , yet it can convey but little suggestion of its beauty. in the case of the picture opposite page there is only a loss of colour: a great part of its beauty is retained; but the "view of delft" must be seen in the original before one can speak of it at all. its appeal is more intimate than any other old dutch landscape that i know. i say old, because modern painters have a few scenes which soothe one hardly less--two or three of matthew maris's, and mauve's again and again. but before maris and mauve came the barbizon influence; whereas vermeer had no predecessors, he had to find his delicate path for himself. to explain the charm of the "view of delft" is beyond my power; but there it is. before rembrandt one stands awed, in the presence of an ancient giant; before vermeer one rejoices, as in the presence of a friend and contemporary. the head of a young girl, from the same brush, which was left to the nation as recently as , is reproduced opposite page . to me it is one of the most beautiful things in holland. it is, however, in no sense dutch: the girl is not dutch, the painting is dutch only because it is the work of a dutchman. no other dutch painter could compass such liquid clarity, such cool surfaces. indeed, none of the others seem to have tried: a different ideal was theirs. apart, however, from the question of technique, upon which i am not entitled to speak, the picture has to me human interest beyond description. there is a winning charm in this simple eastern face that no words of mine can express. all that is hard in the dutch nature dissolves beneath her reluctant smile. she symbolises the fairest and sweetest things in the eleven provinces. she makes holland sacred ground. vermeer, although always a superb craftsman, was not always inspired. in the next room to the "view of delft" and the girl's head is his "new testament allegory," a picture which i think i dislike more than any other, so false seems to me its sentiment and so unattractive its character. yet the sheer painting of it is little short of miraculous. among other dutch pictures in the mauritshuis which i should like to mention for their particular charm are gerard dou's "young housekeeper," to which we come in the chapter on leyden's painters; ostade's "proposal," one of the pleasantest pictures which he ever signed; ruisdael's "view of haarlem" and terburg's portraits. i single these out. but when i think of the marvels of painting that remain, of which i have said not a word, i am only too conscious of the uselessness of such a list. were this a guide-book i should say more, mentioning also the work of the other schools, not dutch, notably a head of jane seymour by holbein, a velasquez, and so forth. but i must not. after the mauritshuis, the municipal museum, which also overlooks the vyver's placid surface, is a dull place except for the antiquary. in its old views of the city, which are among its most interesting possessions, the evolution of the neighbouring doelen hotel may be studied by the curious--from its earliest days, when it was a shooting gallery, to its present state of spaciousness and repute, basking in its prosperity and cherishing the proud knowledge that peter the great has slept under its hospitable roof, and that it was there that the russian delegate resided when, in , the czar convoked at the hague the peace conference which he was the first to break. in one room of the municipal museum are the palette and easel of johannes bosboom, holland's great painter of churches. his last unfinished sketch rests on the easel. no collection of modern dutch art is complete without a sombre study of gothic arches by this great artist. all his work is good, but i saw nothing better than the water-colour drawing in the boymans museum at rotterdam, which is reproduced opposite page . at the hague one may also see, whenever the family is not in residence, the collection of baron steengracht in one of the ample white mansions on the vyverberg. most interesting of the pictures to me are jan steen's family group, which, however, for all its wonderful drawing, is not in his most interesting manner; a very deft metsu, "the sick child"; a horse by albert cuyp; a characteristic group of convivial artists by adrian brouwer, including hals, ostade, jan steen and the painter himself; and--best of all--terburg's wholly charming "toilette," an old woman combing the head of a child. quite recently the mesdag museum has been added to the public exhibitions of the hague. this is the house of hendriks willem mesdag, the artist, which, with all its barbizon treasures, with noble generosity he has made over to the nation in his lifetime. mesdag, who is himself one of the first of living dutch painters, has been acquiring pictures for many years, and his collection, by representing in every example the taste of a single connoisseur, has thus the additional interest of unity. mesdag's own paintings are mostly of the sea--a grey sea with a few fishing boats, very true, very quiet and simple. how many times he and james maris painted scheveningen's shore probably no one could compute. his best-known work is probably the poster advertising the harwich and hook-of-holland route, in which the two ports are joined by a chain crossing a grey sea--best known, because every one has seen this picture: it is at all the stations; although few, i imagine, have connected with it the name and fame of the dutch artist and patron of the arts. in the description of the ryks collection at amsterdam i shall say something about the pleasure of choosing one's own particular picture from a gallery. it was amusing to indulge the same humour in the mesdag museum: perhaps even more so than at the ryks, for one is certain that by no means could vermeer's little picture of "the reader,"--the woman in the blue jacket--for example, be abstracted from those well-guarded walls, whereas it is just conceivable that one could select from these crowded little mesdag rooms something that might not be missed. i hesitated long between a delicate matthew maris, the very essence of quietude, in which a girl stands by a stove, cooking; delacroix's wonderful study of dead horses in the desert; a perfect diaz (no. ), an old woman in a red shawl by a pool in a wood, with its miracle of lighting; a tender little daumier, that rare master; a segantini drenched in sincerity and pity; and a bridge at evening (no. ) by jules dupré. all these are small and could be slipped under the overcoat with the greatest ease! having made up my mind i returned to each and lost all my decision. i decided again, and again uncertainty conquered. and then i made a final examination, and chose no. --a totally new choice--a little lovely corot, depicting a stream, two women, much essential greenness, and that liquid light of which corot had the secret. but i am not sure that the diaz (who began by being an old master) is not the more exquisite picture. for the rest, there are other corots, among them one of his black night pieces; a little village scene by troyon; some apples by courbet, in the grandest manner surely in which apples ever were painted; a monticelli; a scene of hills by georges michel which makes one wish he had painted the sussex downs; a beautiful chalk drawing by millet; some vast silent daubignys; a few mauves; a very interesting early james maris in the manner of peter de hooch, and a superb later james maris--wet sand and a windy sky. the flower of the french romantic school is represented here, brought together by a collector with a sure eye. no visitor to the hague who cares anything for painting should miss it; and indeed no visitor who cares nothing for painting should miss it, for it may lure him to wiser ways. the binnenhof is a mass of medieval and later buildings extending along the south side of the vyver, which was indeed once a part of its moat. the most attractive view of it is from the north side of the vyver, with the long broken line of roof and gable and turret reflected in the water. the nucleus of the binnenhof was the castle or palace of william ii., count of holland in the thirteenth century--also emperor of germany and father of florence v., who built the great hall of the knights (into which, however, one may penetrate only on thursdays), and whose tomb we shall see in alkmaar church. the stadtholders made the binnenhof their headquarters; but the present royal palace is half a mile north-west of it. other buildings have been added from time to time, and the trams are now allowed to rush through with their bells jangling the while. the desecration is not so glaring as at utrecht, but it seems thoroughly wrong--as though we were to permit a line to traverse dean's yard at westminster. a more appropriate sanction is that extended to one or two dealers in old books and prints who have their stalls in the binnenhof's cloisters. it was in the binnenhof that the scaffold stood on which john van barneveldt was beheaded in , the almost inevitable result of his long period of differences with the stadtholder maurice, son of william the silent. his arrest, as we have seen, followed the synod of dort, grotius being also removed by force. barneveldt's imprisonment, trial and execution resemble spanish methods of injustice more closely than one likes to think. i quote davies' fine account of the old statesman's last moments: "leaning on his staff, and with 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 approach 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 sometimes 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 powerful 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 indignity 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 he performed the last duties of mortal life; and 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,' bowed 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 morsels 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 coffin 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.'" a very beautiful story is told of barneveldt's widow. her son plotting to avenge his father and crush the stadtholder was discovered and imprisoned. his mother visited maurice to ask his pardon. "why," said he, "how is this--you value your son more than your husband! you did not ask pardon for him." "no," said barneveldt's widow; "i did not ask pardon for my husband, because he was innocent; i ask pardon for my son, because he is guilty." prince maurice never recovered from the error--to put for the moment no worse epithet to it--of the death of barneveldt. he had killed his best counsellor; thenceforward his power diminished; and with every rebuff he who had abandoned his first adviser complained that god had abandoned him. davies sums up the case thus: "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 constantly fixed: it is the blood of barneveldt." the binnenhof leads to the buitenhof, a large open space, the old gateway to which is the gevangenpoort prison--scene of another shameful deed in the history of holland, the death of john and cornelius de witt. the massacre occurred two hundred and thirty-three years ago--in . cornelius de witt was wrongfully accused of an attempt to procure the assassination of the stadtholder, william iii. to him, in his cell in the gevangenpoort, came, on nd august, john de witt, late grand pensionary, brought hither by a bogus message. i quote from davies, who elsewhere makes it clear that (as dumas says) william iii was privy to the crime: "his friends, fearful of some treachery, besought him to pause and inquire into the truth of the summons before he obeyed it; and his only daughter threw herself at his feet, and implored him with floods of tears not to risk unnecessarily a life so precious. but his anxiety for his brother, with whom he had ever lived on terms of the tenderest affection, proved stronger than their remonstrances; and setting out on foot, attended by his servant and two secretaries, he hastened to the prison. on seeing him, cornelius de witt exclaimed in astonishment, 'my brother, what do you here?' 'did you not then send for me?' he asked; and receiving an answer in the negative, 'then,' rejoined he, 'we are lost'. "during this time one of the judges sent for tichelaar, and suggested to him that he should incite the people not to suffer a villain who had intended to murder the prince to go unpunished. true to his instructions, the miscreant spread among the crowd collected before the prison doors the report, that the torture inflicted on cornelius de witt was a mere pretence, and that he had only escaped the death he deserved because the judges favoured his crime. then, entering the gaol, he presented himself at the window, and exclaimed to the crowd below, 'the dog and his brother are going out of prison! now is your time; revenge yourselves on these two knaves, and then on thirty more, their accomplices.' "the populace received his address with shouts and cries of 'to arms, to arms! treason, treason!' and pressed in a still denser crowd towards the prison door. the states of holland, immediately on information of the tumult, sent three troops of cavalry, in garrison at the hague, for the protection of the gaol, and called out to arms six companies of burgher guards. but in the latter they only added fresh hosts to the enemies of the unfortunate captives. one company in especial, called the 'company of the blue flag,' was animated with a spirit of deadly vengeance against them; its leader, verhoef, having that morning loaded his musket with a determination either to kill the de witts or perish in the attempt. they pressed forward towards the prison, but were driven back by the determined appearance of the cavalry, commanded by the count de tilly. "so long as these troops remained, it was evident that the fell purpose of the rioters was impracticable. accordingly, a report was raised that a band of peasants and sailors was coming to plunder the hague; and two captains of the burgher guards took occasion from thence to demand of the council of state, that the soldiers should be drawn off from their station, in order to protect the houses from pillage. first a verbal order, and on tilly's refusing obedience to such, a written one, was sent, commanding him to divide his troops into four detachments, and post them upon the bridges leading into the town. 'i shall obey,' said he, as he perused the mandate; 'but it is the death-warrant of the brothers.' "his anticipations were too soon realized. no sooner had he departed than the rioters were supplied by some of those mysterious agents who were actively employed throughout the whole of these transactions, with wine, brandy, and other incitements to inflame their already maddening fury. led on by verhoef and one van bankhem, a sheriff of the hague, they assailed the prison door with axes and sledge-hammers, threatening to kill all the inmates if it were not instantly opened. terrified, or corrupted, the gaoler obeyed their behests. on gaining admittance they rushed to an upper room, where they found their victims, who had throughout the whole of the tumult maintained the greatest composure. the bailiff, reduced to a state of extreme debility by the torture, was reclining on his bed; his brother was seated near him, reading the bible. they forced them to rise and follow them 'to the place,' as they said, 'where criminals were executed'. "having taken a tender leave of each other, they began to descend the stairs, cornelius de witt leaning on his brother for support. they had not advanced above two or three paces when a heavy blow on the head from behind precipitated the former to the bottom. he was then dragged a short distance towards the street, trampled under foot, and beaten to death. meanwhile, john de witt, after receiving a severe wound on the head with the butt-end of a musket, was brought by verhoef, bleeding and bare-headed, before the furious multitude. one van soenen immediately thrust a pike into his face, while another of the miscreants shot him in the neck, exclaiming as he fell, 'there goes down the perpetual edict'. raising himself on his knees, the sufferer lifted up his hands and eyes to heaven in deep and earnest prayer. at that moment, one verhagen struck him with his musket. hundreds followed his example, and the cruel massacre was completed. "barbarities too dreadful for utterance or contemplation, all that phrenzied passion or brutal ferocity could suggest, were perpetrated on the bodies of these noble and virtuous citizens; nor was it till night put an end to the butchery, that their friends were permitted to convey their mangled remains to a secret and obscure tomb." in the nieuwe kerk at the hague the tomb of the de witts may be seen and honoured. the gevangenpoort is well worth a visit. one passes tortuously from cell to cell--most of them associated with some famous breaker of the laws of god or man, principally of man. here you may see a stone hollowed by the drops of water that plashed from the prisoner's head, on which they were timed to fall at intervals of a few seconds--a form of torture imported, i believe, from china, and after some hours ending inevitably in madness and death. beside such a refinement the rack is a mere trifle and the gevangenpoort's branding irons and thumb screws become only toys. a block, retaining the cuts made by the axe after it had crashed through the offending neck, is also shown; and the names of prisoners written in their blood on the walls may be traced. the building is a monument in stone of what man can do to man in the name of justice. i referred just now to the nieuwe kerk, the resting-place of the de witts. there lies also their contemporary, spinoza, whose home at rynsburg we shall pass on our way to katwyk from leyden. his house at the hague still stands--near his statue. the groote kerk is older; but neither church is particularly interesting. from the groote kerk's tower one may, however, see a vast deal of country around the hague--a landscape containing much greenery--and in the west the architectural monsters of scheveningen only too visible. we shall reach scheveningen in the next chapter, but while at the hague it is amusing to visit the fish market in order to have sight of the good women of that town clustered about the stalls in their peculiar costume. they are scheveningen's best. the adjoining stadhuis is a very interesting example of dutch architecture. the hague has excellent shops, and one street--the lange pooten--more crowded in the evening, particularly on sunday evening, than any i know. every dutch town has certain crowded streets in the evening, because to walk up and down after dinner is the national form of recreation. there are in the large cities a few theatres and music halls, and in the smaller, concerts in the summer; but for the most part the streets and the cafés are the great attraction. each town has one street above all others which is frequented in this way. at the hague it is the lange pooten, running into spui straat; at amsterdam it is kalverstraat. dutch shops are not very interesting, and the book-shops in particular are a disappointment. this is because it is not a reading people. the newspapers are sound and practical before all things: business before pleasure is their motto; and native literature is not fostered. publishers who bring out new dutch books usually do so on the old subscription plan. but the book-shops testify to the popularity of translations from other nations and also of foreign books in the original. the latest french and german fiction is always obtainable. among translations from the english in i noticed a considerable number of copies of the sherlock holmes tales and also of two or three of miss corelli's works. these for adults; for boys the reading _par excellence_ was a serial romance, in weekly or monthly parts, entitled "de wilsons en de ring des doods of het spoor van pen diamenten". the wilsons, i gather, have been having a great run in holland. a lurid scene in maiden lane was on the cover. another story which seemed to be popular had the engaging title "beleaguered by jaguars". the hague is very proud of the bosch--the great wood to the east of the city, with a few deer and many tall and unpollarded trees, where one may walk and ride or drive very pleasantly. the bosch has no restaurant within its boundaries. i mention this in order to save the reader the mortification of being conducted by a polite but firm waiter back to the gates of the pavilion in which he may reasonably have supposed he was as much entitled to order tea as any of the groups enjoying that beverage at the little tables within the enclosure, whose happiness had indeed led him to enter it. they are, however, members of a club, to which he has no more right of entry than any dutch stranger would have to the athenæum. the huis ten bosch, or house in the wood, which all good travellers must explore, is at the extreme eastern end of the bosch, with pleasure grounds of its own, including a lake where royal skating parties are held. this very charming royal residence, now only occasionally occupied, is well worth seeing for its chinese and japanese decorations alone--apart from historical associations and mural paintings. for mural paintings unless they are very quiet i must confess to caring nothing, nor does a bed on which a temporal prince breathed his last, or his first, move me to any degree of interest; but on the walls of one room of the house in the wood is some of the most charming chinese embroidery i ever saw, while another is decorated in blue and white of exquisite delicacy. with these gracious schemes of upholstery i shall always associate the huis ten bosch. at leyden we shall find traces of oliver goldsmith: here at the hague one may think of mat. prior, who was secretary to our ambassador for some years and even wrote a copy of spritely verses on the subject. the secretary. written at the hague, . with labour assiduous due pleasure i mix, and in one day atone for the bus'ness of six. in a little dutch chaise, on a saturday night, on my left hand my horace, a nymph on my right: no memoirs to compose, and no post-boy to move, that on sunday may hinder the softness of love; for her, neither visits, nor parties at tea, nor the long-winded cant of a dull refugee: this night and the next shall be hers, shall be mine to good or ill-fortune the third we resign. thus scorning the world, and superior to fate, i drive in my car in professional state; so with phia thro' athens pisistratus rode, men thought her minerva, and him a new god. but why should i stories of athens rehearse, where people knew love, and were partial to verse, since none can with justice my pleasures oppose in holland half-drownèd in int'rest and prose? by greece and past ages what need i be tried when the hague and the present are both on my side? and is it enough for the joys of the day to think what anacreon or sappho would say, when good vandergoes and his provident vrow, as they gaze on my triumph, do freely allow, that, search all the province, you'll find no man dar is so blest as the _englishen heer secretár is_? let me close this rambling account of the hague with a passage from james howell, in one of his conspicuously elaborate _familiar letters_, written in , describing some of the odd things to be seen at that day in or about the dutch city: "we went afterwards to the _hague_, where there are hard by, though in several places, two wonderful things to be seen, the one of _art_, the other of _nature_; that of _art_ is a waggon or ship, or a monster mixt of both like the _hippocentaure_ who was half man and half horse; this engin hath wheels and sails that will hold above twenty people, and goes with the wind, being drawn or mov'd by nothing else, and will run, the wind being good, and the sails hois'd up, above fifteen miles an hour upon the even hard sands: they say this invention was found out to entertain _spinola_ when he came thither to treat of the last truce." upon this wonder, which i did not see, civilisation has now improved, the wind being but a captious and untrustworthy servant compared with petrol or steam. none the less there is still a very rapid wheeled ship at zandvoort. but the record of howell's other wonder is visible still. he continues: "that wonder of _nature_ is a church-monument, where an earl and a lady are engraven with children about them, which were all delivered at one birth; they were half male, half female; the two basons in which they were christened hang still in the church, and the bishop's name who did it; and the story of this miracle, with the year and the day of the month mentioned, which is not yet years ago; and the story is this: that the countess walking about her door after dinner, there came a begger-woman with two children upon her back to beg alms, the countess asking whether those children were her own, she answer'd, she had them both at one birth, and by one father, who was her husband. the countess would not only not give her any alms, but reviled her bitterly, saying, it was impossible for one man to get two children at once. the begger-woman being thus provok'd with ill words, and without alms, fell to imprecations, that it should please god to show his judgment upon her, and that she might bear at one birth as many children as there be days in the year, which she did before the same year's end, having never born child before." the legend was naturally popular in a land of large families, and it was certainly credited without any reservation for many years. in england the rabbit-breeding woman of dorking had her adherents too. what the beggar really wished for the dutch lady was as many children at one birth as there were days in the year in which the conversation occurred--namely three, for the encounter was on january rd. or so i have somewhere read. but it is more amusing to believe in the greater number, especially as a dutch author has put it on record that he saw the children with his own eyes. they were of the size of shrimps, and were baptised either singly or collectively by guy, bishop of utrecht. all the boys were named john and all the girls elizabeth, they died the same day. thomas coryate of the _crudities_, who also tells the tale, believed it implicitly. "this strange history," he says, "will seem incredible (i suppose) to all readers. but it is so absolutely and undoubtedly true as nothing in the world more." and here, hand in hand with veritas, we leave the hague. chapter vi scheveningen and katwyk the dutch heaven--huyghens' road--sorgh vliet's builder--jacob cats--homely wisdom--president kruger--a monstrous resort--giant snails--the black-headed mannikins--the etiquette of petticoats--katwyk--the old rhine--noordwyk--noordwyk-binnen. good dutchmen when they die go to scheveningen; but my heaven is elsewhere. to go thither is, however, no calamity, so long as one chooses the old road. it is being there that so lowers the spirits. the oude scheveningen weg is perhaps the pleasantest, and certainly the shadiest, road in holland: not one avenue but many, straight as a line in euclid. on either side is a spreading wood, among the trees of which, on the left hand, as one leaves the hague, is sorgh vliet, once the retreat of old jacob cats, lately one of the residences of a royal duke, and now sold to a building company. the road dates from , its projector being constantin huyghens, poet and statesman, whose statue may be seen at the half-way halting-place. by the time this is reached the charm of the road is nearly over: thenceforward it is all villas and scheveningen. but we must pause for a little while at sorgh vliet (which has the same meaning as _sans souci_), where two hundred years ago lived in genial retirement the writer who best represents the shrewd sagacity of the dutch character--jacob cats, or vader cats as he was affectionately called, the author of the dutch "household bible," a huge miscellaneous collection of wise saws and modern instances, humour and satire, upon all the businesses of life. mr. austin dobson, who leaves grains of gold on all he touches, has described in his _side-walk studies_ the huge, illustrated edition of cats' works (amsterdam, ) which is held sacred in all rightly constituted old-fashioned dutch households. i have seen it at the british museum, and it seems to me to be one of the best picture-books in the world. as mr. dobson says, the life of old holland is reproduced in it. "what would one not give for such an illustrated copy of shakespeare! in these pages of jacob cats we have the authentic holland of the seventeenth century:--its vanes and spires and steep-roofed houses; its gardens with their geometric tulip-beds, their formally-clipped alleys and arches, their shining parallelograms of water. here are its old-fashioned interiors, with the deep fire-places and queer andirons, the huge four-posters, the prim portraits on the wall, the great brass-clamped coffers and carved _armories_ for the ruffs and starched collars and stiff farthingales of the women. in one picture you may see the careful housewife mournfully inspecting a moth-eaten garment which she has just taken from a chest that wardour street might envy; in another she is energetically cuffing the 'foolish fat scullion,' who has let the spotted dalmatian coach-dog overturn the cauldron at the fire. here an old crone, with her spectacles on, is cautiously probing the contents of the said cauldron with a fork; here the mistress of the house is peeling pears; here the plump and soft-hearted cheese-wife is entertaining an admirer--outside there are pictures as vivid. here are the clumsy leather-topped coach with its masked occupant and stumbling horses; the towed _trekschuit_, with its merry freight, sliding swiftly through the low-lying landscape; the windy mole, stretching seaward, with its blown and flaring beacon-fire. here again in the street is the toy-shop with its open front and store of mimic drums and halberds for the martial little burghers; here are the fruiteress with her stall of grapes and melons, the rat-catcher with his string of trophies, the fowler and his clap-net, the furrier with his stock of skins." in a number of van der venne's best pictures were redrawn by john leighton to accompany translations of the fables by richard pigot. as a taste of cats' quality i quote two of the pieces. why the pictures should have been redrawn when they might have been reproduced exactly is beyond my understanding. this is one poem:-- like melons, friends are to be found in plenty of which not even one is good in twenty. in choosing friends, it's requisite to use the self-same care as when we melons choose: no one in haste a melon ever buys, nor makes his choice till three or four he tries; and oft indeed when purchasing this fruit, before the buyer can find one to suit, he's e'en obliged t' examine half a score, and p'rhaps not find one when his search is o'er. be cautious how you choose a friend; for friendships that are lightly made, have seldom any other end than grief to see one's trust betray'd! and here is another:-- smoke is the food of lovers. when cupid open'd shop, the trade he chose was just the very one you might suppose. love keep a shop?--his trade, oh! quickly name! a dealer in tobacco--fie for shame! no less than true, and set aside all joke, from oldest time he ever dealt in smoke; than smoke, no other thing he sold, or made; smoke all the substance of his stock in trade; his capital all smoke, smoke all his store, 'twas nothing else; but lovers ask no more-- and thousands enter daily at his door! hence it was ever, and it e'er will be the trade most suited to his faculty:-- fed by the vapours of their heart's desire, no other food his votaries require; for, that they seek--the favour of the fair, is unsubstantial as the smoke and air. from these rhymes, with their home-spun philosophy, one might assume cats to have been merely a witty peasant. but he was a man of the highest culture, a great jurist, twice ambassador to england, where charles i. laid his sword on his shoulder and bade him rise sir jacob, a traveller and the friend of the best intellects. from an interesting article on dutch poetry in an old _foreign quarterly review_ i take an account of the aphorist: "vondel had for his contemporary a man, of whose popularity we can hardly give an idea, unless we say that to speak dutch and to have learnt cats by heart, are almost the same thing. old father jacob cats--(we beg to apologize for his unhappy name--and know not why, like the rest of his countrymen, he did not euphonize it into some well-sounding epithet, taken from greece or rome--elouros, for example, or felisius; catsius was ventured upon by his contemporaries, but the honest grey-beard stuck to his paternities)--was a man of practical wisdom--great experience--much travel--considerable learning--and wonderful fluency. he had occupied high offices of state, and retired a patriarch amidst children and children's children, to that agreeable retreat which we mentioned as not far from the hague, where we have often dreamed his sober and serious--but withal cheerful and happy, spirit, might still preside. his moralities are sometimes prolix, and sometimes rather dull. he often sweeps the bloom away from the imaginative anticipations of youth--and in that does little service. he will have everything substantial, useful, permanent. he has no other notion of love than that it is meant to make good husbands and wives, and to produce painstaking and obedient children. "his poetry is rhymed counsel--kind, wise, and good. he calculates all results, and has no mercy for thoughts, or feelings, or actions, which leave behind them weariness, regret or misery. his volumes are a storehouse of prudence and worldly wisdom. for every state of life he has fit lessons, so nicely dovetailed into rhyme, that the morality seems made expressly for the language, or the language for the morality. his thoughts--all running about among the duties of life--voluntarily move in harmonious numbers, as if to think and to rhyme were one solitary attribute. for the nurse who wants a song for her babe--the boy who is tormented by the dread of the birch--the youth whose beard begins to grow--the lover who desires a posey for his lady's ring--for the husband--father--grandsire--for all there is a store--to encourage--to console--and to be grateful for. the titles of his works are indices to their contents. among them are _de ouderdom_, old age; _buyten leven_, out-of-doors life; _hofgedachten_, garden thoughts; _gedachten op slapelooze nachten_, thoughts of sleepless nights; _trouwring_, marriage ring; _zelfstrijt_, self-struggle, etc. never was a poet so essentially the poet of the people. he is always intelligible--always sensible--and, as was well said of him by kruijff, smiling he teaches truth, and sporting wins to virtue." when president kruger died last year the memoirs of him agreed in fixing upon the bible as his only reading. but i am certain he knew vader cats by heart too. if ever a master had a faithful pupil, vader cats had one in oom paul. the vivid yet homely metaphors and allegories in which oom paul conveyed so many of his thoughts were drawn from the same source as the emblems of vader cats. both had the Æsopian gift. we have no one english writer with whom to compare cats; but a syndicate formed of fuller and burton, cobbett and quarles might produce something akin. scheveningen is half squalid town, half monstrous pleasure resort. upon its sea ramparts are a series of gigantic buildings, greatest of which is the curhaus, where the best music in holland is to be heard. its pier and its promenade are not at the first glimpse unlike brighton's; but the vast buildings have no counterpart with us, except perhaps at blackpool. what is, however, peculiar to scheveningen is its expanse of sand covered with sentry-box wicker chairs. to stand on the pier on a fine day in the season and look down on these thousands of chairs and people is to receive an impression of insect-like activity that i think cannot be equalled. immovable as they are, the chairs seem to add to the restlessness of the seething mass. what a visitor from mars would make of it is a mystery; but he could hardly fail to connect chair and occupant. here, he would say, is surely the abode of giant snails! on a windy day the chairs must be of great use; but in heat they seem to me too vertical and too hard. one must, however, either sit in them or lie upon sand. there is not a pebble on the whole coast: indeed there is not a pebble in holland. life after lying upon sand can become to some of us a burden almost too difficult to bear; but the dutch holiday-maker does not seem to find it so. as for the children, they are truly in paradise. there can be no sand better to dig in than that of scheveningen; and they dig in it all day. a favourite game seems to be to surround the parental sentry-boxes with a fosse. every family has its castle, and every castle its moat. i have been twice to scheveningen, and on each occasion i acquired beneath its glittering magnitude a sense of depression. that leaven of tenderness which every collection of human beings must have was harder to find at scheveningen than anywhere in holland--everything was so ordered, so organised, for pleasure, pleasure at any price, pleasure almost at the point of the bayonet. but on the second occasion one little incident saved the day--an encounter with a strolling bird-fancier who dealt in black-headed mannikins. two of these tiny brisk birds, in their quaker black and brown, sat upon his cane to attract purchasers. they fluttered to his finger, perched on his hat, simulated death in the palm of his hand, and went through other evolutions with the speed of thought and the bright spontaneous alacrity possible only to a small loyal bird. these, however, were not for sale: these were decoys; the saleable birds lay, packed far too close, in little wooden boxes in the man's bag. and scheveningen to me means no longer a mile of palaces, no longer a "hot huddle of humanity" on the sand among myriad sentry-boxes: its symbol is just two black-headed mannikins. from the curhaus it is better to return to the hague by electric tram along the new road. save for passing a field where the fishwives of scheveningen in their blue shawls spread and mend their nets, this road is dull and suburban; but from it, when the light is failing, a view of scheveningen's domes and spires may be gained which, softened and made mysterious by the gloaming, translates the chief watering-place of holland into an eastern city of romance. the fishwives of scheveningen, i am told, carry the art of petticoat wearing to a higher point than any of their sisters. the appearance of the homing fleet in the offing is a signal for as many as thirty of these garments to be put on as a mark of welcome to a returning husband. probably no shore anywhere in the world has been so often painted as that of scheveningen--ever since the painting of landscape seemed a worthy pursuit. james maris' pictures of scheveningen's wet sand, grey sea, and huge flat-bottomed ships must run into scores; mesdag's too. perhaps it was the artists that prevailed on the fishermen to wear crimson knickerbockers--the note of warm colour that the scene demands. here, although it is separated from scheveningen by some miles of sand, i should like to say something of katwyk--which is leyden's marine resort. a steam-tram carries people thither many times a day. the rail, when first i travelled upon it, in april, ran through tulips; in august, when i was there again, the patches of scarlet and orange had given way to acres of massive purple-green cabbages which, in the evening light, were vastly more beautiful. at rynsburg, one of the villages on the way, dwelt in - benedict spinoza, the philosopher, and there he wrote his abridgement of the meditations of descartes, his master in philosophy, who had for a while lived close by at endegeest. spinoza, who was born at amsterdam in , died in . his house at rynsburg, which he shared with a colleginat (one of a sect of remonstrants who had their headquarters there) is now a spinoza museum; his statue is at the hague. katwyk-aan-zee is a compact little pleasure resort with the usual fantastic childish villas. its most interesting possession is the mouth of the old rhine, now restricted by a canal and controlled by locks. there is perhaps no better example of the dutch power over water than the contrast between the present narrow canal through which the river must disembogue and the unprofitable marsh which once spread here. the locks, which are nearly a hundred years old, were among the works of the engineer conrad, whose monument is in haarlem church. from the old rhine's mouth to noordwyk is a lonely but very bracing walk of three miles along the sand, with the dunes on one's right hand and the sea on one's left. one may meet perhaps a few shell gatherers, but no one else. we drove before us all the way a white company consisting of a score of gulls, twice as many tern, two oyster catchers and one curlew. they rose and settled, rose and settled, always some thirty yards away, until noordwyk was reached, when we left them behind. never was a japanese screen so realised as by these birds against the pearl grey sea and yellow sand. katwyk is more cheery than noordwyk; but noordwyk has a prettier street--indeed, in its old part there is no prettier street in holland in the light of sunset. as hastings is to eastbourne, so is katwyk to noordwyk; scheveningen is brighton, yarmouth, and blackpool in one. a very pretty lace cap is worn at noordwyk by villagers and visitors alike, to hold the hair against the west wind. from noordwyk we walked to noordwyk-binnen, the real town, parent of the seaside resort; and there, at a table at the side of the main street, by an avenue so leafy as to exclude even glints of the sky, we sipped something dutch whose name i could not assimilate, and waited for the tram for leyden. it was the greenest tunnel i ever saw. chapter vii leyden steam-trams--holland for the people--quiet leyden--the meermansburg--leyden's museums--the call of the open--oliver goldsmith--a view of the dutch--"polite learning"--"the traveller"--james howell--john evelyn and the burgundian jew--_colloquia peripatetica_--st. peter's and st. pancras's--the kermis--drinking in holland--poffertjes and wafelen--america's master. we travelled to leyden from the hague by the steam-tram, through cheerful domestic surroundings, past little englishy cottages and gardens. it was sunday morning, and the villagers of voorburg and voorschoten and the other little places _en route_ were idle and gay. in england light railways are a rarity; holland is covered with a net-work of them. the little trains rush along the roads all over the country, while the roadside willows rock in their eddying wake. to stand on the steam-tram footboard is one very good way to see holland. in england of course we can never have such conveniences, england being a free country in which individual rights come first. but holland exists for the state, and such an idea as the depreciation or ruin of property by running a tram line over it has never suggested itself. it is true that when the new electric tramway between amsterdam and haarlem was projected, the comic papers came to the defence of outraged nature; but they did not really mean it, as the æsthetic minority in england would have meant it. the steam-tram journeys are always interesting; and my advice to a traveller in holland is to make as much use of them as he can. this is quite simple as their time-tables are included in the official reisgids. i like them at all times; but best perhaps when one has to wait in the heart of some quiet village for the other tram to come up. there is something very soothing and attractive in these sudden cessations of noise and movement in the midst of a totally strange community. leyden is a paradise of clean, quiet streets--a city of professors, students and soldiers. it has, i think, the prettiest red roofs in any considerable dutch town: not prettier than veere's, but veere is now only a village. philosophers surely live here: book-worms to whom yesterday, to-day and to-morrow are one. the sense of commercial enterprise dies away: whatever they are at amsterdam, the dutch at leyden cease to be a nation of shopkeepers. it was holiday time when i was there last, and the town was comparatively empty. no songs floated through the windows of the clubs. in talk with a stranger at one of the cafés, i learned that the dutch student works harder in the holidays than in term. in term he is a social and imbibing creature; but when the vacation comes and he returns to a home to which most of the allurements which an english boy would value are wanting, he applies himself to his books. i give the statement as i heard it. one of the pleasantest buildings in leyden is the meermansburg--a spreading almshouse in the oude vest, surrounding a square garden with a massive pump in the midst. a few pictures are shown in the governors' room over the entrance, but greater interest attaches to the little domiciles for the pensioners of the meerman trust. a friendly concierge with a wooden leg showed us one of these compact houses--a sitting-room with a bed-cupboard in one wall, and below it a little larder, like the cabin of a ship. at the back a tiny range, and above, a garret. one could be very comfortable in such quarters. leyden has other _hofjes_, as these homes of rest are called, into one of which, gay with geraniums, i peeped--a little court of clean cottages seen through the doorway like a peter de hooch. i did not, i fear, do my duty by leyden's many museums. the sun shone; the boats swam continually down the old rhine and the new; and the sea at katwyk and noordwyk sent a call across the intervening meadows. some day perhaps i shall find myself at leyden again, when the sky is grey and the thirst for information is more strongly upon me. ethnography, comparative anatomy, physiology--there is nothing that may not be learned in the leyden museums; but such learning is not peculiarly dutch, nor are the treasures of these museums peculiarly dutch, and i felt that i might with a clear conscience leave them to others. have we not bloomsbury? i did, however, climb the burg, which is a circular fortress on a mound between the two rivers, so cleverly hidden away among houses that it was long ere i could find it. it is gained through an ancient courtyard full of horses and carriages--like a scene in dumas. from the burg one ought to have a fine view, but leyden's roofs are too near. and in the natural history museum i walked through miles of birds stuffed, and birds articulated, until i felt that i could give a year's income to be on terms again with a living blackbird--even one of those that eat our kentish strawberries at sunrise. i did not penetrate to the interior of the university, having none to guide me, but i was pleased to remember that oliver goldsmith had been a student there not so very long ago. indeed, as i walked about the town, i thought much of goldsmith as he was in , aged twenty-seven, with all his books to write, wandering through the same streets, looking upon the same houses and canals, in the interval of acquiring his mysterious medical degree (ultimately conferred at louwain). his ingenious project, it will be remembered--by those whose memories (like my own) cling to that order of information, to the exclusion of everything useful and improving--goldsmith's delightful plan for subsistence in holland was to teach the english language to the dutch, and in return receive enough money to keep him at the university of leyden and enable him to hear the great professor albinus. it was not until he reached holland that those adorable irish brains of his realised that he who teaches english to a dutchman must first know dutch. goldsmith, who spent his life in doing characteristic things--few men have done more--when once he had determined to go to holland, took a passage in a vessel bound for bordeaux. at newcastle-on-tyne, however, on going ashore to be merry, he was arrested as a jacobite and thrown into prison for a fortnight. the result was that the ship sailed without him. it was just as well for him and for us, for it sank at the mouth of the garonne. in , however, he was in leyden, although by what route, circuitous or direct, he reached that city we do not know. he lost little time in giving his uncle contarine an account of his impressions of holland and its people. here is a portion of a long letter: "the modern dutchman is quite a different creature from him of former times: he in everything imitates a frenchman, but in his easy disengaged air, which is the result of keeping polite company. the dutchman is vastly ceremonious, and is perhaps exactly what a frenchman might have been in the reign of louis xiv. such are the better bred. but the downright hollander is one of the oddest figures in nature: upon a head of lank hair he wears a half-cocked narrow hat laced with black ribbon; no coat, but seven waistcoats, and nine pairs of breeches; so that his hips reach almost up to his arm-pits. this well-clothed vegetable is now fit to see company, or make love. but what a pleasing creature is the object of his appetite! why she wears a large fur cap with a deal of flanders lace: and for every pair of breeches he carries, she puts on two petticoats. "a dutch lady burns nothing about her phlegmatic admirer but his tobacco. you must know, sir, every women carries in her hand a stove with coals in it, which, when she sits, she snugs under her petticoats; and at this chimney dozing strephon lights his pipe. i take it that this continual smoking is what gives the man the ruddy healthful complexion he generally wears, by draining his superfluous moisture, while the woman, deprived of this amusement, overflows with such viscidities as tint the complexion, and give that paleness of visage which low fenny grounds and moist air conspire to cause. a dutch woman and scotch will bear an opposition. the one is pale and fat, the other lean and ruddy: the one walks as if she were straddling after a go-cart, and the other takes too masculine a stride. i shall not endeavour to deprive either country of its share of beauty; but must say, that of all objects on this earth, an english farmer's daughter is most charming. every woman there is a complete beauty, while the higher class of women want many of the requisites to make them even tolerable. "their pleasures here are very dull though very various. you may smoke, you may doze, you may go to the italian comedy, as good an amusement as either of the former. this entertainment always brings in harlequin, who is generally a magician, and in consequence of his diabolical art performs a thousand tricks on the rest of the persons of the drama, who are all fools. i have seen the pit in a roar of laughter at this humour, when with his sword he touches the glass from which another was drinking. 'twas not his face they laughed at, for that was masked. they must have seen something vastly queer in the wooden sword, that neither i, nor you, sir, were you there, could see. "in winter, when their canals are frozen, every house is forsaken, and all people are on the ice; sleds drawn by horses, and skating, are at that time the reigning amusements. they have boats here that slide on the ice, and are driven by the winds. when they spread all their sails they go more than a mile and a half a minute, and their motion is so rapid the eye can scarcely accompany them. their ordinary manner of travelling is very cheap and very convenient: they sail in covered boats drawn by horses; and in these you are sure to meet people of all nations. here the dutch slumber, the french chatter, and the english play at cards. any man who likes company may have them to his taste. for my part i generally detached myself from all society, and was wholly taken up in observing the face of the country. nothing can equal its beauty; wherever i turn my eye, fine houses, elegant gardens, statues, grottos, vistas, presented themselves; but when you enter their towns you are charmed beyond description. no misery is to be seen here; every one is usefully employed. "scotland and this country bear the highest contrast. there hills and rocks intercept every prospect: here 'tis all a continued plain. there you might see a well-dressed duchess issuing from a dirty close; and here a dirty dutchman inhabiting a palace. the scotch may be compared to a tulip planted in dung; but i never see a dutchman in his own house but i think of a magnificent egyptian temple dedicated to an ox. physic is by no means here taught so well as in edinburgh: and in all leyden there are but four british students, owing to all necessaries being so extremely dear and the professors so very lazy (the chemical professor excepted) that we don't much care to come hither." when the time came to make the "inquiry into the state of polite learning" leyden had to suffer. goldsmith laid about him with no gentle hand. "holland, at first view, appears to have some pretensions to polite learning. it may be regarded as the great emporium, not less of literature than of every other commodity. here, though destitute of what may be properly called a language of their own, all the languages are understood, cultivated and spoken. all useful inventions in arts, and new discoveries in science, are published here almost as soon as at the places which first produced them. its individuals have the same faults, however, with the germans, of making more use of their memory than their judgment. the chief employment of their literati is to criticise, or answer, the new performances which appear elsewhere. "a dearth of wit in france or england naturally produces a scarcity in holland. what ovid says of echo may be applied here, ----'nec reticere loquenti, nec prior ipsa loqui didicit'---- they wait till something new comes out from others; examine its merits and reject it, or make it reverberate through the rest of europe. "after all, i know not whether they should be allowed any national character for polite learning. all their taste is derived to them from neighbouring nations, and that in a language not their own. they somewhat resemble their brokers, who trade for immense sums without having any capital." goldsmith did not finish there. his observations on the continent served him, with a frugality that he did not otherwise practise, at least thrice. he used them in the "inquiry into polite learning," he used them in the story of the philosophic vagabond in the _vicar of wakefield_, and still again in "the traveller". this is the summary of holland in that poem:-- to men of other minds my fancy flies, embosom'd in the deep where holland lies. methinks her patient sons before me stand, where the broad ocean leans against the land, and, sedulous to stop the coming tide, lift the tall rampire's artificial pride. onward, methinks, and diligently slow, the firm connected bulwark seems to grow; spreads its long arms amidst the watery roar, scoops out an empire, and usurps the shore. while the pent ocean, rising o'er the pile, sees an amphibious world beneath him smile; the slow canal, the yellow-blossom'd vale, the willow-tufted bank, the gliding sail, the crowded mart, the cultivated plain, a new creation rescued from his reign. thus, while around the wave-subjected soil impels the native to repeated toil, industrious habits in each bosom reign, and industry begets a love of gain. hence all the good from opulence that springs, with all those ills superfluous treasure brings, are here display'd. their much-lov'd wealth imparts convenience, plenty, elegance, and arts: but view them closer, craft and fraud appear, even liberty itself is barter'd here. at gold's superior charms all freedom flies, the needy sell it, and the rich man buys; a land of tyrants, and a den of slaves, here wretches seek dishonourable graves, and calmly bent, to servitude conform, dull as their lakes that slumber in the storm. it was with his good uncle contarine's money that goldsmith travelled to leyden. the time came to leave, and oliver was again without resources. he borrowed a sufficient sum from dr. ellis, a fellow-countryman living there, and prepared for his departure. but on his way from the doctor's he had to pass a florist's, in whose window there chanced to be exhibited the very variety of flower which uncle contarine had so often praised and expressed a desire to possess. given the man and the moment, what can you expect? goldsmith, chief among those blessed natures who never interrupt a generous impulse, plunged into the florist's house and despatched a costly bundle of bulbs to ireland. the next day he left leyden with a guinea in his pocket, no clothes but those he stood in, and a flute in his hand. for the rest you must see the story of the philosophic vagabond. evelyn records an amusing experience at leyden in august, : "i was brought acquainted with a burgundian jew, who had married an apostate kentish woman. i asked him divers questions; he told me, amongst other things, that the world should never end, that our souls transmigrated, and that even those of the most holy persons did penance in the bodies of brutes after death, and so he interpreted the banishment and savage life of nebuchadnezzar; that all the jews should rise again, and be led to jerusalem; that the romans only were the occasion of our saviour's death, whom he affirmed (as the turks do) to be a great prophet, but not the messiah. he showed me several books of their devotion, which he had translated into english for the instruction of his wife; he told me that when the messiah came, all the ships, barks, and vessels of holland should, by the power of certain strange whirlwinds, be loosed from their anchors, and transported in a moment to all the desolate ports and havens throughout the world, wherever the dispersion was, to convey their brethren and tribes to the holy city; with other such-like stuff. he was a merry drunken fellow, but would by no means handle any money (for something i purchased of him), it being saturday; but desired me to leave it in the window, meaning to receive it on sunday morning." in an old book-shop at leyden i bought from an odd lot of english books, chiefly minor fiction for travellers, the _colloquia peripatetica_ of john duncan, ll.d., professor of hebrew in the new college, edinburgh. "i'm first a christian, next a catholic, then a calvinist, fourth a pædo-baptist, and fifth a presbyterian. i cannot reverse the order," is one of his emphatic utterances. here are others, not unconnected with the country we are travelling in: "poor erasmus truckled all his life for a hat. if he could only have been made a cardinal! you see the longing for it in his very features, and can't help regarding him with mingled respect and pity." of thomas à kempis, the recluse of deventer: "a fine fellow, but hazy, and weak betimes. he and his school tend (as some one has well said) to make humility and humiliation change places." finally, of the bible: "the three best translations of the bible, in my opinion, are, in order of merit, the english, the dutch, and diodati's italian version. as to luther, he is admirable in rendering the prophets. he says either just what the prophets _did say_, or that which you see at once they _might have said_." leyden has two vast churches, st. peter's and st. pancras's. both are immense and unadorned, i think that st. pancras's is the lightest church i was ever in. st. peter's ought to be filled with memorials of the town's illustrious sons, but it has few. as i have said elsewhere, i asked in vain for the grave of jan steen, who was buried here. it was at leyden that i saw my first kermis, or fair, seven years ago, and ate my first poffertjes and wafelen. writing as a foreigner, in no way concerned with the matter, i may express regret that the kermis is not what it was in holland. possibly were one living in holland, one would at once join the anti-kermis party; but i hope not. in amsterdam the anti-kermis party has succeeded, and though one may still in that city at certain seasons eat wafelen and poffertjes, the old glories have departed, just as they have departed from so many english towns which once broke loose for a few nights every year. even barnet fair is not what it was. noise seems to be the principal objection. personally, i never saw any drunkenness; and there is so little real revelry that one turns one's back on the naphtha lamps in this town and that, in leyden and the hoorn, apeldoorn and middelburg, with the sad conviction that the times are out of joint, and that teniers and ostade and brouwer, were they reborn to-day, would probably either have to take to painting christmas supplements or earn their living at a reputable trade. it is not that the dutch no longer drink, but that they now do it with more privacy. the travelling temples reserved for the honour of poffertjes and wafelen are the most noticeable features of any kermis. they are divided, quite like restaurants, into little cubicles for separate parties. flowers and ferns make them gay; the waiters may even wear evening dress, but this is a refinement which would have annoyed jan steen; on the tables is white american cloth; and curtains of coloured material and muslin, with bright ribbons, add to the vivacity of the occasion. to eat poffertjes and wafelen is no light matter: one must regard it as a ritual. poffertjes come first--these are little round pancakey blobs, twisted and covered with butter and sugar. then the wafelen, which are oblong wafers stamped in a mould and also buttered and sugared. you eat twenty-four poffertjes and two wafelen: that is, at the first onset. afterwards, as many more as you wish. lager beer is drunk with them. some prefer frambozen lemonade. to eat them is a duty; to see them cooked is a joy. i have watched the cooks almost for hours. the poffertjes are made by hundreds at once, in a tray indented with little hollows over a fire. the cook is continually busy in twisting the little dabs of paste into the hollows and removing those that are ready. the wafelen are baked in iron moulds (there is one in jan steen's "oyster feast") laid on a rack in the fire. the cook has eight moulds in working order at once. when the eighth is filled from the pail of batter at his side, the first is done; and so on, ceaselessly, all day and half the night, like a natural law. a woman stands by to spread butter and sugar, and the plate is whisked away in a moment. the americans boast of their quick lunches; but i am convinced that they borrowed celerity in cooking and serving from some knickerbocker deviser of poffertjes and wafelen in the early days of new york. i wonder that washington irving omitted to say so. chapter viii leyden's painters, a fanatic and a hero rembrandt of the rhine--his early life at leyden--jan steen--jan van goyen--brewer and painter--pictures for beer--jan steen's grave--his delicacy and charm--his native refinement--a painter of hands--jan steen and morland--jan steen and hogarth--the red sea--the flood--jan of leyden--the siege of münster--gigantic madness--gerard dou--godfrey schalcken--frans van mieris--william van mieris--gabriel metsu--beckford's satire--leyden's poor pictures--the siege of leyden--adrian van der werf. leyden was the mother of some precious human clay. among her sons was the greatest of dutch painters, rembrandt van rijn; the most lovable of them, jan steen; and the most patient of them, gerard dou. of rembrandt's genius it is late in the day to write, nor have i the power. we have seen certain of his pictures at the hague; we shall see others at amsterdam. i can add nothing to what is said in those places, but here, in leyden (which has ten thousand stuffed birds, and not a single picture by her greatest son), one may dwell upon his early days and think of him wandering as a boy in the surrounding country unconsciously absorbing effects of light and shade. rembrandt harmenszoon van rijn was born on july , , probably in a house at the corner of the weddesteg, near the wittepoort, on the bank of the rhine. it was the same year that gave england _macbeth_ and _king lear_. his father was a miller, his mother the daughter of a leyden baker: it was destined that the son of these simple folk should be the greatest painter that the north of europe has produced. they did not foresee such a fate, but they seem sufficiently to have realised that their son had unusual aptitude for him to be sent to study law at the university. but he meant from the first to paint, and when he should have been studying text-books he was studying nature. the old miller, having a wise head, gave way, and rembrandt was allowed to enter the studio of jacob van swanenburgh. that was probably in , when he was sixteen; in he knew so much more than swanenburgh had ever dreamed of that he passed on to amsterdam, to see what could be learned from peter lastman. but lastman was of little use, and rembrandt soon returned to leyden. there he set up his own studio, painting, however, at his father's house--possibly even in the mill itself--as much as he could; and for seven years he taught younger men at leyden his secrets. he remained at leyden until , moving then again to amsterdam and beginning the greatest period of his life. at leyden he had painted much and etched much; perhaps the portrait of himself in a steel gorget, at the hague, is his finest leyden picture. it was not until , the year in which he married his saskia, that the first of his most famous works, "the school of anatomy," was painted. yet leyden may consider that it was she that showed the way; she may well be proud. rembrandt's later life belongs to amsterdam; but leyden had other illustrious sons who were faithful to her to the end. chief of these was jan steen. harmens the miller, as we have seen, became the father of a boy named rembrandt in ; it was twenty years later that steen the brewer rejoiced over the birth of a son called jan. of jan's childhood we know nothing, but as a young man he was sent by his father to utrecht to study under nicholas knupfer. then he passed on to adrian van ostade and probably to adrian brouwer, with both of whom and frans hals we saw him carousing, after his wont, in a picture by brouwer in baron steengracht's house at the hague. finally he became the pupil of jan van goyen, painter of the beautiful "valkhof at nymwegen," no. in the ryks museum, a picture which always makes me think of andrew marvell's poem on the bermudas. like many another art pupil, jan steen married his master's daughter. jan van goyen, i might add, was another of leyden's sons. he was born in and he died at the hague in , while london was suffering under the plague. jan steen seems to have intended to make brewing his staff and painting merely his cane; but good nature and a terrible thirst were too much for him. from brewing he descended to keeping a tavern, "in which occupation," to quote ireland, "he was himself his best customer". after a while, having exhausted his cellar, he took seriously to painting in order to renew it, paying for his liquor with his brush. thus "for a long time his works were to be found only in the hands of dealers in wine". who, after this, shall have the hardihood to speak evil of the grape? jan is not supposed to have lived at leyden after his marriage to margaretta van goyen, in , until , when his father died. in he is known to have taken a tavern at leyden at the lange brug. of the intervening years little is known. he was probably at haarlem part of the time and at the hague part of the time, in he paid his rent--only twenty-nine florins--with three pictures "painted well as he was able". margaretta died in --a merry large woman we must suppose her from her appearance in jan's pictures, and the mother of four or five children who may often be seen in the same scenes. jan married again in and died in . he was buried in st. peter's church, leyden, leaving more than five hundred pictures to his name. the youth who, in the absence of the koster, accompanied me through st. peter's church, so far from knowing where jan steen was buried, had never even heard his name. (and at the western church in amsterdam, where rembrandt is said to have been buried, his resting-place cannot be pointed out. but never a dutch admiral's grave is in doubt.) for all his roystering and recklessness, for all his drinking and excess, jan steen's work is essentially delicate. he painted the sublimated essence of comedy. teniers, ostade, brouwer are coarse and boorish beside him; metsu and mieris genteel. even when he is painting low life jan steen is distinguished, a gentleman. and now and then he touches the springs of tears, so exquisite in his sympathetic understanding. he remains the most lovable painter in holland, and the tenderest--in a country where tenderness is not easily found. look, for example, at the two pictures at the hague which are reproduced opposite pages and . the first represents the steen family. the jolly jan himself is smoking at the table; the old brewer and the elder mrs. steen are in the foreground. i doubt if any picture exists in which the sense of innocent festivity is better expressed. it is all perhaps rather a muddle: mrs. steen has some hard work before her if the house is to be restored to a dutch pitch of cleanliness and order; but how jolly every one is! jan himself looks just as we should expect. the triumph of the "oyster feast," on the opposite page, seems to me to be the girl kneeling in the corner. here is drawing indeed. the charge brought by the mysterious painter in balzac's story against pourbus, that one was unable to walk behind the figure in his picture, could never hold with jan steen. his every figure stands out surrounded by atmosphere, and never more so than in the "oyster feast". again, in the "cat's dancing lesson" (opposite page ), what drawing there is in the girl playing the pipe, and what life in the whole scene! it is odd that jan steen in holland, and george morland in england, both topers, should have had this secret of simple charm so highly developed: one of nature's curious ironies, very confusing to the moralist. in the second hague picture (opposite page ) leyden's genial tosspot has achieved a farther triumph--he has painted one of the most radiantly delicate figures in all art. one must go to italy and seek among the early madonnas to find anything to set beside the sweet wordsworthian character of this little dutch girl who feeds the animals. it was jan steen's way to scamp much of every picture; but in every picture you will find one figure that could not be excelled. nothing probably could be more slovenly, more hideously unpainted, than, for example, the bed and the guitar-case in the "sick woman"--no. at the ryks museum--opposite page . but i doubt if human skill has ever transcended the painting of the woman's face, or the sheer drawing of her. look at her arm and hand--jan steen never went wrong with arms and hands. look at the hands of the boy playing the pipe in the picture opposite page ; look at the woman filling a pipe at the table. to-day we are accustomed to pictures containing children: they are as necessary as sunsets to picture buyers: all our figure-painters lavish their talents upon them; but who had ever troubled to paint a real peasant child before jan steen? it was this rough toper that showed the way, and no one since has ever excelled him. parallels have been drawn between jan steen and hogarth, and there are critics who would make jan a moralist too. but i do not see how we can compare them. steen did what hogarth could not, hogarth did what steen would not. hogarth is rarely charming, steen is rarely otherwise. it is not hogarth with whom i should associate jan, but burns. he is the dutch burns--in colour. i wish we had more facts concerning him, for he must have been a great man and humorist. the story is told of hogarth that on being commissioned to paint a scriptural picture of the red sea for a too parsimonious patron who had beaten him down and down, he rebuked him for his meanness by producing a canvas entirely covered with red paint. "but what is this?" the patron asked. "the red sea--surely." "where then are the israelites?" "they have all crossed over." "and pharaoh's hosts?" "they are all drowned." the story is perhaps an invention; but a somewhat similar joke is credited to jan steen. his commission was the flood, and his picture when finished consisted of a sheet of water with a dutch cheese in the midst bearing the arms of leyden. the cheese and the arms, he pointed out, proved that people had been on the earth; as for noah and the ark, they were out of the picture. jan steen's picture of "a quaker's funeral" i have not seen, but according to pilkington it is impossible to behold it and refrain from laughter. the subject does not strike one as being in itself mirthful. a century earlier leyden had produced another jan, separated from jan steen by a difference wide asunder as the poles. yet a very wonderful man in his brief season, standing high among the world's great madmen. i mean jan bockelson, the anabaptist, known as jan of leyden, who, beginning as pure enthusiast, succumbed, as so many a leader of women has done, to the intoxication of authority, and became the slave of grandiose ambition and excesses. every country has had its mock messiahs: they rise periodically in england, not less at the present day than in the darker ages (hysteria being more powerful than light); yet the history of none of these spiritual monarchs can compare with that of the tailor's son of leyden. the story is told in many places, but nowhere with such dramatic picturesqueness as by professor karl pearson in his _ethic of freethought_. "as the illegitimate son of a tailor in leyden," says professor pearson--jan's mother was the maid of his father's wife--"his early life was probably a harsh and bitter one. very young he wandered from home, impressed with the miseries of his class and with a general feeling of much injustice in the world. four years he spent in england seeing the poor driven off the land by the sheep; then we find him in flanders, married, but still in vague search of the eldorado; again roaming, he visits lisbon and lübeck as a sailor, ever seeking and inquiring. suddenly a new light bursts upon him in the teaching of melchior hofmann [the anabaptist]; he fills himself with dreams of a glorious kingdom on earth, the rule of justice and of love. still a little while and the prophet mathys crosses his path, and tells him of the new sion and the extermination of the godless." mathys, or jan mathiesen, was a baker of haarlem, who, constituted an anabaptist bishop, was preaching the new gospel through the netherlands and gathering recruits to the community of god's saints which had been established at münster. "full of hope for the future," says professor pearson, "jan sets out for münster to join the saints. still young, handsome, imbued with a fiery enthusiasm, actor by nature and even by choice, he has no small influence on the spread of anabaptism in that city. the youth of twenty-three expounds to the followers of rottmann the beauties of his ideal kingdom of the good and the true. with his whole soul he preaches to them the redemption of the oppressed, the destruction of tyranny, the community of goods, and the rule of justice and brotherly love. women and maidens slip away to the secret gatherings of the youthful enthusiast; the glowing young prophet of leyden becomes the centre of interest in münster. dangerous, very dangerous ground, when the pure of heart are not around him; when the spirit 'chosen by god' is to proclaim itself free of the flesh. "the world has judged jan harshly, condemned him to endless execration. it were better to have cursed the generations of oppression, the flood of persecution, which forced the toiler to revolt, the anabaptists to madness. under other circumstances the noble enthusiasm, with other surroundings the strong will, of jan of leyden might have left a different mark on the page of history. dragged down in this whirlpool of fanaticism, sensuality, and despair, we can only look upon him as a factor of the historic judgment, a necessary actor in that tragedy of münster, which forms one of the most solemn chapters of the greater bible." gradually jan rose to be head of the saints, mathiesen having been killed, and none other displaying so much strength of purpose or magnetic enthusiasm. and here his mind gave way. like so many absolute rulers before and since, he could not resist the ecstacies of supremacy. to resume professor pearson's narrative: "the sovereign of sion--although 'since the flesh is dead, gold to him is but as dung'--yet thinks fit to appear in all the pomp of earthly majesty. he appoints a court, of which knipperdollinch is chancellor, and wherein there are many officers from chamberlain to cook. he forms a body-guard, whose members are dressed in silk. two pages wait upon the king, one of whom is a _son of his grace the bishop of münster_. the great officers of state are somewhat wondrously attired, one breech red, the other grey, and on the sleeves of their coats are embroidered the arms of sion--the earth-sphere pierced by two crossed swords, a sign of universal sway and its instruments--while a golden finger-ring is token of their authority in sion. the king himself is magnificently arrayed in gold and purple, and as insignia of his office, he causes sceptre and spurs of gold to be made. gold ducats are melted down to form crowns for the queen and himself; and lastly a golden globe pierced by two swords and surmounted by a cross with the words, 'a king of righteousness o'er all' is borne before him. the attendants of the chancellor knipperdollinch are dressed in red with the crest, a hand raising aloft the sword of justice. nay, even the queen and the fourteen queenlets must have a separate court and brilliant uniforms. "thrice a week the king goes in glorious array to the market-place accompanied by his body-guards and officers of state, while behind ride the fifteen queens. on the market-place stands a magnificent throne with silken cushions and canopy, whereon the tailor-monarch takes his seat, and alongside him sits his chief queen. knipperdollinch sits at his feet. a page on his left bears the book of the law, the old testament; another on his right an unsheathed sword. the book denotes that he sits on the throne of david; the sword that he is the king of the just, who is appointed to exterminate all unrighteousness. bannock-bernt is court-chaplain, and preaches in the market-place before the king. the sermon over, justice is administered, often of the most terrible kind; and then in like state the king and his court return home. on the streets he is greeted with cries of: 'hail in the name of the lord. god be praised!'" meanwhile underneath all this riot of splendour and power and sensuality, the pangs of starvation were beginning to be felt. for the army of the bishop of münster was outside the city and the siege was very studiously maintained. the privations became more and more terrible, and more and more terrible the means of allaying them. the bodies of citizens that had died were eaten; and then men and women and children were killed in order that they might be eaten too. under such conditions, is it any wonder that münster became a city of the mad, mad beyond the sane man's wildest dreams of excess? a few of the least demented of jan's followers at length determined that the tragedy must cease, and the city was delivered into the bishop's hands. "what judgment," writes professor pearson, "his grace the bishop thinks fit to pass on the leaders of sion at least deserves record. rottmann has fallen by st. martin's church, fighting sword in hand, but jan of leyden and knipperdollinch are brought prisoners before this shepherd of the folk. scoffingly he asks jan: 'art thou a king?' simple, yet endlessly deep the reply: 'art thou a bishop?' both alike false to their callings--as father of men and shepherd of souls. yet the one cold, self-seeking sceptic, the other ignorant, passionate, fanatic idealist. 'why hast thou destroyed the town and _my_ folk?' 'priest, i have not destroyed one little maid of _thine_. thou hast again thy town, and i can repay thee a hundredfold.' the bishop demands with much curiosity how this miserable captive can possibly repay him. 'i know we must die, and die terribly, yet before we die, shut us up in an iron cage, and send us round through the land, charge the curious folk a few pence to see us, and thou wilt soon gather together all thy heart's desire.' the jest is grim, but the king of sion has the advantage of his grace the bishop. then follows torture, but there is little to extract, for the king still holds himself an instrument sent by god--though it were for the punishment of the world. sentence is read on these men--placed in an iron cage they shall be shown round the bishop's diocese, a terrible warning to his subjects, and then brought back to münster; there with glowing pincers their flesh shall be torn from the bones, till the death-stroke be given with red-hot dagger in throat and heart. for the rest let the mangled remains be placed in iron cages swung from the tower of st. lambert's church. "on the th of january, , jan bockelson and knipperdollinch meet their fate. a high scaffolding is erected in the market-place, and before it a lofty throne for his grace the bishop, that he may glut his vengeance to the full. let the rest pass in silence. the most reliable authorities tell us that the anabaptists remained calm and firm to the last. 'art thou a king?' 'art thou a bishop?' the iron cages still hang on the church tower at münster; placed as a warning, they have become a show; perhaps some day they will be treasured as weird mentors of the truth which the world has yet to learn from the story of the kingdom of god in münster." a living german artist of great power, named joseph sattler, too much of whose time has recently been given to designing book-plates, produced some few years ago an extraordinary illustrated history of the anabaptists in münster. many artists have essayed to portray madness, but i know of no work more terrible than his. we have travelled far from leyden's peaceful studios. it is time to look at the work of gerard dou. rembrandt we have seen was the son of a miller, jan steen of a brewer; the elder dou was a glazier. his son gerard was born in leyden in . the father was so far interested in the boy's gifts that he apprenticed him to an engraver when he was nine. at the age of eleven he passed to the studio of a painter on glass, and on st. valentine's day, , he became a pupil of rembrandt. from rembrandt, however, he seems to have learned only the charm of contrasts of light and shade. none of the great rugged strength of the master is to be seen in his minute and patient work, in which the genius of taking pains is always apparent. "he would frequently," says ireland, "paint six or seven days on a hand, and, still more wonderful, twice the time on the handle of a broom.... the minuteness of his performance so affected his sight that he wore spectacles at the age of thirty." gerard dou's success was not only artistic; it was also financial. rembrandt's prices did not compare with those of his pupil, whose art coming more within the sympathetic range and understanding of the ordinary man naturally was more sought after than the titanic and less comfortable canvasses of the greater craftsman. dou did exceedingly well, one of his patrons even paying him a yearly honorarium of a thousand florins for the privilege of having the refusal of each new picture. "the poulterer's shop" at our national gallery is a perfect example of his fastidious minuteness and charm. but he painted pictures also with a tenderer brush. i give on the opposite page a reproduction of the most charming picture by gerard dou that i know--"the young housekeeper" at the hague. this is a very miracle of painting in every inch, and yet the pains that have been expended upon the cabbage and the fish are not for a moment disproportionate: the cabbage and the fish, for all their finish, remain subordinate and appropriate details. the picture is the picture of the mother and the children. "the night school"--no. in the ryks museum at amsterdam--is, i believe, more generally admired, but "the young housekeeper" is the better. "the night school" might be described as the work of a pocket rembrandt; "the young housekeeper" is the work of an artist of rare individuality and sympathy. at the wallace collection may be seen a hermit by dou quite in his best nocturnal manner. gerard dou died at leyden, where he had spent nearly all his quiet life, in . he is buried at st. peter's, but his grave does not seem to be known there. dou had many imitators, some of whom studied under him. one of the chief was godfried schalcken of dort, whose picture of an "old woman scouring a pan" may be seen in the national gallery, while the wallace collection has several examples of his skill. schalcken seems to have been a man of great brusquerie, if two stories told by ireland of his sojourn in england are true. william iii., for example, when sitting for his picture, with a candle in his hand, was suffered by schalcken to burn his fingers. "one is at a loss," says ireland, "to determine which was most to blame, the monarch for want of feeling, or the painter of politeness. the following circumstance, however, will place the deficiency of the latter beyond controversy. a lady sitting for her portrait, who was more admired for a beautiful hand than a handsome face, after the head was finished, asked him if she should take off her glove, that he might insert the hand in the picture, to which he replied, he always painted the hands from those of his valet." the most attractive picture by schalcken that i have seen is a girl sewing by candle light, in the wallace collection. it pairs off with the charming little gerard dou at the ryks--no. . dou said that the "prince of his pupils" was frans van mieris of delft, who combined the manner and predilections of his master with those of terburg. he was very popular with collectors, but i do not experience any great joy in the presence of his work, which, with all its miraculous deftness, is yet lacking in personal feeling. mieris, says ireland, "was frequently paid a ducat per hour for his works. his intimacy and friendship for jan steen, that excellent painter and bon vivant, seems to have led him into much inconvenience. after a night's debauch, quitting jan steen, he fell into a common drain; whence he was extricated by a poor cobbler and his wife, and, treated by them with much kindness, he repaid the obligation by presenting them with a small picture, which, by his recommendation, was sold for a considerable sum." the amazingly minute picture of "the poulterer's shop" which hangs in the national gallery as a pendant to dou's work with the same title, is by william van mieris, the son of dou's favourite pupil. he also was born at leyden, that teeming mother of painters. frans van mieris, his father, died at leyden in ; william died at leyden in . above the work of frans van mieris i would put that of gabriel metsu, another of dou's pupils, and also a son of leyden, where he was born in . upon metsu's work terburg, however, exercised more influence than did gerard dou. "the music lesson" and "the duet" at the national gallery are good examples of his pleasant painting. even better is his work at the wallace collection. he died in in amsterdam, where one of his best pictures "the breakfast"--no. at the ryks--may be seen. there are many fine examples at the louvre. he was always graceful, always charming, with a favourite model--perhaps his wife--the pleasant plump woman who occurs again and again in his work. she is in "the breakfast" (see the opposite page). mention of gerard dou and his pupils reminds me of a little-known satire on art-criticism written by "vathek" beckford. _biographical memoirs of extraordinary painters_ it is called, among the painters being sucrewasser of vienna, and watersouchy of amsterdam. it is watersouchy who concerns us, for he was a dutch figure painter who carried the art of detail farther than it had been carried before. i quote a little from beckford's account of this genius, since it helps to bring back a day when the one thing most desired by the english collector was a dutch picture--still life, boors, cows, ruins, or domestic interior--no matter what subject or how mechanically painted so long as it was done minutely enough. "whilst he remained at amsterdam, young watersouchy was continually improving, and arrived to such perfection in copying point lace, that mierhop entreated his father to cultivate these talents, and to place his son under the patronage of gerard dow, ever renowned for the exquisite finish of his pieces. old watersouchy stared at the proposal, and solemnly asked his wife, to whose opinion he always paid a deference, whether painting was a genteel profession for their son. mierhop, who overheard their conversation, smiled disdainfully at the question, and madam watersouchy answered, that she believed it was one of your liberal arts. in few words, the father was persuaded, and gerard dow, then resident at leyden, prevailed upon to receive the son as a disciple. "our young artist had no sooner his foot within his master's apartment, than he found every object in harmony with his own disposition. the colours finely ground, and ranged in the neatest boxes, the pencils so delicate as to be almost imperceptible, the varnish in elegant phials, the easel just where it ought to be, filled him with agreeable sensations, and exalted ideas of his master's merit. gerard dow on his side was equally pleased, when he saw him moving about with all due circumspection, and noticing his little prettinesses at every step. he therefore began his pupil's initiation with great alacrity, first teaching him cautiously to open the cabinet door, lest any particles of dust should be dislodged and fix upon his canvas, and advising him never to take up his pencil without sitting motionless a few minutes, till every mote casually floating in the air should be settled. such instructions were not thrown away upon watersouchy: he treasured them up, and refined, if possible, upon such refinements." in course of time watersouchy gained the patronage of a rich but frugal banker named baise-la-main, who seeing his value, arranged for the painter to occupy a room in his house, "nobody," beckford continues, "but the master of the house was allowed to enter this sanctuary. here our artist remained six weeks in grinding his colours, composing an admirable varnish, and preparing his canvass, for a performance he intended as his _chef d'oeuvre._ a fortnight more passed before he decided upon a subject. at last he determined to commemorate the opulence of monsieur baise-la-main, by a perspective of his counting-house. he chose an interesting moment, when heaps of gold lay glittering on the counter, and citizens of distinction were soliciting a secure repository for their plate and jewels. a muscovite wrapped in fur, and an italian glistening in brocade, occupied the foreground. the eye glancing over these figures highly finished, was directed through the windows of the shop into the area in front of the cathedral; of which, however, nothing was discovered, except two sheds before its entrance, where several barbers were represented at their different occupations. an effect of sunshine upon the counter discovered every coin that was scattered upon its surface. on these the painter had bestowed such intense labour, that their very legends were distinguishable. "it would be in vain to attempt conveying, by words, an idea adequate to this _chef d'oeuvre_, which must have been seen to have been duly admired. in three months it was far advanced; during which time our artist employed his leisure hours in practising jigs and minuets on the violin, and writing the first chapter of genesis on a watchpaper, which he adorned with a miniature of adam and eve, so exquisitely finished, that every ligament in their fig-leaves was visible. this little _jeu d'esprit_ he presented to madam merian." leyden's earliest painter was lucas jacobz, known as lucas van leyden, who was born in . he painted in oil, in distemper and on glass; he took his subjects from nature and from scripture; he engraved better than he painted; and he was the friend of dürer. leyden possesses his triptych, "the last judgment," which to me is interesting rather as a piece of pioneering than as a work apart. after settling for a while at middelburg and antwerp, he returned to leyden, where he died in . in spite of her record as the mother of great painters, leyden treats pictures with some indifference. the municipal museum has little that is of value. of most interest perhaps is the peter van veen, opposite "the last judgment," representing a scene in the siege of leyden by the spaniards under valdez in , which has a companion upstairs by van bree, depicting the burgomaster's heroic feat of opportunism in the same period of stress. adrian van der werf was this burgomaster's name (his monument stands in the van der werf park), and nothing but his courage and address at a critical moment saved the city. motley tells the story in a fine passage. "meantime, the besieged city was at its last gasp. the burghers had been in a state of uncertainty for many days; being aware that the fleet had set forth for their relief, but knowing full well the thousand obstacles which it had to surmount. they had guessed its progress by the illumination from the blazing villages; they had heard its salvos of artillery on its arrival at north aa; but since then, all had been dark and mournful again, hope and fear, in sickening alternation, distracting every breast. they knew that the wind was unfavourable, and, at the dawn of each day, every eye was turned wistfully to the vanes of the steeples. so long as the easterly breeze prevailed, they felt, as they anxiously stood on towers and house-tops that they must look in vain for the welcome ocean. yet, while thus patiently waiting, they were literally starving; for even the misery endured at harlem had not reached that depth and intensity of agony to which leyden was now reduced. bread, maltcake, horse-flesh, had entirely disappeared; dogs, cats, rats, and other vermin were esteemed luxuries. a small number of cows, kept as long as possible, for their milk, still remained; but a few were killed from day to day, and distributed in minute proportions, hardly sufficient to support life among the famishing population. starving wretches swarmed daily around the shambles where these cattle were slaughtered, contending for any morsel which might fall, and lapping eagerly the blood as it ran along the pavement; while the hides, chopped and boiled, were greedily devoured. "women and children, all day long, were seen searching gutters and dung hills for morsels of food, which they disputed fiercely with the famishing dogs. the green leaves were stripped from the trees, every living herb was converted into human food, but these expedients could not avert starvation. the daily mortality was frightful,--infants starved to death on the maternal breasts, which famine had parched and withered; mothers dropped dead in the streets, with their dead children in their arms. "in many a house the watchmen, in their rounds, found a whole family of corpses, father, mother and children, side by side; for a disorder called the plague, naturally engendered of hardship and famine, now came, as if in kindness, to abridge the agony of the people. the pestilence stalked at noonday through the city, and the doomed inhabitants fell like grass beneath it scythe. from six thousand to eight thousand human beings sank before this scourge alone, yet the people resolutely held out--women and men mutually encouraging each other to resist the entrance of their foreign foe--an evil more horrible than pest or famine. [ ] "the missives from valdez, who saw more vividly than the besieged could do, the uncertainty of his own position, now poured daily into the city, the enemy becoming more prodigal of his vows, as he felt that the ocean might yet save the victims from his grasp. the inhabitants, in their ignorance, had gradually abandoned their hopes of relief, but they spurned the summons to surrender. leyden was sublime in its despair. a few murmurs were, however, occasionally heard at the steadfastness of the magistrates, and a dead body was placed at the door of the burgomaster, as a silent witness against his inflexibility. a party of the more faint-hearted even assailed the heroic adrian van der werf with threats and reproaches as he passed through the streets. "a crowd had gathered around him, as he reached a triangular place in the centre of the town, into which many of the principal streets emptied themselves, and upon one side of which stood the church of st. pancras, with its high brick tower surmounted by two pointed turrets, and with two ancient lime trees at its entrance. there stood the burgomaster, a tall, haggard, imposing figure, with dark visage, and a tranquil but commanding eye. he waved his broad-leaved felt hat for silence, and then exclaimed, in language which has been almost literally preserved, 'what would ye, my friends? why do ye murmur that we do not break our vows and surrender our city to the spaniards?--a fate more horrible than the agony which she now endures. i tell you i have made an oath to hold this city, and may god give me strength to keep my oath! i can die but once; whether by your hands, the enemy's, or by the hand of god. my own fate is indifferent to me, not so that of the city intrusted to my care. i know that we shall starve if not soon relieved; but starvation is preferable to the dishonoured death which is the only alternative. your menaces move me not; my life is at your disposal; here is my sword, plunge it into my breast, and divide my flesh among you. take my body to appease your hunger, but expect no surrender, so long as i remain alive.'" leyden was at last relieved by william of orange, who from his sick-bed had arranged for the piercing of the dykes and letting in enough water to swim his ships and rout the spaniards. out of tribulation comes good. for their constancy and endurance in the siege the prince offered the people of leyden one of two benefits--exemption from taxes or the establishment of a university. they took the university. chapter ix haarlem tulip culture--early speculation--the song of the tulip--dutch gardening new and old--a horticultural pilgrimage--the haarlem dunes--gardens without secrets--zaandvoort--_through noord-holland_ and its charms--the church of st. bavo--whitewash _v_. mystery--the true father of the reformation--printing paves the way--the hout--laocoön and his sons--the siege of haarlem--dutch fortitude--the real dutch courage--the implacable alva--broken promises--a tonic for philip--the women of haarlem--a pledge to mothers--the great organ--three curious inhabitants--the teyler museum--frans hals--a king of abundance--regent pieces--the secondary pictures in the museum--dirck hals--van der helst--adrian brouwer--nicolas berchem--ruisdael--the lost mastery--echoes of the past. haarlem being the capital of the tulip country, the time to visit it is the spring. to travel from leyden to haarlem by rail in april is to pass through floods of colour, reaching their finest quality about hillegom. the beds are too formal, too exactly parallel, to be beautiful, except as sheets of scarlet or yellow; for careless beauty one must look to the heaps of blossoms piled up in the corners (later to be used on the beds as a fertiliser), which are always beautiful, and doubly so when reflected in a canal. from a balloon, in the flowering season, the tulip gardens must look like patchwork quilts. tulip sunday, which represents the height of the season (corresponding to chestnut sunday at bushey park) is about the third sunday in april. one should be in holland then. it is no country for hot weather: it has no shade, the trains become unbearable, and the canals are very unpleasant. but in spring it is always fresh. tulip cultivation is now a steady humdrum business, very different from the early days of the fashion for the flower, in the seventeenth century, when speculators lost their heads over bulbs as thoroughly as over south-sea stock in the great bubble period. thousands of florins were given for a single bulb. the bulb, however, did not always change hands, often serving merely as a gambling basis; it even may not have existed at all. among genuine connoisseurs genuine sales would of course be made, and it is recorded that a "semper augustus" bulb was once bought for , florins. at last the government interfered; gambling was put down; and "semper augustus" fell to fifty florins. it was to haarlem, it will be remembered, that the fair frisian travelled with cornelius van baerle's solitary flower in _la tulipe noire_, and won the prize of , florins offered for a blossom of pure nigritude by the horticultural society of haarlem. hence the addition of the tulipa nigra rosa baerleensis to the list of desirable bulbs. dumas puts into the mouth of cornelius a very charming song of the tulip:-- nous sommes les filles du feu secret, du feu qui circule dans les veines de la terre; nous sommes les filles de l'aurore et de la rosée, nous sommes les filles de l'air, nous sommes les filles de l'eau; mais nous sommes avant tout les filles du ciel. the dutch are now wholly practical. their reputation as gardeners has become a commercial one, resting upon the fortunate discovery that the tulip and the hyacinth thrive in the sandy soil about haarlem. for flowers as flowers they seem to me to care little or nothing. their cottages have no pretty confusion of blossoms as in our villages. you never see the cottager at work among his roses; once his necessary labours are over, he smokes and talks to his neighbours: to grow flowers for æsthetic reasons were too ornamental, too unproductive a hobby. Æsthetically the dutch are dead, or are alive only in the matter of green paint, which they use with such charming effect on their houses, their mills and their boats. what is pretty is old--as indeed is the case in our own country, if we except gardens. modern dutch architecture is without attraction, modern delft porcelain a thing to cry over. if any one would know how an old formal dutch garden looked, there is a model one at the back of the ryks museum in amsterdam. but the art is no more practised. a few circular beds in the lawn, surrounded by high wire netting--that is for the most part the modern notion of gardening. in an interesting report of a visit paid to the netherlands and france in by the secretary of the caledonia horticultural society and some congenial companions, may be read excellent descriptions of old dutch gardening, which even then was a thing of the past. here is the account of a typical formal garden, near utrecht: "the large divisions of the garden are made by tall and thick hedges of beech, hornbeam, and oak, variously shaped, having been tied to frames and thus trained, with the aid of the shears, to the desired form. the smaller divisions are made by hedges of yew and box, which in thickness and density resemble walls of brick. grottoes and fountains are some of the principal ornaments. the grottoes are adorned with masses of calcareous stuff, corals and shells, some of them apparently from the east indies, others natives of our own seas. the principal grotto is large, and studded with thousands of crystals and shells. we were told that its construction was the labour of twelve years. the fountains are of various devices, and though old, some of them were still capable of being put in action. frogs and lizards placed at the edgings of the walks, and spouting water to the risk of passengers, were not quite so agreeable; and other figures were still in worse taste. "there is a long berceau walk of beech, with numerous windows or openings in the leafy side wall, and many statues and busts, chiefly of italian marble, some of them of exquisite workmanship. several large urns and vases certainly do honour to the sculptor. the subjects of the bas-relief ornaments are the histories of saul and david, and of esther and ahasuerus." i saw no old dutch garden in holland which seemed to me so attractive as that at levens in westmorland. it is important at haarlem to take a drive over the dunes--the billowy, grassy sand hills which stretch between the city and the sea. if it is in april one can begin the drive by passing among every variety of tulip and hyacinth, through air made sweet and heavy by these flowers. just outside haarlem the road passes the tiniest deer park that ever i saw--with a great house, great trees, a lawn and a handful of deer all packed as close as they can be. now and then one sees a stork's nest high on a pole before a house. on leaving the green and luxuriant flat country a climbing pavé road winds in and out among the pines on the edge of the dunes; past little villas, belonging chiefly to amsterdam business men, each surrounded by a naked garden with the merest suggestion of a boundary. for the dutch do not like walls or hedges. this level open land having no natural secrecy, it seems as if its inhabitants had decided there should be no artificial secrecy either. when they sit in their gardens they like to be seen. an englishman's first care when he plans a country estate is not to be overlooked; a dutchman would cut down every tree that intervened between his garden chair and the high road. fun has often been made of the names which the dutch merchants give to their country houses, but they seem to me often to be chosen with more thought than those of similar villas in our country. here are a few specimens: buiten gedachten (beyond expectation), ons genoegen (our contentment), lust en rust (pleasure and rest), niet zoo quaalyk (not so bad), myn genegenhied is voldaan (my desire is satisfied), mijn lust en leven (my pleasure and life), vriendschap en gezelschap (friendship and sociability), vreugde bij vrede (joy with peace), groot genoeg (large enough), buiten zorg (without care). these names at any rate convey sentiments which we may take to express their owners' true feelings in their owners' own language; and as such i prefer them to the "chatsworths" and "belle-vues," "cedars" and "towers," with which the suburbs of london teem. in a small inland street in brighton the other day i noticed a "wave crest". the dunes extend for miles: an empty wilderness of sand with the grey north sea beyond. from the high points one sees inland not only haarlem, just below, but the domes and spires of amsterdam beyond. one may return to haarlem by way of bloemendaal, a green valley with shady walks and a good hotel; or extend the drive to haarlem's watering-place zaandvoort, which otherwise can be gained by steam-tram, and where, says the author of _through noord-holland_, "the billowing is strong and strengthening". the same author tells us also that "the ponnies and asses have a separated standing-place, whilst severe stipulations warrant the bathers for trouble of the animals and their driver". of this book i ought perhaps to say more, for i am greatly indebted to it. most of the larger towns of holland have guides, and for the most part they are written in good english, albeit of dutch extraction; but _through noord-holland_ is an agreeable exception in that it covers all the ground between amsterdam and the helder, and is constructed in a peculiar sport of babel. in dutch it is i have no doubt an ordinary guide-book; in english it is something far more precious. the following extract from the preface to the second edition ought to be quoted before i borrow further from its pages:-- being completed with the necessary alterations and corrections i send it into the world for the second time. as it will be published besides in dutch also in french and english, the aim of the edition will surely be favoured, and our poor misappreciated country that so often is regarded with contempt by our countrymen as well as by foreigners will soon be an attraction for tourists. for were not it those large extensive quiet heatheries those rustling green woods and those quiet low meadows which inspired our great painters to bring their fascinating landscapes on the cloth? had not that bloomy sky and that sunny mysterious light, those soft green meadows with their multi-coloured flowers, through which the river is streaming as a silver band, had not all this a quieting influence to the agitated mind of many of us, did not it give the quiet rest and did not it whisper to you; here ... here is it good? and for this our country we want to be a reliable guide by the directions of which we can savely start. with zaandvoort we may associate dirck van santvoort who painted the portrait of the curious girl--no. at the ryks museum--reproduced opposite page . of the painter very little is known. he belongs to the great period, flourishing in the middle of the seventeenth century--and that is all. but he had a very cunning hand and an interesting mind, as the few pictures to his name attest. in the same room at the ryks museum where the portrait hangs is a large group of ladies and gentlemen, all wearing some of the lace which he dearly loved to paint. and in one of the recesses of the gallery of honour is a quaint little lady from his delicate brush--no. --well worth study. haarlem's great church, which is dedicated to st. bavo, is one of the finest in holland. all that is needed to make it perfect is an infusion of that warmth and colour which once it possessed but of which so few traces have been allowed to remain. the dutch protestants, as i remarked at utrecht, have shown singular efficiency in denuding religion of its external graces and charm. there is no church so beautiful but they would reduce it to bleak and arid cheerlessness. place even the cathedral of chartres in a dutch market-place, and it would be a whitewashed desert in a week, while little shops and houses would be built against its sacred walls. there is hardly a great church in holland but has some secular domicile clinging like a barnacle to its sides. the attitude of the dutch to their churches is in fact very much that of quakers to their meeting-houses--even to the retention of hats. but whereas it is reasonable for a quaker, having made for himself as plain a rectangular building as he can, to attach no sanctity to it, there is an incongruity when the same attitude is maintained amid beautiful gothic arches. the result is that dutch churches are more than chilling. in the simplest english village church one receives some impression of the friendliness of religion; but in holland--of course i speak as a stranger and a foreigner--religion seems to be a cold if not a repellent thing. one result is that on looking back over one's travels through holland it is almost impossible to disentangle in the memory one whitewashed church from another. they have a common monotony of internal aridity: one distinguishes them, if at all, by some accidental possession--gouda, for example, by its stained glass; haarlem by its organ, and the swinging ships; delft by the tomb of william the silent; utrecht by the startling absence of an entrance fee. at haarlem, as it happens, one is peculiarly able to study cause and effect in this matter of protestant bleakness, since there stands before the door of this wonderful church, once a roman catholic temple, drenched, i doubt not, in mystery and colour, a certain significant statue. to erasmus of rotterdam is generally given the parentage of the reformation. whatever his motives, erasmus stands as the forerunner of luther. but erasmus had his forerunner too, the discoverer of printing. for had not a means of rapidly multiplying and cheapening books been devised, the people, who were after all the back-bone of the reformation, would never have had the opportunity of themselves reading the bible--either the vulgate or erasmus's new testament--and thus seeing for themselves how wide was the gulf fixed between christ and the christians. it was the discovery of this discrepancy which prepared them to stand by the reformers, and, by supporting them and urging them on, assist them to victory. stimulated by the desire to be level with rome for his own early fetters, and desiring also an antagonist worthy of his satirical powers, erasmus (or so i think) hit independently upon the need for a revised bible. but luther to a large extent was the outcome of his times and of popular feeling. a spokesman was needed, and luther stepped forward. the inventor of printing made the way possible; erasmus showed the way; luther took it. now the honour of inventing printing lies between two claimants, laurens janszoon coster, of haarlem (the original of this statue) and gutenburg of mayence. the dutch like to think that coster was the man, and that his secret was sold to gutenburg by his servant faust. be that as it may--and the weight of evidence is in favour of gutenburg--it is interesting as one stands by the statue of coster under the shadow of haarlem's great church to think that this was perhaps the true parent of that great upheaval, the true pavior of the way. whatever coster's claim to priority may be, he certainly was a printer, and it is only fitting that haarlem should possess so fine a library of early books and mss. as it does. another monument to coster is to be seen in the hout, a wood of which haarlem is very proud. it has a fine avenue called the spanjaards laan, and is a very pleasant shady place in summer, hardly inferior to the bosch at the hague. "the delightful walks of the hout," says the author of _through noord-holland_, "and the caressing song of the nightingale and other birds, do not only invite the haarlemmers to it, but the citizens of the neighbouring towns as well." on the border of the wood is a pavilion which holds the collections of colonial curiosities. in front of the pavilion (i quote again from _through noord-holland_, which is invaluable), "stands a casting of laskson and his sons to a knot, which has been manufactured in the last centuries before christ. the original has been digged up at rome in ." shade of lessing! the cannon-ball embedded in the wall of the church, which the sacristan shows with so much interest, recalls haarlem's great siege in --a siege notable in the history of warfare for the courage and endurance of the townspeople against terrible odds. the story is worth telling in full, but i have not space and motley is very accessible. but i sketch, with his assistance, its salient features. the attack began in mid-winter, when haarlem mere, a great lake in the east which has since been drained and poldered, was frozen over. for some time a dense fog covered it, enabling loads of provisions and arms to be safely conveyed into the city. don frederic, the son of the duke of alva, who commanded the spanish, began with a success that augured well, a force of , men which marched from leyden under de la marck being completely routed. among the captives taken by the spaniards, says motley, was "a gallant officer, baptist van trier, for whom de la marck in vain offered two thousand crowns and nineteen spanish prisoners. the proposition was refused with contempt. van trier was hanged upon the gallows by one leg until he was dead, in return for which barbarity the nineteen spaniards were immediately gibbeted by de la marck. with this interchange of cruelties the siege may be said to have opened. "don frederic had stationed himself in a position opposite to the gate of the cross, which was not very strong, but fortified by a ravelin. intending to make a very short siege of it, he established his batteries immediately, and on the th, th, and th december directed a furious cannonade against the cross-gate, the st. john's gate, and the curtain between the two. six hundred and eighty shots were discharged on the first, and nearly as many on each of the two succeeding days. the walls were much shattered, but men, women, and children worked night and day within the city, repairing the breaches as fast as made. they brought bags of sand, blocks of stone, cart-loads of earth from every quarter, and they stripped the churches of all their statues, which they threw by heaps into the gaps. they sought thus a more practical advantage from those sculptured saints than they could have gained by only imploring their interposition the fact, however, excited horror among the besiegers. men who were daily butchering their fellow-beings, and hanging their prisoners in cold blood, affected to shudder at the enormity of the offence thus exercised against graven images. "after three days' cannonade, the assault was ordered, don frederic only intending a rapid massacre, to crown his achievements at zutphen and naarden. the place, he thought, would fall in a week, and after another week of sacking, killing, and ravishing, he might sweep on to 'pastures new' until holland was overwhelmed. romero advanced to the breach, followed by a numerous storming party, but met with a resistance which astonished the spaniards. the church bells rang the alarm throughout the city, and the whole population swarmed to the walls. the besiegers were encountered not only with sword and musket, but with every implement which the burghers' hands could find. heavy stones, boiling oil, live coals, were hurled upon the heads of the soldiers; hoops, smeared with pitch and set on fire, were dexterously thrown upon their necks. even spanish courage and spanish ferocity were obliged to shrink before the steady determination of a whole population animated by a single spirit. romero lost an eye in the conflict, many officers were killed and wounded, and three or four hundred soldiers left dead in the breach, while only three or four of the townsmen lost their lives. the signal of recall was reluctantly given, and the spaniards abandoned the assault. "don frederic was now aware that haarlem would not fall at his feet at the first sound of his trumpet. it was obvious that a siege must precede the massacre. he gave orders, therefore, that the ravelin should be undermined, and doubted not that, with a few days' delay, the place would be in his hands." the prince of orange then made, from sassenheim, another attempt to relieve the town, sending , men. but a fog falling, they lost their way and fell into the enemy's hands. "de koning," says motley, "second in command, was among the prisoners. the spaniards cut off his head and threw it over the walls into the city, with this inscription: 'this is the head of captain de koning, who is on his way with reinforcements for the good city of haarlem'. the citizens retorted with a practical jest, which was still more barbarous. they cut off the heads of eleven prisoners and put them into a barrel, which they threw into the spanish camp. a label upon the barrel contained these words: 'deliver these ten heads to duke alva in payment of his tenpenny tax, with one additional head for interest'." day after day the attack continued and was repulsed. meanwhile, unknown to the spaniards, the besieged burghers were silently and swiftly building inside the ravelin a solid half-moon shaped battlement. on the st of december, the last day of , the great assault was made. "the attack was unexpected, but the forty or fifty sentinels defended the walls while they sounded the alarm. the tocsin bells tolled, and the citizens, whose sleep was not apt to be heavy during that perilous winter, soon manned the ramparts again. the daylight came upon them while the fierce struggle was still at its height. the besieged, as before, defended themselves with musket and rapier, with melted pitch, with firebrands, with clubs and stones. meantime, after morning prayers in the spanish camp, the trumpet for a general assault was sounded. a tremendous onset was made upon the gate of the cross, and the ravelin was carried at last. the spaniards poured into this fort, so long the object of their attack, expecting instantly to sweep into the city with sword and fire. as they mounted its wall they became for the first time aware of the new and stronger fortification which had been secretly constructed on the inner side. the reason why the ravelin had been at last conceded was revealed. the half moon, whose existence they had not suspected, rose before them bristling with cannon, a sharp fire was instantly opened upon the besiegers, while at the same instant the ravelin, which the citizens had undermined, blew up with a severe explosion, carrying into the air all the soldiers who had just entered it so triumphantly. this was the turning point. the retreat was sounded, and the spaniards fled to their camp, leaving at least three hundred dead beneath the walls. thus was a second assault, made by an overwhelming force and led by the most accomplished generals of spain, signally and gloriously repelled by the plain burghers of haarlem." cold and famine now began to assist the spaniards, and the townsfolk were reduced to every privation. the spaniards also suffered and don frederic wished to raise the siege. he suggested this step to his father, but alva was made of sterner stuff. he sent from nymwegen a grim message: "'tell don frederic,' said alva, 'that if he be not decided to continue the siege till the town be taken, i shall no longer consider him my son, whatever my opinion may formerly have been. _should he fall in the siege_, i will myself take the field to maintain it; and when we have both perished, the duchess, my wife, shall come from spain to do the same.' such language was unequivocal, and hostilities were resumed as fiercely as before. the besieged welcomed them with rapture, and, as usual, made daily the most desperate sallies. in one outbreak the haarlemers, under cover of a thick fog, marched up to the enemy's chief battery, and attempted to spike the guns before his face. they were all slain at the cannon's mouth, whither patriotism, not vainglory, had led them, and lay dead around the battery, with their hammers and spikes in their hands. the same spirit was daily manifested. as the spring advanced, the kine went daily out of the gates to their peaceful pasture, notwithstanding all the turmoil within and around; nor was it possible for the spaniards to capture a single one of these creatures, without paying at least a dozen soldiers as its price. 'these citizens,' wrote don frederic, 'do as much as the best soldiers in the world could do.'" the whole story is too dreadful to be told; but events proved the implacable old soldier to be right. month after month passed, assault after assault was repulsed by the wretched but indomitable burghers; but time was all on the side of the enemy. on july th, after the frustration again and again of hopes of relief from the prince of orange, whose plans were doomed to failure on every occasion, the city surrendered on the promise of complete forgiveness by don frederic. the don, however, was only a subordinate; the duke of alva had other views. he quickly arrived on the scene, and as quickly his presence made itself felt. "the garrison, during the siege, had been reduced from four thousand to eighteen hundred. of these the germans, six hundred in number, were, by alva's order, dismissed, on a pledge to serve no more against the king. all the rest of the garrison were immediately butchered, with at least as many citizens.... five executioners, with their attendants, were kept constantly at work; and when at last they were exhausted with fatigue, or perhaps sickened with horror, three hundred wretches were tied two and two, back to back, and drowned in the haarlem lake. at last, after twenty-three hundred human creatures had been murdered in cold blood, within a city where so many thousands had previously perished by violent or by lingering deaths; the blasphemous farce of a pardon was enacted. fifty-seven of the most prominent burghers of the place were, however, excepted from the act of amnesty, and taken into custody as security for the future good conduct of the other citizens. of these hostages some were soon executed, some died in prison, and all would have been eventually sacrificed, had not the naval defeat of bossu soon afterwards enabled the prince of orange to rescue the remaining prisoners. ten thousand two hundred and fifty-six shots had been discharged against the walk during the siege. twelve thousand of the besieging army had died of wounds or disease during the seven months and two days between the investment and the surrender. in the earlier part of august, after the executions had been satisfactorily accomplished, don frederic made his triumphal entry, and the first chapter in the invasion of holland was closed. such was the memorable siege of haarlem, an event in which we are called upon to wonder equally at human capacity to inflict and to endure misery. "philip was lying dangerously ill at the wood of segovia, when the happy tidings of the reduction of haarlem, with its accompanying butchery, arrived. the account of all this misery, minutely detailed to him by alva, acted like magic. the blood of twenty-three hundred of his fellow-creatures--coldly murdered by his orders, in a single city--proved for the sanguinary monarch the elixir of life: he drank and was refreshed. '_the principal medicine which has cured his majesty,_' wrote secretary cayas from madrid to alva, 'is the joy caused to him by the _good news_ which you have communicated of _the surrender of haarlem_.'" i know nothing of the women of haarlem to-day, but in the sixteenth century they were among the bravest and most efficient in the world, and it was largely their efforts and example which enabled the city to hold out so long. motley describes them as a corps of three hundred fighting women, "all females of respectable character, armed with sword, musket, and dagger. their chief, kenau hasselaer, was a widow of distinguished family, and unblemished reputation, about forty-seven years of age, who, at the head of her amazons, participated in many of the most fiercely contested actions of the siege, both within and without the walls. when such a spirit animated the maids and matrons of the city, it might be expected that the men would hardly surrender the place without a struggle." haarlem still preserves the pretty custom of hanging lace by the doors of houses which the stork is expected to visit or has just visited. its origin was the humanity of the spanish general, during this great siege, in receiving a deputation of matrons from the town and promising protection from his soldiery of all women in childbed. every house was to go unharmed upon which a piece of lace signifying a confinement was displayed. this was a promise with which the duke of alva seems not to have interfered. the author of _through noord-holland_ thus eloquently describes the effect of haarlem's great organ--for long the finest in the world: "vibrating rolls the tone through the church-building, followed by sweet melodies, running through each register of it; now one hears the sound of trumpets or soft whistling tunes then again piano music or melancholical hautboy tunes chiming as well is deceivingly imitated." free recitals are given on tuesdays and thursdays from one to two. on other days the organist can be persuaded to play for a fee. charles lamb's friend fell paid a ducat to the organist and half a crown to the blower, and heard as much as he wanted. he found the vox humana "the voice of a psalm-singing clerk". other travellers have been more fortunate. ireland tells us that when handel played this organ the organist took him either for an angel or a devil. among haarlem's architectural attractions is the very interesting meat market, hard by the great church, one of the most agreeable pieces of floridity between the middelburg stadhuis and the leeuwarden chancellerie. there is also the fine amsterdam gate, on the road to amsterdam. in the teyler museum, on the spaarne, is a poor collection of modern oil paintings, some good modern water colours and a very fine collection of drawings by the masters, including several rembrandts. in this room one may well plan to spend much time. one of the best israels that i saw in holland is a little water-colour interior that is hung here. i asked one of the attendants if they had anything by matthew maris, but he denied his existence. james he knew, and william; but there was no matthew. "but he is your most distinguished artist," i said. it was great heresy and not to be tolerated. to the ordinary dutchman art begins with rembrandt and ends with israels. this perhaps is why matthew maris has taken refuge in st. john's wood. and now we come to haarlem's chief glory--which is not coster the printer, and not the church of bavo the saint, and not the tulip gardens, and not the florid and beautiful meat market; but the painter frans hals, whose masterpieces hang in the town hall. i have called hals the glory of haarlem, yet he was only an adopted son, having been born in antwerp about . but his parents were true haarlemers, and frans was a resident there before he reached man's estate. the painter's first marriage was not happy; he was even publicly reprimanded for cruelty to his wife. in spite of the birth of his eldest child just thirty-four weeks earlier than the proprieties require, his second marriage seems to have been fortunate enough. some think that we see mynheer and myvrouw hals in the picture--no. in the ryks museum--which is reproduced on the opposite page. if this jovial and roguish pair are really the painter and his wife, they were a merry couple. children they had in abundance; seven sons, five of whom were painters, and three daughters. abundance indeed was hals' special characteristic; you see it in all his work--vigorous, careless abundance and power. he lived to be eighty-five or so. mrs. hals, after a married life of fifty years, continued to flourish, with the assistance of some relief from the town, for a considerable period. in the haarlem museum may be seen a picture of hals' studio, painted by berck heyde, in , containing portraits of hals himself, then about seventy, and several of his old pupils--wouvermans, dirck hals, his brother, four of his sons, the artist himself and others. hals taught also van der helst, whose work at times comes nearest to his own, verspronk, terburg and adrian van ostade. to see the work of hals at his best it is necessary to visit holland, for we have but little here. the "laughing cavalier" in the wallace collection is perhaps his best picture in a public gallery in england. but the haarlem museum is a temple dedicated to his fame, and there you may revel in his lusty powers. the room in which his great groups hang is perhaps in effect more filled with faces than any in the world. entering the door one is immediately beneath the bold and laughing scrutiny of a host of genial masterful arquebusiers, who make merry on the walls for all time. such a riot of vivid portraiture never was! other men have painted single heads as well or better: but hals stands alone in his gusto, his abundance, his surpassing brio. it is a thousand pities that neither lamb nor hazlitt ever made the journey to haarlem, because only they among our writers on art could have brought a commensurate gusto to the praise of his brush. i have reproduced one of the groups opposite page , but the result is no more than a memento of the original. it conveys, however, an impression of the skill in composition by which the group is made not only a collection of portraits but a picture too. if such groups there must be, this is the way to paint them. the dutch in the seventeenth century had a perfect mania for these commemorative canvases, and there is not a stadhuis but has one or more. rembrandt's "night watch" and hals' haarlem groups are the greatest; but one is always surprised by the general level of excellence maintained, and now and then a lesser man such as van der helst climbs very nigh the rose, as in his "de schuttersmaaltyd" in the "night watch" room in the ryks museum. the corporation pieces of jan van ravesteyn in the municipal museum at the hague are also exceedingly vivid; while jan de bray's canvases at haarlem, in direct competition with hals', would be very good indeed in the absence of their rivals. among other painters who can be studied here is our utrecht friend jan van scorel, who has a large "adam and eve" in the passage and a famous "baptism of christ"; jan verspronk of haarlem, hals' pupil, who has a very quiet and effective portrait (no. ) and a fine rich group of the lady managers of an orphanage; and cornelius cornellessen, also of haarlem, painter of an excellent corporation banquet. in the collection are also a very charming little terburg (no. ) and a fascinating unsigned portrait of william iii. as a pale and wistful boy. haarlem was the mother or instructor of many painters. there is dirck hals, the brother of frans, who was born there at the end of the sixteenth century, and painted richly coloured scenes of fashionable convivial life. he died at haarlem ten years before frans. a greater was bartholomew van der helst, who was hals' most assimilative pupil. he was born at haarlem about , and is supposed to have studied also under nicolas elias. his finest large work is undoubtedly the "banquet" to which i have just referred, but i always associate him with his portrait of gerard bicker, landrichter of muiden, that splendid tun of a man, no. in the gallery of honour at the ryks museum (see opposite page ). one of his most beautiful paintings is a portrait of a woman in our national gallery, on a screen in the large netherlands room: a picture which shows the influence of elias not a little, as any one can see who recalls nos. and in the ryks museum--two very beautiful portraits of a man and his wife. haarlem and oudenarde both claim the birth of adrian brouwer, a painter of dutch topers. as to his life little is known. tradition says that he drank and dissipated his earnings, while his work is evidence that he knew inn life with some particularity; but his epitaph calls him "a man of great mind who rejected every splendour of the world and who despised gain and riches". brouwer, who was born about , was put by his mother, a dressmaker at haarlem, into the studio of frans hals. hals bullied him, as he bullied his first wife. escaping to amsterdam, brouwer became a famous painter, his pictures being acquired, among others, by rembrandt in his wealthy days, and by rubens. he died at antwerp when only thirty-three. we have nothing of his in the national gallery, but he is represented at the wallace collection. at haarlem was born also, in , nicolas berchem, painter of charming scenes of broken arches and columns (which he certainly never saw in his own country), made human and domestic by the presence of people and cows, and suffused with gentle light. we have five of his pictures in the national gallery. berchem's real name was van haarlem. one day, however, when he was a pupil in van goyen's studio, his father pursued him for some fault. van goyen, who was a kindly creature, as became the father-in-law of jan steen, called out to his other pupils--"berg hem" (hide him!) and the phrase stuck, and became his best-known name. nicolas married a termagant, but never allowed her to impair his cheerful disposition. haarlem was the birthplace also of jacob van ruisdael, greatest of dutch landscape painters. he was born about . his idea was to be a doctor, but nicolas berchem induced him to try painting, and we cannot be too thankful for the change. his landscapes have a deep and grave beauty: the clouds really seem to be floating across the sky; the water can almost be heard tumbling over the stones. ruisdael did not find his typical scenery in his native land: he travelled in germany and italy, and possibly in norway; but whenever he painted a strictly dutch scene he excelled. he died at haarlem in ; and one of his most exquisite pictures hangs in the museum. i do not give any reproductions of ruisdael because his work loses so much in the process. at the national gallery and at the wallace collection he is well represented. walking up and down beneath the laughing confidence of these many bold faces in the great hals' room at haarlem i found myself repeating longfellow's lines:-- he has singed the beard of the king of spain, and carried away the dean of jaen and sold him in algiers. surely the hero, simon danz, was something such a man as hals painted. how does the ballad run?-- a dutch picture. simon danz has come home again, from cruising about with his buccaneers; he has singed the beard of the king of spain, and carried away the dean of jaen and sold him in algiers. in his house by the maese, with its roof of tiles and weathercocks flying aloft in air, there are silver tankards of antique styles, plunder of convent and castle, and piles of carpets rich and rare. in his tulip garden there by the town overlooking the sluggish stream, with his moorish cap and dressing-gown the old sea-captain, hale and brown, walks in a waking dream. a smile in his gray mustachio lurks whenever he thinks of the king of spain. and the listed tulips look like turks, and the silent gardener as he works is changed to the dean of jaen. the windmills on the outermost verge of the landscape in the haze, to him are towers on the spanish coast, with whisker'd sentinels at their post, though this is the river maese. but when the winter rains begin, he sits and smokes by the blazing brands, and old sea-faring men come in, goat-bearded, gray, and with double chin, and rings upon their hands. they sit there in the shadow and shine of the flickering fire of the winter night, figures in colour and design like those by rembrandt of the rhine, half darkness and half light. and they talk of their ventures lost or won, and their talk is ever and ever the same, while they drink the red wine of tarragon, from the cellars of some spanish don, or convent set on flame. restless at times, with heavy strides he paces his parlour to and fro; he is like a ship that at anchor rides, and swings with the rising and falling tides and tugs at her anchor-tow. voices mysterious far and near, sound of the wind and sound of the sea, are calling and whispering in his ear, "simon danz! why stayest thou here? come forth and follow me!" so he thinks he shall take to the sea again, for one more cruise with his buccaneers; to singe the beard of the king of spain, and capture another dean of jaen and sell him in algiers. one thought leads to another. it is impossible also to remain long in the great hals' room of the museum without meditating a little upon the difference between these arquebusiers and the dutch of the present day. passing among these people, once so mighty and ambitious, so great in government and colonisation, in seamanship and painting, and seeing them now so material and self-centred, so bound within their own small limits, so careless of literature and art, so intent upon the profits of the day and the pleasures of next sunday, one has a vision of what perhaps may be our own lot. for the dutch are very near us in kin, and once were nigh as great as we have been. are we, in our day of decadence, to shrivel thus? "there but for the grace of god goes england"--is that a reasonable utterance? one sees the difference concretely as one passes from these many corporation and regent pieces in the galleries of holland to the living dutchmen of the streets. i saw it particularly at haarlem on a streaming wet day, after hurrying from the museum to the café brinkmann through some inches of water. at a table opposite, sipping their coffee, were two men strikingly like two of frans hals' arquebusiers. yet how unlike. for the air of masterful recklessness had gone, that good-humoured glint of power in the eye was no more. hals had painted conquerors, or at any rate warriors for country; these coffee drinkers were meditating profit and loss. where once was authority is now calculation. i quote a little poem by mr. van lennep of zeist, near utrecht, which shows that the dutch, whatever their present condition, have not forgotten:-- the shell, when put to child-like ears, yet murmurs of its bygone years, in echoes of the sea; the dutch-born youngster likes the sound, and ponders o'er its mystic ground and wondrous memory. thus, in dutch hearts, an echo dwells, which, like the ever-mindful shells, yet murmurs of the sea: that sea, of ours in times of yore, and, when de ruyter went before, our road to victory. chapter x amsterdam the venice of the north--the beauty of gravity--no place for george dyer--the keizersgracht--kalverstraat and warmoes straat--the ghetto--pile-driving--erasmus's sarcasm--the new bourse--learning the city--tramway perplexities--the unnecessary guide--the royal palace--the new church--stained glass--the old church--the five carpets--wedding customs--dutch wives to-day and in the past--the begijnenhof--the new religion and the old--the burgerweesmeisjes--the eight orange blossoms--dutch music halls--a dutch hamlet--the fish market--rembrandt's grave--a nation of shopkeepers--_max havelaar_--mr. drystubble's device--lothario and betsy--the english in holland and the dutch in england--athleticism--a people on skates--the chaperon's perplexity--love on the level. amsterdam is notable for two possessions above others: its old canals and its old pictures. truly has it been called the venice of the north; but very different is its sombre quietude from the sunny italian city among the waters. there is a beauty of gaiety and a beauty of gravity; and amsterdam in its older parts--on the keizersgracht and the heerengracht--has the beauty of gravity. in venice the canal is of course also the street: gondolas and barcas are continually gliding hither and thither; but in the keizersgracht and the heerengracht the water is little used. one day, however, i watched a costermonger steering a boat-load of flowers under a bridge, and no words of mine can describe the loveliness of their reflection. i remember the incident particularly because flowers are not much carried in holland, and it is very pleasant to have this impression of them--this note of happy gaiety in so dark a setting. an unprotected roadway runs on either side of the water, which makes the houses beside these canals no place for charles lamb's friend, george dyer, to visit in. accidents are not numerous, but a company exists in amsterdam whose business it is to rescue such odd dippers as horses and carriages by means of elaborate machinery devised for the purpose. only travellers born under a luckier star than i are privileged to witness such sport. in the main amsterdam is a city of trade, of hurrying business men, of ceaseless clanging tramcars and crowded streets; but on the keizersgracht and the heerengracht you are always certain to find the old essential dutch gravity and peace. no tide moves the sullen waters of these canals, which are lined with trees that in spring form before the narrow, dark, discreet houses the most delicate green tracery imaginable; and in summer screen them altogether. these houses are for the most part black and brown, with white window frames, and they rise to a great height, culminating in that curious stepped gable (with a crane and pulley in it) which is, to many eyes, the symbol of the city. i know no houses that so keep their secrets. in every one, i doubt not, is furniture worthy of the exterior: old paintings of dutch gentlemen and gentlewomen, a landscape or two, a girl with a lute and a few tavern scenes; old silver windmills; and plate upon plate of serene blue delft. (you may see what i mean in the suasso rooms at the stedelijk museum.) i have walked and idled in the keizersgracht at all times of the day, but have never seen any real signs of life. mats have been banged on its doorsteps by clean dutch maidservants armed with wicker beaters; milk has been brought in huge cans of brass and copper shining like the sun; but of its life proper the gracht has given no sign. its true life is houseridden, behind those spotless and very beautiful lace curtains, and there it remains. one of the wittiest of the old writers on holland (of whom i said something in the second chapter), owen feltham the moralist, describes in his _brief character of the low countries_ an amsterdam house of the middle of the seventeenth century. thus:-- when you are entered the house, the first thing you encounter is a looking-glasse. no question but a true embleme of politick hospitality; for though it reflect yourself in your own figure, 'tis yet no longer than while you are there before it. when you are gone once, it flatters the next commer, without the least remembrance that you ere were there. the next are the vessels of the house marshalled about the room like watchmen. all as neat as if you were in a citizen's wife's cabinet; for unless it be themselves, they let none of god's creatures lose any thing of their native beauty. their houses, especially in their cities, are the best eye-beauties of their country. for cost and sight they far exceed our english, but they want their magnificence. their lining is yet more rich than their outside; not in hangings, but pictures, which even the poorest are there furnisht with. not a cobler but has his toyes for ornament. were the knacks of all their houses set together, there would not be such another _bartholmew_-faire in _europe_.... their beds are no other than land-cabines, high enough to need a ladder or stairs. up once, you are walled in with wainscot, and that is good discretion to avoid the trouble of making your will every night; for once falling out else would break your neck perfectly. but if you die in it, this comfort you shall leave your friends, that you dy'd in clean linnen. whatsoever their estates be, their houses must be fair. therefore from _amsterdam_ they have banisht seacoale, lest it soyl their buildings, of which the statelier sort are sometimes sententious, and in the front carry some conceit of the owner. as to give you a taste in these. christus adjutor meus; hoc abdicato perenne quero; hic medio tuitus itur. every door seems studded with diamonds. the nails and hinges hold a constant brightnesse, as if rust there was not a quality incident to iron. their houses they keep cleaner than their bodies; their bodies than their souls. goe to one, you shall find the andirons shut up in net-work. at a second, the warming-pan muffled in italian cutworke. at a third the sconce clad in cambrick. the absence of any lively traffic on the canals, as in venice, has this compensation, that the surface is left untroubled the more minutely to mirror the houses and trees, and, at night, the tramcars on the bridges. the lights of these cars form the most vivid reflections that i can recollect. but the quiet reproduction of the stately black façades is the more beautiful thing. an added dignity and repose are noticeable. i said just now that one desired to learn the secret of the calm life of these ancient grachts. but the secret of the actual houses of fact is as nothing compared with the secret of those other houses, more sombre, more mysterious, more reserved, that one sees in the water. to penetrate their impressive doors were an achievement, a distinction, indeed! with such a purpose suicide would lose half its terrors. for the greatest contrast to these black canals, you must seek the kalverstraat and warmoes straat. kalverstraat, running south from the dam, is by day filled with shoppers and by night with gossipers. no street in the world can be more consistently busy. damrak is of course always a scene of life, but damrak is a thoroughfare--its population moving continually either to or from the station. but those who use the kalverstraat may be said almost to live in it. to be there is an end in itself. warmoes straat, parallel with damrak on the other side of the bourse, behind the bible hotel, is famous for its gigantic restaurant--the hugest in europe, i believe--the krasnapolsky, a palace of bewildering mirrors, and for concert halls and other accessories of the gayer life. but this book is no place in which to enlarge upon the natural history of warmoes straat and its southern continuation, the nes. for the principal cafés, as distinguished from restaurants, you must seek the rembrandt's plein, in the midst of which stands the master's statue. the pavement of this plein on sunday evening in summer is almost impassable for the tables and chairs that spread over it and the crowds overflowing from kalverstraat. but there is still to be mentioned a district of amsterdam which from the evening of friday until the evening of saturday is more populous even than kalverstraat. this is the jews' quarter, which has, i should imagine, more parents and children to the square foot than any residential region in europe. i struggled through it at sundown one fine saturday--to say i walked through it would be too misleading--and the impression i gathered of seething vivacity is still with me. these people surely will inherit the earth. spinoza was a child of this ghetto: his birthplace at waterloo plein is still shown; and rembrandt lived at no. jodenbree straat for sixteen years. a large number of the amsterdam jews are diamond cutters and polishers. you may see in certain cafés dealers in these stones turning over priceless little heaps of them with the long little finger-nail which they preserve as a scoop. amsterdam may be a city builded on the sand; but none the less will it endure. indeed the sand saves it; for it is in the sand that the wooden piles on which every house rests find their footing, squelching through the black mud to this comparative solidity. some of the piles are as long as ft., and watching them being driven in, it is impossible to believe that stability can ever be attained, every blow of the monkey accounting for so very many inches. when one watches pile-driving in england it is difficult to see the effect of each blow; but during the five or fewer minutes that i spent one day on damrak observing the preparation for the foundations of a new house, the pile must have gone in nearly a foot each time, and it was very near the end of its journey too. in course of years the black brackish mud petrifies not only the piles but the wooden girders that are laid upon them. pile-driving on an extensive scale can be a very picturesque sight. breitner has painted several pile-driving scenes, one of which hangs in the stedelijk museum at amsterdam. statistics are always impressive. i have seen somewhere the number of piles which support the new bourse and the central station; but i cannot now find them. the royal palace stands on , . erasmus of rotterdam made merry quite in the manner of an english humorist over amsterdam's wooden foundations. he twitted the inhabitants with living on the tops of trees, like rooks. but as i lay awake from daybreak to a civilised hour for two mornings in the hotel weimar at rotterdam--prevented from sleeping by the pile-driving for the hotel extension--i thought of the apologue of the pot and the kettle. i referred just now to the new bourse. when i was at amsterdam in , the water beside damrak extended much farther towards the dam than it does now. where now is the new bourse was then shipping. but the new bourse looks stable enough to-day. as to its architectural charms, opinions differ. my own feeling is that it is not a style that will wear well. for a permanent public building something more classic is probably desirable; and at amsterdam, that city of sombre colouring, i would have had darker hues than the red and yellow that have been employed. the site of the old bourse is now an open space. it is stated that the kindly custom of allowing the children of amsterdam the run of the bourse as a playground for a week every year is some compensation for the suppression of the kermis, but another story makes the sanction a perpetual reward for an heroic deed against the spaniards performed by a child in . my advice to any one visiting amsterdam is first to study a map of the city--bædeker gives a very useful one--and thus to begin with a general idea of the lie of the land and the water. with this knowledge, and the assistance of the trams, it should not appear a very bewildering place. the dam is its heart: a fact the acquisition of which will help very sensibly. all roads in amsterdam lead to the dam, and all lead from it. the dam gives the city its name--amstel dam, the dam which stops the river amstel on its course to the zuyder zee. it also gives english and american visitors opportunities for facetiousness which i tingle to recall. every tram sooner or later reaches the dam: that is another simplifying piece of information. the course of each tram may not be very easily acquired, but with a common destination like this you cannot be carried very far wrong. one soon learns that the trams stop only at fixed points, and waits accordingly. the next lesson, which is not quite so simple, is that some of these points belong exclusively to trams going one way and some exclusively to trams going the other. if there is one thing calculated to reduce a perplexed foreigner in amsterdam to rage and despair, it is, after a tiring day among pictures, to hail a half empty tram at a fixed point, with _tram-halte_ written on it, and be treated to a pitying smile from the driver as it rushes by. upon such mortifications is education based; for one then looks again more narrowly at the sign and sees that underneath it is a little arrow pointing in the opposite direction to which one wished to go. one then walks on to the next point, at which the arrow will be pointing homewards, and waits there. sometimes--o happy moment--a double arrow is found, facing both ways. it is on the dam that guides will come and pester you. the guide carries an umbrella and offers to show amsterdam in such a way as to save you much money. he is quite useless, and the quickest means of getting free is to say that you have come to the city for no other purpose than to pay extravagantly for everything. so stupendous an idea checks even his importunity for a moment, and while he still reels you can escape. the guides outside the ryks museum who offer to point out the beauties of the pictures are less persistent. it would seem as if they were aware of the unsoundness of their case. there is no need to reply to these at all. on the dam also is the royal palace, which once was the stadhuis, but in (when amsterdam was the third city of the french empire) was offered to louis napoleon for a residence. queen wilhelmina occasionaly stays there, but the hague holds her true home. the apartments are florid and not very interesting; but if the ascent of the tower is permitted one should certainly make it. it is interesting to have amsterdam at one's feet. only thus can its peculiar position and shape be understood: its old part an almost perfect semicircle, with canal-arcs within arcs, and its northern shore washed by the y. also on the dam is the new church, which is to be seen more for the tomb of de ruyter than for any architectural graces. the old sea dog, whose dark and determined features confront one in bol's canvases again and again in holland, reposes in full dress on a cannon amid symbols of his victories. close by, in the royal palace, are some of the flags which he wrested from the english. other admirals also lie there, the dutch naval commander never having wanted for honour in his own country. the new church, where the monarchs of holland are crowned, has a very large new stained-glass window representing the coronation of queen wilhemina--one of the most satisfying new windows that i know, but quite lacking in any religious suggestion. that poet who considered a church the best retreat, because it is good to contemplate god through stained glass, would have fared badly in holland. the new church is new only by comparison with the old. it was built in , rebuilt in and . amsterdam's old church, on the other side of warmoes straat, dates from . the visitor to the new church is handed a brief historical leaflet in exchange for his twenty-five cents, and is left to his own devices; but the old church has a koster who takes a pride in showing his lions and who deprecates gifts of money. an elderly, clean-shaved man with a humorous mouth, he might be taken for holland's leading comedian. instead, he displays ecclesiastical treasures, of which in there were fewer than usual, two of the three fine old windows representing the life of the virgin being under repair behind a screen. the tombs and monuments are not interesting--admirals of the second rank and such small fry. it is in the old church that most of the weddings of amsterdam are celebrated. thursday is the day, for then the fees are practically nothing; on other days to be married is an expense. the koster deplores the modern materialism which leads so many young men to be satisfied with the civil function; but the little enclosure, like a small arena, in which the church blesses unions, had to me a hardly less business-like appearance than a registry office. the comedian overflows with details. for the covering of the floor, he explains, there are five distinct carpets, ranging in price from five guelders to twenty-five for the hire, according to the means or ostentation of the party. thursdays are no holiday for the church officials, one couple being hardly united before the horses of the next are pawing the paving stones at the door. i saw on one thursday three bridal parties in as many minutes. the happy bride sat on the back seat of the brougham, immediately before her being two mirrors in the shape of a heart supporting a bouquet of white flowers. contemplating this simple imagery she rattles to the ecclesiastical arena and the sanctities of the five, ten, fifteen, twenty or twenty-five guelder carpet. after, a banquet and jokes. this is the second banquet, for when the precise preliminaries of a dutch engagement are settled a betrothal feast is held. friends are bidden to the wedding by the receipt of a box of sweets and a bottle of wine known as "bride's tears". for the wedding day itself there is a particular brand of wine which contains little grains of gold. the dutch also have special cake and wine for the celebration of births. the position of the dutch wife is now very much that of the wife in england; but in holland's great days she ruled. something of her quality is to be seen in the stories of barneveldt's widow and grotius's wife, and the heroism and address of the widow kenau hasselaer during the siege of haarlem. davies has an interesting page or two on this subject: "to be master of his own house is an idea which seems never to have occurred to the mind of a genuine dutchman; nor did he often commence any undertaking, whether public or private, without first consulting the partner of his cares; and it is even said, that some of the statesmen most distinguished for their influence in the affairs of their own country and europe in general, were accustomed to receive instructions at home to which they ventured not to go counter. but the dominion of these lordly dames, all despotic though it were, was ever exerted for the benefit of those who obeyed. it was the earnest and undaunted spirit of their women, which encouraged the dutch to dare, and their calm fortitude to endure, the toils, privations, and sufferings of the first years of the war of independence against spain; it was their activity and thrift in the management of their private incomes, that supplied them with the means of defraying an amount of national expenditure wholly unexampled in history; and to their influence is to be ascribed above all, the decorum of manners, and the purity of morals, for which the society of holland has at all times been remarkable. but though they preserved their virtue and modesty uncontaminated amid the general corruption, they were no longer able to maintain their sway. the habit which the dutch youth had acquired, among other foreign customs, of seeking amusement abroad, rendered them less dependent for happiness on the comforts of a married life; while, accustomed to the more dazzling allurements of the women of france and italy, they were apt to overlook or despise the quiet and unobtrusive beauties of those of their own country. whether they did not better consult their own dignity in emancipating themselves from this subjection may be a question; but the fact, that the decline of the republic and of the female sex went hand in hand, is indubitable." to return to amsterdam's sights, the church which i remember with most pleasure is the english reformed church, which many visitors never succeed in finding at all, but to which i was taken by a dutch lady who knew my tastes. you seek the spui, where the electric trams start for haarlem, and enter a very small doorway on the north side. it seems to lead to a private house, but instead you find yourself in a very beautiful little enclosure of old and quaint buildings, exquisitely kept, each with a screen of pollarded chestnuts before it; in the midst of which is a toy white church with a gay little spire that might have wandered out of a fairy tale. the enclosure is called the begijnenhof, or court of the begijnen, a little sisterhood named after st. begga, daughter of pipinus, duke of brabant,--a saint who lived at the end of the seventh century and whose day in the roman catholic calendar is december . the church was originally the church of these nuns, but when the old religion was overthrown in amsterdam, in , it was taken from them, although they were allowed--as happily they still are--to retain possession of the court around it. in the church passed into the possession of a settlement of scotch weavers who had been invited to amsterdam by the merchants, and who had made it a condition of acceptance that they should have a conventicle of their own. it is now a resort of english church-going visitors on sunday. most of holland's churches--as of england's--once belonged to rome, and it is impossible to forget their ancient ownership; but i remember no other case where the new religion is practised, as in the begijnenhof, in the heart of the enemy's camp. in the very midst of the homes of the quiet sweet begijnen sisters are the voices of the usurping reformers heard in prayer and praise. one little concession, however, was made by the appropriators of the chapel. until as recently as a special part of the building the original roman consecration of which had not been nullified was retained by the sisterhood in which to bury their dead. the ceremony was very impressive. twelve of the nuns carried their dead companion three times round the court before entering the church. but all that is over, and now they must seek burial elsewhere, without their borders. one may leave the begijnenhof by the other passage into kalverstraat, and walking up that busy street towards the dam, turn down the st. lucien steeg, on the left, to another of amsterdam's homes of ancient peace--the municipal orphanage, which was once the convent of st. lucien. the dutch are exceedingly kind to their poor, and the orphanages and almshouses (oudemannen and oudevrouwen houses as they are called) are very numerous. the municipal orphanage of amsterdam is among the most interesting; and it is to this refuge that the girls and boys belong whom one sees so often in the streets of the city in curious parti-coloured costume--red and black vertically divided. the amsterdamsche burgerweesmeisjes, as the girls are called, make in procession a very pretty and impressive sight--with their white tippets and caps above their dresses of black and red. this reminds me that one of the most agreeable performances that i saw in any of the dutch music halls (which are not good, and which are rendered very tedious to english people by reason of the interminable interval called the pause in the middle of the evening), was a series of folk songs and dances by eight girls known as the orange blossoms, dressed in different traditional costumes of the north and south--friesland, marken, and zeeland. they were quite charming. they sang and danced very prettily, as housewives, as fisher girls, but particularly as amsterdamsche burgerweesmeisjes. in the music halls both at amsterdam and rotterdam i listened to comic singers inexorably endowed with too many songs apiece; but i saw also some of those amazing feats of acrobatic skill and exhibitions of clean strength which alone should cause people to encourage these places of entertainment, where the standard of excellence in such displays is now so high. i did not go to the theatre in holland. my dutch was too elementary for that. my predecessor ireland, however, did so, and saw an amusing piece of literalness introduced into _hamlet_. in the impassioned scene, he tells us, between the prince and his mother, "when the hero starts at the imagined appearance of his father, his wig, by means of a concealed spring, jumped from 'the seat of his distracted brain,' and left poor hamlet as bare as a dutch willow in winter." the oude kerk has very beautiful bells, but amsterdam is no place in which to hear such sweet sounds. the little towns for bells. near the church is the new market, with the very charming old weigh-house with little extinguisher spires called the st. anthonysveeg. here the fish market is held; and the fish market of a city like amsterdam should certainly be visited. the old market is on the western side of the dam, under the western church. "it is said," remarks the author of _through noord-holland_, "that rembrandt has been buried in this church, though his grave has never been found." napoleon's sarcasm upon the english--that they were a nation of shopkeepers--never seemed to me very shrewd: but in holland one realises that if any nation is to be thus signally stigmatised it is not the english. as a matter of fact we are very indifferent shopkeepers. we lack several of the needful qualities: we lack foresight, the sense of order and organised industry, and the strength of mind to resist the temptations following upon a great coup. a nation of shopkeepers would not go back on the shop so completely as we do. no nation that is essentially snobbish can be accurately summed up as a nation of shopkeepers. the french for all their distracting gifts of art and mockery are better shopkeepers than we, largely because they are more sensibly contented. they take short views and live each day more fully. but the dutch are better still; the dutch are truly a nation of shopkeepers. [ ] if one would see the amsterdam merchant as the satirist sees him, the _locus classicus_ is multatuli's famous novel _max havelaar_, where he stands delightfully nude in the person of mr. drystubble, head of the firm of last and co., coffee-brokers, no. laurier canal. _max havelaar_ was published in the early sixties to draw attention to certain scandals in dutch colonial administration, and it has lived on, and will live, by reason of a curious blend of vivacity and intensity. here is a little piece of mr. drystubble's mind:-- business is slack on the coffee exchange. the spring auction will make it right again. don't suppose, however, that we have nothing to do. at busselinck and waterman's trade is slacker still. it is a strange world this: one gets a deal of experience by frequenting the exchange for twenty years. only fancy that they have tried--i mean busselinck and waterman--to do me out of the custom of ludwig stern. as i do not know whether you are familiar with the exchange, i will tell you that stern is an eminent coffee-merchant in hamburg, who always employed last and co. quite accidentally i found that out--i mean that bungling business of busselinck and waterman. they had offered to reduce the brokerage by one-fourth per cent. they are low fellows--nothing else. and now look what i have done to stop them. any one in my place would perhaps have written to ludwig stern, "that we too would diminish the brokerage, and that we hoped for consideration on account of the long services of last and co." i have calculated that our firm, during the last fifty years, has gained four hundred thousand guilders by stern. our connexion dates from the beginning of the continental system, when we smuggled colonial produce and such like things from heligoland. no, i won't reduce the brokerage. i went to the polen coffee-house, ordered pen and paper, and wrote:-- "that because of the many honoured commissions received from north germany, our business transactions had been extended"--(it is the simple truth)--"and that this necessitated an augmentation of our staff"--(it is the truth: no more than yesterday evening our bookkeeper was in the office after eleven o'clock to look for his spectacles);--"that, above all things, we were in want of respectable, educated young men to conduct the german correspondence. that, certainly, there were many young germans in amsterdam, who possessed the requisite qualifications, but that a respectable firm"--(it is the very truth),--"seeing the frivolity and immorality of young men, and the daily increasing number of adventurers, and with an eye to the necessity of making correctness of conduct go hand in hand with correctness in the execution of orders"--(it is the truth, i observe, and nothing but the truth),--"that such a firm--i mean last and co., coffee-brokers, laurier canal--could not be anxious enough in engaging new hands." all that is the simple truth, reader. do you know that the young german who always stood at the exchange, near the seventeenth pillar, has eloped with the daughter of busselinck and waterman? our mary, like her, will be thirteen years old in september. "that i had the honour to hear from mr. saffeler"--(saffeler travels for stern)--"that the honoured head of the firm, ludwig stern, had a son, mr. ernest stern, who wished for employment for some time in a dutch house. "that i, mindful of this"--(here i referred again to the immorality of _employés_, and also the history of that daughter of busselinck and waterman; it won't do any harm to tell it)--"that i, mindful of this, wished, with all my heart, to offer mr. ernest stern the german correspondence of our firm." from delicacy i avoided all allusion to honorarium or salary; yet i said:-- "that if mr. ernest stern would like to stay with us, at laurier canal, my wife would care for him as a mother, and have his linen mended in the house"--(that is the very truth, for mary sews and knits very well),--and in conclusion i said, "that we were a religious family." the last sentence may do good, for the sterns are lutherans. i posted that letter. you understand that old mr. stern could not very well give his custom to busselinck and waterman, if his son were in our office. when _max havelaar_ gets to java the narrative is less satisfactory, so tangential does it become, but there are enough passages in the manner of that which i have quoted to keep one happy, and to show how entertaining a satirist of his own countrymen at home "multatuli" (whose real name was edward douwes dekker) might have been had he been possessed by no grievance. the book, which is very well worth reading, belongs to the literature of humanity and protest. its author had to suffer much acrimonious attack, and was probably called a little hollander, but the fragment from an unpublished play which he placed as a motto to his book shows him to have lacked no satirical power to meet the enemy:-- _officer_.--my lord, this is the man who murdered betsy. _judge_.--he must hang for it. how did he do it? _officer_.--he cut up her body in little pieces, and salted them. _judge_.--he is a great criminal. he must hang for it. _lothario_.--my lord, i did not murder betsy: i fed and clothed and cherished her. i can call witnesses who will prove me to be a good man, and no murderer. _judge_.--you must hang. you blacken your crime by your self-sufficiency. it ill becomes one who ... is accused of anything to set up for a good man. _lothario_,--but, my lord, ... there are witnesses to prove it; and as i am now accused of murder.... _judge_.--you must hang for it. you cut up betsy--you salted the pieces--and you are satisfied with your conduct--three capital counts--who are you, my good woman? _woman_.--i am betsy. _lothario_.--thank god! you see, my lord, that i did not murder her. _judge_.--humph!--ay--what!--what about the salting? _betsy_.--no, my lord, he did not salt me:--on the contrary, he did many things for me ... he is a worthy man! _lothario_.--you hear, my lord, she says i am an honest man! _judge_.--humph!--the third count remains. officer, remove the prisoner, he must hang for it; he is guilty of self-conceit. shopkeeping--to return to amsterdam--is the dutch people's life. an idle rich class they may have, but it does not assert itself. it is hidden away at the hague or at arnheim. in amsterdam every one is busy in one trade or another. there is no pall mall, no rotten row. there is no bond street or rue de la paix, for this is a country where money tries to procure money's worth, a country of essentials. nor has holland a lord's or an oval, epsom downs or hurlingham. perhaps the quickest way to visualise the differences of nations is to imagine them exchanging countries. if the english were to move to holland the whole face of the land would immediately be changed. in summer the flat meadows near the towns, now given up to cows and plovers, would be dotted with cricketers; in winter with football-players. outriggers and canoes, punts and house-boats, would break out on the canals. in the villages such strange phenomena as idle gentlemen in knickerbockers and idle ladies with parasols would suddenly appear. to continue the list of changes (but not for too long) the trains would begin to be late; from the waiting-rooms all free newspapers would be stolen; churches would be made more comfortable; hundreds of newspapers would exist where now only a handful are sufficient; the hour of breakfast would be later; business would begin later; drunken men would be seen in the streets, dirt in the cottages. if the dutch came to england the converse would happen. the athletic grounds would become pasture land; the dirt of our slums and the gentry of our villages would alike vanish; westminster abbey would be whitewashed; and ... but i have said enough. it must not be thought that the dutch play no games. as a matter of fact they were playing golf, as old pictures tell, before it had found its way to england at all; and there are now many golf clubs in holland. the dutch are excellent also at lawn tennis; and i saw the youth of franeker very busy in a curious variety of rounders. there are horse-racing meetings and trotting competitions too. but the nation is not naturally athletic or sporting. it does not even walk except on business. in winter, however, the dutch are completely transformed. no sooner does the ice bear than the whole people begin to glide, and swirl, and live their lives to the poetry of motion. the canals then become the real streets of amsterdam. a dutch lady--a mother and a grandmother--threw up her hands as she told me about the skating parties to the zuyder zee. the skate, it seems, is as much the enemy of the chaperon as the bicycle, although its reign is briefer. upon this subject i am personally ignorant, but i take that gesture of alarm as final. and yet m. havard, who had a frenchman's eye and therefore knew, says that if etna in full eruption were taken to holland, at the end of the week it would have ceased even to smoke, so destructive to enthusiasm is the well-disciplined nature of the dutch woman. m. havard referred rather to the women of the open country than the dwellers in the town. i can understand the rural coolness, for holland is a land without mystery. everything is plain and bare: a man in a balloon would know the amours of the whole populace. what chance has cupid when there are no groves? but let holland be afforested and her daughters would keep etna burning warmly enough; for i am persuaded that it is not that they are cold but that the physical development of the country is against them. chapter xi amsterdam's pictures dutch art in the palmy days--the renaissance--a miracle--what holland did for painting--the "night watch"--rembrandt's isolation--captain franz banning cocq--elizabeth bas--the staalmeesters--if one might choose one picture--vermeer of delft again--whistler--"paternal advice"--terburg--the romantic frenchmen again--the dutch painter's ideal--the two maris--old dutch rooms--the six collection--"six's bridge" and the wager--the fodor museum. the superlative excellence of dutch painting in the seventeenth century has never been explained, and probably never will be. the ordinary story is that on settling down to a period of independence and comparative peace and prosperity after the cessation of the spanish war, the dutch people called for good art, and good art came. but that is too simple. that a poet, a statesman or a novelist should be produced in response to a national desire is not inconceivable; for poets, statesmen and novelists find their material in the air, as we say, in the ideas of the moment. they are for the most part products of their time. but the great dutch painters of the seventeenth century were expressing no real idea. nor, even supposing they had done so, is it to be understood how the demand for them should yield such a supply of unsurpassed technical power: how a perfectly disciplined hand should be instantly at the public service. that holland in an expansive mood of satisfaction at her success should have wished to see groups of her gallant arquebusiers and portraits of her eminent burghers is not to be wondered at, and we can understand that respectable painters of such pictures should arise in some force to supply the need--just as wherever in this country at the present day there are cricketers and actresses, there also are photographers. that painters of ordinary merit should be forthcoming is, as i have said, no wonder: the mystery is that masters of technique whose equal has never been before or since should have arisen in such numbers; that in the space of a few years--between say and --should have been born in a country never before given to the cultivation of the arts rembrandt and jan steen, vermeer and de hooch, van der helst and gerard dou, fabritius and maes, ostade and van goyen, potter and ruisdael, terburg and cuyp. that is the staggering thing. another curious circumstance is that by it was practically all over, and dutch art had become a convention. the gods had gone. not until very recently has holland had any but half gods since. it may of course be urged that italy had witnessed a somewhat similar phenomenon. but the spiritual stimulus of the renaissance among the naturally artistic southerners cannot, i think, be compared with the stimulus given by the establishment of prosperity to these cold and material northerners. the making of great italian art was a gradual process: the dutch masters sprang forth fully armed at the first word of command. in the preceding generation the rembrandts had been millers; the steens brewers; the dous glaziers; and so forth. but the demand for pictures having sounded, their sons were prepared to be painters of the first magnitude. why try to explain this amazing event? let there rather be miracles. i have said that the great dutch painters expressed no idea; and yet this is not perfectly true. they expressed no constructive idea, in the way that a poet or statesman does; but all had this in common, that they were informed by the desire to represent things--intimate and local things--as they are. the great italians had gone to religion and mythology for their subjects: nearer at hand, in antwerp, rubens was pursuing, according to his lights, the same tradition. the great dutchmen were the first painters to bend their genius exclusively to the honour of their own country, its worthies, its excesses, its domestic virtues, its trivial dailiness. hals and rembrandt lavished their power on dutch arquebusiers and governors of hospitals, dutch burgomasters and physicians; ostade and brouwer saw no indignity in painting dutch sots as well as dutch sots could be painted; de hooch introduced miracles of sunlight into dutch cottages; maes painted old dutch housewives, and metsu young dutch housewives, to the life; vermeer and terburg immortalised dutch ladies at their spinets; albert cuyp toiled to suffuse dutch meadows and dutch cows with a golden glow; jan steen glorified the humblest dutch family scenes; gerard dou spent whole weeks upon the fingers of a common dutch hand. in short, art that so long had been at the service only of the church and the proud, became suddenly, without losing any of its divinity, a fireside friend. that is what holland did for painting. it would have been a great enjoyment to me to have made this chapter a companion to the ryks museum: to have said a few words about all the pictures which i like best. but had i done so the rest of the book would have had to go, for all my space would have been exhausted. and therefore, as i cannot say all i want to say, i propose to say very little, keeping only to the most importunate pictures. here and there in this book, particularly in the chapters on dordrecht, haarlem, and leyden's painters, i have already touched on many of them. the particular shining glory of the ryks museum is rembrandt's "night watch," and it is well, i think, to make for that picture at once. the direct approach is down the gallery of honour, where one has this wonderful canvas before one all the way, as near life as perhaps any picture ever painted. it is possible at first to be disappointed: expectation perhaps had been running too high; the figure of the lieutenant (in the yellow jerkin) may strike one as a little mean. but do not let this distress you. settle down on one of the seats and take rembrandt easily, "as the leaf upon the tree"; settle down on another, and from the new point of view take him easily, "as the grass upon the weir". look at van der helst's fine company of arquebusiers on one of the side walls; look at franz hals' company of arquebusiers on the other; then look at rembrandt again. every minute his astounding power is winning upon you. walk again up the gallery of honour and turning quickly at the end, see how much light there is in the "night watch". advance upon it slowly.... this is certainly the finest technical triumph of pigment that you have seen. what a glow and greatness. after a while it becomes evident that rembrandt was the only man who ought to have painted arquebusiers at all. van der heist and frans hals are sinking to the level of gifted amateurs. why did not rembrandt paint all the pictures? you begin to wonder. and yet the hals and the van der helsts were so good a little while ago. hals and van der helst are, however, to recover their own again; for the "night watch," i am told, is to be moved to a building especially erected for it, where the lighting will be more satisfactory than connoisseurs now consider it. perhaps it is as well. it is hard to be so near the rose; and there are few pictures in the recesses of the gallery of honour which the "night watch" does not weaken; some indeed it makes quite foolish. it is not of course really a night watch at all. captain franz banning cocq's arquebusiers are leaving their doelen in broad day; the centralisation of sunlight from a high window led to the mistake, and nothing now will ever change the title. how little these careless gallant arquebusiers, who paid the painter-man a hundred florins apiece to be included in the picture, can have thought of the destiny of the work! of captain franz banning cocq as a soldier we know nothing, but as a sitter he is hardly second to any in the world. but it is not the "night watch" that i recall with the greatest pleasure when i think of the ryks rembrandts. it is that wise and serene old lady in the van der poll room--elizabeth bas--who sits there for all time, unsurpassed among portraits. this picture alone is worth a visit to holland. i recall also, not with more pleasure than the "night watch," but with little less, the superb group of syndics in the staalmeester room. it is this picture--with the "school of anatomy" at the hague--that in particular makes one wish it had been possible for all the corporation pieces to have been from rembrandt's brush. it is this picture which deprives even hals of some of his divinity, and makes van der helst a dull dog. if ever a picture of dutch gentlemen was painted by a dutch gentleman it is this. having seen the "night watch" again, it is a good plan to study the gallery of honour. to pick out one's favourite picture is here not difficult: it is no. , "the endless prayer," by nicolas maes, of which i have said something in the chapter on dordrecht, the painter's birthplace. its place is very little below that of elizabeth bas, by maes's master. it is always interesting in a fine gallery to ask oneself which single picture one would choose before all others if such a privilege were offered. the answer if honest is a sure revelation of temperament, for one would select of a certainty a picture satisfying one's prevailing moods rather than a picture of any sensational character. in other words, the picture would have to be good to live with. to choose from thousands of masterpieces one only is a very delicate test. if the dutch government, stimulated to gratitude for the encomiastic character of the present book, were to offer me my choice of the ryks museum pictures i should not hesitate a moment. i should take no. --"woman reading a letter" (damaged), by vermeer of delft. you will see a reproduction in black and white on the opposite page; but how wide a gulf between the picture and the process block. the jacket, for example, is the most lovely cool blue imaginable. this picture, apart from its beauty, is interesting as an illustration of the innovating courage of vermeer. who else at that date would have placed the woman's head against a map almost its own colour? many persons think that such daring began with whistler. it is, however, terburg who most often suggests whistler. vermeer had, i think, a rarer distinction than terburg. vermeer would never have painted such a crowded group (however masterly) as that of terburg's "peace of munster" in our national gallery; he could not have brought himself so to pack humanity. among all the dutch masters i find no such fastidious aristocrat. he, vermeer, has another picture at the ryks--"de brief" (no. )--which technically is wonderful; but the whole effect is artificial and sophisticated, very different from his best transparent mood. any mortification, by the way, which i might suffer from the knowledge that no. can never be mine is allayed by the knowledge, equally certain, that it can never be any one else's. money is powerless here. to the offer of a rothschild the government would return as emphatic a negative as to a request from me. the room in which is vermeer's "reader" contains also maes's "spinning woman" (see page ), two or three peter de hoochs and the best jan steen in the ryks. it is indeed a room to linger in, and to return to, indefinitely. de hooch's "store room" (no. ), of which i have already spoken, is in one of the little "cabinet piece" rooms, which are not too well lighted. here also one may spend many hours, and then many hours more. the "peace of munster" has been called terburg's masterpiece: but the girl in his "paternal advice," no. at the ryks, seems to me a finer achievement. the grace and beauty and truth of her pose and the miraculous painting of her dress are unrivalled. yet judged as a picture it is, i think, dull. the colouring is dingy, time has not dealt kindly with the background; but the figure of the girl is perfect. i give a reproduction opposite page . it was this picture, in one of its replicas, that goethe describes in his _elective affinities_: a description which procured for it the probably inaccurate title "parental advice". we have a fine terburg in our national gallery--"the music lesson"--and here too is his "peace of munster," which certainly was a great feat of painting, but which does not, i think, reproduce his peculiar characteristics and charm. these may be found somewhere between "the music lesson" and the portrait next the vermeer in the smallest of the three dutch rooms. even more ingratiating than "the music lesson" is "the toilet" at the wallace collection. terburg might be called a pocket velasquez--a description of him which will be appreciated at the ryks museum in the presence of his tiny and captivating "helena van der schalcke," no. , one of the gems of the cabinet pieces (see opposite page ), and his companion pictures of a man and his wife, each standing by a piece of red furniture--i think nos. and . the execution of the woman's muslin collar is among the most dexterous things in dutch art. from the ryks museum it is but a little way (past the model dutch garden) to the stedelijk museum, where modern painting may be studied--israels and bosboom, mesdag and james maris, breitner and jan van beers, blommers and weissenbruch. there is also one room dedicated to paintings of the barbizon school, and of this i would advise instant search. i rested my eyes here for an hour. a vast scene of cattle by troyon (who, such is the poverty of the dutch alphabet, comes out monstrously upon the frame as troijon); a mysterious valley of trees by corot; a wave by courbet; a mere at evening by daubigny--these are like cool firm hands upon one's forehead. the statement nothing graceful, wise, or sainted,-- that is how the dutchman painted, is so sweeping as to be untrue. indeed it is wholly absurd. the truth simply is that one goes to dutch art for the celebration of fact without mystery or magic. in other words, dutch painting is painting without poetry; and it is this absence of poetry which makes the romantic frenchmen appear to be such exotics when one finds them in holland, and why it is so pleasant in holland now and then to taste their quality, as one may at the stedelijk museum and in the mesdag collection at the hague. we must not forget, however, that under the french influence certain modern dutch painters have been quickened to celebrate the fact _with_ poetry. in a little room adjoining the great french room at the stedelijk museum will be found some perfect things by living or very recent artists for whom corot did not work in vain: a mere by james maris, with a man in a blue coat sitting in a boat; a marsh under a white sky by matthew maris; a village scene by the same exquisite craftsman. these three pictures, but especially the last two, are in their way as notable and beautiful as anything by the great names in dutch art. on the ground floor of the stedelijk museum is the series of rooms named after the suasso family which should on no account be missed, but of which no notice is given by the museum authorities. these rooms are furnished exactly as they would have been by the best dutch families, their furniture and hangings having been brought from old houses in the keizersgracht and the heerengracht. the kitchen is one of the prettiest things in holland--with its shining brass and copper, its delicate and dainty tiles and its air of cheerful brightness. some of the carving in the other rooms is superb; the silver, the china, the clocks are all of the choicest. the custodian has a childlike interest in secret drawers and unexpected recesses, which he exhibits with a gusto not habitual in the dutch cicerone. for the run of these old rooms a guelder is asked; one sees the three rooms on the other side of the entrance hall for twenty-five cents, the church and museum unit of holland. but they are uninteresting beside the larger suite. they consist of an old dutch apothecary's shop and laboratory; a madhouse cell; and the bedroom of a dutch lady who has just presented her lord with an infant. we see the mother in bed, a doctor at her side, and in the foreground a nurse holding the baby. except that the costumes and accessories are authentic the tableau is in no way superior to an ordinary waxwork. at the beginning of the last chapter i said that the keizersgracht and heerengracht do not divulge their secrets; they present an impassive and inscrutable front, grave and sombre, often black as night, beyond which the foreigner may not penetrate. but by the courtesy of the descendants of rembrandt's friend jan six, in order that pleasure in their collection of the old masters may be shared, no. heerengracht is shown on the presentation of a visiting card at suitable hours. here may be seen two more of the rare pictures of vermeer of delft--his famous "milk woman" and a dutch façade in the manner of peter de hooch, with an added touch of grave delicacy and distinction. peter de hooch is himself represented in this little gallery, but the picture is in bad condition. there is also an interesting and uncharacteristically dramatic nicolas maes called "the listener". but the pride of the house is the little group of portraits by rembrandt. it was, by the way, at burgomaster six's house at elsbroek that rembrandt's little etching called "six's bridge" was executed. rembrandt and his friend had just sat down to dinner when it was discovered that there was no mustard. on a servant being sent to buy or borrow some, rembrandt made a bet that he would complete an etching of the bridge before the man's return. the artist won. another little private collection, which has now become a regular resort, with fixed hours, is that known as the fodor museum, at no. keizersgracht; but i do not recommend a visit unless one is absolutely a glutton for paint. chapter xii around amsterdam: south and south-east dutch railways--amsterdam as a centre--town and country--milking time--scotch scenery in holland--hilversum--laren--anton mauve--buckwheat sunday--dress in holland--naarden's hour of agony--the indomitable dutch--_through noord-holland_ again--muiderberg--muiden's castle. the dutch have several things to learn from the english; and there are certain lessons which we might acquire from them. to them we might impart the uses of the salt-spoon, and ask in return the secret of punctuality on the railways. the dutch railways are admirable. the trains come in to the minute and go out to the minute. the officials are intelligent and polite. the carriages are good. every station has its waiting-room, where you may sit and read, and drink a cup of coffee that is not only hot and fresh but is recognisably the product of the berry. it is impossible to travel in the wrong train. it is very difficult not to get out at the right station. the fares are very reasonable. the stationmasters are the only visible and tangible members of the dutch aristocracy. the disposition of one's luggage is very simple when once it has been mastered. the time tables are models of clarity. the only blot on the system is the detestable double fastening to the carriage doors, and the curious fancy, prevalent on the continent, that a platform is a vanity. it is a perpetual wonder to me that some of the wider dutch ever succeed in climbing into their trains at all; and yet after accomplishing one's own ascent one discovers them seated there comfortably and numerously enough, showing no signs of the struggle. travellers who find the dutch tendency to closed windows a trial beyond endurance may be interested to know that it is law in holland that if any passenger wish it the window on the lee side may be open. with the knowledge of this enactment all difficulty should be over--provided that one has sufficient strength of purpose (and acquaintance with the dutch language) to enforce it. all this preamble concerning railways is by way of introduction to the statement (hinted at in the first chapter) that if the traveller in holland likes, he can see a great part of the country by staying at amsterdam--making the city his headquarters, and every day journeying here and there and back again by train or canal. a few little neighbouring towns it is practically necessary to visit from amsterdam; and for the most part, i take it, leyden and haarlem are made the object of excursions either from amsterdam or the hague, rather than places of sojourn, although both have excellent quiet inns much more to my taste than anything in the largest city. indeed i found amsterdam's hotels exceedingly unsatisfactory; so much so that the next time i go, when the electric railway to haarlem is open, i am proposing to invert completely the usual process, and, staying at haarlem, study amsterdam from there. for the time being, however, we must consider ourselves at amsterdam, branching out north or south, east or west, every morning. a very interesting excursion may be made to hilversum, returning by the steam-tram through laren, naarden and muiden. the rail runs at first through flat and very verdant meadows, where thousands of cows that supply amsterdam with milk are grazing; and one notices again the suddenness with which the dutch city ends and the dutch country begins. our english towns have straggling outposts: new houses, scaffold poles, cottages, allotments, all break the transition from city to country; the urban gives place to suburban, and suburban to rural, gradually, every inch being contested. but the dutch towns--even the great cities--end suddenly; the country begins suddenly. in england for the most part the cow comes to the milker; but in holland the milker goes to the cow. his first duty is to bind the animal's hind legs together, and then he sets his stool at his side and begins. anton mauve has often painted the scene--so often that at milking time one looks from the carriage windows at a very gallery of mauves. i noticed this particularly on an afternoon journey from amsterdam to hilversum, between the city and weesp, where the meadows (cricket grounds _manqués_) are flat as billiard tables. the train later runs between great meres, some day perhaps to be reclaimed, and then dashes into country that resembles very closely our government land about woking and bisley--the first sand and firs that we have seen in holland. it has an odd and unexpected appearance; but as a matter of fact hundreds of square miles of holland in the south and east have this character; while there are stretches of dutch heather in which one can feel in scotland. all about naarden and hilversum are sanatoria, country-seats and pleasure grounds, the softening effect of the pines upon the strong air of the zuyder zee being very beneficial. many of the heights have towers or pavilions, some of which move the author of _through noord-holland_ to ecstasies. as thus, of the larenberg: "the most charming is the tower, where one can enjoy a perspective that only rarely presents itself. we can see here the towers of nijkerk, harderwijk, utrecht, amersfoort, bunschoten, amsterdam and many others." and again, of a wood at heideheuvel: "the perspective beauty here formed cannot be said in words". hilversum is the chislehurst of holland--a discreet and wealthy suburb, where business men have their villas amid the trees. it is a pleasant spot, excellent from which to explore. the author of _through noord-holland_ thus describes laren, which lies a few miles from hilversum and is reached by tram: "surrounded by arable land and hilly heathery it is richly provided with picturesque spots; country-seats, villas, ordinary houses and farms are following one another. for those who are searching for rest and calmness is this village very recommendable." but to say only that is to omit laren's principal claim to distinction--its fame as the home of anton mauve. no great painter of nature probably ever adapted less than mauve. his pictures, oils and water-colours alike, are the real thing, very true, very beautiful, low-toned, always with a touch of wistfulness and melancholy. he found his subjects everywhere, and justified them by the sympathy and truth of his exquisite modest art. chiefly he painted peasants and cows. what a spot of red was to corot, the blue linen jacket of the dutch peasant was to his disciple. i never hear the name of mauve without instantly seeing a black and white cow and a boy in a blue jacket amid holland's evening green. at laren mauve's fame is kept sweet by a little colony of artists, who like to draw their inspiration where the great painter drew his. north of laren, on the sea coast, is the fishing village of huizen, where the women have a neat but very sedate costume. they wear white caps with curved sides that add grace to a pretty cheek. having, however, the odd fancy that a flat chest is more desirable than a rounded one, they compress their busts into narrow compass, striving as far as possible to preserve vertical lines. at the waist a plethora of petticoats begins, spreading the skirts to inordinate width and emphasising the meagreness above. the sombre attire of the huizen women is a contrast to most of the traditional costumes of holland, which are charming, full of gay colour and happy design. the art of dress seems otherwise to be dead in holland to-day; in the towns the ordinary conventional dress is dull; and in the country it is without any charm. holland as a whole, omitting the costumes, cannot be said to have any more knowledge of clothes than we have. it is only by the blue linen jackets of the men in the fields that the situation is saved and the dutch are proved our superiors. how cool and grateful to the eyes this blue jacket can be all admirers of mauve's pictures know. naarden and muiden are curiously mediæval. the steam-tram has been rushing along for some miles, past beer gardens and villas, when suddenly it slows to walking pace as we twist in and out over the bridges of a moat, and creeping through the tunnel of a rampart are in the narrow streets of a fortified town. both naarden and muiden are surrounded by moats and fortifications. naarden's crowning hour of agony was in , since it had the misfortune to stand in the path of don frederic on his way from zutphen, where not a citizen had been left alive, to amsterdam. the story of the surrender of the city to don romero under the pledge that life and property should be respected, and of the dastardly and fiendish disregard of this pledge by the spaniards, is the most ghastly in the whole war. from motley i take the account of the tragedy:-- "on the nd of november a company of one hundred troopers was sent to the city gates to demand its surrender. the small garrison which had been left by the prince was not disposed to resist, but the spirit of the burghers was stouter than their walls. they answered the summons by a declaration that they had thus far held the city for the king and the prince of orange, and, with god's help, would continue so to do. as the horsemen departed with this reply, a lunatic, called adrian krankhoeft, mounted the ramparts, and discharged a culverine among them. no man was injured, but the words of defiance, and the shot fired by a madman's hand, were destined to be fearfully answered. "meanwhile, the inhabitants of the place, which was at best far from strong, and ill provided with arms, ammunition, or soldiers, despatched importunate messages to sonoy, and to other patriot generals nearest to them, soliciting reinforcements. their messengers came back almost empty-handed. they brought a little powder and a great many promises, but not a single man-at-arms, not a ducat, not a piece of artillery. the most influential commanders, moreover, advised an honourable capitulation, if it were still possible. "thus baffled, the burghers of the little city found their proud position quite untenable. they accordingly, on the st of december, despatched the burgomaster and a senator to amersfoort, to make terms, if possible, with don frederic. when these envoys reached the place, they were refused admission to the general's presence. the army had already been ordered to move forward to naarden, and they were directed to accompany the advance guard, and to expect their reply at the gates of their own city. this command was sufficently ominous. the impression which it made upon them was confirmed by the warning voices of their friends in amersfoort, who entreated them not to return to naarden. the advice was not lost upon one of the two envoys. after they had advanced a little distance on their journey, the burgomaster, laurentszoon, slid privately out of the sledge in which they were travelling, leaving his cloak behind him. 'adieu; i think i will not venture back to naarden at present,' said he calmly, as he abandoned his companion to his fate. the other, who could not so easily desert his children, his wife, and his fellow-citizens in the hour of danger, went forward as calmly to share in their impending doom. "the army reached bussum, half a league distant from naarden, in the evening. here don frederic established his headquarters, and proceeded to invest the city. senator gerrit was then directed to return to naarden, and to bring out a more numerous deputation on the following morning, duly empowered to surrender the place. the envoy accordingly returned next day, accompanied by lambert hortensius, rector of a latin academy, together with four other citizens. before this deputation had reached bussum, they were met by julian romero, who informed them that he was commissioned to treat with them on the part of don frederic. he demanded the keys of the city, and gave the deputation a solemn pledge that the lives and property of all the inhabitants should be sacredly respected. to attest this assurance, don julian gave his hand three several times to lambert hortensius. a soldier's word thus plighted, the commissioners, without exchanging any written documents, surrendered the keys, and immediately afterwards accompanied romero into the city, who was soon followed by five or six hundred musketeers. "to give these guests an hospitable reception, all the housewives of the city at once set about preparations for a sumptuous feast, to which the spaniards did ample justice, while the colonel and his officers were entertained by senator gerrit at his own house. as soon as this conviviality had come to an end, romero, accompanied by his host, walked into the square. the great bell had been meantime ringing, and the citizens had been summoned to assemble in the gast huis church, then used as a town hall. in the course of a few minutes had entered the building, and stood quietly awaiting whatever measures might be offered for their deliberation. suddenly a priest, who had been pacing to and fro before the church door, entered the building and bade them all prepare for death; but the announcement, the preparation, and the death, were simultaneous. the door was flung open, and a band of armed spaniards rushed across the sacred threshold. they fired a single volley upon the defenceless herd, and then sprang in upon them with sword and dagger. a yell of despair arose as the miserable victims saw how hopelessly they were engaged, and beheld the ferocious faces of their butchers. the carnage within that narrow space was compact and rapid. within a few minutes all were despatched, and among them senator gerrit, from whose table the spanish commander had but just risen. the church was then set on fire, and the dead and dying were consumed to ashes together. "inflamed but not satiated, the spaniards then rushed into the streets, thirsty for fresh horrors. the houses were all rifled of their contents, and men were forced to carry the booty to the camp, who were then struck dead as their reward. the town was then fired in every direction, that the skulking citizens might be forced from their hiding-places. as fast as they came forth they were put to death by their impatient foes. some were pierced with rapiers, some were chopped to pieces with axes, some were surrounded in the blazing streets by troops of laughing soldiers, intoxicated, not with wine but with blood, who tossed them to and fro with their lances, and derived a wild amusement from their dying agonies. those who attempted resistance were crimped alive like fishes, and left to gasp themselves to death in lingering torture. the soldiers becoming more and more insane, as the foul work went on, opened the veins of some of their victims, and drank their blood as if it were wine. some of the burghers were for a time spared, that they might witness the violation of their wives and, daughters, and were then butchered in company with these still more unfortunate victims. miracles of brutality were accomplished. neither church nor hearth was sacred. men were slain, women outraged at the altars, in the streets, in their blazing homes. the life of lambert hortensius was spared out of regard to his learning and genius, but he hardly could thank his foes for the boon, for they struck his only son dead, and tore his heart out before his father's eyes. hardly any man or woman survived, except by accident. a body of some hundred burghers made their escape across the snow into the open country. they were, however, overtaken, stripped stark naked, and hung upon the trees by the feet, to freeze, or to perish by a more lingering death. most of them soon died, but twenty, who happened to be wealthy, succeeded, after enduring much torture, in purchasing their lives of their inhuman persecutors. the principal burgomaster, heinrich lambertszoon, was less fortunate. known to be affluent, he was tortured by exposing the soles of his feet to a fire until they were almost consumed. on promise that his life should be spared he then agreed to pay a heavy ransom; but hardly had he furnished the stipulated sum when, by express order of don frederic himself, he was hanged in his own doorway, and his dissevered limbs afterwards nailed to the gates of the city. "nearly all the inhabitants of naarden, soldiers and citizens, were thus destroyed; and now don frederic issued peremptory orders that no one, on pain of death, should give lodging or food to any fugitive. he likewise forbade to the dead all that could now be forbidden them--a grave. three weeks long did these unburied bodies pollute the streets, nor could the few wretched women who still cowered within such houses as had escaped the flames ever move from their lurking-places without treading upon the festering remains of what had been their husbands, their fathers, or their brethren. such was the express command of him whom the flatterers called the 'most divine genius ever known'. shortly afterwards came an order to dismantle the fortifications, which had certainly proved sufficiently feeble in the hour of need, and to raze what was left of the city from the surface of the earth. the work was faithfully accomplished, and for a long time naarden ceased to exist." the naarden of to-day sprang from the ruins. mendoza's comment upon the siege ran thus: "the sack of naarden was a chastisement which must be believed to have taken place by express permission of a divine providence; a punishment for having been the first of the holland towns in which heresy built its nest, whence it has taken flight to all the neighbouring cities". none the less, "the hearts of the hollanders," says motley, "were rather steeled to resistance than awed into submission by the fate of naarden"; as don frederic found when he passed on to besiege haarlem and later alkmaar. to muiderburg, between naarden and muiden, i have not been, and therefore with the more readiness quote my indispensable author:-- in summer is muiderberg by its situation at the zuiderzee a favourite little spot and very recommendable for nervous people. the number of those who sought cure and found it here is enormous. it is the vacation-place by excellence. there is a church with square tower and organ. about the tower, the spire of which is failing, various opinions go round how this occured, by war, by shooting or storm. the beautiful beech-grove in the center of the village, where a lot of forest-giants are rising in the sky in severe rows, is a favorite place, in the middle of which is a hill with fine pond. a couple of years ago geertruida carelsen wrote in her berlin letters that muiderberg perhaps is the only bathing-place where sea and wood are united. there are three well-known graveyards. of muiden's very picturesque moated castle--the ideal castle of a romance--peter cornellissen hooft, the poet and historian, was once custodian. it was built in the thirteenth century and restored by florence v., who was subsequently incarcerated there. as the noord-holland guide-book sardonically remarks, "he will never have thought that he built his own prison by it". chapter xiii around amsterdam: north to marken--an _opera-bouffe_ island--cultivated and profitable simplicity--broek-in-waterland--cow-damp--the two doors--gingerbread and love--dead cities--monnickendam--the overturned camera--dutch phlegm--brabant the quarrelsome--edam--holland's great churches--edam's roll of honour--a beard of note--a dutch daniel lambert--a virgin colossus--a ship-owner indeed--the mermaid--volendam--taciturnity and tobacco--purmerend--the land of windmills--zaandam--green paint at its highest power--a riverside inn--peter the great. an excursion which every one will say is indispensable takes one to marken (pronounced marriker); but i have my doubts. the island may be reached from amsterdam either by boat, going by way of canal and returning by sea, or one may take the steam-tram to monnickendam or edam, and then fall into the hands of a marken mariner. to escape his invitations to sail thither is a piece of good fortune that few visitors succeed in achieving. marken in winter wears perhaps a genuine air; in the season of tourists it has too much the suggestion of _opera bouffe_. the men's costume is comic beyond reason; the inhabitants are picturesque of set design; the old women at their doorways are too consciously the owners of quaint habitations, glimpses of which catch the eye by well-studied accident. i must confess to being glad to leave: for either one was intruding upon a simple folk entirely surrounded by water; or the simple folk, knowing human nature, had made itself up and sent out its importunate young from strictly mercenary motives. in either case marken is no place for a sensitive traveller. the theory that the marken people are savages is certainly a wrong one; they have carried certain of the privileges of civilisation very far and can take care of themselves with unusual cleverness. moreover, no savage would cover his legs with such garments as the men adhere to. what is wrong with marken is that for the most part it subsists on sight-seers, which is bad; and it too generally suggests that a stage-manager, employed by a huge trust, is somewhere in the background. it cannot be well with a community that encourages its children to beg of visitors. the women, however, look sensible: fine upstanding creatures with a long curl of yellow hair on each side of their faces. one meets them now and then in amsterdam streets, by no means dismayed by the traffic and bustle. their head-dresses are striking and gay, and the front of their bodices is elaborately embroidered, the prevailing colours being red and pink. bright hues are also very popular within doors on this island, perhaps by way of counteracting the external monotony, the marken walls being washed with yellow and hung with delft plates, while the furniture and hangings all have a cheerful gaiety. the island is flat save for the mounds on which its villages are built, each house standing on poles to allow the frequent inundations of the winter free way. if one has the time and money it is certainly better to visit marken in a fishing-boat than in the steamer--provided that one can trust oneself to navigators masquerading in such bloomers. the steamers from amsterdam pause for a while at broek and monnickendam. broek-in-waterland, to give it its full title, is one of the quaintest of dutch villages. but unfortunately broek also has become to some extent a professional "sight". its cleanliness, however, for which it is famous, is not an artificial effect attained to impress visitors, but a genuine enough characteristic. the houses are gained by little bridges which, with various other idiosyncrasies, help to make broek a delight to children. if a company of children were to be allowed to manage a small republic entirely alone, the whimsical millionaire who fathered the project might do worse than buy up this village for the experiment. in the model dairy farm of broek, through which visitors file during the time allowed by the steam-boat's captain, things happen as they should: the cows' tails are tied to the roof, and all is spick and span. the author of _through noord-holland_ tells us that among the dairy's illustrious visitors was an italian duchess from livorno who ordered cheese for herself, for the princess borghese and for the duke of ceri. everything in the farm, he adds, "is glimmering and glittering". one of the phenomena of broek is thus explained by the same ingenious author: "by beholding the dark-tinted columns attentively one sees something dull here and there. in the year , when the great flood inundated whole broek, men as well as cattle flied into the church, which lies so much higher and remained quite free of water. by the exhalations of the cows, the cow-damp, has the wood been blemished and made dull at many places, chamois nor polish could help, the dullness remained." the church has beauties to set against the phenomenon of cow-damp, and among them a very elaborate carved pulpit in various preclious woods, and some fine lamps. ireland tells us that the front doors of many of broek's houses are opened only twice in their owners' lives--when they marry and when they die. for the rest the back door must serve. the custom is not confined to broek, but is found all over north holland. these ceremonial front doors are often very ornate. it was also at broek that ireland picked up his information as to the best means of winning the dutch heart. "laughable as it may seem, a safe expedient to insure the affections of the lower class of these lasses, is to arm yourself well with gingerbread. the first question the lover is asked after knocking at the door, when the parents are supposed to be in bed, is, 'have you any gingerbread?' if he replies in the affirmative, he finds little difficulty in gaining admission. a second visit ensures his success, and the lady yields." i can add a little to this. when a young man thinks of courting he first speaks to the parents, and if they are willing to encourage him he is asked to spend the evening with their daughter. they then discreetly retire to bed and leave the world to him. under his arm is a large cake, not necessarily of gingerbread, and this he deposits on the table, with or without words. if he is acceptable in the girl's eyes she at once puts some more peat on the fire. he then knows that all is well with him: the cake is cut, and romance is king. but if the fire is not replenished he must gather up his cake and return to his home. a very favourite dutch picture represents "the cutting of the cake". i have heard that the dutch wife takes her husband's left arm; the dutch fiancee her lover's right. monnickendam, on the shores of the zuyder zee, is now a desolate sleepy spot; once it was one of the great towns of holland, at the time when the hague was a village. i say zuyder zee, but strictly speaking it is on the gouwzee, the name of the straits between monnickendam and marken. it is here, in winter, when the ice holds, that a fair is held, to which come all amsterdam on skates, to eat poffertjes and wafelen, monnickendam affords our first sight of what are called very misleadingly the "dead cities of the zuyder zee," meaning merely towns which once were larger and busier. monnickendam was sufficiently important to fit out a fleet against the spanish in , under cornelius dirckszoon (whose tomb we saw at delft) and capture bossu in the battle of hoorn. to-day monnickendam suggests nothing so little as a naval engagement. people live there, it is true, but one sees very few of them. only in an old english market town on a hot day--such a town as petworth, for example, in sussex--do you get such desertion and quiet and imperturbability. monnickendam has, however, a treasure that few english towns can boast--its charming little stadhuis tower, one of the prettiest in holland, with a happy peal of bells, and mechanical horses in action once an hour; while the tram line running right down the main street periodically awakens the populace. when last i visited monnickendam it was by steam-tram; and at a little half-way station, where it is necessary to wait for another tram, our engine driver, stoker and guard were elaborately photographed by an artist who seemed to be there for no other purpose. he placed his tripod on the platform; grouped the officials; gave them--and incidentally a score of heads protruding from the carriages--a sufficient exposure, and was preparing another plate when an incoming tram dashed up so unexpectedly as to cause him to jump, and, in jumping, to overturn his tripod and precipitate the camera under the carriage wheels. now here was a tragedy worthy of serious treatment. a frenchman would have danced with rage; an englishman would have wanted to know whose fault it was and have threatened reprisals. but the dutchman merely looked a little pained, a little surprised, and in a minute or two was preparing a friendly group of the officials of the tram which had caused the accident. i do not put the incident forward as typical; but certainly one may travel far in holland without seeing exhibitions of temper. i mentioned the nation's equability to the young dutchman in the canal boat between rotterdam and delft. "ah!" he said, "you should go to brabant. they fight enough there!" i did go to brabant, but i saw no anger or quarrelsomeness; yet i suppose he had his reasons. the steam-tram to monnickendam runs on to edam, whence one may command both volegdam and purmerend. edam is famous for its cheese, but the traveller in holland as a rule reserves for alkmaar cheese market his interest in this industry; and we will do the same. broadly speaking edam sends forth the red cheeses, alkmaar the yellow; but no hard and fast line can be drawn. were it not for its cheese market edam would be as "dead" as monnickendam, but cheese saves it. it was once a power and the water-gate of amsterdam, at a time when the only way to the dutch capital was by the zuyder zee and the y. edam is at the mouth of the y, its name really being ydam. the size of its groote kerk indicates something of this past importance, for it is immense: a gothic building of the fourteenth century, cold and drear enough, but a little humanised by some coloured glass from gouda, often in very bad condition. in the days when this church was built edam had twenty-five thousand inhabitants: now there are only five thousand. it is difficult to lose the feeling of disproportion between the size of the dutch churches and that of the villages and congregations. the villages are so small, the churches so vast. it is as though the churches were built to compensate for the absence of hills. from any one spire in holland one must be able to see almost all the others. the stained glass in edam's great church has reference rather to holland's temporal prosperity than to religion. more interesting is the room over the southern door, which was used first for a prison, and later for a school, the library of which still may be seen. edam possesses in addition to the immense church of st. nicholas a little church of the virgin, with a spire full of bells, badly out of the perpendicular. the town has also some interesting old houses, one or two of great beauty, and many enriched by quaint bas-reliefs. the stadhuis is comparatively modern and not externally attractive. within, however, edam does honour to three fantastic figures who once were to be seen in her streets--peter dircksz, jan cornellissen and trijntje kever, portraits of whom grace the town hall. their claims to fame are certainly genuine, although unexpected. peter's idiosyncrasy was a beard which had to be looped up to prevent it trailing in the mud; jan, at the age of forty-two, when the artist set to work upon him, weighed thirty-two stones and six pounds; while trijntje was a maiden nine feet tall and otherwise ample. peter and trijntje were, i believe, true children of edam, but jan was a mere import, having conveyed his bulk thither from friesland. like our own daniel lambert, he kept an inn. one of trijntje's shoes is also preserved--liker to a boat than anything else. i have by no means exhausted edam's roll of honour. shipowner osterlen must be added--a burgher, who, in , when his portrait was painted, could point (and in the canvas does point, with no uncertain finger,) to ninety-two ships of which he was the possessor. and a legend of edam tells how once in , when the country was inundated by the sea, some girls taking fresh water to the cows saw and captured a mermaid. her (like the lady in mr. wells's story) they dressed and civilised, and taught to sow and spin, but could never make talk. possibly it is this mermaid who, caught in a fisherman's net, is represented in bas-relief (as the fish that pleases all tastes) on one of the facades of edam, with accompanying verses which must not be translated, embodying comments upon the nature of the haul by various typical and very plain-spoken members of society--a soldier and a schoolmaster, a monk and a fowler, for example. edam has yet another hero. on the dam bridge are iron-backed benches which never grow rusty. "one owes this particularity," says _through noord-holland_, "to the invention of an edamer about , who also took his secret with him into the grave." to the little fishing village of volendain, paradise of quaint costumes and gay prettinesses, artists invariably resort. like much of monnickendam, and indeed almost all dutch seaside settlements, the village is, if not below sea-level, almost invisible from the water, on account of an obliterating dyke. at the helder one can consider the rampart reasonable, but here, where there is no foe but the zuyder zee, it may seem fantastic. if we lived there in winter, however, the precaution would soon be justified, for the zuyder zee can on occasion roar like a lion. it is odd to reflect that volendam, monnickendam and marken may become ordinary inland hamlets in the midst of green fields if the great scheme for draining the zuyder zee is carried through. if the people and village of volendam are to be described in a phrase, they may be called better markeners in a better marken. the decoration of the pointed red-roofed houses is similar; there is the same prevailing and very ingratiating passion for blue delft--and a very beautiful blue too; the clothes of the men and women have a family resemblance. but volendam is in every way better--although its open drain is a sore trial: it is more human, more natural. the men hold the record for dutch taciturnity. they also smoke more persistently and wear larger sabots than i saw anywhere else, leaving them outside their doors with a religious exactitude that suggests that the good-wives of volendam know how to be obeyed. the women discard the marken ringlets and richness of embroidery, but in the matter of petticoats they approach the scheveningen and huizen standards. their jewellery resolves itself into a coral necklace, while the men wear silver buttons--both coming down from mother to daughter, and father to son. the fishing fleet of volendam sails as far as the north sea, but it is always in volendam by saturday morning. hence if you would see the volendam fishermen in their greatest strength the time to visit the little town is at the end of the week or on sunday. the day for purmerend is tuesday, because then the market is held, in the castle plein, among mediæval surroundings. to this market the neighbourhood seems to send its whole population, by road and water, in gay cart and comfortable wherry. according to my unfailing informant in these regions, the purmerend stadhuis, in order "to aggrandise the cheese market," was in "set back a few meters by screwing-force". the excursion to marken and the excursion to edam and its neighbourhood take each a day; but between amsterdam and zaandam, just off the great north canal, steamers ply continually, and one may be there in half an hour. the journey must be made, because zaandam is superficially the gayest town in holland and the capital of windmill land. in an hour's drive (obviously no excursion for don quixote) one may pass hundreds. these mills do everything except grind corn. for the most part the dutch mills pump: but they also saw wood, and cut tobacco, and make paper, and indeed perform all the tasks for which in countries less windy and less leisurely steam or water power is employed. the one windmill in holland which always springs to my mind when the subject is mentioned is, however, not among zaandam's legions: it is that solitary and imposing erection which rises from the water in the coolsingel in rotterdam. that is my standard dutch mill. another which i always recall stands outside bergen-op-zoom, on the way to tholen--all white. the dutch mill differs from the english mill in three important respects: it is painted more gaily (although for england white paint is certainly best); it has canvas on its sails; and it is often thatched. dutch thatching is very smooth and pretty, like an antelope's skin; and never more so than on the windmills. zaandam lies on either side of the river zaan, here broad and placid and north of the dam more like the thames at teddington, say, than any stretch of water in holland. a single street runs beside the river for about a mile on both banks, the houses being models of smiling neatness, picked out with cheerful green paint. at zaandam green paint is at its greenest. it is the national pigment; but nowhere else in holland have they quite so sure a hand with it. to the critics who lament that there is no good dutch painting to-day, i would say "go to zaandam". not only is zaandam's green the greenest, but its red roofs are the reddest, in holland. a single row of trees runs down each of its long streets, and on the other side of each are illimitable fields intersected by ditches which on a cloudless afternoon might be strips of the bluest ribbon. we sat for an hour in the garden of "de zon," a little inn on the west bank half-way between the dam and the bridge. the landlady brought us coffee, and with it letters from other travellers who had liked her garden and had written to tell her so. these she read and purred over, as a good landlady is entitled to do, while we watched the barges float past and disappear as the distant lock opened and swallowed them. south of the dam the interest is centred in the hut where for a while in peter the great lived to see how the dutchmen built their ships. the belief that no other motive than the inspection of this very uninteresting cottage could bring a stranger hither is a tenet of faith to which the zaandamer is bound with shackles of iron. the moment one disembarks the way to peter's residence begins to be pointed out. little boys run before; sturdy men walk beside; old men (one with a wooden leg) struggle behind. it was later that the czar crossed to england and worked in the same way at deptford; but no visitor to deptford to-day is required to see his lodging there. the real interest of zaandam is not its connection with peter the great but the circumstance that it was the birthplace of anton mauve, in . he died at arnheim in , neither zaandam nor arnheim honours him. chapter xiv alkmaar and hoorn, the helder and enkhuisen to alkmaar by canal--the cheese market--the weigh house clock--buyers and sellers--the siege of alkmaar--to hoorn by sea--a peaceful harbour--hoorn's explorer sons--john haring's bravery--the defeat of de bossu--negro heroes--hoorn's streets--and museum--market day--and kermis--nieuwediep--the helder--the lighthouse--hotel characters--the praise of the porter--texel--medemblik--king radbod's hesitancy--enkhuisen--paul potter--sir william temple and the old philosopher--the dromedary. if the weather is fine one should certainly go to alkmaar by canal. the journey by water, on a steamer, is always interesting and intensely invigorating. it is only one remove from the open sea, so flat is the country, so free the air. alkmaar's magnet is its cheese market, which draws little companies of travellers thither every friday in the season. to see it rightly one must reach alkmaar on the preceding afternoon, to watch the arrival of the boats from the neighbouring farms, and see them unload their yellow freight on the market quay. the men who catch the cheeses are exceedingly adroit--it is the nearest thing to an english game that is played in holland. before they are finally placed in position the cheeses are liberally greased, until they glow and glitter like orange fires. all the afternoon the boats come in, with their collections from the various dairies on the water. by road also come cheeses in wagons of light polished wood painted blue within; and all the while the carillon of the beautiful grave weigh house is ringing out its little tunes--the wedding march from "lohengrin" among them--and the little mechanical horsemen are charging in the tourney to the blast of the little mechanical trumpeter. at one o'clock they run only a single course; but at noon the glories of ashby-de-la-zouche are enacted. by nine o'clock on the friday morning the market square is covered with rectangular yellow heaps arranged with dutch systematic order and symmetry, many of them protected by tarpaulins, and the square is filled also with phlegmatic sellers and buyers, smoking, smoking, unceasingly smoking, and discussing the weather and the cheese, the cheese and the government. not till ten may business begin. instantly the first stroke of ten sounds the aspect of the place is changed. the government and the weather recede; cheese emerges triumphant. tarpaulins are stripped off; a new expression settles upon the features both of buyers and sellers; the dealers begin to move swiftly from one heap to another. they feel the cheeses, pat them, listen to them, plunge in their scoops and remove a long pink stick which they roll in their fingers, smell or taste and then neatly replace. meanwhile, the seller stands by with an air part self-satisfaction, part contempt, part pity, part detachment, as who should say "it matters nothing to me whether this fussy fellow thinks the cheese good or not, buys it or not; but whether he thinks it good or bad, or whether he buys, or leaves it, it is still the best cheese in alkmaar market, and some one will give me my price". the seller gnaws his cigar, the buyer asks him what he asks. the buyer makes an offer. the seller refuses. the buyer increases it. the seller either refuses or accepts. in accepting, or drawing near acceptance, he extends his hand, which the buyer strikes once, and then pausing, strikes again. apparently two such movements clench the bargain; but i must confess to being a bad guide here, for i could find no absolute rule to follow. the whole process of alkmaar chaffering is exceedingly perplexing and elusive. otherwise the buyer walks away to other cheeses, the seller by no means unconscious of his movements. a little later he returns, and then as likely as not his terms are accepted, unless another has been beforehand with him and bought the lot. not until half-past ten strikes may the weighing begin. at that hour the many porters suddenly spring into activity and hasten to the weigh house with their loads, which are ticketed off by the master of the scales. the scene is altogether very dutch and very interesting; and one should make a point of crossing the canal to get a general view of the market, with the river craft in the foreground, the bustling dealers behind, and above all the elaborate tower and facade of the weigh house. alkmaar otherwise is not of great interest. it has a large light church, bare and bleak according to custom, with very attractive green curtains against its whitewash, in which, according to the author of _through noord-holland_, is a tomb containing "the entrails of count florence the fifth". here also is a model of one of de ruyter's ships. alkmaar also possesses a charming oude mannen en oude vrouwen huis (or alms house, as we say) with white walls and a very pretty tower; quiet, pleasant streets; and on its outskirts a fine wood called the alkmaarder hout. in the museum, which is not too interesting, is a picture of the siege of alkmaar, an episode of which the town has every right to be proud. it was the point of attack by the duke of alva and his son after the conquest of haarlem--that hollow victory for spain which was more costly than many defeats. philip had issued a decree threatening the total depopulation of holland unless its cities submitted to the charms of his attractive religion. the citizens of alkmaar were the first to defy this proclamation. once again motley comes to our aid with his vivid narrative: "the spaniards advanced, burned the village of egmont to the ground as soon as the patriots had left it, and on the st of august don frederic, appearing before the walls, proceeded formally to invest alkmaar. in a few days this had been so thoroughly accomplished, that, in alva's language, 'it was impossible for a sparrow to enter or go out of the city'. the odds were somewhat unequal. sixteen thousand veteran troops constituted the besieging force. within the city were a garrison of _eight hundred_ soldiers, together with _thirteen hundred_ burghers, capable of bearing arms. the rest of the population consisted of a very few refugees, besides the women and children. two thousand one hundred able-bodied men, of whom only about one-third were soldiers, to resist sixteen thousand regulars! "nor was there any doubt as to the fate which was reserved for them, should they succumb. the duke was vociferous at the ingratitude with which his _clemency_ had hitherto been requited. he complained bitterly of the ill success which had attended his monitory circulars; reproached himself with incredible vehemence, for his previous mildness, and protested that, after having executed only twenty-three hundred persons at the surrender of haarlem, besides a few additional burghers since, he had met with no correspondent demonstrations of affection. he promised himself, however, an ample compensation for all this ingratitude in the wholesale vengeance which he purposed to wreck upon alkmaar. already he gloated in anticipation over the havoc which would soon be let loose within those walls. such ravings, if invented by the pen of fiction, would seem a puerile caricature; proceeding, authentically, from his own, they still appear almost too exaggerated for belief. 'if i take alkmaar,' he wrote to philip, 'i am resolved not to leave a single creature alive; the knife shall be put to every throat. since the example of harlem has proved of no use, _perhaps an example of cruelty_ will bring the other cities to their senses,' he took occasion also to read a lecture to the party of conciliation in madrid, whose counsels, as he believed, his sovereign was beginning to heed. nothing, he maintained, could be more senseless than the idea of pardon and clemency. this had been sufficiently proved by recent events. it was easy for people at a distance to talk about gentleness; but those upon the spot knew better. _gentleness had produced nothing_, so far; violence alone could succeed in future. 'let your majesty,' he said, 'be disabused of the impression, that with kindness anything can be done with these people. already have matters reached such a point that many of those born in the country, who have hitherto advocated clemency, are now undeceived, and acknowledge their mistake. they are of opinion _that not a living soul should be left in alkmaar, but that every individual should be put to the sword_.'... "affairs soon approached a crisis within the beleaguered city. daily skirmishes, without decisive result, had taken place outside the walls. at last, on the th of september, after a steady cannonade of nearly twelve hours, don frederic at three in the afternoon, ordered an assault. notwithstanding his seven months' experience at haarlem, he still believed it certain that he should carry alkmaar by storm. the attack took place at once upon the frisian gate, and upon the red tower on the opposite side. two choice regiments, recently arrived from lombardy, led the onset, rending the air with their shouts, and confident of an easy victory. they were sustained by what seemed an overwhelming force of disciplined troops. yet never, even in the recent history of haarlem, had an attack been received by more dauntless breasts. every living man was on the walls, the storming parties were assailed with cannon, with musketry, with pistols. boiling water, pitch and oil, molten lead, and unslaked lime, were poured upon them every moment. hundreds of tarred and burning hoops were skilfully quoited around the necks of the soldiers, who struggled in vain to extricate themselves from these fiery ruffs, while as fast as any of the invaders planted foot upon the breach, they were confronted face to face with sword and dagger by the burghers, who hurled them headlong into the moat below. "thrice was the attack renewed with ever-increasing rage--thrice repulsed with unflinching fortitude. the storm continued four hours long. during all that period, not one of the defenders left his post, till he dropped from it dead or wounded. the women and children, unscared by the balls flying in every direction, or by the hand-to-hand conflicts on the ramparts, passed steadily to and fro from the arsenals to the fortifications, constantly supplying their fathers, husbands, and brothers with powder and ball. thus, every human being in the city that could walk had become a soldier. at last darkness fell upon the scene. the trumpet of recall was sounded, and the spaniards, utterly discomfited, retired from the walls, leaving at least one thousand dead in the trenches, while only thirteen burghers and twenty-four of the garrison lost their lives. thus was alkmaar preserved for a little longer--thus a large and well-appointed army signally defeated by a handful of men fighting for their firesides and altars. ensign solis, who had mounted the breach for an instant, and miraculously escaped with life, after having been hurled from the battlements, reported that he had seen 'neither helmet nor harness,' as he looked down into the city; only some plain-looking people, generally dressed like fishermen. yet these plain-looking fishermen had defeated the veterans of alva.... "the day following the assault, a fresh cannonade was opened upon the city. seven hundred shots having been discharged, the attack was ordered. it was in vain; neither threats nor entreaties could induce the spaniards, hitherto so indomitable, to mount the breach. the place seemed to their imagination protected by more than mortal powers, otherwise how was it possible that a few half-starved fishermen could already have so triumphantly overthrown the time-honoured legions of spain. it was thought, no doubt, that the devil, whom they worshipped, would continue to protect his children. neither the entreaties nor the menaces of don frederic were of any avail. several soldiers allowed themselves to be run through the body by their own officers, rather than advance to the wails, and the assault was accordingly postponed to an indefinite period." what seemed at first an unfortunate accident turned the scale. a messenger bearing despatches from the prince of orange fell into spanish hands and don frederic learned that the sea was to be let in. motley continues: "the resolution taken by orange, of which don frederic was thus unintentionally made aware, to flood the country far and near rather than fail to protect alkmaar, made a profound impression upon his mind. it was obvious that he was dealing with a determined leader, and with desperate men. his attempt to carry the place by storm had signally failed, and he could not deceive himself as to the temper and disposition of his troops ever since that repulse. when it should become known that they were threatened with submersion in the ocean, in addition to all the other horrors of war, he had reason to believe that they would retire ignominiously from that remote and desolate sand hook, where, by remaining, they could only find a watery grave. these views having been discussed in a council of officers, the result was reached that sufficient had been already accomplished for the glory of the spanish arms. neither honour nor loyalty, it was thought, required that sixteen thousand soldiers should be sacrificed in a contest, not with man, but with the ocean. "on the th of october, accordingly, the siege, which had lasted seven weeks, was raised, and don frederic rejoined his father in amsterdam. ready to die in the last ditch, and to overwhelm both themselves and their foes in a common catastrophe, the hollanders had at last compelled their haughty enemy to fly from a position which he had so insolently assumed." every one is agreed that hoorn should be approached by water, because it rises from the sea like an enchanted city of the east, with its spires and its harbour tower beautifully unreal. and as the ship comes nearer there is the additional interest of wondering how the apparently landlocked harbour is to be entered, a long green bar seeming to stretch unbrokenly from side to side. at the last minute the passage is revealed, and one glides into this romantic port. i put hoorn next to middelburg in the matter of charm, but seen from the sea it is of greater fascination. in many ways hoorn is more remarkable as a town, but more of my heart belongs to middelburg. i sat on the coping of the harbour at sundown and watched a merry party dining in the saloon of a white and exceedingly comfortable-looking yacht, some thirty or forty yards away. two neat maids continually passed from the galley to the saloon, and laughter came over the water. the yacht was from arnheim, its owner having all the appearance of a retired east indian official. in the distance was a tiny sailing boat with its sail set to catch what few puffs of wind were moving. its only occupant was a man in crimson trousers, the reflection from which made little splashes of warm colour in the pearl grey sea. at hoorn there seems to be a tendency to sail for pleasure, for as we came away a party of chattering girls glided out in the care of an elderly man--bound for a cruise in the zuyder zee. it is conjectured that hoorn took its name from the mole protecting the harbour, which might be considered to have the shape of a horn. the city as she used to be (now dwindled to something less, although the cheese industry makes her prosperous enough and happy enough) was called by the poet vondel the trumpet and capital of the zuyder zee, the blessed horn. he referred particularly to the days of tromp, whose ravaging and victorious navy was composed largely of hoorn ships. cape horn, at the foot of south america, is the name-child of the dutch port, for the first to discover the passage round that headland and to give it its style was willem schouten, a hoorn sailor. it was another hoorn sailor, abel tasman, who discovered van diemen's land (now called after him) and also new zealand; and a third, jan pieters coen (whose statue may be seen at hoorn) who founded the dutch dominions in the east indies, and thus changed the whole character of his own country, leading to that orientalising to which i have so often referred. a more picturesque hero was john haring of hoorn, who performed a great feat in , when de sonoy, the prince of orange's general, was fighting de bossu, the spanish admiral, off the y, just at the beginning of the siege of haarlem. an unexpected force of spaniards from amsterdam overwhelmed the few men whom de sonoy had mustered for the defence of the diemerdyk. i quote motley's account: "sonoy, who was on his way to their rescue, was frustrated in his design by the unexpected faint-heartedness of the volunteers whom he had enlisted at edam. braving a thousand perils, he advanced, almost unattended, in his little vessel, but only to witness the overthrow and expulsion of his band. it was too late for him singly to attempt to rally the retreating troops. they had fought well, but had been forced to yield before superior numbers, one individual of the little army having performed prodigies of valour. john haring, of hoorn, had planted himself entirely alone upon the dyke, where it was so narrow between the y on the one side and diemer lake on the other, that two men could hardly stand abreast. here, armed with sword and shield, he had actually opposed and held in check one thousand of the enemy, during a period long enough to enable his own men, if they had been willing, to rally, and effectively to repel the attack. it was too late, the battle was too far lost to be restored; but still the brave soldier held the post, till, by his devotion, he had enabled all those of his compatriots who still remained in the entrenchments to make good their retreat. he then plunged into the sea, and, untouched by spear or bullet, effected his escape. had he been a greek or a roman, a horatius or a chabras, his name would have been famous in history--his statue erected in the market-place; for the bold dutchman on his dyke had manifested as much valour in a sacred cause as the most classic heroes of antiquity." then came the siege of haarlem, and then the siege of alkmaar. hoorn's turn followed, but hoorn was gloriously equal to it in the hands of admiral dirckzoon, whose sword is in the alkmaar museum, and whose tomb is at delft. motley shall tell the story: "on the th october, however, the whole patriot fleet, favored by a strong easterly breeze, bore down upon the spanish armada, which, numbering now thirty sail of all denominations, was lying off and on in the neighbourhood of hoorn and enkhuyzen. after a short and general engagement, nearly all the spanish fleet retired with precipitation, closely pursued by most of the patriot dutch vessels. five of the king's ships were eventually taken, the rest effected their escape. only the admiral remained, who scorned to yield, although his forces had thus basely deserted him. his ship, the 'inquisition,' for such was her insolent appellation, was far the largest and best manned of both the fleets. most of the enemy had gone in pursuit of the fugitives, but four vessels of inferior size had attacked the 'inquisition' at the commencement of the action. of these, one had soon been silenced, while the other three had grappled themselves inextricably to her sides and prow. the four drifted together, before wind and tide, a severe and savage action going on incessantly, during which the navigation of the ships was entirely abandoned. no scientific gunnery, no military or naval tactics were displayed or required in such a conflict. it was a life-and-death combat, such as always occurred when spaniard and netherlander met, whether on land or water. bossu and his men, armed in bullet-proof coats of mail, stood with shield and sword on the deck of the 'inquisition,' ready to repel all attempts to board. the hollander, as usual, attacked with pitch hoops, boiling oil, and molten lead. repeatedly they effected their entrance to the admiral's ship, and as often they were repulsed and slain in heaps, or hurled into the sea. "the battle began at three in the afternoon, and continued without intermission through the whole night. the vessels, drifting together, struck on the shoal called the nek, near wydeness. in the heat of the action the occurrence was hardly heeded. in the morning twilight, john haring, of hoorn, the hero who had kept one thousand soldiers at bay upon the diemer dyke, clambered on board the 'inquisition,' and hauled her colors down. the gallant but premature achievement cost him his life. he was shot through the body and died on the deck of the ship, which was not quite ready to strike her flag. in the course of the forenoon, however, it became obvious to bossu that further resistance was idle. the ships were aground near a hostile coast, his own fleet was hopelessly dispersed, three-quarters of his crew were dead or disabled, while the vessels with which he was engaged were constantly recruited by boats from the shore, which brought fresh men and ammunition, and removed their killed and wounded. at eleven o'clock admiral bossu surrendered, and with three hundred prisoners was carried into holland. bossu was himself imprisoned at hoorn, in which city he was received, on his arrival, with great demonstrations of popular hatred." de bossu remained in prison for three years. later he fought for the states. his goblet is preserved at hoorn. his collar is at monnickendam and his sword at enkhuisen. the room in the protestant orphanage where de bossu was imprisoned is still to be seen; and you may see also at the corner of the grooteoost the houses from which the good wives and housekeepers watched the progress of the battle, and on which a bas-relief representation of the battle was afterwards placed in commemoration. two more heroes of hoorn may be seen in effigy on the façade of the state college, opposite the weigh house, guarding an english shield. the shield is placed there, among the others, on account of a daring feat performed by two negro sailors in de ruyter's fleet in the thames, who ravished from an english ship in distress the shield at her stern and presented it to hoorn, their adopted town, where it is now supported by bronze figures of its captors. hoorn's streets are long and cheerful, with houses graciously bending forwards, many of them dignified by black paint and yet not made too grave by it. this black paint blending with the many trees on the canal sides has the same curious charm as at amsterdam, although there the blackness is richer and more absolute. even the hoorn warehouses are things of beauty: one in particular, by the harbour tower, with bright green shutters, is indescribably gay, almost coquettish. hoorn also has the most satisfying little houses i saw in holland--streets of them. and of all the costumes of holland i remember most vividly the dead black dress and lace cap of a woman who suddenly turned a corner here--as if she had walked straight from a picture by elias. the harbour tower is perhaps hoorn's finest building, its charm being intensified rather than diminished by the hideous barracks close by. st. jan's gasthuis has a façade of beautiful gravity, and the gateway of the home for ouden vrouwen is perfect. the museum in the tribunalshof is the most intimate and human collection of curiosities which i saw in holland--not a fossil, not a stuffed bird, in the building. among the pictures are the usual groups of soldiers and burgomasters, and the usual fine determined de ruyter by bol. we were shown hoorn's treasures by a pleasant girl who allowed no shade of tedium to cross her smiling courteous face, although the display of these ancient pictures and implements, ornaments and domestic articles must have been her daily work for years. in the top room of all is a curious piece of carved stone on which may be read these inscriptions:-- this most illustrious prince, henry lord darnley, king of scotland, father to our soveraigne lord king james. he died at the age of . the most excellent princesse marie, queen of scotland, mother of our soveraigne, lord king james. she died , and entombed at west minster. it would be interesting to know more of this memorial. in another room are two carved doors from a house in hoorn that had been disfurnished which give one a very vivid idea of the old good taste of this people and the little palaces of grave art in which they lived. thursday is hoorn's market day, and it is important to be there then if one would see the market carts of north holland in abundance. we had particularly good fortune since our thursday was not only market day but the kermis too. i noticed that the principal attraction of the fair, for boys, was the stalls (unknown at the kermis both at middelburg and leyden) on which a variety of flat cake was chopped with a hatchet. the chopper, who i understand is entitled only to what he can sever with one blow, often fails to get any. nieuwediep and the helder, at the extreme north of holland, are one, and interesting only to those to whom naval works are interesting. for they are the portsmouth and woolwich of the country. my memories of these twin towns are not too agreeable, for when i was there in the voyage from amsterdam by the north holland canal had chilled me through and through, and in it rained without ceasing. nieuwediep is all shipping and sailors, cadet schools and hospitals. the helder is a dull town, with the least attractive architecture i had seen, cowering beneath a huge dyke but for which, one is assured, it would lie at the bottom of the north sea. under rain it is a drearier town than any i know; and ordinarily it is bleak and windy, saved only by its kites, which are flown from the dyke and sail over the sea at immense heights. every boy has a kite--one more link between holland and china. i climbed the lighthouse at the helder just before the lamp was lit. it was an impressive ceremony. the captain and his men stood all ready, the captain watching the sun as it sunk on the horizon. at the instant it disappeared he gave the word, and at one stride came the light. i chanced at the moment to be standing between the lantern and the sea, and i was asked to move with an earnestness of entreaty in which the safety of a whole navy seemed to be involved. the light may be seen forty-eight miles away. it is fine to think of all the eyes within that extent of sea, invisible to us, caught almost simultaneously by this point of flame. i did not stay at nieuwediep but at the helder. thirty years ago, however, one could have done nothing so inartistic, for then, according to m. havard, the hotel ten burg at nieuwediep had for its landlord a poet, and for its head waiter a baritone, and to stay elsewhere would have been a crime. here is m. havard's description of these virtuosi: "no one ever sees the landlord the first day he arrives at the hotel. m.b.r. de breuk is not accessible to ordinary mortals. he lives up among the clouds, and when he condescends to come down to earth he shuts himself up in his own room, where he indulges in pleasant intercourse with the muses. "i have no objection to confessing that, although i am a brother in the art, and have stayed several times at his hotel, i have never once been allowed to catch a glimpse of his features. the head-waiter, happily, is just the contrary. it is he who manages the hotel, receives travellers, and arranges for their well-being. he is a handsome fellow, with a fresh complexion, heavy moustache, and one lock of hair artificially arranged on his forehead. he is perfectly conscious of his own good looks, and wears rings on both his hands. nature has endowed him with a sonorous baritone voice, the notes of which, whether sharp or melodious, he is careful in expressing, because he is charmed with his art, and has an idea that it is fearfully egotistical to conceal such treasures. one note especially he never fails to utter distinctly, and that is the last--the note of payment. "sometimes he allows himself to become so absorbed in his art that he forgets the presence in the hotel of tired travellers, and disturbs their slumbers by loud roulades and cadences; or perhaps he is asked to fetch a bottle of beer, he stops on the way to the cellar to perfect the harmony of a scale, and does not return till the patience of the customer is exhausted. but who would have the heart to complain of such small grievances when the love of song is stronger than any other?" i had no such fortune in holland. no hotel proprietor rhymed for me, no waiter sang. my chief friends were rather the hotel porters, of whom i recall in particular two--the paternal colossus at the amstel in amsterdam, who might have sat for the creator to an old master--urbane, efficient, a storehouse of good counsel; and the plump and wide cynic into whose capable and kindly hands one falls at the oude doelen at the hague, that shrewd and humorous reader of men and americans. i see yet his expression of pity, not wholly (yet perhaps sufficiently) softened to polite interest, when consulted as to the best way in which to visit alkmaar to see the cheese market. that any one staying at the hague--and more, at the oude doelen--should wish to see traffic in cheese at a provincial town still strikes his wise head as tragic, although it happens every week. i honour him for it and for the exquisite tact with which he retains his opinion and allows you to have yours. a poet landlord and an operatic head waiter, what are they when all is said beside a friendly hotel porter? he is the _deus ex machinâ_ indeed. the praises of the hotel porter have yet to be sung. o switzerland! the poet might begin (not, probably, a landlord poet) o switzerland--i give but a bald paraphrase of the spirited original--o switzerland, thou land of peaks and cow bells, of wild strawberries and nonconformist conventions, of grasshoppers and climbing dons, thou hast strange limitations! thou canst produce no painter, thou possessest no navy; but thou makest the finest hotel porters in the world. erect, fair-haired, blue-eyed, tactful and informing, they are the true friends of the homeless!--and so on for many strophes. to texel i did not cross, although it is hard for any one who has read _the riddle of the sands_ to refrain. had we been there in the nesting season i might have wandered in search of the sea birds' and the plovers' eggs, just for old sake's sake, as i have in the island of coll, but we were too late, and the helder had depressed us. it was off the island of texel on st july, , that admiral tromp was killed during his engagement with the english under monk. medemblik, situated on the point of a spur of land between the helder and enkhuisen, was once the residence of radbod and the kings of frisia. it is now nothing. one good story at any rate may be recalled there. when radbod, king of the frisians, was driven out of western frisia in by pepin of heristal, duke and prince of the franks (father of charles martel and great grandfather of charlemagne, who completed the conquest of frisia), the defeated king was considered a convert to christianity, and the preparations for his baptism were made on a grand scale. never a whole-hearted convert, radbod, even as one foot was in the water, had a visitation of doubt. where, he made bold to ask, were the noble kings his ancestors, who had not, like himself, been offered this inestimable privilege of baptism--in heaven or in hell? the officiating bishop replied that they were doubtless in hell. "then," said radbod, withdrawing his foot, "i think it would be better did i join them there, rather than go alone to paradise." enkhuisen, where one embarks for friesland, is a dead city of the zuyder zee, with more signs of dissolution than most of them. once she had a population of sixty thousand; that number must now be divided by ten. "above all things," says m. havard, the discoverer of dead cities, "avoid a promenade in this deserted town with an inhabitant familiar with its history, otherwise you will constantly hear the refrain; 'here was formerly the richest quarter of commerce; there, where the houses are falling into total ruin, was the quarter of our aristocracy,' but more painful still, when we have arrived at what appears the very end of the town, the very last house, we see at a distance a gate of the city. a hundred years ago the houses joined this gate. it took us a walk of twenty minutes across the meadows to arrive at this deserted spot." i did not explore the town, and therefore i cannot speak with any authority of its possessions; but i saw enough to realise what a past it must have had. at enkhuisen was born paul potter, who painted the famous picture of the bull in the mauritshuis at the hague. the year saw his birth; and it was only twenty-nine years later that he died. while admiring potter's technical powers, i can imagine few nervous trials more exacting than having to live with his bull intimately in one's room. this only serves to show how temperamental a matter is art criticism, for on each occasion that i have been to the mauritshuis the bull has had a ring of mute or throbbing worshippers, while vermeer's "view of delft" was without a devotee. i have seen, however, little scenes of cattle by potter which were attractive as well as masterly. sir william temple, in his _observations upon the united provinces_ gives a very human page to this old town: "among the many and various hospitals, that are in every man's curiosity and talk that travels their country, i was affected with none more than that of the aged seamen at enchuysen, which is contrived, finished, and ordered, as if it were done with a kind intention of some well-natured man, that those, who had passed their whole lives in the hardships and incommodities of the sea, should find a retreat stored with all the eases and conveniences that old age is capable of feeling and enjoying. and here i met with the only rich man that ever i saw in my life: for one of these old seamen entertaining me a good while with the plain stories of his fifty years' voyages and adventures, while i was viewing their hospital, and the church adjoining, i gave him, at parting, a piece of their coin about the value of a crown: he took it smiling, and offered it me again; but, when i refused it, he asked me, what he should do with money? for all, that ever they wanted, was provided for them at their house. i left him to overcome his modesty as he could; but a servant, coming after me, saw him give it to a little girl that opened the church door, as she passed by him: which made me reflect upon the fantastic calculation of riches and poverty that is current in the world, by which a man, that wants a million, is a prince; he, that wants but a groat, is a beggar; and this a poor man, that wanted nothing at all." hoorn's harbour tower, as i have said, has a charm beyond description; but enkhuisen's--known as the dromedary--is unwieldly and plain. it has, however, this advantage over hoorn's, its bells are very beautiful. one sees the dromedary for some miles on the voyage to stavoren and friesland. chapter xv friesland: stavoren to leeuwarden enkhuisen to stavoren--draining the zuyder zee--the widow and the sandbank--frisian births and courtships--hindeloopen--quaint rooms and houses--a pious pun--biers for all trades--sneek--barge life--two giants--bolsward--the cow--a digression on the weed. the traveller from amsterdam enters free frisia at stavoren, once the home of kings and now a mere haven. a little steamer carries the passengers from enkhuisen, while the cattle trucks and vans of merchandise cross the zuyder zee in a huge railway raft. the steamer takes an hour or a little longer--time enough to have lunch on deck if it is fine, and watch enkhuisen fading into nothingness and stavoren rising from the sea. before the thirteenth century the zuyder zee consisted only of lake flevo, south of stavoren and enkhuisen, so that our passage then would have been made on land. but in came a great tempest which drove the german ocean over the north-west shores of holland, insulating texel and pouring over the low land between holland and friesland. the scheme now in contemplation to drain the zuyder zee proposes a dam from enkhuisen to piaam, thus reclaiming some , , acres for meadow land. since what man has done man can do, there is little doubt but that the dutch will carry through this great project. concerning stavoren there is now but one thing to say, and no writer on holland has had the temerity to avoid saying it. that thing is the story of the widow and the sandbank. it seems that at stavoren in its palmy days was a wealthy widow shipowner, who once gave instructions to one of her captains, bound for a foreign port, that he should bring back the most valuable and precious thing to be found there, in exchange for the outward cargo. the widow expected i know not what--ivory, perhaps, or peacocks, or chrysoprase--and when the captain brought only grain, she was so incensed that, though the poor of stavoren implored her to give it them, she bade him forthwith throw it overboard. this he did, and the corn being cursed there sprang up on that spot a sandbank which gradually ruined the harbour and the town. the bank is called the widow's corn to this day. it was near stavoren that m. havard engaged in a pleasant and improving conversation with a lock-keeper who had fought with france, and from him learned some curious things about friesland customs. i quote a little: "when a wife has given birth to a boy and added a son to friesland, all her female friends come to see her and drink in her room the _brandewyn_, which is handed round in a special cup or goblet. each woman brings with her a large tart, all of which are laid out in the room--sometimes they number as many as thirty. the more there are and the finer the cakes the better, because that proves the number of friends. a few days later the new-born frieslander is taken to church, all the girls from twelve years old accompanying the child and carrying it each in turn. as soon as they reach the church the child is handed to the father, who presents it for baptism. not a girl in the place would renounce her right to take part in the little procession, for it is a subject of boasting when she marries to be able to say, 'i have accompanied this and that child to its baptism'. besides, it is supposed to ensure happiness, and that she in her turn will have a goodly number of little ones. "'well and how about betrothals?' 'ah! ha! that's another thing. the girl chooses the lad. you know the old proverb, 'there are only two things a girl chooses herself--her potatoes and her lover'. you can well imagine how such things begin. they see each other at the _kermis_, or in the street, or fields. then one fine day the lad feels his heart beating louder than usual. in the evening he puts on his best coat, and goes up to the house where the girl lives. "the father and mother give him a welcome, which the girls smile at, and nudge each other. no one refers to the reason for his visit, though of course it is well known why he is there. at last, when bedtime comes, the children retire--even the father and mother go to their room--and the girl is left alone at the fireside with the young man. "they speak of this and that, and everything, but not a word of love is uttered. if the girl lets the fire go down, it is a sign she does not care for the lad, and won't have him for a husband. if, on the contrary, she heaps fuel on the fire, he knows that she loves him and means to accept him for her affianced husband. in the first case, all the poor lad has to do is to open the door and retire, and never put his foot in the house again. but, in the other, he knows it is all right, and from that day forward he is treated as if he belonged to the family.' "'and how long does the engagement last?' "'oh, about as long as everywhere else--two, three years, more or less, and that is the happiest time of their lives. the lad takes his girl about everywhere; they go to the _kermis_, skate, and amuse themselves, and no one troubles or inquires about them. even the girl's parents allow her to go about with her lover without asking any questions.'" a dutch proverb says, "take a brabant sheep, a guelderland ox, a flemish capon and a frisian cow". the taking of the frisian cow certainly presents few difficulties, for the surface of friesland is speckled thickly with that gentle animal--ample in size and black and white in hue. the only creatures that one sees from the carriage windows on the railway journey are cows in the fields and plovers above them. now and then a man in his blue linen coat, now and then a heron; but cows always and plovers always. never a bullock. the meadows of holland are a female republic. perkin middlewick (in _our boys_) had made so much money out of pork that whenever he met a pig he was tempted to raise his hat; the dutch, especially of north holland and friesland, should do equal homage to their friend the cow. edam acknowledges the obligation in her municipal escutcheon. stavoren may be dull and unalluring, but not so hindeloopen, the third station on the railway to leeuwarden, where we shall stay. at hindeloopen the journey should be broken for two or three hours. should, nay must. hindeloopen (which means stag hunt) has been called the museum of holland. all that is most picturesque in dutch furniture and costume comes from this little town--or professes to do so, for the manufacture of spurious hindeloopen cradles and stoofjes, chairs and cupboards, is probably a recognised industry. in the museum at leeuwarden are two rooms arranged and furnished exactly in the genuine hindeloopen manner, and they are exceedingly charming and gay. the smaller of the two has the ordinary blue and white dutch tiles, with scriptural or other subjects, around the walls to the height of six feet; above them are pure white tiles, to the ceiling, with an occasional delicate blue pattern. the floor is of red and brown tiles. all the furniture is painted very gaily upon a cream or white background--with a gaiety that has a touch of the orient in it. the bed is hidden behind painted woodwork in the wall, like a berth, and is gained by a little flight of movable steps, also radiant. i never saw so happy a room. on the wall is a cabinet of curios and silver ornaments. the larger room is similiar but more costly. on the wall are fine delft plates, and seated at the table are wax hindeloopeners: a man with a clay pipe and tobacco box, wearing a long flowered waistcoat, a crossed white neckcloth and black coat and hat--not unlike a quaker in festival attire; and his neat and very picturesque women folk are around him. in the cradle, enshrined in ornamentations, is a hindeloopen baby. more old silver and shining brass here and there, and the same resolute cheerfulness of colouring everywhere. some of the houses in which such rooms were found still stand at hindeloopen. the dutch once liked puns, and perhaps still do so. again and again in their old inscriptions one finds experiments in the punning art, on the church of hindeloopen, for example, are these lines:-- des heeren woord met aandacht hoort komt daartoe met hoopen als hinden loopen. the poet must have had a drop of salvationist blood in his veins, for only in general booth's splendid followers do we look for such spirited invitations. the verses call upon worshippers to run together like deer to hear the word of god. within the great church, among other interesting things, are a large number of biers. these also are decorated according to the pretty hindeloopen usage, one for the dead of each trade. order even in death. the hindeloopen baker who has breathed his last must be carried to the grave on the bakers' bier, or the proprieties will wince. after hindeloopen the first town of importance on the way to leeuwarden is sneek; and sneek is not important. but sneek has a water-gate of quaint symmetrical charm, with two little spires--the least little bit like the infant child of the amsterdam gate at haarlem. in common with so many frisian towns sneek has suffered from flood. a disastrous inundation overwhelmed her on the evening of all saints' day in , when the dykes were broken and the water rushed in to the height of five feet. such must be great times of triumph for the floating population, who, like the sailor in the old ballad of the sea, may well pity the unfortunate and insecure dwellers in houses. what the number of friesland's floating population is i do not know; but it must be very large. many barges and tjalcks are both the birthplace and deathplace of their owners, who know no other home. the cabins are not less intimately cared for and decorated than the sitting-rooms of volendam and marken. we saw at edam certain odd characters formed in nature's wayward moods. sneek also possessed a giant named lange jacob, who was eight feet tall and the husband of korte jannetje (little jenny), who was just half that height. people came from great distances to see this couple. and at sneek, in the church of st. martin, is buried a giant of more renown and prowess--peter van heemstra, or "lange pier" as he was called from his inches, a sea ravener of notable ferocity, whose two-handed sword is preserved at leeuwarden--although, as m. havard says, what useful purpose a two-handed sword can serve to an admiral on a small ship baffles reflection. bolsward, sneek's neighbour, is another amphibious town, with a very charming stadhuis in red and white, crowned by an oriental bell tower completely out of keeping with the modern frisian who hears its voice. this constant occurrence of oriental freakishness in the architecture of dutch towns, in contrast with dutch occidental four-square simplicity and plainness of character, is an effect to which one never quite grows accustomed. bolsward's church, which is paved with tomb-stones, among them some very rich ones in high relief--too high for the comfort of the desecrating foot--has a fine carved pulpit, some oak stalls of great antiquity and an imposing bell tower. it is claimed that the frisians were the first europeans to smoke pipes. whether or not that is the case, the dutch are now the greatest smokers. recent statistics show that whereas the annual consumption of tobacco by every inhabitant of great britain and ireland is . lb., and of germany lb., that of the dutch is lb. putting the smoking population at per cent. of the total--allowing thus for women, children and non-smokers--this means that every dutch smoker consumes about eight ounces of tobacco a week, or a little more than an ounce a day. i excepted women and children, but that is wrong. the boys smoke too--sometimes pipes, oftenest cigars. at a music hall at the hague i watched a contest in generosity between two friends in a family party as to which should supply a small boy in sailor suit, evidently the son of the host, with a cigar. both won. fell, writing in , says that the dutch, although smoke dried, were not then smoking so much as they had done twenty years before. the dutchmen, he says, "of the lower classes of society, and not a few in the higher walks of life, carry in their pockets the whole apparatus which is necessary for smoking:--a box of enormous size, which frequently contains half a pound of tobacco; a pipe of clay or ivory, according to the fancy or wealth of the possessor; if the latter, instruments to clean it; a pricker to remove obstructions from the tube of the pipe; a cover of brass wire for the bowl, to prevent the ashes or sparks of the tobacco from flying out; and sometimes a tinderbox, or bottle of phosphorus, to procure fire, in case none is at hand. "the excuse of the dutch for their lavish attachment to tobacco, in the most offensive form in which it can be exhibited, is, that the smoke of this transatlantic weed preserves them from many disorders to which they are liable from the moisture of the atmosphere of their country, and enables them to bear cold and wet without inconvenience." fell supports this curious theory by relating that when, soaked by a storm, he arrived at an inn at overschie, the landlord offered him a pipe of tobacco to prevent any bad consequences. fell, however, having none of his friend charles lamb's affection for the friendly traitress, declined it with asperity. ireland has an ingenious theory to account for the addiction of the dutch to tobacco. it is, he says, the succedaneum to purify the unwholesome exhalations of the canals. "a dutchman's taciturnity forbids his complaining; so that all his waking hours are silently employed in casting forth the filthy puff of the weed, to dispel the more filthy stench of the canal." ireland's view was probably an invention; but this i know, that the dutch cigar and the dutch atmosphere are singularly well adapted to each other. i brought home a box of a brand which was agreeable in holland, and they were unendurable in the sweet air of kent. the cigar is the national medium for consuming tobacco, cigarettes being practically unknown, and pipes rare in the streets. my experience of the dutch cigar is that it is a very harmless luxury and a very persuasive one. after a little while it becomes second nature to drop into a tobacconist's and slip a dozen cigars into one's pocket, at a cost of a few pence; and the cigars being there, it is another case of second nature to smoke them practically continuously. of these cigars, which range in price from one or two cents to a few pence each, there are hundreds if not thousands of varieties. the number of tobacconists in holland must be very great, and the trade is probably strong enough to resist effectually the impost on the weed which was recently threatened by a daring minister, if ever it is attempted. the pretty french custom of giving tobacco licences to the widows of soldiers is not adopted here; indeed i do not see that it could be, for the army is only , strong. in times of stress it might perhaps be advisable to send the tobacconists out to fight, and keep the soldiers to mind as many of their shops as could be managed, shutting up the rest. chapter xvi leeuwarden and neighbourhood an agricultural centre--a city of prosperity and health--the fair frisians--metal head-dresses--silver work--the chancellerie--a paradise of blue china--jumping poles--the sea swallow--a sunday excursion--dogs for england--the idle busybodies--the stork--a critical village--the green crop--the dyke--a linguist--harlingen--a dutch picture collector--franeker--the planetarium--dokkum's bad reputation--a discursive guide-book--bigamy punished--a husband-tamer--boxum's record--sjuck's short way--the heroic bauck--a load of exorcists--poor lysse. in an hour or two the train brings us to leeuwarden, between flat green meadows unrelieved save for the frequent isolated homesteads, in which farm house, dairy, barn, cow stalls and stable are all under one great roof that starts almost from the ground. on the essex flats the homesteads have barns and sheltering trees to keep them company: here it is one house and a mere hedge of saplings or none at all. for the rest--cows and plovers, plovers and cows. friesland's capital, leeuwarden, might be described as an english market town, such as horsham in sussex, scoured and carried out to its highest power, rather than a small city. the cattle trade of friesland has here its headquarters, and a farmer needing agricultural implements must fare to leeuwarden to buy them. the frisian farmer certainly does need them, for it is his habit to take three crops of short hay off his meadows, rather than one crop of long hay in the english manner. not only cattle but also horses are sold in leeuwarden market. the frisian horse is a noble animal, truly the friend of man; and the frisians are fond of horses and indulge both in racing and in trotting--or "hardraverij" as they pleasantly call it. i made a close friend of a frisian mare on the steamer from rotterdam to dort. at dort i had to leave her, for she was bound for nymwegen. a most charming creature. leeuwarden is large and prosperous and healthy. what one misses in it is any sense of intimate cosiness. one seems to be nearer the elements, farther from the ingratiating works of man, than hitherto in any dutch town. the strong air, the openness of land, the degrees of sky, the northern sharpness, all are far removed from the solace of the chimney corner. it is a spartan people, preferring hard health to overcoats; and the streets and houses reflect this temperament. they are clean and strong and bare--no huddling or niggling architecture. everything also is bright, the effect largely of paint, but there must be something very antiseptic in this frisian atmosphere. the young women of leeuwarden--the fair frisians--are tall and strong and fresh looking; not exactly beautiful but very pleasant. "there go good wives and good mothers," one says. their amazonian air is accentuated by the casque of gold or silver which fits tightly over their heads and gleams through its lace covering: perhaps the most curious head-dress in this country of elaborate head-dresses, and never so curious as when, on sundays, an ordinary black bonnet, bristling with feathers and jet, is mounted on the top of it. that, however, is a refinement practised only by the middle-aged and elderly women: the young women wear either the casque or a hat, never both. if one climbs the oldehof and looks down on the city on a sunny day--as i did--the glint of a metal casque continually catches the eye. these head-dresses are of some value, and are handed on from mother to daughter for generations. no dutch woman is ever too poor to lay by a little jewellery; and many a domestic servant carries, i am told, twenty pounds worth of goldsmith's work upon her. once leeuwarden was famous for its goldsmiths and silversmiths, but the interest in precious metal work is not what it was. many of the little silver ornaments--the windmills, and houses, and wagons, and boats--which once decorated dutch sitting-rooms as a matter of course, and are now prized by collectors, were made in leeuwarden. the city's architectural jewel is the chancellerie, a very ornate but quite successful building dating from the sixteenth century: first the residence of the chancellors, recently a prison, and now the record office of friesland. not until the middelburg stadhuis shall we see anything more cheerfully gay and decorative. the little weigh house is in its own way very charming. but for gravity one must go to the oldehof, a sombre tower on the ramparts of the city. once the sea washed its very walls. to the ordinary traveller the most interesting things in the leeuwarden museum, which is opposite the chancellerie, are the hindeloopen rooms which i have described in the last chapter; but to the antiquary it offers great entertainment. among ancient relics which the spade has revealed are some very early frisian tobacco pipes. among the pictures, for the most part very poor, is a dashing carolus duran and a very beautiful little daubigny. affiliated to the museum is one of the best collections of delft china in holland--a wonderful banquet of blue. this alone makes it necessary to visit leeuwarden. all about leeuwarden the boys have jumping poles for the ditches, and you may see dozens at a time, after school, leaping backwards and forwards over the streams, like frogs. children abound in friesland: the towns are filled with boys and girls; but one sees few babies. in holland the very old and the very young are alike invisible. one of the first things that i noticed at leeuwarden was the presence of a new bird. hitherto i had seen only the familiar birds that we know at home, except for a stork here and there and more herons than one catches sight of in england save in the neighbourhood of one of our infrequent heronries. but at leeuwarden you find, sweeping and plaining over the canals, the beautiful tern, otherwise known as the sea swallow, white and powerful and delicately graceful, and possessed of a double portion of the melancholy of birds of the sea. of the bittern, which is said to boom continually over the friesland meres, i caught no glimpse and heard no sound. from leeuwarden i rode one sunday morning by the steam-tram to st. jacobie parochie, a little village in the extreme north-west, where i proposed to take a walk upon the great dyke. it was a chilly morning, and i was glad to be inside the compartment as we rattled along the road. the only other occupant was a young minister in a white tie, puffing comfortably at his cigar, which in the manner of so many dutchmen he seemed to eat as he smoked. for a while we were raced--and for a few yards beaten--by two jolly boys in a barrow drawn by a pair of gallant dogs who foamed past us _ventre à terre_ with six inches of flapping tongue. the introduction into england of dogs as beasts of draught would i suppose never be tolerated. a score of humanitarian societies would spring into being to prevent it: possibly with some reason, for one has little faith in the considerateness of the average english costermonger or barrow-pusher. and yet the dog-workers of the netherlands seem to be cheerful beasts, wearing their yoke very easily. i have never seen one, either in holland or belgium, obviously distressed or badly treated. why the english dog should so often be a complete idler, and his brother across the sea the useful ally of man, is an ethnological problem: the reason lying not with the animals but with the nations. the flemish and dutch people are essentially humble and industrious, without ambitions beyond their station. the english are a dissatisfied folk who seldom look upon their present position as permanent. the english dog is idle because his master, always hoping for the miracle that shall make him idle too, does not really set his hand to the day's work and make others join him; the netherlandish dog is busy because his master does not believe in sloth, and having no illusions as to his future, knows that only upon a strenuous youth and middle age can a comfortable old age be built. countries that have not two nations--the idle and rich and the poor and busy--as we have, are, i think, greatly to be envied. life is so much more genuine there. england indeed has three nations: the workers, the idle rich who live only for themselves, and the idle rich or well-to-do who live also for others--in other words the busybodies. the third nation is the real enemy, for an altruist who has time on his hands can do enormous mischief between breakfast and lunch. it is this class that would at once make it impossible for a strong dog to help in drawing a poor man's barrow. the opportunity would be irresistible to them. the resolutions they would pass! the votes of thanks to the lieutenant-colonels in the chair! it was on this little journey to st. jacobie parochie that i saw my first stork. storks' nests there had been in plenty, but all were empty. but at wier, close to st. jacobie parochie, was a nest on a pole beside the road, and on this nest was a stork. the dutch, i think, have no more endearing trait than their kindness to this bird. once at any rate their solicitude was grotesque, although serviceable, for ireland tells of a young stork with a broken leg for which a wooden leg was substituted. upon this jury limb the bird lived happily for thirty years. the stork alone among dutch birds is sacred, but he is not alone in feeling secure. the fowler is no longer a common object of the country, as he seems to have been in albert cuyp's day, when he returned in the golden evening laden with game--for jan weenix to paint. st. jacobie parochie on a fine sunday morning is no place for a sensitive man. the whole of the male population of the village had assembled by the church--not, i fancy, with any intention of entering it--and every eye among them probed me like a corkscrew. it is an out of the world spot, to which it is possible no foreigner ever before penetrated, and since their country was a show to me i had no right to object to serve as a show to them. but such scrutiny is not comfortable. i hastened to the sea. one reaches the sea by a path across the fields to an inner dyke with a high road upon it, and then by another footpath, or paths, beside green ditches, to the ultimate dyke which holds neptune in check. as i walked i was continually conscious of heavy splashes just ahead of me, which for a while i put down to water-rats. but chancing to stand still i was presently aware of the proximity of a huge green frog, the largest i have ever seen, who sat, solid as a paper weight, close beside me, with one eye glittering upon me and the other upon the security of the water, into which he jumped at a movement of my hand. walking then more warily i saw that the banks on either side were populous with these monsters; and sometimes it needed only a flourish of the handkerchief to send a dozen simultaneously into the ditch. i am glad we have not such frogs at home. a little frog is an adorable creature, but a frog half-way to realising his bovine ambition is a monster. the sea dyke is many feet high. its lowest visible stratum is of black stones, beneath the sea-level; then a stratum of large red bricks; then turf. the willow branches are invisible, within. the land hereabout is undoubtedly some distance below sea-level, but it is impossible either here or anywhere in holland to believe in the old and venerable story of the dyke plugged by an heroic thumb to the exclusion of the ocean and the safety of the nation. as i lay on the bank in the sun, listening to a thousand larks, with all friesland on one hand and the pearl grey sea on the other, a passer-by stopped and asked me a question which i failed to understand. my reply conveyed my nationality to him. "ah," he said, "eenglish. do it well with you?" i said that it did excellently well. he walked on until he met half a dozen other men, some hundred yards away, when i saw him pointing to me and telling them of the long conversation he had been enjoying with me in my own difficult tongue. it was quite clear from their interest that the others were conscious of the honour of having a real linguist among them. another day i went to harlingen. i had intended to reach the town by steam-tram, but the time table was deceptive and the engine stopped permanently at a station two or three miles away. fortunately, however, a curtained brake was passing, and into this i sprang, joining two women and a dominie, and together we ambled very deliberately into the quiet seaport. harlingen is a double harbour--inland and maritime. barges from all parts of friesland lie there, transferring their goods a few yards to the ocean-going ships bound for england and the world, although friesland does not now export her produce as once she did. thirty years ago much of our butter and beef and poultry sailed from harlingen. the town lies in the savour of the sea. masts rise above the houses, ship-chandlers' shops send forth the agreeable scent of tar and cordage, sailors and stevedores lounge against posts as only those that follow the sea can do. i had some beef and bread, in the dutch midday manner, in the upper room of an inn overlooking the harbour, while two shipping-clerks played a dreary game of billiards. beyond the dyke lay the empty grey sea, with texel or vlieland a faint dark line on the horizon. nothing in the town suggested the twentieth century, or indeed any century. time was not. i wish that mr. bos had been living, that i might have called upon him and seen his pictures, as m. havard did. but he is no more, and i found no one to tell me of the fate of his collection. possibly it is still to be seen: certainly other visitors to harlingen should be more energetic than i was, and make sure. here is m. havard's account of mr. bos and an evening at his house: "mr. bos started in life as a farm-boy--then became an assistant in a shop. instead of spending his money at the beer-houses he purchased books. he educated himself, and being provident, steady, industrious, he soon collected sufficient capital to start in business on his own account, which he did as a small cheesemonger; but in time his business prospered, and to such an extent that one day he awoke to find himself one of the greatest and richest merchants of harlingen. "many under these circumstances would have considered rest was not undeserved; but mr. bos thought otherwise. he became passionately fond of the arts. instead of purchasing stock he bought pictures, then the books necessary to understand them, and what with picking up an engraving here and a painting there he soon became possessed of a most interesting collection, and of an artistic knowledge sufficient for all purposes. but to appreciate the virtue (the term is not too strong) of this aimable man, one should know the difficulties he had to surmount before gaining his position. it is no joke when one lives in a town like harlingen to act differently from other people. tongues are as well hung there as in any small french town. instead of encouraging this brave collector, they laughed at and ridiculed him. his taste for the arts was regarded as a mania. in fact, he was looked upon as a madman, and even to this day, notwithstanding his successful career, he is looked upon as no better than a lunatic. happily a taste for art gives one joys that makes the remarks of fools and idiots pass like water off a duck's back. "when we called on mr. bos he was absent; but as soon as madame bos was made acquainted with our names we received a most cordial reception. she is, however, a most charming woman, combining both amiability and affability, with a venerable appearance; and, notwithstanding her immense fortune and gold plate, still wears the large frison cap of the good old times. she was anxious to do the honours of the collection in person, and immediately sent for her son, so that we might receive every information. "mr. bos returned home the same evening, and at once came on board, and would not leave until we had promised to spend the evening at his house, which we did in the frison fashion--that is to say, that whilst examining the pictures we were compelled to devour sundry plates of _soeskrahelingen_, a kind of pastry eaten with cheese; also to empty several bottles of old wine. "a slight incident that occurred shortly before our departure touched me greatly. 'you think, sir,' said mr. bos, 'that because i do not understand french, i have not read the books you have written on our national arts. pray undeceive yourself, for here is a translation of it,' the old gentleman then placed before me a complete manuscript translation of the work, which he had had made specially for himself." the special lion of franeker, which i visited on my way back from harlingen, is the planetarium of eisa eisinga, a mathematician and wool-comber, who constructed it alone in his back parlour between and . interest in planetaria is, i should say, an acquired taste; but there can be no doubt as to the industry and ingenuity of this inventor. the wonders of the celestial law are unfolded by a very tired young woman, whose attitude to the solar system is probably similar to that of miss jellyby to africa. after her lecture one stumbles upstairs to see the clock-work which controls the spheres, and is then free once more. franeker is proud also of her tombstones in the great church, but it is, i fancy, eisa eisinga whom she most admires. she was once the seat of an honourable university, which napoleon suppressed in . her learning gone, she remains a very pleasant and clean little town. by some happy arrangement all the painting seems to be done at once--so different from london, where a fresh façade only serves to emphasise a dingy one. but although the quality of the paint can be commended, the painters of franeker are undoubtedly allowed too much liberty. they should not have been permitted to spread their colour on the statues of the stadhuis. the principal street has an avenue of elm trees down its midst, in the place where a canal would be expected; but canals traverse the town too. upon the deck of a peat barge i watched a small grave child taking steady and unsmiling exercise on a rocking horse. i did not go to dokkum, which lies at the extreme north of friesland. mr. doughty, the author of an interesting book of dutch travel, called _friesland meres_--he was the first that ever burst into these silent canals in a norfolk wherry--gives dokkum a very bad character, and so do other travellers. it seems indeed always to have been an unruly and inhospitable town. as long ago as it was resisting the entry of strangers. the strangers were saint boniface and his companion, whom dokkum straightway massacred. king pepin was furious and sent an army on a punitive mission; while heaven supplemented pepin's efforts by permanently stigmatising the people of the town, all the men thenceforward being marked by a white tuft of hair and all the women by a bald patch. at leeuwarden is a patriotic society known as the "vereenigung tot bevordering van vreemdelingenverkeer," whose ambition, as their title suggests, is to draw strangers to the town; and as part of their campaign they have issued a little guide to leeuwarden and its environs, in english. it is an excellent book. the preface begins thus:-- the travelling-season, which causes thousands of people to leave their homes and hearths, has come round again. throughout europe silk strings are being prepared to catch human birds of passage with. is frisia--old frisia--to lag behind? impossible! natural condition as well as population and history give to our province a right to claim a little attention and to be a hostess. we beg to refer to the words of a frenchman, m. malte-brun (quoted by one of the best frisian authors), the english translation of which words runs as follows: "eighteen centuries saw the river rhine change its course, and the ocean swallow its shores, but the frisian nation has remained unchanged, and from an historical point of view deserves being taken an interest in by the descendants of the franks as well as of the anglo-saxons and the scandinavians." it is not often to a frenchman that the author of this guide has to go for his purple patches. he is capable of producing them himself, and there seems also always to be a frisian poet who has said the right thing. thus (of leeuwarden): "it is surrounded by splendid fertile meadows, to all of which, though especially to those lying near the roads to marssum and stiens, may be applied the words of the frisian poet dr. e. halbertsma:-- 'sjen nou dat lân, hwer jy op geane, dat ophelle is út gulle sé; hwer binne brûsender lânsdouwen, oerspriede mei sok hearlik fé?' ('behold the soil you are walking on, the soil, snatched from the waves; where are more luxurious meadows, where do you find such cattle?') the farmer, living in the midst of this fine natural scenery, is to be envied indeed: if the struggle for life does not weigh too heavily upon him, his must be a life happier than that of thousands of other people. living and working with his own family and servants attached to him, he made the right choice when he chose to breed his cattle and improve his grounds to the best of his power. the parlour-windows look out on the fields: the gay sight they grant has its effect on the mood of those inside. the peasant sees and feels the beauty of life, and it makes him thankful, and gives him courage to struggle and to work on, where necessity requires it." i gather from the account of leeuwarden that the justices of that city once knew a crime when they saw one--none quicklier. in , for example, they punished jan koekebakken in a twinkling for the dastardly offence of marrying a married woman. this was his sentence:-- we command that the said jan koekebakken, prisoner, be conducted by the executioner from the chancery to brol-bridge, and that he be put into the pillory there. he shall remain standing there for two hours with a spindle under each arm, and with the letter in which he pledged faith to the said aucke sijbrant hanging from his neck. he shall remain for ever within the town of leeuwarden, under penalty of death if he should leave it. done and pronounced at leeuwarden april th, . but the best part of the guide-book is its rapid notes on the villages around leeuwarden, to so many of which are curious legends attached. at marssum, close at hand, was born the english painter of roman life, sir lawrence alma-tadema. here also was born the ingenious eisa eisinga, who constructed the franeker planetarium in the intervals of wool-combing. at menaldum lived mrs. van camstra van haarsma, a husband-tamer and eccentric, of whom a poet wrote:-- she breaks pipe and glass and mug, when he speaks as suits a man; and instead of being cross, he is gentler than a lamb. when in fury glow her eyes, he keeps silent ... isn't he wise? when not hen-pecking her husband this powerful lady was rearing wild animals or corresponding with the princess caroline. at boxum, was fought, on th january, , hard by the church, the battle of boxum, between the spaniards and the frisians. the frisians were defeated, and many of them massacred in the church; but their effort was very brave, and "he also has been to boxum" is to this day a phrase applied to lads of courage. another saying, given to loud speakers, is "he has the voice of the vicar of boxum," whose tones in the pulpit were so dulcet as to frighten the birds from the roof, and, i hope, sinners to repentance. at jelsum is buried balthazar becker, the antagonist of superstition and author of _the enchanted world_. near by was martena castle, where alderman sjuck van burmania once kept a crowd of assailants at bay by standing over a barrel of gunpowder with a lighted brand while he offered them the choice of the explosion or a feast. hence the excellent proverb, "you must either fight or drink, said sjuck". at berlikum was the castle of bauck poppema, a frisian lady cast in an iron mould, who during her husband's absence in defended the stronghold against assailants from groningen. less successful than sjuck, after repelling them thrice she was overpowered and thrown into prison. while there she produced twins, thus proving herself a woman no less than a warrior. "when the people of holland glorify kenau," says the proverb, "the frisians praise their bauck." kenau we have met: the heroic widow of haarlem who during the siege led a band of three hundred women and repelled the enemy on the walls again and again. near roodkerk is a lake called the boompoel, into which a coach and four containing six inside passengers, all of them professional exorcists, disappeared and was never seen again. the exorcists had come to relieve the village of the ghost of a miser, and we must presume had failed to quiet him. near bergum, at buitenrust farm, is the scene of another tragedy by drowning, for there died juffer lysse. this maiden, disregarding too long her father's dying injunction to build a chapel, was naturally overturned in her carriage and drowned. ever since has the wood been haunted, while the bind-weed, a haunting flower, is in these parts known as the juffer lysse blom. from these scraps of old lore--all taken from the little leeuwarden guide--it will be seen that friesland is rich in romantic traditions and well worthy the attention of any maker of sagas. chapter xvii groningen to zutphen fresh tea--dutch meals--the doelens--groningen--roman catholic priests--the boys' penance--luther and erasmus--the peat country--folk lore--terburg--thomas à kempis--zwolle--the wild girl--kampen--a hall of justice indeed--an ideal holiday-place--the wiseacres--urk--sir philip sidney--zutphen--the scripture class--the wax works--dutch public morality. i remember the doelen at groningen for several reasons, all of them thoroughly material. (holland is, however, a material country.) first i would put the very sensible custom of providing every guest who has ordered tea for breakfast with a little tea caddy. at the foot of the table is a boiling urn from which one fills one's teapot, and is thus assured of tea that is fresh. so simple and reasonable a habit ought to be the rule rather than the exception: but never have i found it elsewhere. this surely is civilisation, i said. the doelen was also the only inn in holland where an inclusive bottle of claret was placed before me on the table; and it was the only inn where i had the opportunity of eating ptarmigan with stewed apricots--a very happy alliance. good however as was the groningen dinner, it was a sunday dinner at the leeuwarden doelen which remains in my memory. this also is a friendly unspoiled northern inn, where the bill of fare is arranged with a nice thought to the requirements of the free frisian. i kept no note of the meal, but i recollect the occurrence at one stage of plovers' eggs (which the dutch eat hot, dropping them into cold water for an instant to ensure the easy removal of the shell), and at another, some time later, of duckling with prunes. the popularity of the name doelen as a dutch sign might have a word of explanation. doelen means target, or shooting saloon; and shooting at the mark was a very common and useful recreation with the dutch in the sixteenth century. at first the shooting clubs met only to shoot--as in the case of the arquebusiers in rembrandt's "night watch," who are painted leaving their doelen; later they became more social and the accessories of sociability were added; and after a while the accessories of sociability crowded out the shooting altogether, and nothing but an inn with the name doelen remained of what began as a rifle gallery. at groningen, which is a large prosperous town, and the birthplace both of joseph israels and h.w. mesdag, cheese and dairy produce are left behind. we are now in the grain country. groningen is larger than leeuwarden--it has nearly seventy thousand inhabitants--and its evening light seemed to me even more beautifully liquid. i sat for a long time in a cafe overlooking the great square, feeding a very greedy and impertinent terrier, and alternately watching an endless game of billiards and the changing hue of the sky as day turned to night and the clean white stars came out. in holland one can sit very long in cafes: i had dined and left a table of forty dutchmen just settling down to their wine, at six o'clock, with the whole evening before me. groningen takes very good care of itself. it has trams, excellent shops and buildings, a crowded inland harbour, and a spreading park where once were its fortifications. the mounds in this park were the first hills i had seen since laren. the church in the market square is immense, with a high tower of bells that kept me awake, but had none of the soothing charm of long john at middelburg, whose praises it will soon be my privilege to sound. the only rich thing in the whitewashed vastnesses of the church is the organ, built more than four hundred years ago by rudolph agricola of this province. i did not hear it. at groningen roman catholic priests become noticeable--so different in their stylish coats, square hats and canes, from the blue-chinned kindly slovens that one meets in the latin countries. (in the train near nymwegen, however, where the priests wear beavers, i travelled with a humorous old voluptuary who took snuff at every station and was as threadbare as one likes a priest to be.) looking into the new roman catholic church at groningen i found a little company of restless boys, all eyes, from whom at regular intervals were detached a reluctant and perfunctory couple to do the stations of the cross. i came as something like a godsend to those that remained, who had no one to supervise them; and feeling it as a mission i stayed resolutely in the church long after i was tired of it, writing a little and examining the pictures by hendriex, a modern painter too much after the manner of the christmas supplement--studied the while by this band of scrutinising penitents. i hope i was as interesting and beguiling as i tried to be. and all the time, exactly opposite the roman catholic church, was reposing in the library of the university no less a treasure than the new testament of erasmus, with marginal notes by martin luther. there it lay, that afternoon, within call, while the weary boys pattered from one station of the cross to another, little recking the part played by their country in sapping the power of the faith they themselves were fostering, and knowing nothing of the ironical contiguity of luther's comments. by leaving groningen very early in the morning i gained another proof of the impossibility of rising before the dutch. in england one can easily be the first down in any hotel--save for a sleepy boots or waiter. not so in holland. it was so early that i am able to say nothing of the country between groningen and meppel, the capital of the peat trade, save that it was peaty: heather and fir trees, shallow lakes and men cutting peat, as far as eye could reach on either side. here in the peat country i might quote a very pretty dutch proverb: "there is no fuel more entertaining than wet wood and frozen peat: the wood sings and the peat listens". the dutch have no lack of folk lore, but the casual visitor has not the opportunity of collecting very much. when there is too much salt in the dish they say that the cook is in love. when a three-cornered piece of peat is observed in the fire, a visitor is coming. when bread has large holes in it, the baker is said to have pursued his wife through the loaf. when a wedding morning is rainy, it is because the bride has forgotten to feed the cat. i tarried awhile at zwolle on the yssel (a branch of the rhine), because at zwolle was born in gerard terburg, one of the greatest of dutch painters, of whom i have spoken in the chapter on amsterdam's pictures. of his life we know very little; but he travelled to spain (where he was knighted and where he learned not a little of use in his art), and also certainly to france, and possibly to england. at haarlem, where he lived for a while, he worked in frans hals' studio, and then he settled down at deventer, a few miles south of zwolle, married, and became in time burgomaster of the town. he died at deventer in . zwolle has none of his pictures, and does not appear to value his memory. nor does deventer. how terburg looked as burgomaster of deventer is seen in his portrait of himself in the mauritshuis at the hague. it was not often that the great dutch painters rose to civic eminence. rembrandt became a bankrupt, frans hals was on the rates, jan steen drank all his earnings. of all terburg's great contemporaries gerard dou seems to have had most sense of prosperity and position; but his interests were wholly in his art. terburg is not the only famous name at zwolle. it was at the monastery on the agneteberg, three miles away, that the author of _the imitation of christ_ lived for more than sixty years and wrote his deathless book. i roamed through zwolle's streets for some time. it is a bright town, with a more european air than many in holland, agreeable drives and gardens, where (as at groningen) were once fortifications, and a very fine old gateway called the saxenpoort, with four towers and five spires and very pretty window shutters in white and blue. the groote kerk is of unusual interest. it is five hundred years old and famous for its very elaborate pulpit--a little cathedral in itself--and an organ. zwolle also has an ancient church which retains its original religion--the church of notre dame, with a crucifix curiously protected by iron bars. i looked into the stadhuis to see a gothic council room; and smoked meditatively among the stalls of a little flower market, wondering why some of the costumes of holland are so charming and others so unpleasing. a few dear old women in lace caps were present, but there were also younger women who had made their pretty heads ugly with their decorations. at zwolle m. havard was disappointed to find no wax figure of the famous wild girl found in the cranenburg forest in . she roamed its recesses almost naked for some time, eluding all capture, but was at last taken with nets and conveyed to zwolle. as she could not be understood, an account of her was circulated widely, and at length a woman in antwerp who had lost a daughter in heard of her, and on reaching zwolle immediately recognised her as her child. the magistrates, accepting the story, handed the girl to her affectionate parent, who at once set about exhibiting her throughout the country at a great profit. the story illustrates either the credulity of magistrates or the practical character of some varieties of maternal love. kampen, nearer the mouth of the yssel, close to zwolle, is exceedingly well worth visiting. the two towns are very different: zwolle is patrician, kampen plebeian; zwolle suggests wealth and light-heartedness; at kampen there is a large fishing population and no one seems to be wealthy. indeed, being without municipal rates, it is, i am told, a refuge of the needy. any old town that is on a river, and that river a mouth of the rhine, is good enough for me; but when it is also a treasure house of mediæval architecture one's cup is full. and kampen has many treasures: beautiful fourteenth-century gateways, narrow quaint streets, a cheerful isolated campanile, a fine church, and the greater portion of an odd but wholly delightful stadhuis in red brick and white stone, with a gay little crooked bell-tower and statues of great men and great qualities on its facade. for one possession alone, among many, the stadhuis must be visited--its halls of justice, veritable paradises of old oak, with a very wonderful fireplace. the halls are really one, divided by a screen; in one half, the council room, sat the judges, in the other the advocates, and, i suppose, the public. the advocates addressed the screen, on the other side of which sat fate, in the persons of the municipal fathers, enthroned in oak seats of unsurpassed gravity and dignity, amid all the sombre insignia of their office. the chimney-piece is an imposing monument of abstract justice--no more elaborate one can exist. solomon is there, directing the distribution of the baby; faith and truth, law, religion and charity are there also. never can a tribunal have had a more appropriate setting than at kampen. the rennes judiciaries should have sat there, to lend further ironical point to their decision. the stadhuis has other possessions interesting to anti-quaries: valuable documents, gold and silver work, the metal and leather squirts through which boiling oil was projected at the enemies of the town; while an iron cage for criminals, similar, i imagine, to that in which jan of leyden was exhibited, hangs outside. travellers visit kampen pre-eminently to see the stadhuis chimney-piece and oak, but the whole town is a museum. i wish now that i had arranged to be longer there; but unaware of kampen's charms i allowed but a short time both for zwolle and itself. on my next visit to holland kampen shall be my headquarters for some days. amid the restfulness of mediævalism, the friendliness of the fishing folk and the breezes of the zuyder zee, one should do well. a boat from amsterdam to kampen sails every morning. despite its judgment hall and its other merits kampen is the dutch gotham. any foolishly naive speech or action is attributed to kampen's wise men. in one story the fathers of the town place the municipal sundial under cover to protect it from the rays of the sun. in another they meet together to deliberate on the failure of the water pipes and fire engines during a fire, and pass a rule that "on the evening preceding a fire" all hydrants and engines must be overhauled. m. havard gives also the following instance of kampen sagacity. a public functionary was explaining the financial state of the town. he asserted that one of the principal profits arose from the tolls exacted on the entrance of goods into the town. "each gate," said the ingenious advocate, "has brought in ten million florins this year; that is to say, with seven gates we have gained seventy million florins. this is a most important fact. i therefore propose that the council double the number of gates, and in this way we shall in future considerably augment our funds." the irishman who, when asked to buy a stove that would save half his fuel, replied that he would have two and save it all, was of the same school of logic. from kampen the island of urk may be visited: but i have not been there. in , i have read somewhere, the inhabitants of urk decided to form a club in which to practise military exercises and the use of arms. when the club was formed it had but one member. hence a dutch saying--"it is the urk club". nor did i stay at deventer, but hastened on to zutphen with my thoughts straying all the time to the grey walls of penshurst castle in kent and its long galleries filled with memories of sir philip sidney--the gentle knight who was a boy there, and who died at arnheim of a wound which he received in the siege of zutphen three and a quarter centuries ago. at naarden we have seen how terrible was the destroying power of the spaniards. it was at zutphen that they had first given rein to their lust for blood. when zutphen was taken by don frederic in , at the beginning of the war, motley tells us that "alva sent orders to his son to leave _not a single man alive in the city_, and to burn every house to the ground. the duke's command was almost literally obeyed. don frederic entered zutphen, and without a moment's warning put the whole garrison to the sword. the citizens next fell a defenceless prey; some being stabbed in the streets, some hanged on the trees which decorated the city, some stripped stark naked, and turned out into the fields to freeze to death in the wintry night. as the work of death became too fatiguing for the butchers, five hundred innocent burghers were tied two and two, back to back, and drowned like dogs in the river yssel. a few stragglers who had contrived to elude pursuit at first, were afterwards taken from their hiding-places, and hung upon the _gallows by the feet_, some of which victims suffered four days and nights of agony before death came to their relief." on the day that i was in zutphen it was the quietest town i had found in all holland--not excepting monnickendam between the arrival of the steam-trams. the clean bright streets were empty and still: another massacre almost might just have occurred. i had zutphen to myself. i could not even find the koster to show me the church; and it was in trying door after door as i walked round it that i came upon the only sign of life in the place. for one handle at last yielding i found myself instantly in a small chapel filled with many young women engaged in a scripture class. the sudden irruption of an embarrassed and i imagine somewhat grotesque foreigner seems to have been exactly what every member of this little congregation was most desiring, and i never heard a merrier or more spontaneous burst of laughter. i stood not upon the order of my going. the church is vast and very quiet and restful, with a large plain window of green glass that increases its cool freshness; while the young leaves of a chestnut close to another window add to this effect. the koster coming at last, i was shown the ancient chained library in the chapter house, and he enlarged upon the beauties of a metal font. wandering out again into this city of silence i found in the square by the church an exhibition of wax works which was to be opened at four o'clock. making a note to return to it at that hour, i sought the river, where the timber is floated down from the german forests, and lost myself among peat barges and other craft, and walked some miles in and about zutphen, and a little way down a trickling stream whence the view of the city is very beautiful; and by-and-by found myself by the church and the wax works again, in a town that since my absence had quite filled with bustling people--four o'clock having struck and the princess of the day dream having (i suppose) been kissed. the change was astonishing. wax works always make me uncomfortable, and these were no exception; but the good folk of zutphen found them absorbing. the murderers stood alone, staring with that fixity which only a wax assassin can compass; but for the most part the figures were arranged in groups with dramatic intent. here was a confessional; there a farewell between lovers; here a wounded boer meeting his death at the bayonet of an english dastard; there a queen eleanor sucking poison from her husband's arm. a series of illuminated scenes of rapine and disaster might be studied through magnifying glasses. the presence of a wax bust of zola was due, i imagine, less to his illustrious career than to the untoward circumstances of his death. the usual sleeping beauty heaved her breast punctually in the centre of the tent. in one point only did the exhibition differ from the wax works of the french and italian fairs--it was undeviatingly decent. there were no jokes, and no physiological models. but the dutch, i should conjecture, are not morbid. they have their coarse fun, laugh, and get back to business again. judged by that new short-cut to a nation's moral tone, the picture postcard, the dutch are quite sound. there is a shop in the high-spirited nes straat at amsterdam where a certain pictorial ebullience has play, but i saw none other of the countless be-postcarded windows in all holland that should cause a serious blush on any cheek; while the nes straat specimens were fundamentally sound, rabelaisian rather than armand-sylvestrian, not vicious but merely vulgar. chapter xviii arnheim to bergen-op-zoom arnheim the joyous--a wood walk--tesselschade visscher and the chambers of rhetoric--epigrams--poet friends--the nightingale--an arnheim adventure--ten years at one book--dutch and latin--dutch and french--a french story--dutch and english--_the english schole-master_--master and scholar--a nervous catechism--avoiding the birch--a riot of courtesy--a bill of lading--dutch proverbs--the rhine and its mouths--nymwegen--lady mary wortley montagu again--painted shutters--the valkhof--hertogenbosch--brothers at bommel--the hero of breda--two beautiful tombs--bergen-op-zoom--messrs. grimston and red-head--tholen--the dutch feminine countenance. at arnheim we come to a totally new holland. the maliebaan and the park at utrecht, with their spacious residences, had prepared us a little for arnheim's wooded retirement; but not completely. rotterdam is given to shipping; the hague makes laws and fashions; leyden and utrecht teach; amsterdam makes money. it is at arnheim that the retired merchant and the returned colonist set up their home. it is the richest residential city in the country. arnheim the joyous was its old name. arnheim the comfortable it might now be styled. it is the least dutch of dutch towns: the rhine brings a bosky beauty to it, german in character and untamed by dutch restraining hands. the dutch switzerland the country hereabout is called. arnheim recalls richmond too, for it has a richmond hill--a terrace-road above a shaggy precipice overlooking the river. i walked in the early morning to klarenbeck, up and down in a vast wood, and at a point of vantage called the steenen tafel looked down on the rhine valley. nothing could be less like the holland of the earlier days of my wanderings--nothing, that is, that was around me, but with the farther bank of the river the flatness instantly begins and continues as far as one can see in the north. it was a very beautiful morning in may, and as i rested now and then among the resinous pines i was conscious of being traitorous to england in wandering here at all. no one ought to be out of england in april and may. at one point i met a squirrel--just such a nimble short-tempered squirrel as those which scold and hide in the top branches of the fir trees near my own home in kent--and my sense of guilt increased; but when, on my way back, in a garden near arnheim i heard a nightingale, the treachery was complete. and this reminds me that the best poem of the most charming figure in dutch literature--tesselschade visscher--is about the nightingale. the story of this poetess and her friends belongs more properly to amsterdam, or to alkmaar, but it may as well be told here while the arnheim nightingale--the only nightingale that i heard in holland--is plaining and exulting. tesselschade was the daughter of the poet and rhetorician roemer visscher. she was born on th march, , and earned her curious name from the circumstance that on the same day her father was wrecked off texel. in honour of his rescue he named his daughter tesselschade, or texel wreck, thereby, i think, eternally impairing his right to be considered a true poet. as a matter of fact he was rather an epigrammatist than a poet, his ambition being to be known as the dutch martial. here is a taste of his martial manner:-- jan sorrows--sorrows far too much: 'tis true a sad affliction hath distressed his life;-- mourns he that death hath ta'en his children two? o no! he mourns that death hath left his wife. i have said that visscher was a rhetorician. the word perhaps needs a little explanation, for it means more than would appear. in those days rhetoric was a living cult in the netherlands: dutchmen and flemings played at rhetoric with some of the enthusiasm that we keep for cricket and sport. every town of any importance had its chamber of rhetoric. "these chambers," says longfellow in his _poets and poetry of europe_, "were to holland, in the fifteenth century, what the guilds of the meistersingers were to germany, and were numerous throughout the netherlands. brussels could boast of five; antwerp of four; louvain of three; and ghent, bruges, malines, middelburg, gouda, haarlem, and amsterdam of at least one. each chamber had its coat of arms and its standard, and the directors bore the title of princes and deans. at times they gave public representations of poetic dialogues and stage-plays, called _spelen van sinne_, or moralities. like the meistersingers, they gave singular titles to their songs and metres. a verse was called a _regel_; a strophe, a _clause_; and a burden or refrain, a _stockregel_. if a half-verse closed as a strophe, it was a _steert_, or tail. _tafel-spelen_, and _spelen van sinne_, were the titles of the dramatic exhibitions; and the rhymed invitation to these was called a _charte_, or _uitroep_ (outcry). _ketendichten_ (chain-poems) are short poems in which the last word of each line rhymes with the first of the line following; _scaekberd_ (checkerbourd), a poem of sixty-four lines, so rhymed, that in every direction it forms a strophe of eight lines; and _dobbel-steert_ (double-tail), a poem in which a double rhyme closes each line. [ ] "the example of flanders was speedily followed by zeeland and holland. in , there was a chamber at middelburg; in , at vlaardingen; in , at nieuwkerk; and in , at gouda. even insignificant dutch villages had their chambers. among others, one was founded in the lier, in the year . in the remaining provinces they met with less encouragement. they existed, however, at utrecht, amersfoort, leeuwarden, and hasselt. the purity of the language was completely undermined by the rhyming self-called rhetoricians, and their abandoned courses brought poetry itself into disrepute. all distinction of genders was nearly abandoned; the original abundance of words ran waste; and that which was left became completely overwhelmed by a torrent of barbarous terms." wagenaer, in his "description of amsterdam," gives a copy of a painter's bill for work done for a rhetorician's performance at the play-house in the town of alkmaar, of which the following is a translation:-- "imprimis, made for the clerks a hell; item, the pavilion of satan; item, two pairs of devil's-breeches; item, a shield for the christian knight; item, have painted the devils whenever they played; item, some arrows and other small matters. sum total; worth in all xii. guilders. "jaques mol. "paid, october viii., [ ]." among the dutch pictures at the louvre is an anonymous work representing the committee of a chamber of rhetoric. roemer visscher, the father of the poetess, was a leading rhetorician at amsterdam, and the president of the eglantine chamber of the brother's blossoming in love (as he and his fellow-rhetoricians called themselves). none the less, he was a sensible and clever man, and he brought up his three daughters very wisely. he did not make them blue stockings, but saw that they acquired comely and useful arts and crafts, and he rendered them unique by teaching them to swim in the canal that ran through his garden. he also was enabled to ensure for them the company of the best poetical intellects of the time--vondel and brederoo, spiegel, hooft and huyghens. of these the greatest was joost van den vondel, a neighbour of visscher's in amsterdam, the author of "lucifer," a poem from which it has been suggested that milton borrowed. like izaak walton vondel combined haberdashery with literature. spiegel was a wealthy patron of the arts, and a president, with visscher, of the eglantine chamber with the painfully sentimental name. constantin huyghens wrote light verse with intricate metres, and an occasional epigram. here is one:-- _on peter's poetry_. when peter condescends to write, his verse deserves to see the _light_. if any further you inquire, i mean--the candle or the fire. also a practical statesman, it was to huyghens that holland owes the beautiful old road from the hague to scheveningen in which jacob cats built his house. among these friends anna and tesselschade grew into cultured women of quick and sympathetic intellect. both wrote poetry, but tesselschade's is superior to her sister's. among anna's early work were some additions to a new edition of her father's _zinne-poppen_, one of her poems running thus in the translation by mr, edmund gosse in the very pleasant essay on tesselschade in his _studies in the literature of northern europe_:-- a wife that sings and pipes all day, and never puts her lute away, no service to her hand finds she; fie, fie! for this is vanity! but is it not a heavenly sight to see a woman take delight with song or string her husband dear, when daily work is done, to cheer? misuse may turn the sweetest sweet to loathsome wormwood, i repeat; yea, wholesome medicine, full of grace, may prove a poison--out of place. they who on thoughts eternal rest, with earthly pleasures may be blest; since they know well these shadows gay, like wind and smoke, will pass away. tesselschade, who was much loved by her poet friends, disappointed them all by marrying a dull sailor of alkmaar named albert krombalgh. settling down at alkmaar, she continued her intercourse with her old companions, and some new ones, by letter. among her new friends were barlaeus, or van baerle, the first latinist of the day, and jacob cats. when her married life was cut short some few years later, barlaeus proposed to the young widow; but it was in vain, as she informed him by quoting from cats these lines:-- when a valvèd shell of ocean breaks one side or loses one, though you seek with all devotion you can ne'er the loss atone, never make again the edges bite together, tooth for tooth, and, just so, old love alleges nought is like the heart's first troth. these are tesselschade's lines upon the nightingale in mr. gosse's happy translation:-- the wild songster. praise thou the nightingale, who with her joyous tale doth make thy heart rejoice, whether a singing plume she be, or viewless wingèd voice; whose warblings, sweet and clear, ravish the listening ear with joy, as upward float the throbbing liquid trills of her enchanted throat; whose accents pure and ripe sound like an organ pipe, that holdeth divers songs, and with one tongue alone sings like a score of tongues. the rise and fall again in clear and lovely strain of her sweet voice and shrill, outclamours with its songs the singing springing rill. a creature whose great praise her rarity displays, seeing she only lives a month in all the year to which her song she gives. but this thing sets the crown upon her high renown, that such a little bird as she can harbour such a strength of clamorous harmony. arnheim presents after dinner the usual scene of contented movement. the people throng the principal streets, and every one seems happy and placid. the great concert hall, musis sacrum, had not yet begun its season when i was there, and the only spectacle which the town could muster was an exhibition of strength by two oversized boys, which i avoided. at arnheim, i should relate, an odd thing happened to my companion. when she was there last, in , she had need to obtain linseed for a poultice, and visited a chemist for the purpose. he was an old man, and she found him sitting in the window studying his english grammar. how long his study had lasted i have no notion, but he knew less of our tongue than she of his, and to get the linseed was no easy matter. ten years passed and recollection of the arnheim chemist had clean evaporated; but chancing to look up as we walked through the town, the sight of the old chemist seated in his shop-window poring over a book brought the whole incident back to her. we stepped to the window and stole a glance at the volume: it was an english grammar. he had been studying it ever since the night of the linseed poultice. it was, we felt, an object-lesson to us, who during the same interval had taken advantage of every opportunity of neglecting the dutch tongue. that tongue, however, is not attractive. even those who have spoken it to most purpose do not always admire it. i find that kasper van baerle wrote: "what then do we netherlanders speak? words from a foreign tongue: we are but a collected crowd, of feline origin, driven by a strange fatality to these mouths of the rhine. why, since the mighty descendants of romulus here pitched their tents, choose we not rather the holy language of the romans!" we may consider dutch a harsh tongue, and prefer that all foreigners should learn english; but our dislike of dutch is as nothing compared with dutch dislike of french as expressed in some verses by bilderdyk when the tyranny of napoleon threatened them:-- begone, thou bastard-tongue! so base--so broken-- by human jackals and hyenas spoken; formed of a race of infidels, and fit to laugh at truth--and scepticise in wit; what stammering, snivelling sounds, which scarcely dare, bravely through nasal channel meet the ear-- yet helped by apes' grimaces--and the devil, have ruled the world, and ruled the world for evil! but french is now the second language that is taught in dutch schools. german comes first and english third. the dutch language often resembles english very closely; sometimes so closely as to be ridiculous. for example, to an english traveller who has been manoeuvring in vain for some time in the effort to get at the value of an article, it comes as a shock comparable only to being run over by a donkey cart to discover that the dutch for "what is the price?" is "wat is de prijs?" the best old dutch phrase-book is _the english schole-master_, the copy of which that lies before me was printed at amsterdam by john houman in the year . i have already quoted a short passage from it, in chapter ii. this is the full title:-- the english schole-master; or certaine rules and helpes, whereby the natives of the netherlandes, may bee, in a short time, taught to read, understand, and speake the english tongue. by the helpe whereof the english also may be better instructed in the knowledge of the dutch tongue, than by any vocabulars, or other dutch and english books, which hitherto they have had, for that purpose. there is internal evidence that the book was the work of a dutchman rather than an englishman; for the dutch is better than the english. i quote (omitting the dutch) part of one of the long dialogues between a master and scholar of which the manual is largely composed. much of its interest lies in the continual imminence of the rod and the skill of the child in saving the situation:-- m. in the meane time let me aske you one thing more. have you not in to-day at the holy sermon? s. i was there. m. who are your witnesses? s. many of the schoole-fellowes who saw me can witnes it. m. but some must be produced. s. i shall produce them when you commaund it. m. who did preach? s. master n. m. at what time began he? s. at seven a clock. m. whence did he take his text? s. out of the epistle of paul to the romanes. m. in what chapter? s. in the eighth. m. hitherto you have answered well: let us now see what follows. have you remembred anything? s. nothing that i can repeat. m. nothing at al? bethink (your self) a little, and take heed that you bee not disturbed, but bee of good courage. s. truly master i can remember nothing. m. what, not one word? s. none at all. m. i am ready to strike you: what profit have you then gotten? s. i know not, otherwise than that perhaps i have in the mean time abstained from evill. m. that is some what indeed, if it could but so be that you have kept your self wholy from evill. s. i have abstained so much as i was able. m. graunt that it bee so, yet you have not pleased god, seeing it is written, depart from evill and doe good, but tell mee (i pray thee) for what cause principally did you goe thither? s. that i might learne something. m. why have you not done so? s. i could not. m. could you not, knave? yea you would not, or truly you have not addicted your self to it. s. i am compelled to confesse it. m. what compelleth you? s. my conscience, which accuseth me before god. m. you say well: oh that it were from the heart. s. truly i speak it from myne heart. m. it may bee so: but goe to, what was the cause that you have remembred nothing? s. my negligence: for i attended not diligently. m. what did you then? s. sometimes i slept. m. so you used to doe: but what did you the rest of the time? s. i thought on a thousand fooleries, as children are wont to doe. m. are you so very a child, that you ought not to be attentive to heare the word of god? s. if i had bin attentive, i should have profitted something. m. what have you then meritted? s. stripes. m. you have truly meritted them, and that very many. s. i ingenuously confess it. m. but in word only i think. s. yea truly from myne heart. m. possibly, but in the meane time prepare to receive stripes. s. o master forgive it, i beseech you, i confes i have sinned, but not of malice. m. but such an evill negligence comes very neare wickedness (malice). s. truly i strive not against that: but nevertheles i implore your clemencie through jesus christ. m. what will you then doe, if i shall forgive you? s. i will doe my dutie henceforth, as i hope. m. you should have added thereto, by god's helpe: but you care little for that. s. yea master, by god's help, i will hereafter doe my duty. m. goe to, i pardon you the fault for your teares: and i forgive it you on this condition, that you bee myndful of your promise. s. i thank you most courteous master. m. you shall bee in very great favour with mee, if you remember your promise. s. the most good and great god graunt that i may. m. that is my desire, that hee would graunt it. here is another dialogue. whether the riot of courtesy displayed in it was typical of either england or holland at that time i cannot say; but in neither country are we now so solicitous:-- _salutations at meeting and parting._ clemens. david. c. god save you david. d. and you also clemens. c. god save you heartily. d. and you also, as heartily. c. how do you? d. i am well i thank god; at your service: and you clemens, how is it with you? well? c. i am also in health: how doth your father and mother? d. they are in good health praised be god. c. how goes it with you my good friend? d. it goeth well with mee, goes it but so well with you. c. i wish you good health. d. i wish the same to you also. c. i salute you. d. and i you also. c. are you well? are you in good health? d. i am well, indeed i am in good health, i am healthful, and in prosperity. c. that is good. that is well. that is pleasing to me. that maketh mee glad. i love to hear that. i beseech you to take care of your health. preserve your health. d. i can tarry no longer now. i am in haste to be gone. i must go. i have need of my time. i cannot abide standing here. fare you well god be with you. god keep you still. i wish your health may continue. c. and you also my loving friend, god protect you. god guide you. god bee with you. may it please you in my behalf, heartily to salute your wife and children. d. i will do your message. but i pray, commend mee also to your father and mother. at the end of the book are some forms, in dutch and english, of mercantile letters, among them a specimen bill of lading of which i quote a portion as an example of the gracious way in which business was done in old and simpler days:-- i, j.p. of amsterdam, master under god of my ship called the saint peter at this present lying ready in the river of amsterdam to saile with the first goode winde which god shall give toward london, where my right unlading shal be, acknowledge and confes that i have receaved under the hatches of my foresaid ship of you s.j., merchaunt, to wit: four pipes of oile, two chests of linnen, sixteen buts of currents, one bale of canvase, five bals of pepper, thirteen rings of brasse wyer, fiftie bars of iron, al dry and wel conditioned, marked with this marke standing before, all which i promise to deliver (if god give me a prosperous voyage with my said ship) at london aforesaid, to the worshipful mr. a.j. to his factour or assignes, paying for the freight of the foresaid goods fs. by the tun. quaintness and humour are not confined to the ancient phrase-books. an english-dutch conversational manual from which the languages are still learned has a specimen "dialogue" in a coach, which is opened by the gentleman remarking genially and politely to his fellow-passenger, a lady, "madame, shall we arrange our legs". it occurs to me that very little dutch has found its way into these pages. let me therefore give the first stanza of the national song, "voor vaderland en vorst":-- wien neêrlandsch bloed in de aderen vloeit, van vreemde smetten vrij, wiens hart voor land en koning gloeit, verhef den sang als wij: hij stel met ons, vereend van zin, met onbeklemde borst, het godgevallig feestlied in voor vaderland en vorst. these are brave words. a very pedestrian translation runs thus:-- who ne'erland's blood feel nobly flow, from foreign tainture free, whose hearts for king and country glow, come, raise the song as we: with breasts serene, and spirits gay, in holy union sing the soul-inspiring festal lay, for fatherland and king. and now a specimen of really mellifluous dutch. "how would you like," is the timely question of a daily paper this morning, as i finish this chapter, "to be hit by a 'snellpaardelooszoondeerspoorwegpitroolrijtung?' that is what would happen to you if you were run down by a motor-car in holland. the name comes from 'snell,' rapid; 'paardeloos,' horseless; 'zoondeerspoorweg,' without rails; 'pitroolrijtung,' driven by petroleum. only a dutchman can pronounce it." let me spice this chapter by selecting from the pages of proverbs in dutch and english a few which seem to me most excellent. no nation has bad proverbs; the dutch have some very good ones. many cows, much trouble. even hares pull a lion by the beard when he is old. men can bear all things, except good days. the best pilots are ashore. velvet and silk are strange herbs: they blow the fire out of the kitchen. it is easy to make a good fire of another's turf. it is good cutting large girths of another man's leather. high trees give more shadow than fruit. an old hunter delighteth to hear of hunting. it hath soon rained enough in a wet pool. god giveth the fowls meat, but they must fly for it. an idle person is the devil's pillow. no hen so witty but she layeth one egg lost in the nettles. it happeneth sometimes that a good seaman falls overboard. he is wise that is always wise. when every one sweeps before his own house, then are the streets clean. it is profitable for a man to end his life, before he die. before thou trust a friend eat a peck of salt with him. it's bad catching hares with drums. the pastor and sexton seldom agree. no crown cureth headache. there is nothing that sooner dryeth up than a tear. land purchase and good marriage happen not every day. when old dogs bark it is time to look out. of early breakfast and late marriage men get not lightly the headache. ride on, but look about. nothing in haste, but to catch fleas. to return to arnheim: of the groote kerk i remember only the very delicate colouring of the ceiling, and the monument of charles van egmont, duke of guelders. i had grown tired of architecture: it seemed goodlier to watch the shipping on the river, which at arnheim may be called the rhine without hesitation. all the traffic to cologne must pass the town. hitherto one had had qualms about the use of the word, having seen the rhine under various aliases in so many places. the maas at rotterdam is a mouth of the rhine; but before it can become the rhine proper it becomes the lek, what is called the true mouth of the rhine is at katwyk. at dordrecht again is another of the rhine's mouths, the waal, which runs into the old maas and then into the sea. the yssel, still another mouth of the rhine, which i saw at kampen on its way into the zuyder zee, breaks away from the parent river just below arnheim. as a matter of fact all holland is on the rhine, but the word must be used with care. if one would study dutch romantic scenery i think nymwegen on the whole a better town to stay in than arnheim. it is simpler in itself, richer in historic associations, and the country in the immediate east is very well worth exploring--hill and valley and pine woods, with quaint villages here and there; and, for the comfortable, a favourite hotel at berg en daal from which great stretches of the rhine may be seen. to see nymwegen itself to greater advantage, with its massed houses and towers presenting a solid front, one must go over the iron bridge to lent and then look back across the river. at all times the old town wears from this point of view an interesting and romantic air, but never so much as at evening. some versions of "lohengrin" set the story at nymwegen; but the lohengrin monument is at kleef, a few miles above the confluence of the rhine and the waal, the river on which nymwegen stands. lady mary wortley montagu, who was at nymwegen in , drew an odd comparison between that town and the english town of nottingham. if edinburgh is the modern athens there is no reason why nottingham should not be the english nymwegen. lady mary writes to her friend sarah chiswell: "if you were with me in this town, you would be ready to expect to receive visits from your nottingham friends. no two places were ever more resembling; one has but to give the maese the name of the trent, and there is no distinguishing the prospects--the houses, like those of nottingham, built one above another, and are intermixed in the same manner with trees and gardens. the tower they call julius cæsar's has the same situation with nottingham castle; and i cannot help fancying i see from it the trent-field, adboulton, &c., places so well known to us. 'tis true, the fortifications make a considerable difference...." nymwegen reminded me of nothing but itself. it is in reality two towns: a spacious residential town near the station, with green squares, and statues, and modern houses (one of them so modern as to be employing a vacuum cleaner, which throbbed and panted in the garden as i passed); and the old mediæval nymwegen, gathered about one of the most charming market places in all holland--a scene for comic opera. the dutch way of chequering the shutters in blue and yellow (as at middelburg) or in red and black, or red and white, is here practised to perfection. the very beautiful weigh-house has red and black shutters; the gateway which leads to the church has them too. never have i seen a church so hemmed in by surrounding buildings. the little houses beset it as the pigmies beset antæus. after some difficulty i found my way in, and wandered for a while among its white immensities. it is practically a church within a church, the region of services being isolated in the midst, in the unlovely dutch way, within hideous wooden walls. it is very well worth while to climb the tower and see the great waterways of this country beneath you. the prospect is mingled wood and polder: to the east and south-east, shaggy hills; to the west, the moors of brabant; to the north, arnheim's dark heights. nymwegen has many lions, chief of which perhaps is the valkhof, in the grounds above the river--the remains of a palace of the carlovingians. it is of immense age, being at once the oldest building in holland and the richest in historic memories. for here lived charlemagne and charles the bald, charles the bold and maximilian of austria. the palace might still be standing were it not for the destructiveness of the french at the end of the eighteenth century. a picture by jan van goyen in the stadhuis gives an idea of the valkhof in his day, before vandalism had set in. as some evidence of the town's pride in her association with these great names the curfew, which is tolled every evening at eight o'clock, but which i did not hear, is called charlemagne's prayer. the façade of the stadhuis is further evidence, for it carries the statues of some of the ancient monarchs who made nymwegen their home. within the stadhuis is another of the beautiful justice halls which holland possesses in such profusion, the most interesting of which we saw at kampen. kampen's oak seats are not, however, more beautiful than those of nymwegen; and kampen has no such clock as stands here, distilling information, tick by tick, of days, and years, and sun, and moon, and stars. the stadhuis has also treasures of tapestry and spanish leather, and a museum containing a very fine collection of antiquities, including one of the famous wooden petticoats of nymwegen--a painted barrel worn as a penance by peccant dames. from nymwegen the train took me to hertzogenbosch, or bois le duc, the capital of brabant. it is from brabant, we were told by a proverb which i quoted in my first chapter on friesland, that one should take a sheep. great flocks of sheep may be seen on the brabant moors, exactly as in mauve's pictures. they are kept not for food, for the dutch dislike mutton, but for wool. bois le duc has the richest example of mediæval architecture in holland--the cathedral of st. john, a wonderful fantasy in stone, rich not only without, but, contrary to all dutch precedent, within too; for we are at last again among a people who for the most part retain the religion of rome. the glass of the cathedral is poor, but there is a delicate green pattern on the vaulting which is very charming. the koster is proudest of the pulpit, and of a figure of the virgin "which is carried in procession through the town every evening between july th and th". but i was not interested so much in particular things as in the cathedral as a whole. to be in the midst of this grey gothic environment was what i desired, and after a little difficulty i induced the koster to leave me to wander alone. it was the first church in holland with the old authentic thrill. bois le duc (as it is more simple to call it) is a gay town with perhaps the most spirited market place in the country. the stalls have each an awning, as in the south of europe, and the women's heads are garlanded with flowers. i like this method of decoration as little as any, but it carries with it a pleasant sense of festivity. from bois le duc one may go due north to utrecht and amsterdam, passing on the way bommel, with its tall and impressive tower rising from its midst. or one may keep to the western route and reach walcheren. that is my present course, and bommel may be left with a curious story of the spaniards in . "two brothers who had never seen, and had always been inquiring for, each other, met at last by chance at the siege, where they served in two different companies. the elder, who was called hernando diaz, having heard the other mentioned by the name of encisso, which was his mother's surname, and which he had taken through affection, a thing common in spain, put several questions to him concerning a number of family particulars, and knew at last by the exactness of his answers that he was the brother he had been so long seeking after; upon which both proceeding to a close embrace, a cannon ball struck off both their heads, without separating their bodies, which fell clinging together." helvoet, on the way to tilburg, is the scene of an old but honourable story. ireland tells us that george the second, being detained by contrary winds on his return from hanover, reposed at helvoet until the sea should subside. while there he one day stopped a pretty dutch girl to ask her what she had in her basket. "eggs, mynheer." "and what is the price?" "a ducat a piece, mynheer." "are eggs so scarce then in holland?" "no. mynheer, but kings are." at tilburg i did not tarry, but rode on to breda (which is pronounced with all the accent on the second syllable) and which is famous for a castle (now a military school) and a tomb. the castle, a very beautiful building, was built by count henry of nassau. on becoming in due course the property of william the silent, it was confiscated by the duke of alva. how it was won back again is a story worth telling. the great achievement belonged to a simple boatman named adrian. whether or not he had read or heard of the trojan horse is not known, but his scheme was not wholly different. briefly he recommended prince maurice to conceal soldiers in his peat boat, under the peats, to be conveyed as peat into the spanish garrison. the plan was approved and captain heranguière was placed in charge of it. the boat was laden and adrian poled it into the fortress; and all was going well until the coldness of the night set the soldiers coughing. all were affected, but chiefly lieutenant hells, who, vainly attempting to be silent, at last implored his comrades to kill him lest he ruin the enterprise. adrian, however, prevented this grim necessity by pumping very hard and thus covering the sound. it had been arranged that the prince should be outside the city at a certain hour. just before the time heranguière and his men sprang out of their hiding, killed the garrison, opened the gates, and the castle was won again, heranguière was rewarded by being made governor of breda; adrian was pensioned, and the boat was taken from its native elements and exalted into an honoured position in the castle. when, however, the spanish general spinola recaptured breda, one of his first duties was to burn this worthy vessel. the jewel of breda, which is a spreading fortified town, is the tomb of count engelbert i. of nassau, in one of the chapels of the great church. the count and his lady, both sculptured in alabaster, lie side by side beneath a canopy of black marble, which is borne by four warriors also of alabaster. on the canopy are the arms and accoutrements of the dead count. the tomb, which was the work of vincenz of bologna in the sixteenth century, is wholly satisfying in its dignity, austerity and grace. to the font in breda cathedral william iii. attached the privilege of london citizenship. any child christened there could claim the rights of a londoner, the origin of the sanction being the presence of english soldiers at breda and their wish that their children should be english too. whether or not the dutch guards who were helping the english at the end of the seventeenth century had a similar privilege in london i do not know. late one saturday evening i watched in a milk shop at breda a conscientious dutch woman at work. she had just finished scrubbing the floor and polishing the brass, and was now engaged in laying little paths of paper in case any chance customer should come in over night and soil the boards before sunday. i thought as i stood there how impossible it would be for an english woman tired with the week to sit up like this to clean a shop against the next day. sir william temple has a pleasant story illustrating at once the inherent passion for cleanliness in the dutch women and also their old masterfulness. it tells how a magistrate, paying an afternoon call, was received at the door by a stout north holland lass who, lest he should soil the floor, took him bodily in her arms and carried him to a chair; sat him in it; removed his boots; put a pair of slippers on his feet; and then led him to her mistress's presence. bergen-op-zoom has its place in history; but it is a dull town in fact. nor has it beautiful streets, with the exception of that which leads to the old gevangenpoort with its little painted towers. i must confess that i did not like bergen-op-zoom. it seemed to me curiously inhospitable and critical; which was of course a wrong attitude to take up towards a countryman of grimston and redhead; who are grimston and redhead? i seem to hear the reader asking. grimston and redhead were two members of the english garrison when the prince of parma besieged bergen-op-zoom in , and it was their cunning which saved the town. falling intentionally into the prince's hands they affected to inform him of the vulnerability of the defences, and outlined a scheme by which his capture of a decisive position was practically certain. having been entrusted with the conduct of the attack, they led his men, by preconcerted design, into an ambush, with the result that the siege was raised. all being fair in love and war one should, i suppose, be at the feet of these brave fellows; but i have no enthusiasm for that kind of thing. at the same time there is no doubt that the dutch ought to, and therefore i am the more distressed by bergen-op-zoom's rudeness to our foreign garb. bergen had seen battle before the siege, for when it was held by the spanish, at the beginning of the war, a naval engagement was held off it in the scheldt, between the spanish fleet and the beggars of the sea, whom we are about to meet. the victory was to the beggars. later, in , bergen was besieged again, this time by the french and much more fiercely than by the spaniards. from bergen-op-zoom we went to tholen, passing the whitest of windmills on the way. tholen is an odd little ancient town gained by a tramway and a ferry. head-dresses here, as at bois le duc, are very much over-decorated with false flowers; but in a little shop in one of the narrow and deserted streets we found some very pretty lace. we found, also on the edge of the town, a very merry windmill; and we had lunch at an inn window which commanded the harnessing of the many market carts, into every one of which climbed a stolid farmer and a wife brimming with gossip. in the returning steam-tram from tholen to bergen-op-zoom was a dutch maiden. so typical was she that she might have been a composite portrait of all dutch girls of eighteen--smooth fair features, a very clear complexion, prim clothes. a friend getting in too, she talked; or rather he talked, and she listened, and agreed or dissented very quietly, and i had the pleasure of watching how admirably adapted is the dutch feminine countenance for the display of the nuances of emotion, the enregistering of every thought. expression after expression flitted across her face and mouth like the alternate shadow and sun in the weald on a breezy april day. a french woman's many vivacious and eloquent expressions seem to come from within; but the dutch present a placid sensitised surface on which their companions' conversation records the most delicate tracery. this girl's little reluctant smiles were very charming, and we were at bergen-op-zoom again before i knew it. chapter xix middelburg the friendly zeelanders--a spanish heritage--deceptive dutch towns--the abbey hotel--the abbey of st. nicholas--middelburg's art--sentimental songs--the great tacius--the siege of middelburg--a round-faced city--when disfigurement is beauty--green paint--long john--music in the night--foolish betsy--the stadhuis--an admiral and stuffed birds--the law of the paving-stones--veere--the prey of the sea--a mammoth church--maximilian's cup. with middelburg i have associated, for charm, hoorn; but middelburg stands first. it is serener, happier, more human; while the nature of the zeelander is to the stranger so much more ingratiating than that of the north hollander. the zeelander--and particularly the walcheren islander--has the eccentricity to view the stranger as a natural object rather than a phenomenon. flushing being avowedly cosmopolitan does not count, but at middelburg, the capital of zeeland, you may, although the only foreigner there, walk about in the oddest clothes and receive no embarrassing attentions. it is not that the good people of walcheren are quicker to see where their worldly advantage lies. they are not schemers or financiers. the reason resides in a native politeness, a heritage, some have conjectured, from their spanish forefathers. one sees hints of spanish blood also in the exceptional flexibility and good carriage of the walcheren women. whatever the cause of zeeland's friendliness, there it is; and in middelburg the foreigner wanders at ease, almost as comfortable and self-possessed as if he were in france. and it is the pleasantest town to wander in, and an astonishingly large one. a surprising expansiveness, when one begins to explore them, is an idiosyncrasy of dutch towns. from the railway, seeing a church spire and a few roofs, one had expected only a village; and behold street runs into street until one's legs ache. this is peculiarly the case with gorinchem, which is almost invisible from the line; and it is the case with middelburg, and hoorn, and many other towns that i do not recall at this moment. my advice to travellers in walcheren is to stay at middelburg rather than at flushing (they are very nigh each other) and to stay, moreover, at the hotel of the abbey. it is not the best hotel in holland as regards appointment and cuisine; but it is certainly one of the pleasantest in character, and i found none other in so fascinating a situation. for it occupies one side of the quiet square enclosed by the walls of the abbey of st. nicholas (or abdij, as the dutch oddly call it), and you look from your windows through a grove of trees to the delicate spires and long low facade of this ancient house of god, which is now given over to the governor of zeeland, to the library of the province, and to the provincial council, who meet in fifteenth century chambers and transact their business on _nouveau art_ furniture. what the abbey must have been before it was destroyed by fire we can only guess; but one thing we know, and that is that among its treasures were paintings by the great mabuse (jan gossaert), who once roystered through middelburg's quiet streets. another artist of middelburg was adrian van der venne, who made the quaint drawings for jacob cats' symbols, of which we have seen something in an earlier chapter. but the city has never been a home of the arts. beyond a little tapestry, some of which may be seen in the stadhuis, and some at the abbey, it made nothing beautiful. from earliest times the middelburgers were merchants--wool merchants and wine merchants principally, but always tradespeople and always prosperous and contented. a tentoonstelling (or exhibition) of copper work was in progress when i was there last summer; but it was not interesting, and i had better have taken the advice of the music hall manager, in whose grounds it was held, and have saved my money. his attitude to _repoussé_ work was wholly pessimistic, part prejudice against the craft of the metal-worker in itself, but more resentment that florins should be diverted into such a channel away from comic singers and acrobats. seated at one of the garden tables we discussed dutch taste in varieties. the sentimental song, he told me, is a drug in holland. anything rather than that. no matter how pretty the girl may be, she must not sing a sentimental song. but if i wished to witness the only way in which a sentimental song would "go down," i must visit his performance that evening--reserved seats one, fifty,--and hear the great tacius. he drew from his pocket a handbill which was at that moment being scattered broadcast over middelburg. it bore the name of this marvel, this solver of the sentimental riddle, and beneath it three interrogation marks. the manager winked. "that," he said, "will excite interest." we went that evening and heard tacius--a portly gentleman in a ball dress and a yellow wig, who after squeaking five-sixths of a love song in a timid falsetto which might pass for a woman's voice, roared out the balance like a bull. he brought down the house. like most other dutch towns middelburg had its period of siege. but there was this difference, that middelburg was held by the spanish and besieged by the dutch, whereas the custom was for the besiegers to be spanish and the besieged dutch. middelburg suffered every privation common to invested cities, even to the trite consumption of rats and dogs, cats and mice, just as destruction seemed inevitable--for the spanish commander mondragon swore to fire it and perish with it rather than submit--a compromise was arranged, and he surrendered without dishonour, the terms of the capitulation (which, however, spain would not allow him to carry out) being another illustration of the wisdom and humanity of william the silent. middelburg has never known a day's suffering since her siege. a local proverb says, "goed rond, goed zeeuwsch"--very round, very zeelandish--and an old writer--so m. havard tells us--describes middelburg as a "round faced city". if by round we mean not only circular but also plump and comfortable, we have middelburg and its sons and daughters very happily hit off. structurally the town is round: the streets curve, the abbey curves; seen from a balloon or the summit of the church tower, the plan of the city would reveal itself a circle. and there is a roundness also in the people. they smile roundly, they laugh roundly, they live roundly. the women and girls of middelburg are more comely and winsome than any in holland. their lace caps are like driven snow, their cheeks shine like apples. but their way with their arms i cannot commend. the sleeve of their bodices ends far above the elbow, and is made so tight that the naked arm below expands on attaining its liberty, and by constant and intentional friction takes the hue of the tomato. what, however, is to our eyes only a suggestion of inflammation, is to the zeelander a beauty. while our impulse is to recommend cold cream, the young bloods of middelburg (i must suppose) are holding their beating hearts. these are the differences of nations--beyond anything dreamed of in babel. the principal work of these ruddy-armed and wide-hipped damsels seems to be to carry green pails on a blue yoke--and their perfect fitness in middelburg's cheerful and serene streets is another instance of the dutch cleverness in the use of green paint. these people paint their houses every year--not in conformity with any written law, but upon a universal feeling that that is what should be done. to this very pretty habit is largely due the air of fresh gaiety that their towns possess. middelburg is of the gayest. greenest of all, as i have said, is perhaps zaandam. sometimes they paint too freely, even the trunks of trees and good honest statuary coming under the brush. but for the most part they paint well. it is not alone the cloistral gothic seclusion in which the abbey hotel reposes that commends it to the wise: there is the further allurement of long john. long john, or de lange jan, is the soaring tower of the abbey church, now the nieuwe kerk. so long have his nearly feet dominated middelburg--he was first built in the thirteenth century, and rebuilt in the sixteenth--that he has become more than a structure of bricks and copper: a thinking entity, a tutelary spirit at once the pride and the protector of the town. his voice is heard more often than any belfry beneath whose shadow i have lain. holland, as we have seen, is a land of bells and carillons; nowhere in the world are the feet of time so dogged; but long john is the most faithful sleuth of all. he is almost ahead of his quarry. he seems to know no law; he set out, i believe, with a commission entitling him to ring his one and forty bells every seven and a half minutes, or eight times in the hour; but long since he must have torn up that warranty, for he is now his own master, breaking out into little sighs of melancholy or wistful music whenever the mood takes him. i have never heard such profoundly plaintive airs as his--very beautiful, very grave, very deliberate. one cannot say more for persistent chimes than this--that at the abbey hotel it is no misfortune to wake in the night. long john has a companion in foolish betsy. foolish betsy is the stadhuis clock, so called (gekke betje) from her refusal to keep time with the giant: another instance of the power which john exerts over the town, even to the wounding of chivalry. the nieuwe kerk would be nothing without its tower--it is one of the barest and least interesting churches in a country which has reduced to the finest point the art of denuding religion of mystery--but the stadhuis would still be wonderful even without its betsy, there is nothing else like it in holland, nothing anywhere quite so charming in its shameless happy floridity. i cannot describe it: the building is too complicated, too ornate; i can only say that it is wholly captivating and thoroughly out of keeping with the dutch genius--spanish influence again apparent. beneath the eaves are four and twenty statues of the counts of holland and zeeland, and the roof is like a mass-meeting of dormer windows. in addition to the stadhuis museum, which is dedicated to the history of middelburg and zeeland, the town has also a municipal museum, too largely given over to shells and stuffed birds, but containing also such human relics as the wheel on which admiral de ruyter as a boy helped his father to make rope, and also the first microscope and the first telescope, both the work of zacharias jansen, a zeeland mathematician. more interesting perhaps are the rooms in the old zeeland manner, corresponding to the hindeloopen rooms which we have seen at leeuwarden, but lacking their cheerful richness of ornamentation. it is certainly a museum that should be visited, albeit the stuffed birds weigh heavily on the brow. after all, middelburg's best museum is itself. its streets and houses are a never-ending pleasure. something gladdens the eye at every turn--a blue and yellow shutter, a red and black shutter, a turret, a daring gable, a knot of country people, a fat zeeland baby, a milk-can rivalling the sun, an old woman's lace cap, a young woman's merry mouth. only in two respects is the town unsatisfactory, and both are connected with its streets. the liberty given to each householder to erect an iron fence across the pavement at each limit of his property makes it necessary to walk in the road, and the _pavé_ of the road is so rough as to cause no slight suffering to any one in thin boots. m. havard has an amusing passage on this topic, in which he says that the ancient fifteenth-century punishment for marital infidelity, a sin forbidden by the municipal laws no less than by heaven, was the supply by the offending man of a certain number of paving stones. after such an explanation, the genial frenchman adds, we must not complain:-- nos pères ont péchés, nos pères ne sont plus, et c'est nous qui portons la peine de leurs crimes. the island of walcheren is quickly learned. from middelburg one can drive in a day to the chief points of interest--westcapelle and domburg, veere and arnemuiden. of these veere is the jewel--veere, once middelburg's dreaded rival, and in its possession of a clear sea-way and harbour her superior, but now forlorn. for in the seventeenth century holland's ancient enemy overflowed its barriers, and the greater part of veere was blotted out in a night. what remains is a mere symbol of the past; but there is enough to loiter in with perfect content, for veere is unique. certainly no little town is so good to approach--with the friendliness of its red roofs before one all the way, the unearthly hugeness of its church and the magic of its stadhuis tower against the blue. the church, which is visible from all parts of the island, is immense, in itself an indication of what a city veere must have been. it rises like a mammoth from the flat. only the east end is now used for services; the vast remainder, white and naked, is given up to bats and the handful of workmen that the slender restoration funds make it possible to employ. for there is some idea of veere's church being one day again in perfect repair; but that day will not be in our time. the ravages of the sea only emptied it: the sea does not desecrate. it was napoleon who disgraced the church by converting it into barracks. other relics of veere's past are the tower at the harbour mouth (its fellow-tower is beneath the sea) and the beautifully grave scotch house on the quay, once the centre of the scottish wool trade of these parts. the stadhuis also remains, a dainty distinguished structure which might be the infant daughter of the stadhuis at middelburg. its spire has a slender aerial grace; on its façade are statues of the lords of veere and their ladies, within is a little museum of antiquities, one of whose most interesting possessions is the entry in the veere register, under the date july nd, , of the marriage of hugo grotius with maria reygersbergh of veere, whom we have seen at loevenstein assisting in her husband's escape from prison. the museum is in the charge of a blond custodian, a descendant of sea kings, whose pride in the golden goblet which maximilian of burgundy, veere's first marquis, gave to the town in , is almost paternal. he displays it as though it were a sacred relic, and narrates the story of veere's indignation when a millionaire attempted to buy it, so feelingly as to fortify and complete one's suspicions that money after all is but dross and the love of it the root of evil. chapter xx flushing middelburg once more--the flushing baths--shrimps and chivalry--a dutch boy--charles v. at souburg--flushing and the spanish yoke--philip and william the silent--the capture of brill--a far-reaching drunken impulse--flushing's independence--admiral de ruyter--england's revenge--the middelburg kermis--the aristocracy of avoirdupois--the end. it is wiser i think to stay at middelburg and visit flushing from there than to stay at flushing. one may go by train or tram. in hot weather the steam-tram is the better way, for then one can go direct to the baths and bathe in the stillest arm of the sea that i know. here i bathed on the hottest day of last year, , among merry albeit considerable water nymphs and vivacious men. these i found afterwards should have dwelt in the water for ever, for they emerged, dried and dressed, from the machines, something less than ordinary batavians. i perhaps carried disillusionment also. for safe bathing the flushing baths could not well be excelled, but i never knew shore so sandy. to rid one's self of sand is almost an impossibility. with each step it over-tops one's boots. returning to middelburg from flushing one evening, in the steam-tram, we found ourselves in a compartment filled with happy country people, most of them making for the kermis, then in full swing in the middelburg market place. a pedlar of shrimps stood by the door retailing little pennyworths, and nothing would do but the countryman opposite me must buy some for his sweetheart. when he had bought them he was for emptying them in her lap, but i tendered the wrapper of my book just in time: an act of civility which brought out all his native friendliness. he offered us shrimps, one by one, first peeling them with kindly fingers of extraordinary blackness, and we ate enough to satisfy him that we meant well: and then just as we reached middelburg, he gave me a cigar and walked all the way to the abbey with me, watching me smoke it. it was an ordeal; but i hope, for the honour of england, that i carried it through successfully and convinced him that an englishman knows what to do with courtesy when he finds it. in the same tram and on the very next seat to us was the pleasantest little boy that i think i ever saw: a perfect miniature dutchman, with wide black trousers terminating in a point, pearl buttons, a tight black coat, a black hat, and golden neck links after the zeeland habit. he was perhaps four, plump and red and merry, and his mother, who nursed his baby sister, was immensely proud of him. some one pressed a twopenny bit into his hand as he left the car, and i watched him telling the great news to half a dozen of the women who were waiting by the side of the road, while his face shone like the setting sun. they got off at souburg, the little village between flushing and middelburg where charles v. was living in , after his abdication, before he sailed for his last home. it is odd to have two such associations with souburg--the weary emperor putting off the purple, and the little dutch boer bursting jollily through black velvet. flushing played a great part in the great war. it was from flushing that charles v. sailed in ; from flushing that philip ii. sailed in ; neither to return. it was flushing that heard philip's farewell to william of orange, which in the light of after events may be called the declaration of war that was to release the netherlands from the tyranny of spain and rome. "as philip was proceeding on board the ship which was to bear him for ever from the netherlands, his eyes lighted upon the prince. his displeasure could no longer be restrained. with angry face he turned upon him, and bitterly reproached him for having thwarted all his plans by means of his secret intrigues. william replied with humility that everything which had taken place had been done through the regular and natural movements of the states. upon this the king, boiling with rage, seized the prince by the wrist, and, shaking it violently, exclaimed in spanish, 'no los estados, ma vos, vos, vos!'--not the estates, but you, you, you!--repeating thrice the word 'vos,' which is as disrespectful and uncourteous in spain as 'toi' in french." that was th august, . philip's fleet consisted of ninety ships, victualled, among other articles, with fifteen thousand capons, and laden with such spoil as tapestry and silks, much of which had to be thrown overboard in a storm to lighten the labouring vessels. it seemed at one time as if the fleet must founder, but philip reached spain in safety, and hastened to celebrate his escape, and emphasise his policy of a universal religion, by an extensive _auto da fé_. flushing did not actually begin the war, in , after the capture of brill at the mouth of the maas, by the water beggars under de la marck, but it was the first town to respond to that invitation of revolt against alva and spain. the foundations of the dutch republic may have been laid at brill, but it was the moral support of flushing that established them. the date of the capture of brill was april st, and alva, who was then at brussels, suffered tortures from the belgian wits. the word brill, by a happy chance, signifies spectacles, and a couplet was sung to the effect that on april fool's day duke alva's spectacles were stolen away; while, says motley, a caricature was circulated depicting alva's spectacles being removed from his nose by de la marck, while the duke uttered his habitual comment "'tis nothing. 'tis nothing." what, however, began as little more than the desperate deed of some hungry pirates, to satisfy their immediate needs, was soon turned into a very far-reaching "something," by the action of flushing, whose burghers, under the seigneur de herpt, on hearing the news of the rebellion of brill, drove the spanish garrison from the town. a number of spanish ships chancing to arrive on the same day, bringing reinforcements, were just in time to find the town in arms. had they landed, the whole revolt might have been quelled, but a drunken loafer of the town, in return for a pot of beer, offered to fire a gun at the fleet from the ramparts. he was allowed to do so, and without a word the fleet fell into a panic and sailed away. the day was won. it might almost be said that that shot--that pot of beer--secured the freedom of the netherlands. let this be remembered when john barleycorn is before his many judges. a little later brill sent help, and flushing's independence was secure. motley describes this band of assistants in a picturesque passage:-- "the expedition seemed a fierce but whimsical masquerade. every man in the little fleet was attired in the gorgeous vestments of the plundered churches, in gold-embroidered cassocks, glittering mass-garments, or the more sombre cowls and robes of capuchin friars. so sped the early standard bearers of that ferocious liberty which had sprung from the fires in which all else for which men cherish their fatherland had been consumed. so swept that resolute but fantastic band along the placid estuaries of zeeland, waking the stagnant waters with their wild beggar songs and cries of vengeance. "that vengeance found soon a distinguished object. pacheco, the chief engineer of alva, who had accompanied the duke in his march from italy, who had since earned a world-wide reputation as the architect of the antwerp citadel, had been just despatched in haste to flushing to complete the fortress whose construction had been so long delayed. too late for his work, too soon for his safety, the ill-fated engineer had arrived almost at the same moment with treslong and his crew. he had stepped on shore, entirely ignorant of all which had transpired, expecting to be treated with the respect due to the chief commandant of the place, and to an officer high in the confidence of the governor-general. he found himself surrounded by an indignant and threatening mob. the unfortunate italian understood not a word of the opprobrious language addressed to him, but he easily comprehended that the authority of the duke was overthrown. "observing de ryk, a distinguished partisan officer and privateersman of amsterdam, whose reputation for bravery and generosity was known to him, he approached him, and drawing a seal ring from his finger kissed it, and handed it to the rebel chieftain. by this dumb-show he gave him to understand that he relied upon his honor for the treatment due to a gentleman. de ryk understood the appeal, and would willingly have assured him, at least, a soldier's death, but he was powerless to do so. he arrested him, that he might be protected from the fury of the rabble; but treslong, who now commanded in flushing, was especially incensed against the founder of the antwerp citadel, and felt a ferocious desire to avenge his brother's murder upon the body of his destroyer's favourite. "pacheco was condemned to be hanged upon the very day of his arrival. having been brought forth from his prison, he begged hard but not abjectly for his life. he offered a heavy ransom, but his enemies were greedy for blood, not for money. it was, however, difficult to find an executioner. the city hangman was absent, and the prejudice of the country and the age against the vile profession had assuredly not been diminished during the five horrible years of alva's administration. even a condemned murderer, who lay in the town gaol, refused to accept his life in recompence for performing the office. it should never be said, he observed, that his mother had given birth to a hangman. when told, however, that the intended victim was a spanish officer, the malefactor consented to the task with alacrity, on condition that he might afterwards kill any man who taunted him with the deed. "arrived at the foot of the gallows, pacheco complained bitterly of the disgraceful death designed for him. he protested loudly that he came of a house as noble as that of egmont or hoorn, and was entitled to as honourable an execution as theirs had been. 'the sword! the sword!' he frantically exclaimed, as he struggled with those who guarded him. his language was not understood, but the name of egmont and hoorn inflamed still more highly the rage of the rabble, while his cry for the sword was falsely interpreted by a rude fellow who had happened to possess himself of pacheco's rapier, at his capture, and who now paraded himself with it at the gallows foot. 'never fear for your sword, señor,' cried this ruffian; 'your sword is safe enough, and in good hands. up the ladder with you, señor; you have no further use for your sword.' pacheco, thus outraged, submitted to his fate. he mounted the ladder with a steady step, and was hanged between two other spanish officers. "so perished miserably a brave soldier, and one of the most distinguished engineers of his time; a man whose character and accomplishments had certainly merited for him a better fate. but while we stigmatize as it deserves the atrocious conduct of a few netherland partisans, we should remember who first unchained the demon of international hatred in this unhappy land, nor should it ever be forgotten that the great leader of the revolt, by word, proclamation, example, by entreaties, threats, and condign punishment, constantly rebuked and, to a certain extent, restrained the sanguinary spirit by which some of his followers disgraced the noble cause which they had espoused." flushing's hero is de ruyter, whose rope-walk wheel we saw at middelburg, and whose truculent lineaments have so often frowned at us from the walls of picture gallery and stadhuis throughout the country--almost without exception from the hand of ferdinand bol, or a copyist. scratch a sea-dog and you find a pirate; de ruyter, who stands in stone for all time by flushing harbour, lacking the warranty of war would have been a paul jones beyond eulogy. you can see it in his strong brows, his determined mouth, his every line. it is only two hundred and thirty-seven years, only seven generations, since he was in the thames with his fleet, and london was panic-stricken. no enemy has been there since. the english had their revenge in , when they bombarded flushing and reduced it to only a semblance of what it had been. among the beautiful buildings which our cannon balls destroyed was the ancient stadhuis. hence it is that flushing's stadhuis to-day is a mere recent upstart. flushing does little to amuse its visitors after the sun has left the sea; and we were very glad of the excuse offered by the middelburg kermis to return to our inland city each afternoon. the middelburg kermis is a particularly merry one. the stalls and roundabouts fill the market square before the stadhuis, packed so closely that the revolving horses nearly carry the poffertje restaurants round with them. the dutch roundabouts, by the way, still, like the english, retain horses: they have not, like the french, as i noticed at three fairs in and about paris last autumn, taken to pigs and rabbits. i examined the middelburg kermis very thoroughly. few though the exhibits were, they included two fat women. their booths stood on opposite sides of the square, all the fun of the fair between them. in the west was mile. jeanne; in the east the princess sexiena. jeanne was french, sexiena came from the fatherland. both, though rivals, used the same poster: a picture of a lady, enormous, décolletée, highly-coloured, stepping into a fiacre, to the cocher's intense alarm. before one inspected the rival giantesses this community of advertisement had seemed to be a mistake; after, its absurdity was only too apparent, for although the princess was colossal, mile. jeanae was more so. mile. jeanne should therefore have employed an artist to make an independent allurement. both also displayed outside the booths a pair of corsets, but here, i fancy, the advantage was with mlle. jeanne, although such were the distractions of the square that it was difficult to keep relative sizes in mind as one crossed it. we visited the princess first and found her large enough. she gasped on a dais--it was the hottest week of the year. she was happy, she said, except in such warmth. she was not married: princes had sighed for her in vain. she rode a bicycle, she assured us, and enjoyment in the incredulity of her hearers was evidently one of her pleasures. her manager listened impatiently, for our conversation interrupted his routine; he then took his oath that she was not padded, and bade her exhibit her leg. she did so, and it was like the mast of a ship. i dropped five cents into her plate and passed on to mlle. jeanne. the princess had been large enough; mlle. jeanne was larger. she wore her panoply of flesh less like a flower than did her rival. her expression was less placid; she panted distressfully as she fanned her bulk. but in conversation she relaxed. she too was happy, except in such heat. she neither rode a bicycle nor walked--save two or three steps. as her name indicated, she too was unmarried, although, her manager interjected, few wives could make a better omelette. but men are cowards, and such fortresses very formidable. as we talked, the manager, who had entered the booth as blasé an entrepreneur as the continent holds, showed signs of animation. in time he grew almost enthusiastic and patted mlle.'s arms with pride. he assisted her to exhibit her leg quite as though its glories were also his. the princess's leg had been like the mast of a ship; this was like the trunk of a burnham beech. and here, at flushing, we leave the country. i should have liked to have steamed down the scheldt to antwerp on one of the ships that continually pass, if only to be once more among the friendly francs with their noticeable purchasing power, and to saunter again through the plantin museum among the ghosts of old printers, and to stand for a while in the museum before van eyck's delicious drawing of saint barbara. but it must not be. this is not a belgian book, but a dutch book; and here it ends. notes [ ] the whole dress worn by the prince on this tragical occasion is still to be seen at the hague in the national museum.--_motley_. [ ] the house now called the prinsen hof (but used as a barrack) still presents nearly the same appearance as it did in .--_motley_. [ ] mendoza's estimate of the entire population as numbering only fourteen thousand before the siege is evidently erroneous. it was probably nearer fifty thousand.--_motley_. [ ] since writing the above passage i am reminded by a correspondent that louis xiv. described the dutch as a nation of shopkeepers and napoleon merely borrowed and adapted the phrase. [ ] "with the rederijkern," longfellow adds, "hood's amusing 'nocturnal sketch' would have been a driedobbelsteert, or a poem with three tails;-- even is come; and from the dark park, hark, the signal of the setting sun, one gun! and six is sounding from the chime, prime time to go and see the drury-lane dane slain. anon night comes, and with her wings brings things such as with his poetic tongue young sung." transcriber's notes: the following spelling/typographical errors have been changed. p --changed "defense" to "defence" for consistency with rest of book. p --changed "treschkuit" to "trekschuit". p --changed "cites" to "cities". p --changed "tactiturn" to "taciturn". p --changed "were" to "where" in 'the cell were (changed to where) philip ii. died;'. other spelling, grammatical, punctuation and typographic errors have been left as in the original book. [illustration: a dutch windmill.] holland. by edmondo de amicis, author of "spain," "morocco," etc. translated from the thirteenth edition of the italian by helen zimmern. illustrated. in two volumes. vol. i. philadelphia henry t. coates & co. copyright, , by porter & coates. to pietro grolier. contents. page holland zealand rotterdam delft the hague list of illustrations. volume i. photographs taken expressly for this edition of "holland" by dr. charles l. mitchell, philadelphia. photogravures by a.w. elson & co., boston. page a dutch windmill _frontispiece._ dutch fishing-boats dordrecht--canal with cathedral in the distance in rotterdam interior of the church of st. lawrence on the meuse, near rotterdam the steiger, rotterdam the statue of tollens near the arsenal, delft monument of admiral van tromp stairway where william the silent was assassinated in the prinsenhof, delft refectory of the convent of st. agatha, delft old delft on the canal near delft the binnenhof, the hague paul potter's bull on the road to scheveningen fisherman's children, scheveningen the main drive in the bosch, the hague the vyver, the hague holland. one who looks for the first time at a large map of holland must be amazed to think that a country so made can exist. at first sight, it is impossible to say whether land or water predominates, and whether holland belongs to the continent or to the sea. its jagged and narrow coast-line, its deep bays and wide rivers, which seem to have lost the outer semblance of rivers and to be carrying fresh seas to the sea; and that sea itself, as if transformed to a river, penetrating far into the land, and breaking it up into archipelagoes; the lakes and vast marshes, the canals crossing each other everywhere,--all leave an impression that a country so broken up must disintegrate and disappear. it would be pronounced a fit home for only beavers and seals, and surely its inhabitants, although of a race so bold as to dwell there, ought never to lie down in peace. when i first looked at a large map of holland these thoughts crowded into my mind, and i felt a great desire to know something about the formation of this singular country; and as what i learned impelled me to make a book, i write it now in the hope that i may lead others to read it. those who do not know a country usually ask travellers, "what sort of place is it?" many have told briefly what kind of country holland is. napoleon said: "it is an alluvium of french rivers, the rhine, the scheldt, and the meuse," and under this pretext he annexed it to the empire. one writer defined it as a sort of transition between the earth and the sea. another calls it "an immense surface of earth floating on the water." others speak of it as an annex of the old continent, the china of europe, the end of the earth and the beginning of the ocean--a huge raft of mud and sand; and philip ii. called it "the country nearest hell." but on one point they were all agreed, and expressed themselves in the same words: holland is a conquest of man over the sea; it is an artificial country; the dutch made it; it exists because the dutch preserve it, and would disappear if they were to abandon it. to understand these words we must picture to ourselves holland as it was when the first german tribes, wandering in search of a country, came to inhabit it. holland was then almost uninhabitable. it was composed of lakes, vast and stormy as seas, flowing into each other; marshes and morasses, thickets and brushwood; of huge forests, overrun by herds of wild horses; vast stretches of pines, oaks, and alder trees, in which, tradition tells us, you could traverse leagues passing from trunk to trunk without ever putting your foot to the ground. the deep bays carried the northern storms into the very heart of the country. once a year certain provinces disappeared under the sea, becoming muddy plains which were neither earth nor water, on which one could neither walk nor sail. the large rivers, for lack of sufficient incline to drain them into the sea, strayed here and there, as if uncertain which road to take, and then fell asleep in vast pools amongst the coast-sands. it was a dreary country, swept by strong winds, scourged by continual rain, and enveloped in a perpetual fog, through which nothing was heard save the moaning of the waves, the roaring of wild beasts and the screeching of sea-fowl. the first people who had the courage to pitch their tents in it were obliged to erect with their own hands, hillocks of earth as a protection from the inundations of the rivers and the invasions of the ocean, and they were obliged to live on these heights like shipwrecked-men on lonely islands, descending, when the waters withdrew, to seek nourishment by fishing, hunting, and collecting the eggs which the sea-fowl had laid on the sands. cæsar, when he passed by, gave the first name to this people. the other latin historians spoke with mingled pity and respect of these intrepid barbarians who lived on "a floating country," exposed to the inclemency of an unfeeling sky and to the fury of the mysterious north sea. imagination can picture the roman soldiers from the heights of the utmost wave-washed citadels of the empire, contemplating with sadness and wonder the wandering tribes of that desolate country, and regarding them as a race accursed of heaven. now, when we reflect that such a region has become one of the richest, most fertile, and best-governed countries in the world, we understand how justly holland is called the conquest of man. but it should be added that it is a continuous conquest. to explain this fact,--to show how the existence of holland, notwithstanding the great works of defence built by its inhabitants, still requires an incessant struggle fraught with perils,--it is sufficient to glance rapidly at the greatest changes of its physical history, beginning at the time when its people had reduced it to a habitable country. tradition tells of a great inundation of friesland in the sixth century. from that period catastrophes are recorded in every gulf, in every island, one may say, in almost every town, of holland. it is reckoned that through thirteen centuries one great inundation, besides smaller ones, has taken place every seven years, and, since the country is an extended plain, these inundations were very deluges. toward the end of the thirteenth century the sea destroyed part of a very fertile peninsula near the mouth of the ems and laid waste more than thirty villages. in the same century a series of marine inundations opened an immense gap in northern holland and formed the gulf of the zuyder zee, killing about eighty thousand people. in a storm caused the meuse to overflow, and in one night buried in its waters seventy-two villages and one hundred thousand inhabitants. in the sea broke the embankments of zealand, destroyed a hundred villages, and buried for ever a vast tract of the country. in a tempest produced another inundation in zealand and in the province of utrecht; amsterdam was inundated, and in friesland twenty thousand people were drowned. other great floods occurred in the seventeenth century; two terrible ones at the beginning and at the end of the eighteenth; one in , which laid waste northern holland, friesland, over-yssel, and gelderland; another in , when the rhine, overflowing, flooded gelderland and the province of utrecht and submerged a large part of north brabant. besides these great catastrophes, there occurred in the different centuries innumerable others which would have been famous in other countries, but were scarcely noticed in holland--such as the inundation of the large lake of haarlem caused by an invasion of the sea. flourishing towns of the zuyder zee gulf disappeared under water; the islands of zealand were repeatedly covered by the sea and then again left dry; the villages on the coast from helder to the mouths of the meuse were frequently submerged and ruined; and in each of these inundations there was an immense loss of life of both man and beast. it is clear that miracles of courage, constancy, and industry must have been wrought by the dutch people, first in creating, and then in preserving, such a country. the enemy against which the dutch had to defend their country was threefold--the sea, the rivers, and the lakes. the dutch drained the lakes, drove back the sea, and imprisoned the rivers. to drain the lakes they called the air to their aid. the lakes and marshes were surrounded with dykes, the dykes with canals and an army of windmills; these, putting the suction-pumps in motion, poured the waters into the canals, which conducted them into the rivers and to the sea. thus vast areas of ground which were buried under water saw the light, and were transformed, as if by enchantment, into fertile plains covered with villages and traversed by roads and canals. in the seventeenth century, in less than forty years, twenty-six lakes were emptied. in northern holland alone at the beginning of this century more than six thousand hectares of land were delivered from the waters, in southern holland, before , twenty-nine thousand hectares, and in the whole of holland, from to , three hundred and fifty-five thousand hectares. by the use of steam pumps instead of windmills, the great undertaking of draining the lake of haarlem was completed in thirty-nine months. this lake, which threatened the towns of haarlem, amsterdam, and leyden with raging storms, was forty-four kilometers in circumference. at present the hollanders are contemplating the prodigious enterprise of draining the gulf of the zuyder zee, which covers a space of more than seven hundred square kilometers. the rivers, another internal enemy of holland, did not cost less fatigue or fewer sacrifices. some, like the rhine, which loses itself in the sand before reaching the ocean, had to be channelled and protected from the tide at their mouths by immense locks; others, like the meuse, were flanked by large dykes, like those raised to force back the sea; others were turned from their channels. the wandering waters were gathered together, the course of the rivers was regulated, the streams were divided with rigorous precision, and sent in different directions to maintain the equilibrium of the enormous liquid mass,--for the smallest deviation might cause the submersion of whole provinces. in this manner all of the rivers, which originally wandered unrestrained, swamping and devastating the whole country, have been reduced to streams and have become the servants of man. but the fiercest struggle of all was the battle with the ocean. holland, as a whole, lies lower than the sea-level; consequently, wherever the coast is not defended by downs it had to be protected by embankments. if these huge bulwarks of earth, wood, and granite were not standing like monuments to witness to the courage and perseverance of the dutch, it would be impossible to believe that the hand of man, even in the course of many centuries, could have completed such an immense work. in zealand alone the dykes extend over an area of four hundred kilometers. the western coast of the island of walcheren is protected by a dyke, the cost of whose construction and preservation put out at interest would, it is calculated, have amounted to a sum great enough to have paid for the building of the dyke of solid copper. round the town of helder, at the northern extremity of northern holland, there is a dyke made of blocks of norwegian granite which is ten kilometers long and stretches sixty meters into the sea. the province of friesland, which is eighty-eight kilometers long, is protected by three rows of enormous palisades sustained by blocks of norwegian and german granite. amsterdam, all the towns on the coast of the zuyder zee, and all the islands which have been formed by fragments of the land that has disappeared, forming a sort of circle between friesland and northern holland, are protected by dykes. from the mouths of the ems to the mouths of the scheldt, holland is an impenetrable fort, in whose immense bastions the mills are the towers, the locks the gates, the islands the advanced forts; of which, like a real fortress, it shows to its enemy, the sea, only the tips of its steeples and the roofs of its buildings, as though in derision or in challenge. in truth, holland is a fortress, and the dutch live as though they were in a fort--always in arms against the sea. a host of engineers, dependent on the minister of the interior, is scattered throughout the land, disciplined like an army. these men are continually on the alert, watching over the waters of the interior, anticipating the rupture of the dykes, ordering and directing the works of defence. the expenses of this warfare are distributed: one part is paid by the state, the other by the provinces; every proprietor pays, besides the general imposts, a special tax on the dykes in proportion to the extent of his property and to its proximity to the waters. any accidental breach, any carelessness, may cause a flood: the danger is ever present. the sentinels are at their posts on the ramparts, and at the first attack of the sea, give the war-cry, whereupon holland sends out arms, materials, and money. and even when great battles are not in progress, a slow, noiseless struggle is ever going on. innumerable windmills, even in the drained lakes, are continually working to exhaust the rain-water and the water that oozes from the earth, and to pump it into the canals. every day the locks of the gulfs and rivers shut their gigantic doors in face of the high tide, which attempts to launch its billows into the heart of the country. work is continually going on to reinforce any weakened dykes, to fortify the downs by cultivation, to throw up fresh embankments where the downs are low--works towering like immense spears brandished in the midst of the sea, ready to break the first onset of the waves. the sea thunders eternally at the doors of the rivers, ceaselessly lashes their banks, roars forth its eternal menace, raises the crests of its billows curious to behold the contested ground, heaps banks of sand before the doors to destroy the commerce of the cities it wishes to possess; wastes, rasps, and undermines the coasts, and, unable to overthrow the ramparts, against which its impotent waves break in angry foam, it casts ships laden with corpses at the feet of the rebellious country to testify to its fury and its strength. whilst this great struggle continues holland is becoming transformed. a map of the country as it was eight centuries ago would not at first sight be recognized. the land is changed, the men are changed. the sea in some parts has driven back the coast; it has taken portions of the land from the continent, has abandoned and again retaken it; has reunited some of the islands to the continent by chains of sand, as in zealand; has detached the borders of the continent and formed of them new islands, such as wieringen; has withdrawn from some provinces, and has converted maritime cities into inland towns, as at leeuwarden; it has changed vast plains into archipelagoes of a hundred isles, such as the bies-bosch; it has separated the city from the land, as at dordrecht. new gulfs two leagues wide have been formed, such as the gulf of dollart; two provinces have been separated by a new sea--namely, north holland and friesland. inundations have caused the level of the ground to be raised in some places, lowered in others; unfruitful soil has been fertilized by the sediment of the overflown rivers; fertile ground has been changed into deserts of sand. the transformations of the waters have given rise to a transformation of labor. islands have been joined to the continent, as was the island of ameland; whole provinces are being reduced to islands, as is the case with north holland, which will be separated from south holland by the new canal of amsterdam; lakes as large as provinces have been made to disappear, like the lake of beemster. by the removal of the thick mud, land has been converted into lakes, and these lakes are again transformed into meadows. so the country changes, ordering and altering its aspect in accordance with the violence of the waters and the needs of man. as one glances over the latest map, he may be sure that in a few years, it will be useless, because at the moment he is studying it, there exist bays which will disappear little by little, tracts of land which are on the point of detaching themselves from the continent, and large canals which will open and carry life into uninhabited regions. but hollanders did more than defend themselves from the water; they became its masters. the water was their scourge; it became their defence. if a foreign army invades their territory, they open the dykes and loose the sea and the rivers, as they loosed them on the romans, the spanish, and the army of louis xiv., and then defend the inland towns with their fleets. water was their poverty; they have made it riches. the whole country is covered with a network of canals, which irrigate the land and are at the same time the highways of the people. the towns communicate with the sea by means of the canals; canals lead from town to town, binding the towns to the villages, and uniting the villages themselves, as they lie with their homesteads scattered over the plain. smaller canals surround the farms, the meadows, and the kitchen-gardens, taking the place of walls and hedges; every house is a little port. ships, barges, boats, and rafts sail through the villages, wind round the houses, and thread the country in all directions, just as carts and carriages do in other places. and here, too, holland has accomplished many gigantic works, such as the william canal in north brabant, which, more than eighty kilometers long and thirty meters wide, crosses the whole of northern holland and unites amsterdam to the north sea: the new canal, the largest in europe, which will join amsterdam to the ocean, across the downs, and another, equally large, which will unite the town of rotterdam to the sea. the canals are the veins of holland, and the water is its blood. but, aside from the canals, the draining of the lakes, and the works of defence, as one passes rapidly through holland he sees on every side indications of marvellous labor. the ground,--in other countries the gift of nature,--is here the result of industry. holland acquired the greater part of its riches through commerce, but the earth had to yield its fruits before commerce could exist; and there was no earth--it had to be created. there were banks of sand, broken here and there by layers of peat, and downs which the wind blew about and scattered over the country; large expanses of muddy land, destined, as it seemed, to eternal barrenness. iron and coal, the first elements of industry, were lacking; there was no wood, for the forests had already been destroyed by storms before agriculture began; there was neither stone nor metal. nature, as a dutch poet has said, had denied all its gifts to holland, and the dutch were obliged to do everything in spite of her. they began by fertilizing the sand. in some places they made the ground fruitful by placing on it layers of soil brought from a distance, just as a garden is formed; they spread the rubble from the downs over the sodden meadows; they mixed bits of the peat taken from the water with the earth that was too sandy; they dug up clay to give a fresh fertility to the surface of the ground; they strove to till the downs; and thus, by a thousand varied efforts, as they continually warded off the threatening waters, they succeeded in cultivating holland as highly as other countries more favored by nature. the holland of sands and marshes, which the ancients considered barely habitable, now sends abroad, year by year, agricultural products to the value of a hundred million francs, possesses about a million three hundred thousand head of cattle, and may be rated in proportion to its size among the most populous countries in europe. now, it is obvious that in a country so extraordinary the inhabitants must be very different from those of other lands. indeed, few peoples have been more influenced by the nature of the country they inhabit, than the dutch. their genius is in perfect harmony with the physical character of holland. when one contemplates the memorials of the great warfare which this nation has waged with the sea, one understands that its characteristics must be steadfastness and patience, conjoined with calm and determined courage. the glorious struggle, and the knowledge that they owe everything to themselves, must have infused and strengthened in them a lofty sense of their own dignity and an indomitable spirit of liberty and independence. the necessity for a continual struggle, for incessant work, and for continual sacrifices to protect their very existence, confronts them perpetually with realities, and must have helped to make them an extremely practical and economical nation. good sense necessarily became their most prominent quality; economy was perforce one of their principal virtues. this nation was obliged to excel in useful works, to be sober in its enjoyments, simple even in its greatness, and successful in all things that are to be attained by tenacity of purpose and by activity springing from reflection and precision. it had to be wise rather than heroic, conservative rather than creative; to give no great architects to the edifice of modern thought, but many able workmen, a legion of patient and useful laborers. by virtue of these qualities of prudence, phlegmatic activity, and conservatism the dutch are ever advancing, although step by step. they acquire slowly, but lose none of their acquisitions;--they are loth to quit ancient usages, and, although three great nations are in close proximity to them, they retain their originality as if isolated. they have retained it through different forms of government, through foreign invasions, through the political and religious wars of which holland was the theatre--in spite of the immense crowd of foreigners from every country who have taken refuge in their land, and have lived there at all times. they are, in short, of all the northern nations, that one which has retained its ancient typical character as it advanced on the road toward civilization. one recalling the conformation of this country, with its three and a half millions of inhabitants, can easily understand that although fused into a solid political union, and although recognizable amongst the other northern nations by certain traits peculiar to the inhabitants of all its provinces, it must nevertheless present a great variety. such, indeed, is the case. between zealand and holland proper, between holland and friesland, between friesland and gelderland, between groningen and brabant, although they are closely bound together by local and historical ties, there is a difference as great as that existing between the most distant provinces of italy and france. they differ in language, in costume and in character, in race and in religion. the communal _régime_ has impressed on this nation an indelible stamp, because nowhere else has it so conformed to the nature of things. the interests of the country are divided into various groups, of whose organization the hydraulic system is an example. hence association and mutual help against the common enemy, the sea, but freedom of action in local institutions. the monarchical _régime_ has not extinguished the ancient municipal spirit, which frustrated the efforts of all those great states that tried to absorb holland. the great rivers and deep gulfs serve both as commercial roads which constitute a national bond between the various provinces, and as barriers which defend their ancient traditions and provincial customs. in this land, which is apparently so uniform, one may say that everything save the aspect of nature changes at every step--changes suddenly, too, as does nature itself, to the eye of one who crosses the frontier of this state for the first time. [illustration: dutch fishing boats.] but, however wonderful the physical history of holland may be, its political history is even more marvellous. this little country, invaded first by different tribes of the germanic race, subdued by the romans and by the franks, devastated by the danes and by the normans, and wasted for centuries by terrible civil wars,--this little nation of fishermen and merchants preserved its civil freedom and liberty of conscience by a war of eighty years' duration against the formidable monarchy of philip ii., and founded a republic which became the ark of salvation for the freedom of all peoples, the adopted home of the sciences, the exchange of europe, the station of the world's commerce; a republic which extends its dominion to java, sumatra, hindostan, ceylon, new holland, japan, brazil, guiana, the cape of good hope, the west indies, and new york; a republic that conquered england on the sea, that resisted the united armies of charles ii. and of louis xiv., that treated on terms of equality with the greatest nations, and for a time was one of the three powers that ruled the destinies of europe. it is no longer the grand holland of the eighteenth century, but it is still, next to england, the greatest colonizing state of the world. it has exchanged its former grandeur for a quiet prosperity; commerce has been limited, agriculture has increased; the republican government has lost its form rather than its substance, for a family of patriotic princes, dear to the people, govern peaceably in the midst of the ancient and the newer liberties. in holland are to be found riches without ostentation, freedom without insolence, taxes without poverty. the country goes on its way without panics, without insurrections,--preserving, with its fundamental good sense, in its traditions, customs, and freedom, the imprint of its noble origin. it is perhaps amongst all european countries that nation in which there is the best public instruction and the least corruption. alone, at the extremity of the continent, occupied with its waters and its colonies, it enjoys the fruits of its labors in peace without comment, and can proudly say that no nation in the world has purchased freedom of faith and liberty of government with greater sacrifices. such were the thoughts that stimulated my curiosity one fine summer morning at antwerp, as i was stepping into a ship that was to take me from the scheldt to zealand, the most mysterious province of the netherlands. zealand. if a teacher of geography had stopped me at some street-corner, before i had decided to visit holland, and abruptly asked me, "where is zealand?" i should have had nothing to say; and i believe i am not mistaken in the supposition that a great number of my fellow-citizens, if asked the same question, would find it difficult to answer. zealand is somewhat mysterious even to the dutch themselves; very few of them have seen it, and of those few the greater part have only passed through it by boat; hence it is mentioned only on rare occasions, and then as if it were a far-off country. from the few words i heard spoken by my fellow-voyagers, i learned that they had never been to the province; so we were all equally curious, and the ship had not weighed anchor ere we entered into conversation, and were exciting each other's curiosity by questions which none of us could answer. the ship started at sunrise, and for a time we enjoyed the view of the spire of antwerp cathedral, wrought of mechlin lace, as the enamoured napoleon said of it. after a short stop at the fort of lillo and the village of doel, we left belgium and entered zealand. in passing the frontier of a country for the first time, although we know that the scene will not change suddenly, we always look round curiously as if we expect it to do so. in fact, all the passengers leaned over the rail of the boat, that they might be present when the apparition of zealand should suddenly be revealed. for some time our curiosity was not gratified: nothing was to be seen but the smooth green shores of the scheldt, wide as an arm of the sea, dotted with banks of sand, over which flew flocks of screaming sea-gulls, while the pure sky did not seem to be that of holland. we were sailing between the island of south beveland and the strip of land forming the left bank of the scheldt, which is called flanders of the states, or flemish zealand. the history of this piece of land is very curious. to a foreigner the entrance of holland is like the first page of a great epic entitled, the struggle with the sea. in the middle ages it was nothing but a wide gulf with a few small islands. at the beginning of the sixteenth century this gulf was no longer in existence; four hundred years of patient labor had changed it into a fertile plain, defended by embankments, traversed by canals, populated by villages, and known as flemish zealand. when the war of independence broke out the inhabitants of flemish zealand, opened their dykes rather than yield their land to the spanish armies: the sea rushed in, again forming the gulf of the middle ages, and destroying in one day the work of four centuries. when the war of independence was ended they began to drain it, and after three hundred years flemish zealand once more saw the light, and was restored to the continent like a child raised from the dead. thus in holland lands rise, sink, and reappear, like the realms of the arabian nights at the touch of a magic wand. flemish zealand, which is divided from belgian flanders by the double barrier of politics and religion, and from holland by the scheldt, preserves the customs, the beliefs, and the exact impress of the sixteenth century. the traditions of the war with spain are still as real and living as the events of our own times. the soil is fertile, the inhabitants enjoy great prosperity, their manners are severe; they have schools and printing-presses, and live peacefully on their fragment of the earth which appeared but yesterday, to disappear again on that day when the sea shall demand it for a third burial. one of my fellow-travellers, a belgian lady, who gave me this information, drew my attention to the fact that the inhabitants of flemish zealand were still catholics when they inundated their land, although they had already rebelled against the spanish dominion, and consequently it occurred, strangely enough, that the province went down catholic and came up protestant. greatly to my surprise, the boat, instead of continuing down the scheldt, and so making the circuit of the island of south beveland, entered the island, when it reached a certain point, passing through a narrow canal that crosses or rather cuts the island apart, and so joins the two branches of the river that encircles it. this was the first dutch canal through which i had passed: it was a new experience. the canal is bordered on either side by a dyke which hides the country. the ship glided on stealthily, as if it had taken some hidden road in order to spring out on some one unawares. there was not a single boat in the canal nor a living soul on the dykes, and the silence and solitude strengthened the impression that our course had the hidden air of a piratical incursion. on leaving the canal we entered the eastern branch of the scheldt. we were now in the heart of zealand. on the right was the island of tholen; on the left, the island of north beveland; behind, south beveland; in front, schouven. excepting the island of walcheren, we could now see all the principal islands of the mysterious archipelago. but the mystery consists in this--the islands are not seen, they must be imagined. to the right and left of the wide river, before and behind the ship, nothing was to be seen but the straight line of the embankments, like a green band on a level with the water, and beyond this streak, here and there, were tips of trees and of steeples, and the red ridges of roofs that seemed to be peeping over to see us pass. not one hill, not one rise in the ground, not one house, could be discovered anywhere: all was hidden, all seemed immersed in water; it seemed that the islands were on the point of sinking into the river, and we glanced stealthily at each other to make sure we were still there. it seemed like going through a country during a flood, and it was an agreeable thought that we were in a ship. every now and then the vessel stopped and some passengers for zealand got into a boat and went ashore. although i was eager to visit the province, i nevertheless regarded them with a feeling of compassion, imagining that those unreal islands were only monster whales about to dive into the water at the approach of the boats. the captain of our ship, a hollander, stopped near me to examine a small map of zealand which he held in his hand. i immediately seized the opportunity and overwhelmed him with questions. fortunately, i had hit upon one of the few dutchmen who, like us italians, love the sound of their own voices. "here in zealand, even more than in other provinces," said he, as seriously as if he were a master giving a lesson, "the dykes are a question of life and death. at high tide all zealand is below sea-level. for every dyke that were broken, an island would disappear. the worst of it is, that here the dykes have to resist not only the direct shock of the waves, but another power which is even more dangerous. the rivers fling themselves toward the sea,--the sea casts itself against the rivers, and in this continual struggle undercurrents are formed which wash the foundations of the embankments, until they suddenly give way like a wall that is undermined. the zealanders must be continually on their guard. when a dyke is in danger, they make another one farther inland, and await the assault of the water behind it. thus they gain time, and either rebuild the first embankment or continue to recede from fortress to fortress until the current changes and they are saved." "is it not possible," i asked, introducing the element of poetry, "that some day zealand may no longer exist?" "on the contrary," he replied, to my sorrow: "the day may come in which zealand will no longer be an archipelago, but terra firma. the scheldt and the meuse continually bring down mud, which is deposited in the arms of the sea, and, rising little by little, enlarges the islands, thus enclosing the towns and villages that were ports on the coast. axel, goes, veer, arnemuyden, and middelburg were maritime towns, and are now inland cities. hence the day will surely come in which the waters of the rivers will no longer pass between the islands of zealand, and a network of railways will extend over the whole country, which will be joined to the continent, as has already happened in the island of south beveland. zealand grows in its struggle with the sea. the sea may gain the victory in other parts of holland, but here it will be worsted. are you familiar with the arms of zealand: a lion in the act of swimming, above which is written, '_luctor et emergo_'?" after these words he remained silent for some moments, while a passing glance of pride enlivened his face: then he continued with his former gravity: "_emergo_; but he did not always emerge. all the islands of zealand, one after the other, have slept under the waters for longer or shorter periods of time. three centuries ago the island of schouwen was inundated by the sea, when all the inhabitants and cattle were drowned and it was reduced to a desert. the island of north beveland was completely submerged shortly after, and for several years nothing was to be seen but the tips of the church-steeples peeping out of the water. the island of south beveland shared the same fate toward the middle of the fourteenth century,--the island of tholen suffered in the year of our century,--the island of walcheren in , and in the capital of middelburg, although it is several miles distant from the coast, the water was up to the roofs." as i listened to these stories of the water, of inundations and submerged districts, it seemed strange to me that i myself was not drowned, i asked the captain what sort of people lived in those invisible countries, with water underfoot and overhead. "farmers and shepherds," he answered. "we call zealand a group of forts defended by a garrison of farmers and shepherds. zealand is the richest agricultural province in the netherlands. the alluvial soil of these islands is a marvel of fertility. few countries can boast such wheat, colza, flax, and madder as it produces. its people raise prodigious cattle and colossal horses, which are even larger than those of the flemish breed. the people are strong and handsome; they preserve their ancient customs, and live contentedly in prosperity and peace. zealand is a hidden paradise." while the captain was speaking the ship entered the keeten canal, which divides the island of tholen from the island of schouwen, and is famous for the ford across which the spanish made their way in , just as the eastern side of the scheldt is famous for the passage they forced in . all zealand is full of memories of that war. because of its intimate connection with william of orange, the hereditary lord of a great part of the land in the islands, and by reason of the impediments of every kind that it could oppose to invaders, this little archipelago of sand, half buried in the sea, became the theatre of war and heresy, and the duke of alva longed to possess it. consequently terrible struggles raged on its shores, signalised by all the horrors of battles by land and sea. the soldiers forded the canals by night in a dense throng, the water up to their throats, menaced by the tide, beaten by the rain, with volleys of musketry pouring down the banks, their horses and artillery swallowed in the mud, the wounded swept away by the current or buried alive in the quagmires. the air resounded with german, spanish, italian, and flemish voices. torches illuminated the great arquebuses, the pompous plumes, the strange, blanched faces. the battles seemed to be fantastic funerals. they were, in fact, the funerals of the great spanish monarchy, which was slowly drowned in dutch waters, smothered with mud and curses. one who is weak enough to feel an excessive tenderness for spain need only go to holland if he wishes to do penance for this sin. never, perchance, have there been two nations which have had better reasons than these to hate each other with all their strength, or which tried with greater fury to establish those reasons. i remember, to mention one alone of a thousand contrasts, how it impressed me to hear philip ii. spoken of in terms so different from those used in the pyrenees a few months before. in spain his lowest title was _the great king_: in holland they called him a _cowardly tyrant_. the ship passed between the island of schouwen and the little island of st. philipsland, and a few moments later entered the wide branch of the meuse called krammer, which divides the island of overflakkee from the continent. we seemed to be sailing through a chain of large lakes. the distant banks presented the same appearance as those of the scheldt. dykes stretched as far as the eye could see, and behind the dykes appeared the tops of trees, the tips of steeples, and the roofs of houses, which were hidden from view, all lending the landscape an air of mystery and solitude. only on some projection of the banks which formed a gap in the immense bulwarks of the island peeped forth, as it were, a sketch of a dutch landscape--a painted cottage, a windmill, a boat--which seemed to reveal a secret created to arouse the curiosity of travellers, and to delude it directly it was aroused. suddenly, on approaching the prow of the ship, where were the third-class passengers, i made a most agreeable discovery. here was a group of peasants, men and women, dressed in the costume of zealand--i do not remember of which island, for the costume differs in each, like the dialect, which is a mixture of dutch and flemish, if one may so speak of two languages that are almost identical. the men were all dressed alike. they wore round felt hats trimmed with wide embroidered ribbons; their jackets were of dark cloth, close fitting, and so short as hardly to cover their hips, and left open to show a sort of waistcoat striped with red, yellow, and green, which was closed over the chest by a row of silver buttons attached to one another like the links of a chain. their costume was completed by a pair of short breeches of the same color as the jacket, tied round the waist by a band ornamented by a large stud of chiselled silver,--a red cravat, and woollen stockings reaching to the knee. in short, below the waist their dress was that of a priest, and above it, that of a harlequin. one of them had coins for buttons, and this is not an unusual practice. the women wore very high straw hats in the form of a broken cone, which looked like overturned buckets, bound round with long blue ribbons fluttering in the wind; their dresses were dark-colored, open at the throat, revealing white embroidered chemisettes; their arms were bare to the elbow; and two enormous gold earrings of the most eccentric shape projected almost over their cheeks. although in my voyage i tried to imitate victor hugo in admiring everything as a savage, i could not possibly persuade myself that this was a beautiful style of dress. but i was prepared for incongruities of this sort. i knew that we go to holland to see novelty rather than beauty, and good things rather than new ones, so i was predisposed to observe rather than to be enthusiastic. if that first impression was not very pleasant to my artistic taste, i consoled myself by the thought that doubtless all those peasants could read and write, and that possibly on the previous evening they had learned by heart a poem of their great poet, jacob catz, and that they were probably on their way to some agricultural convention of which the programme was in their pockets, where with arguments drawn from their modest experience they would confute the propositions of some scientific farmer from goes or middelburg. ludovico guicciardini, a florentine nobleman, the author of an excellent work on the netherlands printed in antwerp in the sixteenth century, says that there was hardly a man or woman in zealand who did not speak french or spanish, and that a great many spoke italian. this statement, which was perhaps an exaggeration in his day, would now be a fable, but it is certain that amongst the rural inhabitants of zealand there exists an extraordinary intellectual culture, far superior to that of the peasants of france, belgium, germany, and many other provinces of holland. the ship rounded the island of philipsland, and we found ourselves outside of zealand. thus this province, mysterious before we entered it, seemed doubly so when we had quitted it. we had traversed it and had not seen it, and we left it with our curiosity ungratified. the only thing we had perceived was that zealand is a country hidden from view. but one is deceived who thinks it is mysterious for the sole reason that it is invisible--everything in zealand is a mystery. first of all,--how was it formed? was it a group of tiny alluvial islands, uninhabited and separated only by canals, which, as some believe, met and formed larger islands? or was it, as others think, terra firma when the scheldt emptied itself into the meuse? but, even leaving its origin out of the question, in what other country in the world do things happen as they happen in zealand? in what other country do the fishermen catch in their nets a siren whose husband, after vain prayers to have her restored, in vengeance throws up a handful of sand, prophesying that it will bury the gates of the town--and lo his prophecy is fulfilled? in what other country do the souls of those lost at sea come as they come to walcheren, and awaken the fishermen with the demand that they be conducted to the coasts of england? in what other country do the sea-storms fling, as they do on the banks of the island of schouwen, carcasses borne from the farthest north--monsters half men, half boats; mummies bound in the floating trunks of trees, of which an example is still to be seen at the guildhall of zierikzee? in what country, as at wemeldingen, does a man fall head foremost into a canal, where, remaining under water an hour, he sees his dead wife and children, who call to him from paradise, and is then drawn out of the water alive, whereupon he relates this miracle to victor hugo, who believes it and comments on it, concluding that the soul may leave the body for some time and then return to it? where, as near domburg, at low water is it possible to draw up ancient temples and statues of unknown deities? in what other place does the sword of a spanish captain, mondragone, serve as a lightning-conductor, as at wemeldingen? in what other country are unfaithful women made to walk naked through the streets of the town with two stones hung round the neck and a cylinder of iron on the head, as in the island of schouwen? now, really, this last marvel is no longer seen, but the stones still exist, and any one can see them in the guildhall at brauwershaven. our ship now entered that part of the southern branch of the meuse called volkerak. the scene was just the same--dykes upon dykes, the tips of houses and church-steeples, a few boats here and there. one thing only was changed, the sky. i then saw for the first time the dutch sky as it usually appears, and witnessed one of those battles of light peculiar to the netherlands--battles which the great dutch landscape-artists have painted with insuperable power. previously the sky had been serene. it was a beautiful summer day: the waters were blue, the banks emerald green, the air warm, with not a breath of wind stirring. suddenly a thick cloud hid the sun, and in less time than it takes to tell it everything was as different as if the season, the hour, and the latitude had all been changed in a moment. the waters became dark, the green of the banks grew dull, the horizon was hidden under a gray veil; everything seemed shrouded in a twilight which made all things lose their outline. an evil wind arose, chilling us to the bone. it seemed to be december; we felt the chill of winter and that restlessness which accompanies every sudden menace on the part of nature. all round the horizon small leaden-colored clouds began to collect, scudding rapidly along, as though searching impatiently for a direction and a shape. then the waters began to ripple, and became streaked with rapid luminous reflections, with long stripes of green, violet, white, ochre, black. finally this irritation of nature ended in a violent downpour, which confused sky, water, and earth in one gray mass, broken only by a lighter tone caused by the far-off banks, and by some sailing ships, which came into view here and there like upright shadows on the waters of the river. "now we are really in holland," said the captain of the ship, approaching a group of passengers who were contemplating the spectacle. "such sudden changes of scene," he continued, "are never seen anywhere else." then, in answer to a question from one of us, he ran on: "holland has a meteorology quite her own. the winter is long, the summer short, the spring is only the end of the winter, but nevertheless, you see, every now and then, even during the summer, we have a touch of winter. we always say that in holland the four seasons may be seen in one day. our sky is the most changeable in the world. this is the reason why we are always talking of the weather, for the atmosphere is the most variable spectacle we have. if we wish to see something that will entertain us, we must look upward. but it is a dull climate. the sea sends us rain on three sides: the winds break loose over the country even on the finest days; the ground exhales vapors that darken the horizon; for several months the air has no transparency. you should see the winter. there are days when you would say it would never be fine again: the darkness seems to come from above like the light; the north-east wind brings us the icy air from the north pole, and lashes the sea with such fury and roaring that it seems as though it would destroy the coasts." here he turned to me and said, smiling, "you are better off in italy." then he grew serious and added, "however, every country has its good and bad side." the boat left the volkerak, passed in front of the fortress of willemstadt, built in by the prince of orange, and entered hollandsdiep, a wide branch of the meuse which separates south holland from north brabant. all that we saw from the ship was a wide expanse of water, two dark stripes to the right and left, and a gray sky. a french lady, breaking the general silence, exclaimed with a yawn, "how beautiful is holland!" all of us laughed excepting the dutch passengers. "ah, captain," began a little old belgian, one of those pillars of the coffee-house who are always thrusting their politics in the faces of their fellows, "there is a good and a bad side to every country, and we belgians and dutchmen ought to have been persuaded of this truth, and then we should have been indulgent toward each other and have lived in harmony. when one thinks that we are now a nation of nine millions of inhabitants,--we with our industries and you with your commerce, with two such capitals as amsterdam and brussels, and two commercial towns like antwerp and rotterdam, we should count for something in this world, eh, captain?" the captain did not answer. another dutchman said: "yes, with a religious war twelve months in the year." the little old belgian, somewhat put out, now addressed his remarks to me in a low tone: "it is a fact, sir. it was stupid, especially on our part. you will see holland. amsterdam is certainly not brussels; it is as flat and wearisome a country as can well be; but as to prosperity it is far beyond us. assure yourself that they spend a florin, which is two and a half francs, where we spend a franc. you will see it in your hotel bills. they are twice as rich as we are. it was all the fault of william the first, who wished to make a dutch belgium and has pushed us to extremes. you know how it happened"--and so on. in hollandsdiep we began to see big barges, small-fishing-boats, and some large ships that had come from hellevoetsluis, an important maritime port on the right bank of the haringvliet, a branch of the meuse, near its mouth, where nearly every vessel from india stops. the rain ceased. the sky, gradually, unwillingly, became serene, and on a sudden the waters and the banks were clothed once more in fresh glowing colors: it was summer again. in a little while the vessel reached the village of moerdyk, where one of the largest bridges in the world is to be seen. it is an iron structure a mile and a half long, over which passes the railway to dordrecht and rotterdam. from a distance it looks like fourteen enormous edifices put in line across the river: each one of the fourteen high arches supporting the tracks is in truth a huge edifice. in passing over it, as i did a few months later on my return to holland, i saw nothing but sky and water, so wide is the river at this point, and i felt almost afraid the bridge might suddenly come to an end, and plunge the train into the water. [illustration: dordrecht--canal with cathedral in the distance.] the boat turned to the left, passing in front of the bridge, and entered a very narrow branch of the meuse called dordsche kil, which had dykes on either side, and hence looked more like a canal than a river. it was already the seventh turn we had made since we crossed the frontier. passing down the dordsche kil, we began to see signs of the proximity of a large town. there were long rows of trees on the banks, bushes, cottages, canals to the right and left, and much moving of boats and barges. the passengers became more animated, and here and there were heard exclamations of "dordrecht! we shall see dordrecht." all seemed preparing themselves for some extraordinary scene. the spectacle was not long delayed, and was extraordinary indeed. the boat turned for the eighth time, to the right, and entered the oude maas or old meuse. in a few moments the first houses of the suburbs around dordrecht came into view. it was a sudden apparition of holland, a gratification of our curiosity immediate and complete, a revelation of all the mysteries which were tormenting our brains: we seemed to be in a new world. immense windmills with revolving arms were to be seen on every side; houses of a thousand extraordinary shapes were dotted along the banks: some were like villas, others like pavilions, kiosks, cottages, chapels, theatres,--their roofs red, their walls black, blue, pink, and gray, their doors and windows encircled with white borders like drifts of snow. canals little and big were leading in every direction; in front of the houses and along the canals were groups and rows of trees; ships glided among the cottages and boats were moored before the doors; sails shone in the streets--masts, pennons, and the arms of windmills projected in confusion above the trees and roofs. bridges, stairways, gardens on the water, a thousand corners, little docks, creeks, openings, crossways on the canals, hiding-places for the boats, men, women, and children passing each other on the ways from the river to the bank, from the canals to their houses, from the bridges to the barges,--all these made the scene one of motion and variety. everywhere was water,--color, new forms, childish figures, little details, all glossy and fresh,--an ingenuous display of prettiness--a mixture of the primitive and the theatrical, of grace and absurdity, which was partly european, partly chinese, partly belonging to no land,--and over all a delightful air of peace and innocence. so dordrecht flashed upon me for the first time, the oldest and at the same time the freshest and brightest town of holland, the queen of dutch commerce in the middle ages--the mother of painters and scholars. honored in by the first meeting within its walls of the deputies of the united provinces, it was also at different times the seat of memorable synods, and was particularly famous for that meeting of the protestant theologians in , the ecumenical council of the reformation, which decided the terrible religious dispute between arminians and gomarists, established the form of national worship, and gave rise to that series of disturbances and persecutions which ended with the unfortunate murder of barneveldt and the sanguinary triumph of maurice of orange. dordrecht, because of its easy communication with the sea, with belgium, and with the interior of holland, is still one of the most flourishing commercial towns of the united provinces. to dordrecht come the immense supplies of wood which are brought down the rhine from the black forest and switzerland--the rhine wines, the lime, the cement and the stone; in its little port there is a continual movement of snowy sails and of smoking steamers, while little flags bring greetings from arnhem, bois-le-duc, nimeguen, rotterdam, antwerp, and from all their mysterious sisters in zealand. the boat stopped for a few minutes at dordrecht, and i unexpectedly observed near by a number of fresh little cottages which were purely dutch, and which aroused in me the greatest desire to land and make their acquaintance. but i conquered my curiosity by the thought that at rotterdam i should see many such sights. the boat started, turned to the left (it was the ninth turning), and entered a narrow branch of the meuse called de noord, one of the numerous threads of that inextricable network of the waters which covers southern holland. the captain approached me as i was looking for him to explain the position of dordrecht on the map, for it seemed to me very singular. in fact, it is singular. dordrecht is situated at the extremity of a piece of ground separated from the continent, and forming in the midst of the land an island crossed and recrossed by numerous streams, some of which are natural, some the work of man, rivers made half by man, half by nature--a bit of holland encircled and imprisoned by the waters, like a battalion overcome by an army. it is bounded on the four sides by the river merwede, the ancient mosa, the dordsche kil, and the archipelago of bies-bosch, and is crossed by the new merwede, a large artificial water-course. the imprisonment of this piece of land on which dordrecht lies is an episode in one of the great battles fought by holland with the waters. the archipelago of bies-bosch did not exist before the fifteenth century. in its place there was a beautiful plain covered with populous villages. during the night of the th of november, , the waters of the waal and the meuse broke the dykes, destroyed more than seventy villages, drowned almost a hundred thousand souls, and broke up the plain into a thousand islands, leaving in the midst of this ruin one upright tower called merwede house, the ruins of which are still visible. thus was dordrecht separated from the continent, and the archipelago of bies-bosch made its appearance, which, as though to show its right of existence, provides hay, reeds, and rushes to a little village which hangs like a swallow's nest on one of the neighboring dykes. but this is not all that is remarkable in the history of dordrecht. tradition relates, many believe, and some uphold, that at the time of this remarkable inundation dordrecht--yes, the whole town of dordrecht, with its houses, mills, and canals--made a short journey, like an army moving camp; that is to say, it was transported from one place to another with its foundations intact: in consequence whereof the inhabitants of the neighboring villages, coming to the town after the catastrophe, found nothing where it had been. one can imagine their consternation. this prodigy is explained by the fact that dordrecht is founded on a stratum of clay, which had slipped on to the mass of turf which forms the basis of the soil. such is the story as i heard it. before the vessel left the noord canal the hope of seeing my first dutch sunset was disappointed by another sudden change in the weather. the sky was obscured, the waters became livid, and the horizon disappeared behind a thick veil of mist. the ship entered the meuse, and turned for the tenth time, to the left. at this point the meuse is very wide, as it carries away and imprisons the waters of the waal, the largest branch of the rhine, and the waters of the leck and yssel also empty themselves into it. its banks are flanked on either side by long rows of trees, and are dotted with houses, workshops, manufactories, and arsenals, which grow thicker as rotterdam is approached. however little acquainted one may be with the physical history of holland, the first time one sees the meuse and thinks of its memorable overflowings, of the thousand calamities and innumerable victims of that capricious and terrible river, one regards it with a sort of uneasy curiosity, much as one looks at a famous brigand. the eye rests on the dykes with a feeling almost of satisfaction and gratitude, as on the brigand when he is safely handcuffed and in the hands of the police. while my eyes were roving in search of rotterdam, a dutch passenger told how, when the meuse is frozen, the currents, coming unexpectedly from warmer regions, strike the ice that covers the river, break it, upheave enormous blocks with a terrific crash, and hurl them against the dykes, piling them in immense heaps which choke the course of the river and make it overflow. then begins a strange battle. the dutch answer the threats of the meuse with cannonade. the artillery is called out, volleys of grape-shot break the towers and barricades of ice which oppose the current, into a storm of splinters and briny hail. "we hollanders," concluded the passenger, "are the only people who have to take up arms against the rivers." when we came in sight of rotterdam it was growing dark and drizzling. through the thick mist i could barely see a great confusion of ships, houses, windmills, towers, trees, and moving figures on dykes and bridges. there were lights everywhere. it was a great city different in appearance from any i had seen before, but fog and darkness soon hid it from my view. by the time i had taken leave of my fellow-travellers and had gathered my luggage together, it was night. "so much the better," i said getting into a cab. "i shall see for the first time a dutch city by night; this must indeed be a novel spectacle." in fact, bismarck, when at rotterdam, wrote to his wife that at night he saw "phantoms on the roofs." rotterdam. one cannot learn much about rotterdam by entering it at night. the cab passed directly over a bridge that gave out a hollow sound, and while i believed myself to be--and, in fact, was--in the city, to my surprise i saw on either side a row of ships which were soon lost in the darkness. when we had crossed the bridge we drove along streets brightly lighted and full of people, and reached another bridge, to find ourselves between other rows of ships. so we went on for some time, from bridge to street, from street to bridge. to increase the confusion, there was everywhere an illumination such as i had never seen before. there were lamps at the corners of the streets, lanterns on the ships, beacons on the bridges, lights in the windows, and smaller lights under the houses,--all of which were reflected by the water. suddenly the cab stopped in the midst of a crowd of people. i put my head out of the window, and saw a bridge suspended in mid-air. i asked what was the matter, and some one answered that a ship was passing. in a moment we were again on our way, and i had a peep at a tangle of canals crossing and recrossing each other, and of bridges that seemed to form a large square full of masts and studded with lights. then, at last, we turned a corner and arrived at the hotel. the first thing i did on entering my room was to examine it to see if it sustained the great fame of dutch cleanliness. it did indeed; and this was the more to be admired in a hotel, almost always occupied by a profane race, which has no reverence for what might be called in holland the worship of cleanliness. the linen was white as snow, the windows were transparent as air, the furniture shone like crystal, the walls were so clean that one could not have found a spot with a microscope. besides this, there was a basket for waste paper, a little tablet on which to strike matches, a slab for cigar-ashes, a box for cigar-stumps, a spittoon, a boot-jack, in short, there was absolutely no excuse for soiling anything. when i had surveyed my room, i spread the map of rotterdam on the table, and began to make my plans for the morrow. it is a singular fact that the large towns of holland have remarkably regular forms, although they were built on unstable land and with great difficulty. amsterdam is a semicircle, the hague is a square, rotterdam an equilateral triangle. the base of the triangle is an immense dyke, protecting the town from the meuse, and known as the boompjes, which in dutch means little trees,--the name being derived from a row of elms that were planted when the embankment was built, and are now grown to a great size. another large dyke, dividing the city into two almost equal parts, forms a second bulwark against the inundations of the river, extending from the middle of the left side of the triangle to the opposite angle. the part of rotterdam which lies between the two dykes consists of large canals, islands, and bridges: this is the modern town; the other part, lying beyond the second dyke, is the old town. two large canals extend along the other two sides of the city up to the vertex, where they join and meet a river called the rotte, which name, prefixed to the word dam, meaning dyke, gives rotterdam. when i had thus performed my duty as a conscientious traveller, and had observed a thousand precautions against defiling, even with a breath, the spotless purity of that jewel of a room, i entered my first dutch bed with the timidity of a country bumpkin. dutch beds--i am speaking of those to be found in the hotels--are usually short and wide, with an enormous eider-down pillow which would bury the head of a cyclops. in order to omit nothing, i must add that the light is generally a copper candlestick as large as a plate, which might hold a torch, but contains instead a short candle as thin as the little finger of a spanish lady. in the morning i dressed in haste, and ran rapidly down stairs. what streets, what houses, what a town, what a mixture of novelties for a foreigner,--a scene how different from any to be witnessed elsewhere in europe! first of all, i saw hoog-straat, a long straight roadway running along the inner dyke of the city. most of the houses are built of unplastered brick, ranging in color through all the shades of red from black to pink. they are only wide enough to give room for two windows, and are but two stories in height. the front walls overtop and conceal the roofs, running up and terminating in blunted triangles surmounted by gables. some of them have pointed façades, some are elevated in two curves, and resemble a long neck without a head; others are indented step-fashion, like the houses children build with blocks; others look like conical pavilions; others like country churches; others, again, like puppet-shows. these gables are generally outlined with white lines and ornamented in execrable taste; many have coarse arabesques painted in relief on plaster. the windows, and the doors too, are bordered with broad white lines; there are other white lines between the different stories of the houses; the spaces between the house-and shop-doors are filled in with white woodwork; so all along the street white and dark red are the only colors to be seen. from a distance all the houses produce an effect of black trimmed with strips of linen, and present an appearance partly festal, partly funereal, leaving one in doubt whether they enliven or depress. at first sight i felt inclined to laugh: it seemed impossible that these houses were not playthings and that serious people could live inside them. i should have said that after the fête for which they had been constructed they must disappear like paper frames built for a display of fireworks. while i was vaguely regarding the street i saw a house which amazed me. i thought i must be mistaken: i looked at it more closely,--looked at the houses near it, compared them with the first house and then with each other, and even then i believed that it was an optical illusion. i turned hastily down a side street, and still i seemed to see the same thing. at last i was persuaded that the fault was not with my eyes, but with the entire city. all rotterdam is like a city that has reeled and rocked in an earthquake, and has still remained standing, though apparently on the verge of ruin. all the houses--the exceptions in each street are so few they can be counted on one's fingers--are inclined more or less, and the greater number lean so much that the roof of one projects half a meter beyond that of the next house if it happens to be straight or but slightly inclined. the strangest part of it all is, that adjoining houses lean in different directions; one will lean forward as if it were going to topple over, another backward, some to the right, others to the left. in some places, where six or seven neighboring houses all lean forward, those in the middle being most inclined, they form a curve, like a railing that is bent by the pressure of a crowd. in some places two houses which stand close together bend toward each other, as if for mutual support. in certain streets for some distance all the houses lean sideways, like trees which the wind has blown one against the other; then again, they all lean in the opposite direction, like another row of trees bent by a contrary wind. in some places there is a regularity in the inclination, which makes the effect less noticeable. on certain crossways and in some of the smaller streets there is an indescribable confusion, a real architectural riot, a dance of houses, a disorder that seems animated. there are houses that appear to fall forward, overcome by sleep; others that throw themselves backward as if in fright; some lean toward each other till their roofs almost touch, as if they were confiding secrets; some reel against each other as though tipsy; a few lean backward between others that lean forward, like malefactors being dragged away by policemen. rows of houses seem to be bowing to church-steeples; other groups are paying attention to one house in their centre, and seem to be plotting against some palace. i will soon let you into the secret of all this. [illustration: in rotterdam.] but it is neither the shape of the houses nor their inclination that seemed to me the most curious thing about them. one must observe them carefully, one by one, from top to bottom, and in their diversity they are as interesting as a picture. in some of the houses, in the middle of the gable, at the top of the façade, a crooked beam projects, fitted with a pulley and a piece of cord to raise and lower buckets or baskets. in others, a stag's, sheep's, or goat's head looks down from a little round window. under this head there is a line of whitewashed stones or a wooden beam which cuts the façade in two. below the beam there are two large windows, shaded by awnings like canopies, under which hang little green curtains, over the upper panes of the window. under the green curtain are two white curtains, draped back to reveal a swinging bird-cage or a hanging basket full of flowers. below this flower-basket screening the lower window-panes there is a frame with a very fine wire netting, which prevents pedestrians from looking into the rooms. behind the wire netting, in the divisions between the netting and the framework of the window, there are tables ornamented with china, glass, flowers, statuettes and other trifles. on the stone sills of windows which open into the street there is a row of little flower-pots. in the middle or at one side of the window-sill there is a curved iron hook which supports two movable mirrors joined like the backs of a book, surmounted by a third movable glass, so arranged that from within the house one can see everything that happens in the street without one's self being seen. in some houses a lantern projects between the windows. below the windows is the house-door or shop-door. if it be a shop-door, there will be carved above it either a negro's head with the mouth wide open or the smirking face of a turk. sometimes the sign is an elephant, a goose, a horse's head, a bull, a serpent, a half-moon, a windmill, and sometimes an outstretched arm holding some article that is for sale in the shop. if it be a house-door--in which case it is always kept closed--it bears a brass plate on which is written the name of the tenant, another plate with an opening for letters, and a third plate on the wall holding the bell-handle. the plates, nails, and locks are all kept shining like gold. before the door there is frequently a little wooden bridge--for in many houses the ground floor is made lower than the street--and in front of the bridge are two small stone pillars surmounted by two balls; below these stand other pillars united by iron chains made of large links in the shape of crosses, stars, and polygons. in the space between the street and the house are pots of flowers. on the window-seats of the basement, hidden in the hollow, are more flowers and curtains. in the less frequented streets there are bird-cages on either side of the windows, boxes full of growing plants, clothes and linen hung out to dry. indeed, innumerable articles of varied colors dangle and swing about, so that it all seems like a great fair. but without quitting the old town one need only walk toward its outskirts in order to see novel sights at every step. in passing through certain of the straight, narrow streets one suddenly sees before him, as it were, a curtain that has fallen and cut off the view. it is immediately withdrawn, and one perceives that it is the sail of a ship passing down one of the canals. at the foot of other streets a network of ropes seems to be stretched between the two end houses to stop the passage. this is the rigging of a ship that is anchored at one of the docks. on other streets there are drawbridges surmounted by long parallel boards, presenting a fantastic appearance, as though they were gigantic swings for the amusement of the light-hearted people living in these peculiar houses. other streets have at the foot windmills as high as a steeple and black as an ancient tower, turning and twisting their arms like large wheels revolving over the roofs of the neighboring houses. everywhere, in short, among the houses, over the roofs, in the midst of the distant trees, we see the masts of ships, pennons, sails, and what not, to remind us that we are surrounded by water, and that the city is built in the very middle of the port. in the mean time, the shops have opened and the streets have become animated. there is a great stir of people, who are busy, but not hurried: this absence of hurry distinguishes the streets of rotterdam from those of certain parts of london, which, from the color of the houses and the serious faces of the citizens, remind many travellers of the dutch city. faces white and pale--faces the color of parmesan cheese--faces encircled by hair flaxen, golden, red, and yellowish--large shaven faces with beards below the chin--eyes so light that one has to look closely to see the pupil--sturdy women, plump, pink-cheeked, and placid, wearing white caps and earrings shaped like corkscrews,--such are the first things one observes in the crowd. but my curiosity for the present was not aroused by the people. i crossed hoog-straat and found myself in new rotterdam. one cannot decide whether it is a city or a harbor, whether there is more land than water, or whether the ships are more numerous than the houses. the town is divided by long, wide canals into many islands, which are united by drawbridges, turning bridges, and stone bridges. from both sides of each canal extend two streets, with rows of trees on the side next to the water and lines of houses on the opposite side. each of these canals forms a port where the water is deep enough to float the largest vessels, and every one of them is full of shipping throughout its length, a narrow space being kept clear in the middle which serves as a thoroughfare for the vessels. it seems like a great fleet imprisoned in a town. i arrived at the hour of greatest activity, and took my stand on the highest bridge of the principal crossway. thence i could see four canals, four forests of ships, flanked on either side by eight rows of trees. the streets were encumbered with people and merchandise. droves of cattle passed over the bridges, which were being raised and swung to let the ships pass. the moment they closed or lowered again fresh crowds of people, carriages, and carts passed over them. ships as fresh and shining as the models in a museum passed in and out of the canals, carrying on their decks the wives and children of the sailors, while smaller boats glided rapidly from ship to ship. customers thronged the shops. servants were washing the walls and windows. this busy scene with all its movement was made yet more cheerful by its reflection in the water,--by the green of the trees, the red of the houses, by the high windmills, whose black tops and white wings were outlined against the blue sky, and still more by an air of repose and simplicity never seen in any other northern town. i examined a dutch ship attentively. almost all of the vessels which are crowded in the canals of rotterdam sail only on the rhine and in holland. they have only one mast, and are broad and strongly built. they are painted in various colors like toy boats. the planks of the hull are generally of a bright grass green, ornamented at the edge by a white or bright-red stripe, or by several stripes which look like broad bands of different colored ribbons. the poop is usually gilded. the decks and the masts are varnished and polished like the daintiest drawing-room floor. the hatches, the buckets, the barrels, the sailyards and the small planks are all painted red, and striped with white or blue. the cabin in which the families of the sailors live is also colored like a chinese joss-house; its windows are scrupulously clean, and are hung with white embroidered curtains tied with pink ribbons. in all their spare moments the sailors, the women, and the children are washing, brushing, and scrubbing everything with the greatest care; and when their vessel makes its exit from the port, all bright and pompous like a triumphal car, they stand proudly erect on the poop and search for a mute compliment in the eyes of the people who are gathered along the canal. passing from canal to canal, from bridge to bridge, i arrived at the dyke of the boompjes, in front of the meuse, where is centred the whole life of this great commercial town. to the left extends a long line of gay little steamers, which leave every hour of the day for dordrecht, arnhem, gouda, schiedam, briel, and zealand. they are continually filling the air with the lively sound of their bells and with clouds of white smoke. to the right are the larger vessels that run between the different european ports, and among them are to be seen the beautiful three-masted ships that sail to and from the east indies, with their names, java, sumatra, borneo, samarang, written on them in letters of gold, bringing to the imagination those far-off ports and savage nations like the echo of far-off voices. in front, the meuse is crowded by numbers of boats and barges, while its opposite bank is covered with a forest of beech trees, windmills, and workshop chimneys. above this scene is a restless sky, with flashes of light mingling with ominous darkness, with scudding clouds and changing forms, which seemed to be trying to reproduce the busy activity of the earth. rotterdam, with the exception of amsterdam, is the most important commercial city in holland. it was a flourishing commercial town as early as the thirteenth century. ludovico guicciardini, in his work on the netherlands which i have already mentioned, tells, in proof of the riches of the town, that in the sixteenth century within a year it rebuilt nine hundred houses which had been destroyed by fire. bentivoglio, in his history of the war of flanders, calls it "the greatest and the most important commercial town that holland possesses." but its greatest prosperity dates only from ; that is to say, after the separation of holland from belgium, which brought to rotterdam all that prosperity of which it deprived her rival, antwerp. her situation is most advantageous. by means of the meuse she communicates with the sea, and this river can carry the largest merchantmen into her ports in a few hours; through the same river she communicates with the rhine, which brings her whole forests from the mountains of switzerland and bavaria--an immense quantity of timber, which in holland is changed into ships, dykes, and villages. more than eighty splendid ships come and go between rotterdam and india in the space of nine months. from every port merchandise pours in with such abundance that it has to be divided among the neighboring towns. meanwhile, rotterdam increases in size: the citizens are now constructing vast new store-houses, and are now working on a huge bridge which will span the meuse and cross the entire town, thus extending the railway, which now stops on the left bank of the river, as far as the gate of delft, where it will join the railway of the hague. in short, rotterdam has a more brilliant future than amsterdam, and for a long time has been feared as a rival by her elder sister. she does not possess the great riches of the capital, but she is more industrious in using what wealth she has; she risks, dares, and undertakes, after the manner of a young and adventurous city. amsterdam, like a wealthy merchant who has grown cautious after a life of daring speculations, has begun to doze and to rest on her laurels. to briefly characterize the three dutch cities, it may be said that one makes a fortune at rotterdam, one consolidates it in amsterdam, and one spends it at the hague. one understands from this why rotterdam is rather looked down upon by the other two cities, and is regarded as a _parvenu_. but there is yet another reason for this: rotterdam is a merchant city pure and simple, and is exclusively occupied with her own affairs. she has but a small aristocracy, which is neither wealthy nor proud. amsterdam, on the contrary, holds the flower of the old merchant princes. amsterdam has great picture-galleries,--she fosters the arts and literature; she unites, in short, distinction and wealth. notwithstanding their peculiar advantages, these sister cities are mutually jealous; they antagonize and fret each other: what one does the other must do; what the government grants to one, the other insists upon having. at the present moment (_in _), they are opening to the sea two canals which may not prove serviceable; but that is of no consequence: the government, like an indulgent father, must satisfy both his elder and his younger daughter. after i had seen the port, i went along the boompjes dyke, on which stands an uninterrupted line of large new houses built in the parisian and london style--houses which the inhabitants greatly admire, but which the stranger regards with disappointment or neglects altogether; i turned back, re-entered the city, and went from canal to canal, from bridge to bridge, until i reached the angle formed by the union of hoog-straat with one of the two long canals which enclose the town toward the east. this is the poorest part of the town. i went down the first street i came to, and took several turns in that quarter to observe how the lower classes of the dutch live. the streets were extremely narrow, and the houses were smaller and more crooked than those in any other part of the city; one could reach many of the roofs with one's hand. the windows were little more than a span from the ground; the doors were so low that one was obliged to stoop to enter them. but nevertheless there was not the least sign of poverty. even there the windows were provided with looking-glasses--spies, as the dutch call them; on the window-sills there were pots of flowers protected by green railings; there were white curtains,--the doors were painted green or blue, and stood wide open, so that one could see the bedrooms, the kitchens, all the recesses of the houses. the rooms were like little boxes; everything was heaped up as in an old-clothes shop, but the copper vessels, the stoves, the furniture, were all as clean and bright as those in a gentleman's house. as i passed along these streets, i did not see a bit of dirt anywhere,--i met with no bad smells, nor did i see a rag, or a hand extended for alms; one breathes cleanliness and well-being, and thinks with shame of the squalid quarters in which the lower classes swarm in our cities, and not in ours only, for paris too has its rue mouffetard. turning back to my hotel, i passed through the square of the great new market. it is placed in the centre of the city, and is not less strange than all that surrounds it. it is an open square suspended over the water, being at the same time a square and a bridge. the bridge is very wide and unites the principal dyke--the hoog-straat--with a section of the town surrounded by canals. this aërial square is enclosed on three sides by venerable buildings, between which runs a street long, narrow, and dark, entirely filled by a canal, and reminding one of a highway in venice. on the fourth side is a sort of dock formed by the widest canal in the city, which leads directly to the meuse. in this square, surrounded by carts and stalls, in the midst of heaps of vegetables, oranges and earthenware, encircled by a crowd of hucksters and peddlers, enclosed by a railing covered with matting and rags, stands the statue of desiderius erasmus, the first literary celebrity of rotterdam. this gerrit gerritz--for, like all the great writers of his time, he assumed the latin name--this gerrit gerritz belonged by his education, by his literary attainments, and by his convictions to the circle of the italian humanists and literati. an elegant, learned, and indefatigable writer on literature and science, he filled all europe with his fame between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; he was overwhelmed with favor by the popes, sought after and fêted by princes. of his innumerable works, all of which were written in latin, the "praise of folly," dedicated to sir thomas more, is still read. the bronze statue, erected in , represents erasmus dressed in a fur cloak and cap. the figure is slightly bent forward as if he were walking, and he holds in his hand a large open book, from which he is reading. there is a double inscription on the pedestal in latin and dutch, which calls him _vir sæculi sui primarius et civis omnium præstantissimus_. notwithstanding this pompous eulogy, poor erasmus, stood in the centre of the market-place like a municipal guard, excites our compassion. there is not, i believe, on the face of the earth another statue of a scholar that is so neglected by those who pass it, so despised by those who surround it, and so pitied by those who look at it. however, who knows but that erasmus, subtle professor that he was and will ever be, is contented with his corner, if indeed, as tradition tells, it be not far from his house? in a little street near the square, in the wall of a small house which is now used as a tavern, there is to be seen in a niche a bronze statuette of the great writer, and under it runs the inscription: _hæc est parva domus magnus qua natus erasmus_. eight out of ten of the inhabitants of rotterdam have probably never seen nor read it. in an angle of the same square is a small house called "the house of fear," where upon the wall is a picture whose subject i have forgotten. according to the tradition it is called "the house of fear," because the most prominent people of the city took shelter in it when rotterdam was sacked by the spaniards, and were imprisoned in it three days without food. this is not the only record of the spaniards to be found in rotterdam. many buildings, erected during the time of their dominion suggest the style of architecture then fashionable in spain, and many still bear spanish inscriptions. in the cities of holland inscriptions on the houses are very common. the buildings, like old wine, glory in their antiquity and declare the date of their construction in large letters on the façades. in the market square i had every opportunity of observing the earrings of the women, which deserve to be minutely described. at rotterdam, i saw only the earrings which are worn in south holland, but even in this province alone the variety is very great. however, they are all alike in this respect,--instead of hanging from the ears, they are attached to a gold, silver, or gilded copper semicircle, which girds the head like a half diadem, its extremities resting on the temples. the commonest earrings are in the form of a spiral with five or six circles; they are often very wide, and are attached to the two ends of the semicircle. they project in front of the face like the frames of a pair of spectacles. many of the women wear another pair of ordinary earrings attached to the spirals. these are very large and reach almost to the bosom, dangling in front of the cheeks like the head-gear of italian oxen. some women wear golden circles which gird the forehead also, and are chased and ornamented in relief with leaves, studs, and buttons. they nearly all dress their hair smooth and tight, and wear white caps embroidered and trimmed with lace. these fit the head closely like a night-cap, and cover the neck and shoulders, descending in the form of a veil, which is also embroidered and trimmed with lace. these flowing veils, resembling those of the arabs, and the peculiar and enormous earrings, give these women an appearance partly regal and partly barbarous. if they were not so fair as they are, one would take them for women of some savage land who had still preserved the ornaments of their native dress. i am not surprised that some travellers, seeing these earrings for the first time, have thought that they were at once an ornament and an instrument, and have asked their use. one might suppose that they are made thus for another purpose than that of beautifying the wearer--that they may serve as a defence to female modesty. for if any impertinent person should attempt to salute a cheek so guarded, he would encounter these obstacles and be kept at bay some distance from the coveted object. these earrings, which are worn chiefly by the peasant-women, are nearly all made of gold, and because of the size of the spirals and of the other accessories they cost a large sum. but i saw signs of even greater riches amongst the dutch peasantry during my country rambles. near the market square stands the cathedral, which was founded toward the end of the fifteenth century at the time of the decadence of gothic architecture. it was then a catholic church consecrated to st. lawrence; now it is the first protestant church in the city. protestantism, with religious vandalism, entered the ancient church with a pickaxe and a whitewash brush, and with bigoted fanaticism broke, scraped, rasped, plastered, and destroyed all that was beautiful and splendid, and reduced it to a bare, white, cold edifice, such as ought to have been devoted to the goddess of _ennui_ in the time of the _false and lying gods_. in the cathedral there is an immense organ with nearly five thousand pipes, which gives, besides other sounds, the effect of the echo. there are also the tombs of a few admirals, decorated with long epitaphs in dutch and latin. besides these i saw nothing but a great many benches, some boys with their hats on, a group of women who were chattering loudly, and an old man with a cigar in his mouth. this was the first protestant church i had entered, and i must confess i felt a disagreeable sensation, partly of sadness, partly of scandal. i compared the dismantled appearance of this church with the magnificent cathedrals of italy and spain, where a soft and mysterious light shines from the walls, and where one meets the loving looks of angels and saints through the clouds of incense directing one's gaze toward heaven; where one sees so many pictures of innocence that calm one, so many images of pain that help one to suffer, that inspire one with resignation, peace, and the sweetness of pardon; where the poor, without food or shelter, spurned from the rich man's gate, may pray amid marble and gold, as if in a palace,--where, surrounded by a pomp and splendor that do not humiliate, but rather honor and comfort their misery, they are not despised;--those cathedrals, finally, where as children we knelt beside our mothers, and felt for the first time a sweet assurance that we should some day live afresh in those deep azure spaces that we saw painted in the dome suspended above us. comparing this church with those cathedrals, i perceived that i was more of a catholic than i had believed myself to be, and i felt the truth of those words of castelar: "well, yes, i am a free-thinker, but if some day i were to return to a religion, i would return to the splendid one of my fathers, and not to this squalid and nude doctrine that saddens my eyes and my heart." [illustration: interior of the church of st. lawrence, rotterdam.] from the top of the tower one gets a bird's-eye view of the whole city of rotterdam with its steep little red roofs, its wide canals, its ships standing out against the houses, and all around the city a boundless plain of vivid green traversed by canals, fringed with trees, dotted with windmills and villages hidden in masses of verdure and showing only the points of their steeples. at that moment the sky was clear, and it was possible to see the gleaming waters of the meuse from bois-le-duc almost to its mouth. i distinguished the steeples of dordrecht, leyden, delft, the hague, and gouda; but nowhere, either near or far off, was there a hill, a rise in the ground, or a curve to break the straight even line of the horizon. it was like a sea, green and motionless, on which the steeples were the masts of anchored ships. the eye wandered over that vast plain with a sense of repose, and for the first time i experienced that indefinable feeling which the dutch landscape inspires. it is a feeling neither of sadness, of pleasure, nor of weariness, yet it embraces them all, and holds one for a long time motionless, without knowing at first what one is looking at or of what one is thinking. i was suddenly aroused by strange music; at first i could not tell whence it came. bells were ringing a lively chime with silvery notes, now breaking slowly on the ear, as if they could scarcely detach themselves from each other; now blending in groups, in strange flourishes; now trilling, and swelling sonorously. the music was merry and fantastic, although of a somewhat primitive character, it is true, like the many-colored town over which it poured its notes like a flight of birds; indeed, it seemed to harmonize so well with the character of the city that it appeared to be its natural voice, an echo of the quaint life of the people, reminding me of the sea, the solitude, and the cottages, and at the same time it amused me and touched my heart. all at once the music stopped and the hour struck. at the same moment other steeples flung on the air other chimes, of which only the highest notes reached me, and when their chimes were ended they likewise struck the hour. this aërial concert, as i was told when its mechanism was explained to me, is repeated at every hour in the day and night by all the steeples of holland, and the chimes are national airs, psalms, italian and german melodies. thus in holland the hour sings, as though to draw the mind from contemplating the flight of time, and it sings of country, of religion, and of love, with a harmony surpassing all the sounds of earth. now, to continue in order my story of what i saw and did, i must conduct my readers to a coffee-house and beg them to sit beside me at my first dutch dinner. the dutch are great eaters. their greatest pleasure, as cardinal bentivoglio has said, is to be at a feast or at some repast. but they are not epicures; they are voracious: they prefer quantity to quality. even in ancient times they were famous among their neighbors, not only for the roughness of their habits, but for the simplicity of their diet. they were called eaters of milk and cheese. they usually eat five times a day. when they rise they take tea, coffee, milk, bread, cheese, butter; shortly before noon comes a good breakfast; before dinner they partake of some light nourishment, such as a glass of wine and biscuits; then follows a heavy dinner; and late in the evening, to use their own words, some trifle, so as not to go to bed with an empty stomach. they eat in company on many occasions. i do not mean on the occasions of christenings or marriages, as in other countries, but, for example, at funerals. it is the custom that the friends and relatives who have accompanied the funeral procession shall go home with the family of the deceased, where they are then invited to eat and drink, and they generally do great honor to their hosts. if there were no other witnesses, the dutch paintings are there to testify to the great part eating has always played in the life of this people. besides the infinite number of domestic subjects, in which we might say that dishes and bottles are the protagonists, nearly all the large pictures representing historical personages, burgomasters, and national guard, show them seated at table in the act of eating, carving, or pouring out wine. even their hero, william the silent, the incarnation of new holland, shared this national love of the table. he had the first cook of his time, who was so great an artist that the german princes sent beginners to perfect themselves at his school, and philip ii., in one of those periods of apparent reconciliation with his mortal enemy, begged for him as a present. but, as i said, the principal characteristic of the dutch kitchen is abundance, not delicacy. the french, who are _bon-vivants_, find much to criticise. i remember a writer of certain _mémoires sur la hollande_ who inveighs with lyrical fervor against the dutch cuisine, saying, "what style of eating is this? they mix soup and beer, meat and comfits, and devour quantities of meat without bread." other writers of books about holland have spoken of their dinners in that country as if they were domestic misfortunes. it is superfluous to say that all these statements are exaggerations. even a fastidious palate can in a very short time accustom itself to the dutch style of cooking. the substantial part of the dinner is always a dish of meat, with which four or five side dishes of salt meat and vegetables are served. these every one mixes according to his taste and eats with the principal dish. the meats are excellent, the vegetables, which are cooked in a thousand different ways, are even better. those which they cook in an especially worthy manner are potatoes and cabbages, and their way of making omelets is admirable. i do not speak of game, fish, milk-foods, and butter, because their praises need not be repeated, and i am silent for fear of being too enthusiastic about that celebrated cheese into which, when once one has plunged one's knife, one continues with a sort of increasing fury, thrusting and gashing and abandoning one's self to every style of slashing and gouging until the rind is empty, and desire still hovers over the ruins. a stranger who dines for the first time in a dutch restaurant sees a number of strange things. in the first place, the plates are very large and heavy, in proportion to the national appetite; in many places the napkins are of very thin white paper, folded at three corners, and ornamented with a printed border of flowers, with a little landscape in the corner, and the name of the restaurant, or _bon appetit_, printed on them in large blue letters. the stranger, to be sure of having something he can eat, orders roast beef, and they bring him half a dozen great slices as large as a cabbage leaf; or a steak, and they bring him a lump of very rare meat which would suffice for a family; or fish, and they set before him an animal as long as the table; and each of these dishes is accompanied by a mountain of mashed potatoes and a pot of strong mustard. they give him a slice of bread a little larger than a dollar and as thin as a wafer. this is not pleasant for us italians, who eat bread like beggars, so that in a dutch restaurant, to the great surprise of the waiters, we are obliged to ask for more bread every moment. on any one of these three dishes and a glass of bavarian or amsterdam beer a man may venture to say he has dined. any one who has a lean pocket-book need not dream of wine in holland, for it is frightfully dear; but, as the people's purses there are generally well filled, nearly all the dutch, from the middle class up, drink wine, and there are few other countries where there is so great an abundance and variety of foreign wines, particularly of those from french and rhenish vineyards. those who like liqueurs after dinner are well served in holland. there is no need to mention that the dutch liqueurs are famous the world over. the most famous of them all is "schiedam," an extract of juniper-berries that takes its name from the little town of schiedam, only a few miles from rotterdam, where there are more than two hundred distilleries. to give an idea of the quantity made, it is sufficient to say that thirty thousand pigs are fed annually on the dregs of the distilled material. the first time one tastes this renowned schiedam he swears he will never take another drop of it if he lives to be a hundred years old; but, as the french proverb says, "who has drunk will drink again," and one begins to try it with a great deal of sugar,--then with a little less,--then with none at all, until, _horribile dictu_! under the excuse of the damp and the fog one tosses down two small glasses with the freedom of a sailor. next on the list comes curaçoa, a fine feminine liqueur, not nearly so strong as schiedam, but much stronger than that nauseating sweetened stuff that is sold in other countries under the recommendation of its name. after curaçoa there are many others liqueurs, of every gradation of strength and flavor, with which an expert winebibber can indulge in every style of intoxication, slight, heavy, noisy, or stupid, and whereby he can dispose his brain to see the world in the manner most pleasing to his humor, much as one would do with an optical instrument by changing the color of the lens. the first time one dines in holland a curious surprise awaits one when the bill is paid. i had eaten a dinner which would have been scanty for a batavian, but was ample for an italian, and, knowing how very dear everything is in holland, i was waiting for one of those bills to which théophile gautier says the only reasonable answer is a pistol-shot. i was therefore pleasantly surprised when the waiter said i was to pay _forty sous_, and, as all kinds of money circulate in the large dutch cities, i put on the table forty sous in silver francs, and waited to give my friend time to correct me if he had made a mistake. but he looked at the money without giving any sign of correcting himself, and said with the greatest gravity, "forty sous more." springing from my chair, i demanded an explanation. the explanation, alas! was simple. the monetary unit in holland is the florin, which is equal to two francs four centimes in our money, so that the dutch centime and sou are worth more than double the italian centime and sou; hence the mistake and its correction. rotterdam at night presents to the stranger an unexpected appearance. in other northern towns at a certain hour the life is gathered within doors; in rotterdam at the corresponding hour it overflows into the street. a dense crowd passes through the hoog-straat until late at night. the shops are open, for then the servants make their purchases and the coffee-houses are crowded. the dutch coffee-houses are of a peculiar shape. they usually consist of one long saloon, divided in the middle by a green curtain, which is drawn at night, like the curtain of a theatre, hiding all the back part of the room. this part only is lighted. the front part, separated from the street by a large window, remains in the dark, so that from the outside one can see only dim forms and the glowing ends of cigars, which look like fire-flies, and among these shadowy forms appears the uncertain profile of some woman, to whom light would be unwelcome. after the coffee-houses, the tobacco-shops attract the attention, not only in rotterdam, but in all other dutch cities. there is one at almost every step, and they are beyond comparison the finest in europe, not excepting even the great havana tobacco-stores in madrid. the cigars are kept in wooden boxes, on each of which is a printed portrait of the king or queen or of some illustrious dutch citizen. these boxes are arranged in the high shop-windows in a thousand architectural styles,--in towers, steeples, temples, winding staircases, beginning on the floor and reaching almost to the ceiling. in these shops, which are resplendent with lights like the stores of paris, one may find cigars of every shape and flavor. the courteous tobacconist puts one's purchase into a special tissue-paper envelope after he has cut off the end of one of the cigars with a machine made for the purpose. the dutch shops are brilliantly illuminated, and, although in themselves they do not differ materially from stores of other large european cities, they present at night a very unusual appearance, because of the contrast between the ground floor and the upper part of the house. below, all is glass, light, color, and splendor; above, the gloomy façades with their steep sharp lines, steps, and curves. the upper part of the house is plain, dark, and silent--in a word, ancient holland; the ground floor is the new life--fashion, luxury, and elegance. moreover, the houses are all very narrow, so the shops occupy the whole ground floor, and are generally so close together that they touch each other. consequently at night, in streets like hoog-straat, one sees very little wall below the second floor. the houses seem to rest on glass, and in the distance the windows become blended into two long flaming stripes like gleaming hedges, flooding the streets with light, so that one could find a pin in them. as one walks along the streets of rotterdam in the evening, one sees that it is a city overflowing with life and in the process of expansion--a city, so to speak, in the flush of youth, in the time of growth, which, from year to year, outgrows its streets and houses, as a boy outgrows his clothes. its one hundred and fourteen thousand inhabitants will be two hundred thousand at no distant time. the smaller streets swarm with children; indeed, they are filled to overflowing with them, so that it gladdens one's eyes and heart. an air of happiness breathes through the streets of rotterdam. the white and ruddy faces of the servants, whose spotless caps are popping out everywhere, the serene faces of the tradespeople, who slowly sip their great mugs of beer, the peasants with their large golden earrings, the cleanliness, the flowers in the windows, the quiet hard-working crowd,--all give to rotterdam an appearance of health and peaceful content which brings the _te beata_ to our lips, not with a cry of enthusiasm, but with a smile of sympathy. re-entering the hotel, i saw an entire french family in a corridor gazing in admiration at the nails on a door which shone like so many silver buttons. in the morning, as soon as i arose, i went to my window, which was on the second floor, and on looking at the roofs of the opposite houses, i confessed with surprise that bismarck was excusable for believing he saw phantoms on the roofs at rotterdam. out of the chimney-pots of all the ancient houses rise curved or straight tubes, one above the other, crossing and recrossing like open arms, or forks, or immense horns, in such impossible positions that it seems as though they must understand each other and be speaking a mysterious language from house to house, and that at night they must move about with some purpose. i walked down hoog-straat. it was sunday and few shops were open. the dutch told me that some years ago even those few would have been closed: the observance of the sabbath, which used to be very strict, is becoming slack. i saw the signs of holiday chiefly in the people's clothes, in the dress of the men particularly. the men, especially those of the lower classes (and this i observed in other towns also), have a decided taste for black clothes, which they wear proudly on sundays--black cravats, black breeches, and certain black over-coats that reach almost to their knees. this costume, together with their leisurely gait and solemn faces, gives them the air of village syndics going to assist at an official _te deum_. but what most surprised me was to see at that hour almost every one i met, gentry and peasantry, men and boys, with cigars in their mouths. this unfortunate habit of "_dreaming awake_," as Émile girardin called it when he made war on smokers, occupies such a large part of the life of the dutch people that it is necessary to say a few words about it. the dutch probably smoke more than any other northern nation. the humidity of the climate makes it almost a necessity, and the cheapness of tobacco puts it in everybody's power to satisfy this desire. to show how inveterate is this habit, it will suffice to say that the boatmen of the _trekschuit_ (the stage-coach of the canals) measure distance by smoke. from here to such and such a town they say it is so many pipes, not so many miles. when you enter a house, the host, after the usual greetings, gives you a cigar; when you leave he gives you another, sometimes he fills your pocket. in the streets one sees men lighting fresh cigars with the stumps they have just smoked, with a hurried air, without stopping for a moment, as if it were equally disagreeable to them to lose a moment of time and a mouthful of smoke. a great many men go to bed with their cigars in their mouths, light them if they awake in the night, and relight them in the morning before leaving their beds. "the dutchman is a living alembic," writes diderot; and it does really seem as though smoking is to him one of the necessary functions of life. many say that much smoking clouds the brain. but, notwithstanding, if there is a people whose intelligence is clear and precise in the highest degree, that people is the dutch. moreover, smoking is no excuse for idleness among the hollanders,--they do not smoke "to dream awake." every one does his work while puffing white clouds of smoke from his mouth as if he were the chimney of a factory, and, instead of the cigar being a distraction, it is a stimulus and a help to labor. "smoke is our second breath," said a dutchman to me, and another defined the cigar as "the sixth finger of our hand." apropos of tobacco, i must tell of the life and death of a famous dutch smoker, but i am rather afraid my dutch friends who told me the story will shrug their shoulders, for they lamented that strangers who write on holland pass over important things which do honor to the country, and mention only trifles such as this. however, this is such a remarkable trifle that i cannot resist the temptation of putting it down. once upon a time there was a wealthy gentleman who lived in the suburbs of rotterdam. his name was van klaës, but he was nicknamed papa big pipe, for he was a fat old fellow and a great smoker. he was a man of simple habits and kindly heart, who, as the story runs, had made a great fortune in india by honest trade. on his return from india he built himself a beautiful mansion near rotterdam, and in this home he collected and arranged in order every imaginable kind of pipe. there were pipes of every country and of every period, from those used by ancient barbarians to smoke hemp, to the splendid meerschaum and amber pipes ornamented with carved figures and bands of gold like those seen in the finest stores of paris. the museum was open to visitors, to each of whom, after he had aired his knowledge on the subject of pipe-collecting, mr van klaës gave a pouch filled with tobacco and cigars, and a catalogue of the museum in a velvet cover. every day mr van klaës smoked a hundred and fifty grammes of tobacco, and he died at the ripe old age of ninety-eight years; consequently, if we assume that he began to smoke when he was eighteen years old, he consumed in the course of his life four thousand three hundred and eighty-three kilogrammes. if this quantity of tobacco could be laid down in a continuous black line, it would extend twenty french leagues. but, in spite of all this, mr van klaës showed that in death he was a far greater smoker than he had been in life. tradition has preserved all the particulars of his end. he was approaching his ninety-eighth birthday when it was suddenly borne in upon him that the end of his life was at hand. he summoned his notary, who was also a notable smoker, and, "notary," said he with no unnecessary words, "fill my pipe and yours; i am going to die." the notary filled and lighted the pipes, and mr van klaës dictated that will which has become celebrated all over holland. [illustration: on the meuse, near rotterdam.] after he had bequeathed the greater part of his fortune to relatives, friends, and charities, he added the following clauses: "i wish every smoker in the kingdom to be invited to my funeral in every way possible, by letter, circular, and advertisement. every smoker who takes advantage of the invitation shall receive as a present ten pounds of tobacco, and two pipes on which shall be engraved my name, my crest, and the date of my death. the poor of the neighborhood who accompany my bier shall receive every year on the anniversary of my death a large package of tobacco. i make the condition that all those who assist at my funeral, if they wish to partake of the benefits of my will, must smoke without interruption during the entire ceremony. my body shall be placed in a coffin lined throughout with the wood of my old havana cigar-boxes. at the foot of the coffin shall be placed a box of the french tobacco called _caporal_ and a package of our old dutch tobacco. at my side place my favorite pipe and a box of matches, ... for one never knows what may happen. when the bier rests in the vault, all the persons in the funeral procession are requested to cast upon it the ashes of their pipes as they pass it on their departure from the grounds." the last wishes of mr van klaës were faithfully fulfilled; the funeral went off splendidly, veiled in a thick cloud of smoke. the cook of the deceased, gertrude by name, to whom in a codicil her master had left a considerable fortune on condition that she should overcome her aversion to tobacco, walked in the funeral procession with a cigarette in her mouth. the poor blessed the memory of the charitable gentleman, and all the country resounded with his praises as it now rings with his fame. as i walked along one of the canals i saw under different conditions one of those sudden changes in the weather such as i had witnessed on the previous day. in a moment the sun disappeared, the infinite variety of cheerful colors was obscured, and a chilling wind began to blow. then the subdued gayety which existed a few moments before gave place everywhere to a strange trepidation. the leaves of the trees rustled, the flags on the ships fluttered, the boats moored to the palisades tossed to and fro; the waters were troubled, a thousand articles suspended from the houses dangled about,--the arms of the windmills spun rapidly around; it seemed as though a shiver of winter passed through everything, and that the city was apprehensive of a mysterious danger. in a few moments the sun shone out, and with it returned color, peace, and cheerfulness. this scene made me reflect that holland is not really as sombre a country as many believe; it is rather very sombre one moment, and very cheerful the next, according to the weather. in everything it is a country of contrasts. beneath a most capricious sky lives the least capricious people in the world, and yet this orderly and methodical nation possesses the tipsiest, most disordered architecture that eye can see. before entering the museum at rotterdam, i think it will be opportune to make some observations on dutch painting, naturally not for those "who know," understand, but for those who have forgotten. dutch art possesses one quality that renders it particularly attractive to us italians: it is that branch of the world's art which differs most from the italian school,--it is the antithesis, or, to use a phrase that enraged leopardi, "the opposite pole in art." the italian and the dutch are the two most original schools of painting, or, as some say, the only two schools that can honestly lay claim to originality. the others are only daughters or younger sisters, which bear a certain resemblance to their elders. so holland even in its art offers us that which we most desire in travel and description--novelty. dutch art was born with the independence and freedom of holland. so long as the northern and southern provinces of the netherlands were united under spanish dominion and the catholic faith, they had only one school of painting. the dutch artists painted like the belgians; they studied in belgium, germany, and italy. heemskerk imitated michelangelo; bloemaert copied correggio; de moor followed titian; to mention a few instances. they were pedantic disciples who united with all the affectations of the italian style a certain german coarseness, and the outcome was a bastard style inferior to the earlier schools--childish, stiff, and crude in color, with no sense of light and shade. but, at any rate, it was not a slavish imitation; it was a faint prelude to real dutch art. with the war of independence came liberty, reform, and art. the artistic and religious traditions fell together. the nude, the nymphs, the madonnas, the saints, allegory, mythology, the ideal,--the whole ancient edifice was in ruins. the new life which animated holland was revealed and developed in a new way. the little country, which had suddenly become so glorious and formidable, felt that it must tell its greatness. its faculties, which had been strengthened and stimulated in the grand enterprise of creating a native land, a real world,--now that this enterprise was achieved, expanded, and created an imaginary world. the conditions of the people were favorable to a revival of art. they had overcome the supreme perils which threatened them: security, prosperity, a splendid future, were theirs: their heroes had done their part; the time had come for artists. after so many sacrifices and disasters holland came forth victorious from the strife, turned her face upon her people, and smiled, and that smile was art. we could picture to ourselves what this art was even if no example of it remained. a peaceable, industrious, practical people, who, to use the words of a great german poet, were continually brought back to dull realities by the conditions of a vulgar bourgeois life; who cultivated their reason at the expense of their imagination, living in consequence on manifest ideas rather than beautiful images; who fled from the abstract, whose thoughts never rose beyond nature, with which they waged continual warfare--a people that saw only what exists, that enjoyed only what it possessed, whose happiness consisted in wealthy ease and an honest indulgence of the senses, although without violent passions or inordinate desires;--such a people would naturally be phlegmatic in their art,--they would love a style that pleased but did not arouse them, that spoke to the senses rather than to the imagination--a school of art placid, precise, full of repose, and thoroughly material like their life--an art, in a word, realistic and self-satisfied, in which they could see themselves reflected as they were and as they were content to remain. the first dutch artists began by depicting that which was continually before their eyes--the home. the long winters, the stubborn rains, the humidity, the continual changes in the climate, compel the hollander to spend a great part of the year and of the day in the house. he loves his little home, his nutshell, much more than we love our houses, because it is much more necessary to him, and he lives in it much more; he provides it with every comfort, caresses it, adorns it; he delights in looking at the falling snow and drenching rain from its tight windows, and in being able to say, "let the storms rage--i am safe and warm." in his little nest, beside his good wife and surrounded by his children, he passes the long evenings of autumn and winter, eating much, drinking much, smoking much, and amusing himself with honest mirth after the fatigues of the day. dutch artists paint these little houses and this home-life in little pictures adapted in size to the little walls they must adorn; bedrooms which make one drowsy; kitchens with tables ready spread; the fresh, kindly faces of mothers of families; men basking in the warmth of the hearth; and, as they are conscientious realists who omit nothing, they add blinking cats, gaping dogs, scratching hens, brooms, vegetables, crockery, and plucked chickens. this life is painted in every class of society and under every circumstance; evening-parties, dances, orgies, games, holidays, all are represented, and thus ter borch, metsu, netscher, dou, mieris, steen, brouwer, and ostade became famous. from home-life they turned to the country. the hostile climate gave them a very short time in which to admire nature, and for this reason the dutch artists admire it only the more and salute the spring with greater joy. the fleeting smiles of the heavens are strongly impressed on their imagination. the country is not beautiful, but it is doubly dear to them because it has been wrested from the sea and from the hands of strangers. they painted it with affection, making their landscapes simple, ingenuous, and full of an intimacy with nature that neither the italian nor the belgian landscapes of this time possess. their country, flat and monotonous, presented to their appreciative eyes a marvellous variety. they noted every change in the sky, and revealed the water in its every appearance, its reflection, its grace and freshness, and its power of diffusing light and color everywhere. there are no mountains, so they put the downs in the background of their pictures; and, lacking forests, they saw and expressed the mysteries of a forest in a group of trees, and animated all with noble animals and sails. the subjects of their pictures are poor indeed--a windmill, a canal, a gray sky--but how much they suggest! some of them, not content with their native land, came to italy in search of hills, bright skies, and great ruins, and became a circle of choice artists, such as both, swanevelt, pijnacker, breenbergh, van laer, and asselin; but the palm remains with the true dutch landscape painters--with wynants, the painter of morning; van der neer, the painter of night; ruysdael, the painter of melancholy; hobbema, the painter of windmills, cottages, and kitchen-gardens; and with others who contented themselves with expressing the charm of the modest scenes of their native land. side by side with landscape painting arose another branch of art, which was peculiar to holland--the painting of animals. cattle are the riches of the country, and the splendid breed of holland is unequalled in europe for its beauty and fecundity. the dutch, who owe so much to their cattle, treat them, so to speak, as a part of the population; they love them, wash them, comb them, dress them. they are to be seen everywhere; they are reflected in the canals, and the country is beautified with their innumerable black and white spots dotting the wide meadows, giving every place an air of peace and repose, and inspiring one with a feeling of arcadian sweetness and patriarchal serenity. the dutch artists studied the differences and the habits of these animals; they divined, one may say, their thoughts and feelings, and enlivened the quiet beauty of the landscapes with their figures. rubens, snyders, paul de vos, and many other belgian artists had painted animals with wonderful ability, but they are surpassed by the dutch painters, van de velde, berchem, karel du jardin, and paul potter, the prince of animal painters, whose famous "bull" in the gallery at the hague deserves to be hung in the louvre opposite raphael's "transfiguration." the dutch have become pre-eminent in another branch of art also--marine painting. the ocean, their enemy, their power, and their glory, overhanging their land, ever threatening and alarming them, enters into their life by a thousand channels and in a thousand forms. that turbulent north sea, full of dark color, illuminated by sunsets of infinite gloom, and ever lashing its desolate banks, naturally dominated the imagination of the dutch artists. they passed long hours on the shore contemplating the terrible beauties of the sea; they ventured from the land to study its tempests; they bought ships and sailed with their families, observing and painting; they followed their fleets to war and joined in the naval battles. thus a school of marine artists arose, boasting such men as william van de velde the father and william the son, bakhuisen, dubbels, and stork. another school of painting naturally arose in holland as the expression of the character of the people and of republican customs. a nation that without greatness had done so many great things, as michelet says, required an heroic style of painting, if it may be so called, destined to illustrate its men and achievements. but simply because the nation was without greatness, or, to speak more accurately, without the outward form of greatness--because it was modest, and inclined to consider all alike equal in face of the fatherland, because all had done their duty, yet each abhorred that adulation and apotheosis which glorify in one person the virtues and triumphs the mass,--this style of painting was needed, not to extol a few eminent men or extraordinary events, but to represent all classes of citizens by occurrences of the most ordinary and peaceful moments of bourgeois life. hence those large pictures representing groups of five, ten, or even thirty persons, gunners, syndics, officials, professors, magistrates, men of affairs, seated or standing round tables, feasting or arguing, all life-size and faithful portraits, with serious open countenances, from which shines the quiet expression of a tranquil conscience, from which one divines, rather than sees, the nobility of lives devoted to their country, the spirit of that laborious and dauntless epoch, the manly virtues of that rare generation. all this is relieved by the beautiful costumes of the renaissance, which so admirably combined grace with dignity,--those ruffs, jerkins, black cloaks, silken scarfs, ribbons, arms, and banners. van der helst, hals, govert, flink, and bol were masters in this style of art. to leave the consideration of the different branches of painting, and to inquire into the particular methods which the dutch artists adopted and the means they employed to accomplish their results, one chief feature at once presents itself as the distinctive trait of dutch painting--the light. the light, because of the peculiar conditions under which it manifests itself in holland, has naturally given rise to a peculiar style of painting. a pale light, undulating with marvellous changes, playing through an atmosphere heavy with vapor, a misty veil which is repeatedly and abruptly penetrated, a continual struggle between sunshine and shadow,--these were the phenomena that necessarily attracted the attention of artists. they began by observing and reproducing all this restlessness of the sky, this struggle which animates the nature of holland with a varied and fantastic life, and by the act of reproducing it the struggle passed into their minds, and then, instead of imitating, they created. then they themselves made the two elements contend; they increased the darkness to startle and disperse it with every manner of luminous effects and flashes of light; sunbeams stole through the gloom and then gradually died away; the reflections of twilight and the mellow light of lamps were delicately blended into mysterious shadows, which were animated with confused forms which one seems to see and yet cannot distinguish. so under their hands the light presents a thousand fancies, contrasts, enigmas, and effects of shine and shade as unexpected as they are curious. prominent in this field, among many others, were gherard dou, the painter of the famous picture of the four candles, and rembrandt, the great wonder-working superhuman enlightener. another of the most striking characteristics of dutch painting is naturally color. it is generally recognized that in a country where there are no distant mountains, no undulating views, no prominent features to strike the eye--in short, no general forms that lend themselves to design--the artist is strongly influenced by color. this is especially true in the case of holland, where the uncertain light and the vague shadows which continually veil the air soften and obscure the outlines of objects until the eye neglects the form it cannot comprehend, and fixes itself on color as the chief quality that nature possesses. but there are yet other reasons for this: a country as flat, monotonous, and gray as holland is has need of color, just as a southern country has need of shadow. the dutch artists have only followed the dominant taste of the people, who paint their houses, their boats, their palisades, the fences of the fields, and in some places the very trunks of the trees, in the brightest colors; who dress themselves as of yore in clothes of the gayest hues; who love tulips and hyacinths to distraction. hence all the dutch painters were great colorists, rembrandt being the first. realism, favored by the calm and sluggish nature of the dutch, which enables their artists to restrain their impetuosity, and further aided by the dutch character, which aims at exactness and refuses to do things by halves, gave to the paintings of the hollanders another distinctive trait--finish. this they carried to the last possible degree of perfection. critics say truthfully that in dutch paintings one may discover the first quality of the nation--patience. everything is portrayed with the minuteness of a daguerreotype: the furniture with all the graining of the wood, the leaf with all its veins, a thread in a bit of cloth, the patch with all the stitches showing, the animal with every hair distinct, the face with all its wrinkles,--everything is finished with such microscopic precision that it seems to be the work of a fairy's brush, for surely a painter would lose his sight and reason in such a task. after all, this is a defect rather than a virtue, because painting ought to reproduce not what exists, but rather what the eye sees, and the eye does not see every detail. however, the defect is brought to such a degree of excellence that it is to be admired rather than censured, and one does not even dare to wish that it should not be there. in this respect, dou, mieris, potter, van der helst, and indeed all the dutch painters in greater or less degree, were famous as prodigies of patience. on the other hand, realism, which imparts to dutch painting such an original character and such admirable qualities, is, notwithstanding, the root of its most serious defects. the dutch painters, solicitous to copy only material truth, give to their figures the expression of merely physical sentiments. sorrow, love, enthusiasm, and the thousand subtle emotions that are nameless, or that take different names from the different causes that give them birth, are rarely or never expressed. for them the heart does not beat, the eye does not overflow with tears, nor does the mouth tremble. in their pictures a whole part of the life is lacking, and that the most powerful and noble part, the human soul. nay more, by so faithfully copying everything, the ugly especially, they end in exaggerating even that. they convert defects into deformities, portraits into caricatures; they slander the national type; they give every human figure an ungraceful and ludicrous appearance. to have a setting for figures they are obliged to select trivial subjects; hence the excessive number of canvases depicting taverns and drunken men with grotesque, stupefied faces, in sprawling attitudes; low women and old men who are despicably ridiculous; scenes in which we seem to hear the low yells and obscene words. on looking at these pictures one would say that holland is inhabited by the most deformed and ill-mannered nation in the world. some painters permit themselves even greater license. steen, potter, brouwer, and the great rembrandt himself often pandered to a low and depraved taste, and torrentius sent forth such shameless pictures that the provinces of holland collect and burn them. but, overlooking these excesses, there is scarcely anything to be found in a dutch gallery which elevates the soul, which awakens in the mind high and noble sentiments. one enjoys, one admires, one laughs, and sometimes one is silent before some landscapes, but on leaving one feels that one has not felt a real pleasure--that something was lacking. there comes a longing to look upon a beautiful face or to read inspired poetry, and sometimes, unconsciously, one catches one's self murmuring, "o raphael!" in conclusion, we must note two great merits in this school--its variety and its value as an expression, as a mirror, of the country. if rembrandt and his followers are excepted, almost all the other painters are quite different from each other. perhaps no other school presents such a number of original masters. the realism of the dutch painters arose from their common love for nature, but each of them has shown in his work a different manifestation of a love all his own; each has given the individual impression that he has received from nature. they all set out from the same point--the worship of material truth, but they each arrived at a different goal. their realism impelled them to copy everything, and the consequence is that the dutch school has succeeded in representing holland much more faithfully than any other school has illustrated any other country. it has been said that if every other visible testimony to the existence of holland in the seventeenth century--its great century--excepting the work of its artists were to disappear, everything would be found again in the pictures--the towns, the country, the ports, the fleets, the markets, the shops, the dress, the utensils, the arms, the linen, the merchandise, the pottery, the food, the amusements, the habits, the religion, and the superstitions. the good and the bad qualities of the nation are all alike represented, and this, which is a merit in the literature of a country, is no less a merit in its art. but there is one great void in dutch painting, for which the peaceful and modest character of the people is not a sufficient reason. this school of painting, which is so essentially national, has, with the exception of some great naval battles, passed over all of the grand exploits of the war of independence, among which the sieges of leyden and haarlem would have been sufficient to inspire a legion of artists. of this war, almost a century in duration, filled with strange and terrible events, there is not a single memorable painting. this school, so varied and so conscientious in reproducing its country and its life, has not represented one scene of that great tragedy, as william the silent prophetically called it, which aroused in the hollanders such diverse emotions of fear and grief, rage, joy, and national pride. [illustration: the steiger, rotterdam.] the splendor of holland's art faded with its political greatness. nearly all the great painters were born during the first thirty years of the seventeenth or during the last years of the sixteenth century; none of them were living after the first ten years of the eighteenth century, and no others appeared to take their places. holland had exhausted its productiveness. already toward the end of the seventeenth century the sentiment of patriotism had commenced to weaken, taste had become depraved, the painters lost their inspiration with the decline of the moral energies of the country. in the eighteenth century the artists, as though surfeited with nature, returned to mythology, classicism, and conventionality; their imagination was weakened, their style was impoverished, and every spark of their former genius was extinguished. dutch art showed the world the marvellous flowers of van huysum, the last great lover of nature, then folded her weary hands and the flowers fell on his tomb. the present gallery at rotterdam contains but a small number of paintings, among which there are very few works of the best artists and none of the _chefs d'oeuvre_ of the dutch school. three hundred paintings and thirteen hundred drawings were destroyed by fire in , and most of the works that are now there were bequeathed to the city of rotterdam by jacob otto boymans. hence the gallery is a place to see examples of some particular artist, rather than to study dutch painting. in one of the first rooms are some sketches of naval battles, signed by william van de velde, who is considered the greatest marine painter of his time. he was the son of william the elder, who was also a marine painter. both father and son were fortunate enough to live at the time of the great naval wars between holland, england, and france, and were able to see the battles with their own eyes. the states of holland placed a frigate at the disposal of van de velde the elder; his son accompanied him. both made their sketches in the midst of the battle-smoke, sometimes advancing so far among the fighting ships that the admirals were obliged to order them to withdraw. the younger van de velde surpassed his father. he painted small pictures--for the most part a gray sky, a calm sea, and some sails--but so naturally are they done that when one looks at them one seems to smell the salt air of the sea, and mistakes the frame for a window. this van de velde belongs to that group of dutch painters who loved the water with a sort of madness, and who painted, one may say, on the water. of these was bakhuisen, a marine painter who had a great vogue in his day, whom peter the great chose as his master during his visit to amsterdam. this bakhuisen, it is said, used to risk himself in a small boat in the midst of a storm at sea that he might be able to observe more closely the movements of the waves, and he often placed his own life and the lives of his boatmen in such danger that the men, caring more for their skins than for his paintings, sometimes took him back to land against his will. john griffier did more. he bought a little ship in london, furnished it like a house, installed his wife and children in it, and sailed about on his own responsibility in search of subjects. a storm dashed his vessel to pieces against a sandbank and destroyed all he possessed; he and his family were saved by a miracle, and settled in rotterdam. but he soon grew weary of a life on land, bought a shattered boat and put to sea again; he nearly lost his life a second time near dordrecht, but still continued his voyages. the rotterdam gallery affords very few examples of marine paintings, but landscape painting is worthily represented by two pictures by ruysdael, the greatest of the dutch painters of rural scenes. these two paintings represent his favorite subjects--leafy, solitary spots, which, like all his works, inspire a subtle feeling of melancholy. the great power of this artist is sentiment. he is eminent in the dutch school for a gentleness of soul and a singular superiority of education. it has been most truly said of him that he used landscape as an expression of his suffering, his weariness, his fancies, and that he contemplated his country with a bitter sadness, as if it were a place of torment, and that he created the woods to hide his gloom in their shade. the soft light of holland is the image of his soul; none felt more exquisitely than he its melancholy sweetness, none represented more feelingly than he, with a ray of languid light, the smile of a suffering fellow-creature. because of the exceptional delicacy of his nature he was not appreciated by his fellow-citizens until long after his death. beside a painting by ruysdael hangs a picture of flowers by a female artist, rachel ruysch, the wife of a famous portrait-painter, who was born toward the close of the sixteenth century, and died, brush in hand, in the eightieth year of her age, after she had shown to her husband and to the world that a sensible woman can passionately cultivate the fine arts and yet find time to rear and educate ten children. and as i have spoken of the wife of a painter, i simply mention that it is possible to write an entertaining book on the wives of dutch artists, both because of the variety of their adventures and the important part they play in the history of art. the faces of a number are known already, because many artists painted their wives' portraits, as well as their own and those of their children, their cats, and their hens. biographers speak of most of them, confirming or contradicting reports which have been circulated in regard to their conduct. some have hazarded the opinion that the larger number of them were a serious drawback to their husbands. it seems to me there is something to be said on the other side. as for rembrandt, it is known that the happiest part of his life was the time between his first marriage and the death of his wife, who was the daughter of a burgomaster of leeuwarden, and to whom posterity owes a debt of gratitude. it is also known that van der helst at an advanced age married a beautiful girl, for whom there is nothing but praise, and posterity should be grateful to her for having brightened the old age of a great artist. it is true that we cannot speak of all in the same terms. of the two wives of steen, for example, the first was a featherhead, who allowed the tavern at delft that he had inherited from his father to go to ruin; and the second, from all accounts, was unfaithful. heemskerk's second wife was so dishonest that her husband was obliged to go about excusing her peculations. de hondecoeter's wife was an eccentric and troublesome woman, who forced her husband to pass his evenings in a tavern in order to rid himself of her company. the wife of berghem was so intolerably avaricious that if she found him dozing over his brushes she awoke him roughly to make him work and earn money, and the poor man was obliged to resort to subterfuges to purchase engravings when he was paid for his pictures. on the other hand, one could never end reciting the misdeeds of the husbands. the artist griffier compelled his wife to travel about the world in a boat; veen begged his wife's permission to spend four months in rome, and stayed there four years. karel du jardin married a rich old woman to pay his debts, and deserted her when she had paid them. molyn, another artist, had his wife assassinated that he might marry a genoese. i doubt whether poor paul potter, as the story runs, was betrayed by the wife whom he blindly loved; and who knows whether huysum, the great flower-painter, who was consumed by jealousy in the midst of riches and glory for a wife who was neither young nor beautiful, had real grounds for his doubts, or whether he was not induced by the reports of his envious rivals to believe what was untrue? in conclusion, i must mention with due honor the three wives of eglon van der neer, who crowned him with twenty-five children--a family which, however, did not keep him from painting a large number of pictures in every style, from making several voyages, and from cultivating tulips. there are several small paintings by albert cuyp in the rotterdam gallery, a landscape, horses, fowls, and fruit--that albert cuyp who holds a unique place in dutch art, who in the course of a prolonged life painted portraits, landscapes, animals, flowers, winter pieces, moonlight scenes, marine subjects, figures, and in each style left an imprint of originality. but nevertheless, like most of the dutch painters of his time, he was so unfortunate that until , more than fifty years after his death, his paintings sold for a hundred francs, whereas they now would bring a hundred thousand francs--not in holland, but in england, where most of his works are owned. heemskerk's "christ at the sepulchre" would not be worth mentioning if it were not an excuse for introducing the artist, who was one of the most curious creatures that ever walked the face of the earth. van veen--such is his real name--was born in the village of heemskerk at the end of the fifteenth century, and flourished at the period of italian imitation. he was the son of a peasant, and, although he had an inclination toward art, he was intended for a peasant. he became a painter by chance, like many other dutch artists. his father had a furious temper, and the son was very much afraid of him. one day poor van veen dropped the milk-jug; his father flew at him, but he ran out of the house and spent the night somewhere else. the next morning his mother found him, and, thinking it would be unsafe for him to face the paternal anger, she gave him a small quantity of linen, a little money, and commended him to the care of god. the lad went to haarlem, and, obtaining an entrance to the studio of a famous artist, he studied, succeeded, and then went to rome to perfect himself. he did not become a great artist, for the imitation of the italian school spoiled him: his treatment of the nude was stiff and his style full of mannerisms, but he painted a great deal and was well paid, and did not regret his early life. but herein consisted his peculiarity: he was, as his biographers assert, a man incredibly, morbidly and ridiculously timid. when he knew that the arquebusiers were to pass he climbed the roofs and steeples, and trembled with fear when he saw their arms in the street. if any one thinks this an idle story, there is a fact which serves to prove it true: he was in the town of haarlem when the spaniards besieged it, and the magistrates, who knew his weakness, permitted him to flee from the city before they began to fight, doubtless foreseeing that otherwise he would have died of fright. he took advantage of the permission and fled to amsterdam, leaving his fellow-citizens in the lurch. other dutch painters--for we are speaking of the men, not of their pictures--like heemskerk, owed their choice of a profession to accident. everdingen, of the first order of landscape-painters, owed his choice to a tempest which wrecked his ship on the shore of norway, where he remained, was inspired by the grand natural scenery and created an original style of landscape art. cornelisz vroom also owed his fortune to a shipwreck: he was on his way to spain with some religious pictures; when the vessel was wrecked near the coast of portugal, the poor artist saved himself with others on an uninhabited island, where they remained two days without food. they considered themselves as good as lost, when they were unexpectedly relieved by some monks from a monastery on the coast, whither the sea had borne the hulk of the vessel with the pictures, which were unharmed. these the monks considered admirable. thus was cornelisz sheltered, welcomed, and stimulated to paint, and the profound emotions occasioned by the wreck gave his genius such a new and powerful impulse that he became a real artist. another, hans fredeman, the famous trick painter who painted some columns on the frame of a drawing-room door so cleverly that charles v. turned round to look as soon as he had entered, and thought that the walls had suddenly closed behind him by enchantment,--this hans fredeman, who painted palisades that made people turn back, doors which people attempted to open, owed his fortune to a book on architecture by vitruvius which he obtained by chance from a carpenter. there is a good little picture by steen which represents a doctor pretending to operate on a man who imagines himself to be sick: an old woman is holding a basin, the invalid is shrieking desperately, and a few curious neighbors, convulsed with laughter, look on from a window. when one says that this picture makes one break into an irresistible peal of laughter, one has said all that is necessary. after rembrandt, steen is the most original figure-painter of the dutch school; he is one of those few artists whom, when once known, whether they are or are not congenial to our taste, we must perforce admire as great painters, and even if we consider them worthy of only secondary honors, it matters not, they remain indelibly impressed on our minds. after one has seen steen's pictures it is impossible to see a drunkard, a buffoon, a cripple, a dwarf, a deformed face, a ridiculous smirk, a grotesque attitude, without remembering one of his figures. all the degrees of stupidity and of drunkenness, all the grossness and mawkishness of orgies, the frenzy of the lowest pleasures, the cynicism of the vulgarest vice, the buffoonery of the wildest rabble, all the most brutal emotions, the basest aspects of tavern and alehouse life, have been painted by him with the brutality and insolence of an unscrupulous man, and with such a sense of the comic, such an impetuosity, such an intoxication of inspiration, one might say that words cannot express the effect produced. writers have devoted many volumes to him, and have advanced many different opinions about him. his warmest admirers have attributed to him a moral purpose--that of making debauchery hateful by painting it as he did in repulsive colors, for the same reason that the spartans showed drunken helots to their sons. others see in his paintings only the spontaneous and thoughtless expression of the spirit and taste of the artist, whom they represent as a vulgar debauchee. however this may be, there is no doubt that in the effects produced steen's painting may be considered a satire on vice, and in this he is superior to almost all the dutch painters, who restricted themselves to an external realism. hence he was called the dutch hogarth, the jovial philosopher, the keenest observer of the habits of his countrymen, and one among his admirers has said that if steen had been born at rome instead of at leyden, and had michelangelo instead of van goyen been his master, he would have been one of the greatest painters in the world. another finds some kind of analogy between him and raphael. the technical qualities of his paintings are much less admired, his work has not the finish nor the strength of the other artists, such as ostade, mieris, and dou. but, even taking into consideration its satirical character, one must say that steen has often exceeded his purpose if he really had a purpose. the fury with which he pursued the burlesque often got the better of his feeling for reality; his figures, instead of being merely ridiculous, became monstrous and hardly human, often resembling beasts rather than men, and he has exaggerated these figures until sometimes he awakens, a feeling of nausea instead of mirth, and a sense of indignation that nature should be so outraged. the effect he produces is generally a laugh,--a loud, irresistible laugh, which bursts from one even when alone and calls the people away from the neighboring pictures. it is impossible to carry further than steen did the art of flattening noses, twisting mouths, shortening necks, making wrinkles, rendering faces stupid, putting on humps, and making his puppets seem as if they were roaring with laughter, vomiting, reeling, or falling. by the leer of a half-closed eye he expressed idiocy and sensuality; by a sneer or a gesture he revealed the brutality of a man. he makes one smell the odor of a pipe, hear the coarse laughter, guess at the stupid or foul discourses--to understand, in a word, tavern-life and the dregs of the people; and i maintain that it is impossible to carry this art to a higher point than that to which steen has carried it. his life has been and still is a vexed question. volumes have been written to prove that he was a drunkard, and volumes to prove that he was a sober man; and, as is always the case, both sides exaggerate. he kept an alehouse at delft, but it did not pay; then he set up a tavern and things went worse. it is said that he was its most assiduous frequenter, that he would drink up all the wine, and that when the cellar was empty he would take down the sign, close the door, and begin to paint furiously, and when he had sold his pictures he would buy more wine and begin life again. it is even said that he paid for everything with his pictures, and that consequently all his paintings were to be found in wine-merchants' houses. it is really difficult to explain how he could have painted such a large number of admirable works if he was always intoxicated, but it is no less difficult to understand why he had a taste for such subjects if he led a steady, sober life. it is certain that, especially during the last years of his life, he committed every sort of extravagance. he at first studied under the famous landscape painter van goyen, but genius worked in him more powerfully than study; he divined the rules of his art, and if it sometimes seems that he has painted too black, as some of his critics have said, it was the fault of an extra bottle of wine at dinner. steen is not the only dutch painter who, whether deservedly or not, won a reputation for drunkenness. at one time nearly all the artists passed the greater part of their day in the taverns, where they became famously drunk, fell to fighting, and whence they came out bruised and bleeding. in a poem upon painting by karel van mander, who was the first to write the history of the painters of the netherlands, there occurs a passage directed against drunkenness and the habit of fighting, part of which runs as follows: "be sober and live so that the unhappy proverb 'as debauched as a painter' may become 'as temperate as an artist.'" to mention a few among the most famous artists, mieris was a notable winebibber, van goyen a drunkard, franz hals, the master of brouwer, a winesack, brouwer an incorrigible tippler; william cornelis, and hondecoeter were on the best terms with the bottle. many of the humbler painters are said to have died intoxicated. even in death the history of the dutch painters presents a thousand incongruities. the great rembrandt expired in misery almost without the knowledge of any; hobbema died in the poor quarter of amsterdam; steen died in poverty; brouwer died at a hospital; andrew both and henry verschuringh were drowned; adrian bloemaert met his death in a duel; karel fabritius was killed by the explosion of a powder-magazine; johann schotel died, brush in hand, of a stroke of apoplexy; potter died of consumption; lucas of leyden was poisoned. so, what with shameful deaths, debauchery, and jealousy, one may say that a great part of the dutch painters have had an unhappy fate. in the gallery at rotterdam there is a beautiful head by rembrandt; a scene of brigands by wouverman, a great painter of horses and battles; a landscape by van goyen, the painter of dead shores and leaden skies; a marine painting by bakhuisen, the painter of storms; a painting by berghem, the painter of smiling landscapes; one by everdingen, the painter of waterfalls and forests; and other paintings belonging to the italian and flemish schools. on leaving the museum i met a company of soldiers, the first dutch soldiers i had seen. their uniform was dark colored, without any showy ornaments, and they were all fair from first to last, and wore their hair long, and almost all of them had a peaceful, happy look, which seemed in strange contrast with the arms they bore. rotterdam, a city of more than a hundred thousand inhabitants, has a garrison of three hundred soldiers! and it is said that rotterdam has the name of being the most turbulent and unruly city in holland! in fact, some time ago there was a popular demonstration against the municipality, which had no consequences but a few broken windows. but in a country like this, which runs by clockwork, it must have seemed, and did truly seem, a great event; the cavalry was sent from the hague, the country was in commotion. one must not think, however, that this people is all sugar; the citizens of rotterdam confess that "the holy rabble," as carducci calls it, is stoutly licentious, as is the case in other towns of worse reputation; the lack of police is rather an incentive to license than a proof, as some might think, of public discipline. * * * * * rotterdam, as i have already said, is a city neither artistic nor literary; on the contrary, it is one of the few dutch cities that have not given birth to some great painter--an unproductiveness shared by the whole of zealand. erasmus, however, is not its only man of letters. in a little park that extends to the right of the town on the bank of the meuse there is a marble statue raised by the inhabitants of rotterdam to honor the poet tollens, who was born at the end of last century and died a few years ago. this tollens, whom some dare to call the béranger of holland, was (and in this alone he resembles béranger) one of the most popular poets of the country--one of those poets of which there were so many in holland, simple, moral, and fall of common sense, having, in fact, more good sense than inspiration; who treated poetry as if it were a business; who never wrote anything that could displease their prudent relatives and judicious friends; who sang of their good god and their good king, and expressed the tranquil and practical character of the people, always taking care to say things that were exact rather than great, and, above all, cultivating poetry in old age, and like prudent fathers of families not stealing a moment from the pursuit of their business. like many other dutch poets (who, however, had more genius and different natures), he had another profession besides that of an author. vondel, for instance, was a hatmaker; hooft was the governor of muyden; van lennep was a fiscal lawyer; gravenswaert was a state counsellor; bogaers, an advocate; beets, a shepherd; so tollens also, besides being a man of letters, was an apothecary at rotterdam, and passed every day, even in his old age, in his drug-store. he had a family and loved his children tenderly--so at least one would conclude from the different pieces of poetry he wrote on the appearance of their first, second, and third teeth. he wrote ballads and odes on familiar and patriotic subjects. among these is the national hymn of holland, a mediocre production which the people sing about the streets and the boys chant at school. there is a little poem, perhaps the best of his works, on the expedition which the dutch sent to the polar sea toward the end of the sixteenth century. the people learn his poetry by heart, adore him, and prefer him as their most faithful interpreter and most affectionate friend. but, for all this, tollens is not considered in holland as a first-class poet, many do not even rank him in the second class, while not a few disdainfully refuse to give him the sacred laurels. [illustration: statue of tollens.] after all, if rotterdam is not a centre of literature and art, she has as compensation an extraordinary number of philanthropic institutions, splendid clubs, and all the comforts and diversions of a city of wealth and refinement. the observations that i have had occasion to make on the character and life of the inhabitants will be more to the purpose at the hague. i will only mention that in rotterdam, as in other dutch cities, no one, in speaking of their country's affairs, showed the least national vanity. the expressions, "isn't it beautiful?" "what do you think of that?"--which one hears every moment in other countries, are never heard in holland, even when the inhabitants are speaking of things that are universally admired. every time that i told a citizen of rotterdam that i liked the town he made a gesture of surprise. in speaking of their commerce and institutions they never let a vain expression escape them, nor even a boastful or complacent word. they always speak of what they are going to do, and never of what they have done. one of the first questions put to me when i named my country was, "what about its finances?" as to their own country, i observed that they know all that it is useful to know, and very little that it is simply a pleasure to know. a hundred things, a hundred parts of the city, which i had observed when i had been twenty-four hours at rotterdam, many of the citizens had never seen; which proves that they are not in the habit of rambling about and looking at everything. when i took my leave my acquaintances filled my pockets with cigars, counselled me to eat good nourishing dinners, and gave me advice on the subject of economical travelling. they parted from me quietly. there was no clamorous "what a pity you are going!" "write soon!" "come back quickly!" "don't forget us!" which rang in my ears on leaving spain. here there was nothing but a hearty shake of the hand, a look, and a simple good-bye. on the morning when i left rotterdam i saw in the streets through which i passed to get to the delft railway-station a novel spectacle, purely dutch--the cleaning of the houses, which takes place twice a week in the early morning hours. all the servants in the city, dressed in flowered lilac-colored wrappers, white caps, white aprons, white stockings, and white wooden shoes, and with their sleeves turned up, were busily washing the doors, the walls, and the windows. some sat courageously on the window-sills while they washed the panes of the windows with sponges, turning their backs to the street with half their bodies outside; others were kneeling on the pavement cleaning the stones with rough cloths; others were standing in the middle of the street armed with syringes, squirts, and pumps, with long rubber tubes, like those used for watering gardens, and were sending against the second-floor windows streams of water which were pouring down again into the street; others were mopping the windows with sponges and rags tied to the tops of long bamboo canes; others were burnishing the door-knobs, rings, and door-plates; some were cleaning the staircases, some the furniture, which they had carried out of the houses. the pavements were blocked with buckets and pitchers, with jugs, watering-pots, and benches; water ran down the walls and down the street; jets of water were gushing out everywhere. it is a curious thing that while labor in holland is so slow and easy in all its forms, this work presented an appearance altogether different. all those girls with glowing faces were bustling indoors and hurrying out again, rushing up stairs and down, tucking up their sleeves hastily, assuming bold acrobatic attitudes and undergoing dangerous contortions. they took no notice of those who passed by except when with jealous eyes it was necessary to keep the profane race away from the pavement and walls. in short, it was a furious rivalry of cleanliness, a sort of general ablution of the city, which had about it something childish and festive, and which made one fancy that it was some rite of an eccentric religion which ordered its followers to cleanse the town from a mysterious infection sent by malicious spirits. delft. on my way from rotterdam to delft i saw for the first time the plains of holland. the country is perfectly flat--a succession of green and flower-decked meadows, broken by long rows of willows and clumps of alders and poplars. here and there appear the tops of steeples, the turning arms of windmills, straggling herds of large black and white cattle, and an occasional shepherd; then, for miles, only solitude. there is nothing to attract the eye, there is neither hill nor valley. from time to time the sail of a ship is seen in the distance, but as the vessel is moving on an invisible canal, it seems to be gliding over the grass of the meadows as it is hidden for a moment behind the trees and then reappears. the wan light lends a gentle, melancholy influence to the landscape, while a mist almost imperceptible makes all things appear distant. there is a sense of silence to the eye, a peace of outline and color, a repose in everything, so that the vision grows dim and the imagination sleeps. not far from rotterdam the town of schiedam comes into view, surrounded by very high windmills, which give it the appearance of a fortress crowned with turrets; and far away can be seen the towers of the village of vlaardingen, one of the principal stations of the herring-fisheries. between schiedam and delft i observed the windmills with great attention. dutch windmills do not at all resemble the decrepit mills i had seen in the previous year at la mancha, which seemed to be extending their thin arms to implore the aid of heaven and earth. the dutch mills are large, strong, and vigorous, and don quixote would certainly have hesitated before running atilt at them. some are built of stone or bricks, and are round or octagonal like mediæval towers; others are of wood, and look like boxes stuck on the summits of pyramids. most of them are thatched. about midway between the roof and the ground they are encircled by a wooden platform. their windows are hung with white curtains, their doors are painted green, and on each door is written the use which it serves. besides drawing water, the windmills do a little of everything: they grind grain, pound rags, crumble lime, crush stones, saw wood, press olives, and pulverize tobacco. a windmill is as valuable as a farm, and it takes a considerable fortune to build one and provide it with colza, grain, flour, and oil to keep it working, and to sell its products. consequently, in many places the riches of a proprietor are measured by the number of mills he owns; an inheritance is counted by mills, and they say of a girl that she has so many windmills as dowry, or, even better, so many steam-mills; and fortune-hunters, who are to be found everywhere, sue for the maiden's hand to marry the mill. these countless winged towers scattered through the country give the landscape a singular appearance; they animate the solitude. at night in the midst of the trees they have a fantastic appearance, and look like fabulous birds gazing at the sky. by day in the distance they look like enormous pieces of fireworks; they turn, stop, curb and slacken their speed, break the silence by their dull and monotonous tick-tack, and when by chance they catch fire--which not infrequently happens, especially in the case of flour-mills--they form a wheel of flame, a furious rain of burning meal, a whirlwind of smoke, a tumult, a dreadful magnificent brilliance that gives one the idea of an infernal vision. [illustration: near the arsenal, delft] in the railway-carriage, although it was full of people, i had no opportunity of speaking or of hearing a word spoken. the passengers were all middle-aged men with serious faces, who looked at each other in silence, puffing out great clouds of smoke at regular intervals as if they were measuring time by their cigars. when we arrived at delft i greeted them as i passed out, and some of them responded by a slight movement of the lips. "delft," says lodovico guicciardini, "is named after a ditch, or rather the canal of water which leads from the meuse, since in the vulgar tongue a ditch is generally called _delft_. it is distant two leagues from rotterdam, and is a town truly great and most beautiful in every part, having goodly and noble edifices and wide streets, which are lively withal. it was founded by godfrey, surnamed the hunchback, duke of lorraine, he who for the space of four years occupied the country of holland." delft is the city of disaster. toward the middle of the sixteenth century it was almost entirely destroyed by fire; in the explosion of a powder-magazine shattered more than two hundred houses; and in another catastrophe of the same kind occurred. besides these calamities, william the silent was assassinated there in the year . moreover, there followed the decline and almost the extinction of that industry which once was the glory and riches of the city, the manufacture of delft ware. in this art at first the dutch artisans imitated the shapes and designs of chinese and japanese china, and finally succeeded in doing admirable work by uniting the dutch and asiatic styles. dutch pottery became famous throughout northern europe, and it is nowadays as much sought after by lovers of this art as the best italian products. at present delft is not an industrial or commercial city, and its twenty-two thousand inhabitants live in profound peace. but it is one of the prettiest and most characteristic towns of holland. the wide streets are traversed by canals shaded by double rows of trees. on either side are red, purple, and pink cottages with white pointing, which seem content in their cleanliness. at every crossway two or three corresponding bridges of stone or of wood, with white railings, meet each other; the only thing to be seen is some barge lying motionless and apparently enjoying the delight of idleness; there are few people stirring, the doors are closed, and all is still. i took my way toward the new church, looking around to see if i could discover any of the famous storks' nests, but there were none visible. the tradition of the storks of delft is still alive, and no traveller writes about this city without mentioning it. guicciardini calls it "a memorable fact of such a nature that peradventure there is no record of a like event in ancient or modern times." the circumstance took place during the great fire which destroyed nearly the whole city. there were in delft a countless number of storks' nests. it must be remembered that the stork is the favorite bird of holland, the bird of good augury, like the swallow. storks are much in demand, as they make war on toads and rats, and the peasants plant perches surmounted by large wooden disks to attract them to build their nests there. in some towns they are to be seen walking through the streets. well, at delft there were innumerable nests. when the fire began, on the d of may, the young storks were well grown, but they could not yet fly. when they saw the fire approaching, the parent storks tried to carry their little ones into a place of safety, but they were too heavy, and after every sort of desperate effort the poor birds, worn and terrified, had to abandon the attempt. they might yet have saved themselves by leaving the young to their fate, as human beings generally do under similar circumstances. but, instead, they remained on their nests, pressing their little ones round them, and shielding them with their wings, as though to delay their destruction for at least a moment. thus they awaited their death, and were found lifeless in this attitude of love and devotion. who knows whether during the horrible terror and panic of the fire the example of that sacrifice, the voluntary martyrdom of those poor mothers, may not have given courage to some weaker soul about to abandon those who had need of him? in the great square, where stands the new church, i again saw some shops like those i had seen in rotterdam, in which all the articles which can be strung together are hung up either outside the door or in the room, so forming wreaths, festoons, and curtains--of shoes, for example, or of earthen pots, watering-cans, baskets, and buckets--which dangle from the ceiling to the ground, and sometimes almost hide the floor. the shop signs are like those at rotterdam--a bottle of beer hanging from a nail, a paint-brush, a box, a broom, and the customary huge heads with wide-open mouths. the new church, founded toward the end of the fourteenth century, is to holland what westminster abbey is to england. it is a large edifice, sombre without and bare within--a prison rather than a house of god. the tombs are at the end, behind the enclosure of the benches. i had scarcely entered before i saw the splendid mausoleum of william the silent, but the sexton stopped me before the very simple tomb of hugh grotius, the _prodigium europæ_, as the epitaph calls him, the great jurisconsult of the seventeenth century--that grotius who wrote latin verses at the age of nine, who composed greek odes at eleven, who at fourteen indited philosophical theses, who three years later accompanied the illustrious barneveldt in his embassy to paris, where henry iv. presented him to his court, saying, "behold the miracle of holland!" that grotius who at eighteen years of age was illustrious as a poet, as a theologian, as a commentator, as an astronomer, who had written a poem on the town of ostend which casaubon translated into greek measures and malesherbes into french verse; that grotius who when hardly twenty-four years old occupied the post of advocate-general of holland and zealand, and composed a celebrated treatise on the _freedom of the seas_; who at thirty years of age was an honorary councillor of rotterdam. afterward, when, as a partisan of barneveldt, he was persecuted, condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and shut up in the castle of löwestein, he wrote his treatise on the _rights of peace and war_, which for a long time was the code of all the publicists of europe. he was rescued in a marvellous way by his wife, who managed to be carried into the prison inside a chest supposed to be full of books, and sent back the chest with her husband inside, while she remained in prison in his place. he was then sheltered by louis xiii., was appointed ambassador to france by christina of sweden, and finally returned in triumph to his native land, and died at rostock crowned with glory and a venerable old age. the mausoleum of william the silent is in the middle of the church. it is a little temple of black and white marble, heavy with ornament and supported by slender columns, in the midst of which rise four statues representing liberty, prudence, justice, and religion. above the sarcophagus is a recumbent statue of the prince in white marble, and at his feet the effigy of the little dog that saved his life at mechlin by barking one night, when he was sleeping under a tent, just as two spaniards were advancing stealthily to kill him. at the foot of this statue rises a beautiful bronze figure, a victory, with outspread wings, resting lightly on her left foot. at the opposite side of the little temple is another bronze statue representing william seated. he is clad in armor, with his head uncovered and his helmet at his feet. an inscription in latin tells that this monument was consecrated by the states of holland "to the eternal memory of that william of nassau whom philip ii., the terror of europe, feared, yet whom he could neither subdue nor overthrow, but whom he killed by execrable fraud." william's children are laid by his side, and all the princes of his dynasty are buried in the crypt under his tomb. [illustration: monument to admiral van tromp, delft.] before this monument even the most frivolous and careless visitor remains silent and thoughtful. it is well to recall the tremendous struggle of which the hero lies in that tomb. on one side was philip ii., on the other william of orange. philip ii., shut up in the dull solitude of the escurial, lived in the midst of an empire which included spain, north and south italy, belgium, and holland, and, in africa, oran, tunis, the archipelagoes of the cape verde and canary islands; in asia the philippine islands; and the antilles, mexico, and peru in america. he was the husband of the queen of england, the nephew of the emperor of germany, who obeyed him as if he were a vassal; he was the lord, one may say, of all europe, for the neighboring states were all weakened by political and religious disorders; he had at his command the best disciplined soldiers in europe, the greatest generals of the age, american gold, flemish industries, italian science, an army of spies scattered through all the courts--men chosen from all countries fanatically devoted to him, conscious or unconscious tools of his will. he was the most sagacious, most mysterious prince of his age; he had everything that enchains, corrupts, alarms, and attracts the world--arms, riches, glory, genius, religion. while every one else was bowing low before this formidable man, william of orange stood erect. this man, without a kingdom and without an army, was nevertheless more powerful than the king. like him, he had been a disciple of charles v., and had learned the art of elevating thrones and hurling them down; like him, he was cunning and inscrutable, and yet he divined the future with keener intellectual vision than philip. like his enemy, he had the power of reading men's souls, but he also had the ability to win their hearts. he had a good cause to uphold, but he was acquainted with all the artifices that are used to maintain bad causes. philip ii., who spied into every one's affairs, was spied on in his turn and had his purposes divined by william. the designs of the great king were discovered and thwarted before they were put into execution; mysterious hands ransacked his drawers and pockets and investigated his secret papers. william in holland read the mind of philip in the escurial; he anticipated, hindered, and embroiled all his plots; he dug the ground from beneath his feet, provoked him, and then escaped, only to return before his eyes like a phantom which he saw and could not seize, which he seized and could not destroy. at last william died, but even when dead the victory was his, and the enemy who survived was defeated. holland remained for a short time without a head, but the spanish monarchy had received such a blow that it was not able to rise again. in this wonderful struggle the figure of the great king gradually dwindles until it entirely disappears, while that of william of orange becomes greater and greater by slow degrees until it grows to be the most glorious figure of his age. from the day when, as a hostage to the king of france, he discovered philip's design of establishing the inquisition in the netherlands he devoted himself to defend the liberty of his country, and throughout his life he never wavered for a moment on the road he had entered. the advantages of his noble birth, a regal fortune, peace, and the splendid life which by habit and nature were dear to him, all these he sacrificed to the cause; he was reduced to poverty and exiled, yet in both poverty and exile he constantly refused the offers of pardon and of favor that were made from many sides and in many ways by the enemy who hated and feared him. surrounded by assassins, made the target of the most atrocious calumnies, accused of cowardice before the enemy, and charged with the assassination of a wife whom he adored, sometimes regarded with distrust, slandered, and attacked by the very people he was defending,--he bore it all patiently and in silence. he did not swerve from the straight course to the goal, facing infinite perils with quiet courage. he did not bend before his people nor did he flatter them; he did not permit himself to be led away by the passions of his country; it was he who always guided; he was always at the head, always the first. all gathered around him; he was the mind, the conscience, and the strength of the revolution, the hearth that burned and kept the warmth of life in his fatherland. great by reason alike of his audacity and prudence, he continued upright in a time full of perjury and treachery; he remained gentle in the midst of violent men; his hands were spotless when all the courts of europe were stained with blood. with an army collected at random, with feeble or uncertain allies, checked by internal discords between lutherans and calvinists, nobles and commoners, magistrates and the people, with no great general to aid him, he was obliged to combat the municipal spirit of the provinces, which would none of his authority and escaped from his control; yet he triumphed in a conflict which seemed beyond human strength. he wore out the duke of alva, requesens, don john of austria, and alexander farnese. he overthrew the conspiracies of those foreign princes who wished to help his country in order to subdue it. he gained friends and obtained aid from every part of europe, and, after achieving one of the noblest revolutions in history, he founded a free state in spite of an empire which was the terror of the universe. this man, who in the eyes of the world was so terrible and so great, was an affectionate husband and father, a pleasant friend and companion, who loved merry social gatherings and banquets, and was an elegant and polite host. he was a man of learning, and spoke, besides his native language, french, german, spanish, latin, and italian, and conversed in a scholarly manner on all subjects. although called the silent (rather because he kept to himself the secret discovered at the french court than from a habit of silence), he was one of the most eloquent men of his time. his manners were simple and his dress plain; he loved his people and was beloved by them. he walked about the streets of the cities bareheaded and alone, and chatted with workmen and fishermen, who offered him drink out of their glasses; he listened to their discourses, settled their quarrels, entered their homes to restore domestic concord. every one called him "father william," and, in fact, he was the father rather than a son of his country. the feeling of admiration and gratitude which still lives for him in the hearts of the hollanders has all the intimacy and tenderness of filial affection; his reverend name is still in every mouth; his greatness, stripped of every ornament and veil, remains entire, spotless, and steadfast like his work. after seeing the tomb of the prince of orange i went to look upon the place where he was assassinated. in , philip ii. published an edict in which he promised a reward of twenty-five thousand golden pieces and a title of nobility to the man who would assassinate the prince of orange. this infamous edict, which stimulated covetousness and fanaticism, caused crowds of assassins to gather from every side, who surrounded william under false names and with concealed weapons, awaiting their opportunity. a young man from biscay, jaureguy by name, a fervent catholic, who had been promised the glory of martyrdom by a dominican friar, made the first attempt. he prepared himself by prayer and fasting, went to mass, took the communion, covered himself with sacred relics, entered the palace, and, drawing near to the prince in the attitude of one presenting a petition, fired a pistol at his head. the ball passed through the jaw, but the wound was not mortal. the prince of orange recovered. the assassin was slain in the act by sword and halberd thrusts, then quartered on the public square, and the parts were hung up on one of the gates of antwerp, where they remained until the duke of parma took possession of the town, when the jesuits collected them and presented them as relics to the faithful. shortly after this another plot against the life of the prince was discovered. a french nobleman, an italian, and a walloon, who had followed him for some time with the intention of murdering him, were suspected and arrested. one of them killed himself in prison with a knife, another was strangled in france, and the third escaped, after he had confessed that the movements of all three had been directed by the duke of parma. meanwhile philip's agents were overrunning the country instigating rogues to perpetrate this deed with promises of treasures in reward, while priests and monks were instigating fanatics to the same end by the assurance of help and reward from heaven. other assassins made the attempt. a spaniard was discovered, arrested, and quartered at antwerp; a rich trader called hans jansen was put to death at flushing. many offered their services to prince alexander farnese and were encouraged by gifts of money. the prince of orange, who knew all this, felt a vague presentiment of his approaching death, and spoke of it to his intimate friends, but he refused to take any precautions to protect his life, and replied to all who gave him such counsel, "it is useless: god has numbered my years. let it be according to his will. if there is any wretch who does not fear death, my life is in his power, however i may guard it." eight attempts were made upon his life before an assassin fired the fatal shot. when the deed was at last committed, in , four scoundrels, an englishman, a scotchman, a frenchman, and a man of lorraine, unknown to each other, were all awaiting at delft their opportunity to assassinate him. besides these, there was a young conspirator, twenty-seven years of age, from franche-comté, a catholic, who passed himself off as a protestant, guyon by name, the son of a certain peter guyon who was executed at besançon for embracing calvinism. this guyon, whose real name was balthazar gerard, was believed to be a fugitive from the persecutions of the catholics. he led an austere life and took part in all the services of the evangelical church, and in a short time acquired a reputation for especial piety. saying that he had come to delft to beg for the honor of serving the prince of orange, he was recommended and introduced by a protestant clergyman: he inspired the prince with confidence, and was sent by him to accompany herr van schonewalle, the envoy of the states of holland to the court of france. in a short time he returned to delft, bringing to william the tidings of the death of the duke of anjou, and presented himself at the convent of st. agatha, where the prince was staying with his court. it was the second sunday in july. william received him in his chamber, being in bed. they were alone. balthazar gerard was probably tempted to assassinate him at that moment, but he was unarmed and restrained himself. disguising his impatience, he quietly answered all the questions he was asked. william gave him some money, told him to prepare to return to paris, and ordered him to come back the next day to get his letters and passport. with the money he received from the prince, gerard bought two pistols from a soldier, who killed himself when he knew to what end they had been used, and the next day, the th of july, he again presented himself at the convent of st. agatha. william, accompanied by several ladies and gentlemen of his family, was descending the staircase to dine in a room on the ground floor. on his arm was the princess of orange, his fourth wife, that gentle and unfortunate louisa de coligny, who had seen her father, the admiral, and her husband, seigneur de teligny, killed at her feet on the eve of st. bartholomew. balthazar stepped forward, stopped the prince, and asked him to sign his passport. the prince told him to return later, and entered the dining-room. no shade of suspicion had passed through his mind. louisa de coligny, however, grown cautious and suspicious by her misfortunes, became anxious. that pale man, wrapped in a long mantle, had a sinister look; his voice sounded unnatural and his face was convulsed. during dinner she confided her suspicions to william, and asked him who that man was "who had the wickedest face she had ever seen." the prince smiled, told her it was guyon, reassured her, and was as gay as ever during the dinner. when he had finished he quietly left the room to go up stairs to his apartments. gerard was waiting for him at a dark turning near the staircase, hidden in the shadow of a door. as soon as he saw the prince approaching he advanced, and leaped upon him just as he was placing his foot on the second step. he fired his pistol, which was loaded with three bullets, straight at the prince's breast, and fled. william staggered and fell into the arms of an equerry. all crowded round. "i am wounded," said william in a feeble voice.... "god have mercy on me and on my poor people!" he was all covered with blood. his sister, catherine of schwartzburg, asked, "dost thou commend thy soul to jesus christ?" he answered, in a whisper, "i do." it was his last word. they placed him on one of the steps and spoke to him, but he was no longer conscious. they then bore him into a room near by, where he died. gerard had crossed the stables, had fled from the convent, and reached the ramparts of the town, from which he hoped to leap into the moat and swim across to the opposite bank, where a horse ready saddled was awaiting him. but in his flight he let fall his hat and a pistol. a servant and a halberdier in the prince's service, seeing these traces, rushed after him. just as he was in the act of jumping he stumbled, and his two pursuers overtook and seized him. "infernal traitor!" they cried. "i am no traitor," he answered calmly; "i am a faithful servant of my master."--"of what master?" they asked. "of my lord and master the king of spain," answered gerard. by this time other halberdiers and pages had come up. they dragged him into the town, beating him with their fists and with the hilts of their swords. the wretch, thinking from the words of the crowd that the prince was not dead, exclaimed with an evil composure, "cursed be the hand whose blow has failed!" [illustration: stairway where william, the silent, was assassinated, in the prinsenhof, delft.] this deplorable peace of mind did not desert him for a moment. when brought before the judges, during the long examination in the cell where he was thrown laden with chains, he still maintained the same remarkable tranquillity. he bore the torments to which he was condemned without letting a cry escape him. between the various tortures to which he was subjected, while the officers were resting, he conversed quietly and in a modest manner. while they were lacerating him every now and then he raised his bloody head from the rack and said, "ecce homo." several times he thanked the judges for the nourishment he had received, and wrote his confessions with his own hand. he was born at villefranche in the department of burgundy, and studied law with a solicitor at dôle, and it was there that he for the first time manifested his wish to kill william. planting a dagger in a door, he said, "thus would i thrust a sword into the breast of the prince of orange!" three years later, hearing of the proclamation of philip ii., he went to luxembourg, intending to assassinate the prince, but was stopped by the false report of his death which had been spread after jaurequy's attempted assassination. soon after, learning that william still lived, he renewed his design, and went to mechlin to seek counsel from the jesuits, who encouraged him, promising him a martyr's crown if he lost his life in the enterprise. he then went to tournay, and presented himself to alexander farnese, who confirmed the promises of king philip. he was approved and encouraged by the confidence of the prince and by the priests; he fortified himself by reading the bible, by fasting and prayer, and then, full of religious exaltation, dreaming of angels and of paradise, he left for delft, and completed his "duty as a good catholic and faithful subject." he repeated his confessions several times to the judges, without one word of remorse or penitence. on the contrary, he boasted of his crime, and said he was a new david, who had overthrown a new goliath; he declared that if he had not already killed the prince of orange, he should still wish to do the deed. his courage, his calmness, his contempt of life, his profound belief that he had accomplished a holy mission and would die a glorious death, dismayed his judges; they thought he must be possessed by the devil. they made inquiries, they questioned him, but he always gave the same answer that his conversation was with god alone. he was sentenced on the th of july. his punishment has been called a crime against the memory of the great man whose death it was intended to avenge--a sentence to turn faint any one who had not superhuman strength. the assassin was condemned to have his hand enclosed and seared in a tube of red-hot iron, to have his arms, legs, and thighs torn to pieces with burning pincers, his bowels to be quartered, his heart to be torn out and thrown into his face, his head to be dissevered from his trunk and placed on a pike, his body to be cut in four pieces, and every piece to be hung on a gibbet over one of the principal gates of the city. on hearing the enumeration of these horrible tortures the miserable wretch did not flinch; he showed no sign of terror, sorrow, or surprise. he opened his coat, bared his breast, and, fixing his dauntless eyes on his judges, he repeated with a steady voice his customary words, "ecce homo!" was this man only a fanatic, as many believed, or a monster of wickedness, as others held, or was he both of these inspired by a boundless ambition? on the next day the sentence was carried into effect. the preparations for the execution were made before his eyes; he regarded them with indifference. the executioner's assistant began by pounding into pieces the pistol with which he had perpetrated the crime. at the first blow the head of the hammer fell off and struck another assistant on the ear. the crowd laughed, and gerard laughed too. when he mounted the gallows his body was already horrible to behold. he was silent while his hand crackled and smoked in the red-hot tube; during the time when the red-hot tongs were tearing his flesh he uttered no cry; when the knife penetrated into his entrails he bowed his head, murmured a few incomprehensible words, and expired. the death of the prince of orange filled the country with consternation. his body lay in state for a month, and the people gathered round his last bed kneeling and weeping. the funeral was worthy of a king: there were present the states general of the united provinces, the council of state, and the estates of holland, the magistrates, the clergy, and the princes of the house of nassau. twelve noblemen bore the bier, four great nobles held the cords of the pall, and the prince's horse followed splendidly caparisoned and led by his equerry. in the midst of the train of counts and barons there was seen a young man, eighteen years of age, who was destined to inherit the glorious legacy of the dead, to humble the spanish arms, and to compel spain to sue for a truce and to recognize the independence of the netherlands. that young man was maurice of orange, the son of william, on whom the estates of holland a short time after the death of his father conferred the dignity of stadtholder, and to whom they afterward entrusted the supreme command of the land and naval forces. while holland was mourning the death of the prince of orange, the catholic priesthood in all the cities under spanish rule were rejoicing over the assassination and extolling the assassin. the jesuits exalted him as a martyr, the university of louvain published his defence, the canons of bois-le-duc chanted a te deum. after a few years the king of spain bestowed on gerard's family a title and the confiscated property of the prince of orange in burgundy. the house where william was murdered is still standing: it is a dark-looking building with arched windows and a narrow door, and forms part of the cloister of an old cathedral consecrated to st. agatha. it still bears the name of prinsenhof, although it is now used for artillery barracks. i got permission to enter from the officer on guard. a corporal who understood a little french accompanied me. we crossed a courtyard full of soldiers, and arrived at the memorable place. i saw the staircase the prince was mounting when he was attacked, the dark corner where gerard hid himself, the door of the room where the unfortunate william dined for the last time, and the mark of the bullets on the wall in a little whitewashed space which bears a dutch inscription reminding one that here died the father of his country. the corporal showed me where the assassin had fled. while i was looking round, with that pensive curiosity that one feels in places where great crimes have been committed, soldiers were ascending and descending; they stopped to look at me, and then went away singing and whistling; some near me were humming; others were laughing loudly in the courtyard. all this youthful gayety was in sharp and moving contrast to the sad gravity of those memories, and seemed like a festival of children in the room where died a grandparent whose memory we cherish. opposite the barracks is the oldest church in delft. it contains the tomb of the famous admiral tromp, the veteran of the dutch navy, who saw thirty-two naval battles, and in , at the battle of the downs, defeated the english fleet commanded by blake. he re-entered his country with a broom tied to the masthead of the admiral's ship to indicate that he had swept the english off the seas. here also is the tomb of peter heyn, who from a simple fisherman rose to be a great admiral, and took that memorable netful of spanish ships that had under their hatches more than eleven million florins; also the tomb of leeuwenhoek, the father of the science of the infinitely small--who, with the "divining-glass," as parini says, "saw primitive man swimming in the genital wave." the church has a high steeple surmounted by four conical turrets. it is inclined like the tower of pisa, because the ground has sunk beneath it. gerard was imprisoned in one of the cells of this tower on the night of the assassination. [illustration: refectory of the convent of st. agatha, delft.] at rotterdam i had been given a letter to a citizen of delft asking him to show me his house. the letter read: "he desires to penetrate into the mysteries of an old dutch house; lift for a moment the curtain of the sanctuary." the house was not hard to find, and as soon as i saw it i said to myself, "that is the house for me!" it was a red cottage, one story in height, with a long peaked gable, situated at the end of a street which stretched out into the country. it stood almost on the edge of a canal, leaning a little forward, as if it wished to see its reflection in the water. a pretty linden tree grew in front which spread over the window like a great fan, and a drawbridge lay before the door. then there were the white curtains, the green doors, the flowers, the looking-glasses--in fact, it was a perfect little model of a dutch house. the road was deserted. before i knocked at the door i waited a little while, looking at it and thinking. that house made me understand holland better than all the books i had read. it was at the same time the expression and the reason of the domestic love, of the modest desires, and the independent nature of the dutch people. in our country there is no such thing as the true house: there are only divisions in barracks, abstract habitations, which are not ours, but in which we live hidden, but not alone, hearing a thousand noises made by people who are strangers to us, who disturb our sorrows with the echo of their joys and interrupt our joys with the echo of their sorrows. the real home is in holland--a house of one's own, quite separate from others, modest, circumspect, and, by reason of its retirement, unknown to mysteries and intrigues. when the inhabitants of the house are merry, everything is bright; when they are sad, all is serious. in these houses, with their canals and drawbridges, every modest citizen feels something of the solitary dignity of a feudal lord, and might imagine himself the commander of a fortress or the captain of a ship; and indeed, as he looks from his windows, as from those of an anchored vessel, he sees a boundless level plain, which inspires him with just such sentiments of freedom and solemnity as are awakened by the sea. the trees that surround his house like a green girdle allow only a delicate broken light to enter it; boats freighted with merchandise glide noiselessly past his door; he does not hear the trampling of horses or the cracking of whips, or songs or street-cries; all the activities of the life that surrounds him are silent and gentle: all breathes of peace and sweetness, and the steeple of the church hard by tells the hour with a flood of harmony as full of repose and constancy as are his affections and his work. i knocked at the door, and the master of the house opened it. he read the letter which i gave him, regarded me critically, and bade me enter. it is almost always thus. at the first meeting the dutch are apt to be suspicious. we open our arms to any one who brings us a letter of introduction as if he were our most intimate friend, and very often do nothing for him afterward. the dutch, on the contrary, receive you coldly--so coldly, indeed, that sometimes you feel mortified--but afterward they do a thousand things for you with the best will in the world, and without the least appearance of doing you a kindness. within, the house was in perfect harmony with its outside appearance; it seemed to be the inside of a ship. a circular wooden staircase, shining like polished ebony, led to the upper rooms. there were mats and carpets on the stairs, in front of the doors, and on the floors. the rooms were as small as cells, the furniture was as clean as possible, the door-plates, the knobs, the nails, the brass and the other metal ornaments were as bright as if they had just left the hands of the burnisher. everywhere there was a profusion of porcelain vases, of cups, lamps, mirrors, small pictures, bureaus, cupboards, knicknacks, and small objects of every shape and for every use. all were marvellously clean, and bespoke the thousand little wants that the love of a sedentary life creates--the careful foresight, the continual care, the taste for little things, the love of order, the economy of space; in short, it was the abode of a quiet, domestic woman. the goddess of this temple, who could not or did not dare speak french, was hidden in some inmost recess which i did not succeed in discovering. we went down stairs to see the kitchen; it was one gleam of brightness. when i returned home i described it, in my mother's presence, to the servant who prided herself on her cleanliness, and she was annihilated. the walls were as white as snow; the saucepans reflected everything like so many looking-glasses; the top of the chimney-piece was ornamented by a sort of muslin curtain like the curtains of a bed, bearing no trace of smoke; the wall below the chimney was covered with square majolica tiles which were as clean as though the fire had never been lighted; the andirons, shovel, and tongs, the chain of the spit, all seemed to be of burnished steel. a lady dressed for a ball could have gone round the room and into all the corners and touched everything without getting a speck of dirt on her spotless attire. at this moment the maid was cleaning the room, and my host spoke of this as follows: "to have an idea of what cleanliness means with us," he said, "one ought to watch the work of these women for an hour. here they scrub, wash, and brush a house as if it were a person. a house is not cleaned; it has its toilette made. the girls blow between the bricks, they rummage in the corners with their nails and with pins, and clean so minutely that they tire their eyes no less than their arms. really it is a national passion. these girls, who are generally so phlegmatic, change their character on cleaning day and become frantic. that day we are no longer masters of our houses. they invade our rooms, turn us out, sprinkle us, turn everything topsy-turvy; for them it is a gala day; they are like bacchantes of cleanliness; the madness grows as they wash." i asked him to what he attributed this species of mania for which holland is famous. he gave me the same reasons that many others had given; the atmosphere of their country, which greatly injures wood and metals, the damp, the small size of the houses and the number of things they contain, which naturally makes it difficult to keep them clean, the superabundance of water, which helps the work, a something that the eye seems to require, until cleanliness ends by appearing beautiful, and, lastly, the emulation that everywhere leads to excess. "but," he added, "this is not the cleanest part of holland; the excess, the delirium of cleanliness, is to be seen in the northern provinces." we went out for a walk about the town. it was not yet noon; servants were to be seen everywhere dressed just like those in rotterdam. it is a singular thing, all the servant-maids in holland, from rotterdam to groningen, from haarlem to nimeguen, are dressed in the same color--light mauve, flowered or dotted with stars or crosses--and while engaged in cleaning they all wear a sort of invalid's cap and a pair of enormous white wooden shoes. at first i thought that they formed a national association requiring uniformity in dress. they are generally very young, because older women cannot bear the fatigue they have to endure; they are fair and round, with prodigious posterior curves (an observation of diderot); in the strict sense of the word they are not at all pretty, but their pink and white complexions are marvellous, and they look the picture of health, and one feels that it would be delightful to press one's cheek to theirs. their rounded forms and fine coloring are enhanced by their plain style of dress, especially in the morning, when they have their sleeves turned up and necks bare, revealing flesh as fair as a cherub's. suddenly i remembered a note i had made in my book before starting for holland, and i stopped and asked my companion this question: "are the dutch servants the eternal torment of their mistresses?" here i must make a short digression. it is well known that ladies of a certain age, good mothers and good housekeepers, whose social position does not allow them to leave their servants to themselves--who, for instance, have only one servant, who has to be both cook and lady's maid,--it is well known that such ladies often talk for hours on this subject. the conversations are always the same--of insupportable defects, insolence that they have had to endure, impertinent answers, dishonesty in buying the things needed for the kitchen, of waste, untruthfulness, immense pretensions, of discharges, of the annoyance of searching for new servants, and other such calamities; the refrain always being that the honest and faithful servants, who became attached to the family and grew old in the same service, have ceased to exist; now one is obliged to change them continually, and there is no way of getting back to the old order. is this true or false? is it a result of the liberty and equality of classes, making service harder to bear and the servants more independent? is it an effect of the relaxation of manners and of public discipline, which has made itself felt even in the kitchen? however it may be, the fact remains that at home i heard this subject so much discussed that one day, before i left for spain, i said to my mother, "if anything in madrid can console me in being so far from my family, it will be that i shall hear no more of this odious subject." on my arrival at madrid i went into a hostelry, and the first thing the landlady said was that she had changed her maids three times in a month, and was driven to desperation: she did not know which saint to pray to: and so long as i remained there the same lamentation continued. on my return home i told my family about it; they all laughed, and my mother concluded that there must be the same trouble in every country. "no," said i, "in the northern countries it must be different."--"you will see that i am right," my mother answered. i went to paris, and of the first housekeeper with whom i became acquainted i asked the question, "are the servants here the everlasting torment of their mistresses, as they are in italy and spain?"--"_ah! mon cher monsieur_," she answered, clasping her hands and looking above her, "_ne me parlez pas de ça!_" then followed a long story of quarrels, and discharging of servants, and of trials which mistresses have to endure. i wrote the news to my mother, and she answered, "we shall see in london." i went to london, and on the ship which was bearing me to antwerp i entered into conversation with an english lady. after we had exchanged a few words, and i had explained the reason of my curiosity, i asked the usual question. she turned away her head, put her hand to her forehead, and then replied, emphasizing each word, "they are the _flagellum dei_!" i wrote home in despair, suggesting however, that i still trusted in holland, which was a peaceful country, where the houses were so tidy and clean and the home-life so sweet. my mother answered that she thought we might possibly make an exception of holland. but we were both rather doubtful. my curiosity was aroused, and she was expecting the news from me; for this reason, therefore, i put the question to my courteous guide at delft. it may be imagined with what impatience i awaited his reply. "sir," answered the dutchman after a moment's reflection, "i can only give you this reply: in holland we have a proverb which says that the maids are the cross of our lives." i was completely discouraged. "first of all," he continued, "the annoyance of living in a large house is, that we are obliged to keep two servants, one for the kitchen and one for cleaning, since it is almost impossible, with the mania they have of washing the very air, that one servant can do both things. then they have an unquenchable thirst for liberty: they insist on staying out till ten in the evening and on having an entire holiday every now and then. moreover, their sweethearts must be allowed in the house, or they come to fetch them; we must let them dance in the streets, and they are up to all sorts of mischief during the kirmess festival. moreover, when they are discharged we are obliged to wait until they choose to go, and sometimes they delay for months. add to this account, wages amounting to ninety or a hundred florins a year, as well as the payment of a certain percentage on all the bills the master pays, tips from all invited guests, and all sorts of especial presents of dress-goods and money from the master, and, above all and always, patience, patience, patience!" i had heard enough to speak with authority to my mother, and i turned the conversation to a less distressing subject. on passing a side street i observed a lady approach a door, read a piece of paper attached to it, make a gesture of distress, and pass on. a moment later another woman who was passing, also paused, read it, and went on. i asked my companion for an explanation, and he told me of a very curious dutch custom. on that piece of paper was written the notice that a certain sick person was worse. in many towns of holland, when any one is ill, the family posts such a bulletin on the door every day, so that friends and acquaintances are not obliged to enter the house to learn the news. this form of announcement is adopted on other occasions also. in some towns they announce the birth of a child by tying to the door a ball covered with red silk and lace, for which the dutch word signifies a proof of birth. if the child is a girl, a piece of white paper is attached; if twins are born, the lace is double, and for some days after the appearance of the symbol a notice is posted to the effect that the mother and child are well and have passed a good night, or the contrary if it is otherwise. at one time, when there was the announcement of a birth on a door the creditors of the family were not allowed to knock for nine days; but i believe this custom has died out, although it must have had the beneficent virtue of promoting an increase in the population. [illustration: old delft.] in that short walk through the streets of delft i met some gloomy figures like those i had noticed at rotterdam, without being able to determine whether they were priests, magistrates, or gravediggers, for in their dress and appearance they bore a certain resemblance to all three. they wore three-cornered hats, with long black veils which reached to the waist, swallow-tailed black coats, short black breeches, black stockings, black cloaks, buckled shoes, and white cravats and gloves, and they held in their hands sheets of paper bordered with black. my companion explained to me that they were called _aanspreckers_, an untranslatable dutch word, and that their duty was to bear the information of deaths to the relatives and friends of the defunct and to make the announcement through the streets. their dress differs in some particulars in the various provinces and also according to the religious faith of the deceased. in some towns they wear immense hats _à la_ don basilio. they are generally very neat, and are sometimes dressed with a care that contrasts strangely with their business as messengers of death, or, as a traveller defines them, living funeral letters. we noticed one of these men who had stopped in front of a house, and my companion drew my attention to the fact that the shutters were partly closed, and observed that there must be some one dead there. i asked who it was. "i do not know," he replied, "but, to judge from the shutters, it cannot be any near relative to the master of the house." as this method of arguing seemed rather strange to me, he explained that in holland when any one dies in a family they shut the windows and one, two, or three of the divisions of the folding shutters accordingly as the relationship is near or distant. each section of shutter denotes a degree of relationship. for a father or mother they close all but one, for a cousin they close one only, for a brother two, and so on. it appears that the custom is very old, and it still continues, because in that country no custom is discontinued for caprice; nothing is changed unless the alteration becomes a matter of serious importance, and unless the hollanders have been more than persuaded that such a change is for the better. i should like to have seen at delft the house where was the tavern of the artist steen, where he probably passed those famous debauches which have given rise to so many questions among his biographers. but my host told me that nothing was known about it. however, apropos of painters, he gave me the pleasing information that i was in the part of holland, bounded by delft, the hague, the sea, the town of alkmaar, the gulf of amsterdam, and the ancient lake of haarlem, which might be called the fatherland of dutch painting, both because the greatest painters were born there, and because it presented such singularly picturesque effects that the artists loved and studied it devotedly. i was therefore in the bosom of holland, and when i left delft, i was going into its very heart. before leaving i again glanced hastily over the military arsenal, which occupies a large building, and which originally served as a warehouse to the east india company. it is in communication with an artillery workshop and a great powder-magazine outside of the town. at delft there still remains the great polytechnic school for engineers, the real military academy of holland, for from it come forth the officers of the army that defends the country from the sea, and these young warriors of the dykes and locks, about three hundred in number, are they who give life to the peaceful town of grotius. as i was stepping into the vessel which was to bear me to the hague, my dutch friend described the last of those students' festivals at delft which are celebrated once in five years. it was one of those pageants peculiar to holland, a sort of historical masquerade like a reflection of the magnificence of the past, serving to remind the people of the traditions, the personages, and illustrious events of earlier times. a great cavalcade represented the entrance into arnheim, in , of charles of egmont, duke of gelderland, count of zutphen. he belonged to that family of egmont which in the person of the noble and unfortunate count lamoral gave the first great martyr of dutch liberty to the axe of the duke of alva. two hundred students on richly caparisoned horses, clothed in armor, decorated with mantles embroidered with coats of arms, with waving plumes and large swords proudly brandished, formed the retinue of the duke of gelderland. then came halberdiers, archers, and foot-soldiers dressed in the pompous fashion of the fifteenth century; bands played, the city blazed with lights, and through its streets flowed an immense crowd, which had come from every part of holland to enjoy this splendid vision of a distant age. the hague. the boat that was to carry me to the hague was moored near a bridge, in a little basin formed by the canal which leads from delft to the hague, and shaded by trees on the bank like a garden lake. the boats that carry passengers from town to town are called in dutch _trekschuiten_. the _trekschuit_ is the traditional boat, as emblematic of holland as is the gondola of venice. esquiros defined it as "the genius of ancient holland floating on the waters;" and, in fact, any one who has not travelled in a _trekschuit_ is not acquainted with dutch life under its most original and poetic aspect. it is a large boat, almost entirely covered with a cabin shaped like a stage-coach and divided into two compartments--the division near the prow being for second-class passengers, and that near the poop for first-class. an iron pole with a ring at the end is fastened to the prow, through which a long rope is passed; this is tied at one end near the rudder and at the other end is fastened a tow-horse, which is ridden by a boatman. the windows of the cabin have white curtains; the walls and doors are painted. in the compartment for first-class passengers there are cushioned seats, a little table with books, a cupboard, a mirror; everything is neat and bright. in putting down my valise i allowed some ashes from my cigar to fall under the table; a minute later, when i returned, these had disappeared. i was the only passenger, and did not have to wait long; the boatman made a sign, the tow-boy mounted his horse, and the _trekschuit_ began to glide gently down the canal. it was about an hour past noon and the sun was shining brightly, but the boat passed along in the shade. the canal is bordered by two rows of linden trees, elms, willows, and high hedges on either side, which hide the country. it seemed as though we were sailing across a forest. at every curve we saw green enclosed views in the distance, with windmills here and there on the bank. the water was covered with a carpet of aquatic plants, and in some parts strewn with white flowers, with iris, water-lilies, and the water-lentil. the high green hedge bordering the canal was broken here and there, allowing a glimpse, as if through a window, of the far-off horizon of the champaign; then the walls would close again in an instant. every now and then we encountered a bridge. it was pleasant to see the rapidity with which the man on horseback and another man, who was always on guard, handled the cords to let the _trekschuit_ pass, and how the two conductors made room for each other when two _trekschuiten_ met, the one passing his rope under that of the other without speaking a word, without greeting each other even with a smile, as if gravity and silence were obligatory. all along the way the only sound to be heard was the whirring of the arms of the windmills. [illustration: on the canal, near delft.] we met barges laden with vegetables, peat, stones, and barrels, and drawn with a long tow-rope by men, who were sometimes aided by large dogs with cords round their necks. some were towed by a man, a woman, and a boy, one behind the other, with the rope tied to a sort of girth made of leather or linen. all three would be leaning forward so far that it was hard to understand how they managed to keep their feet, even with the help of the rope. other boats were towed by old women alone. on many, a woman with a child at her breast would be seen at the rudder; other children were grouped around, and one might see a cat sitting on a sack, a dog, a hen, pots of flowers, and bird-cages. on some women sat knitting stockings and rocking the cradle at the same time; on others they were cooking; sometimes all the members of the family, excepting the one who was towing, were eating in a group. the look of peace that beams from the faces of those people and the tranquil appearance of those aquatic houses, of those animals which in a certain measure have become amphibious, the serenity of that floating life, the air of security and freedom of those wandering and solitary families,--these are not to be described. thus in holland live thousands of families who have no other houses but their boats. a man marries, and the wedded couple buy a boat, make it their home, and carry merchandise from one market to another. their children are born on the canals; they are bred and grow up on the water; the barge holds their house-hold goods, their small savings, their domestic memories, their affections, their past, and all their present happiness and hopes for the future. they work, save, and after many years buy a larger boat, and sell their old house to a poorer family or give it to their eldest son, who from some other boat takes a wife, at whom he has glanced for the first time in an encounter on the canal. thus from barge to barge, from canal to canal, life passes silently and peacefully, like the wandering boat which shelters it and the slow water that accompanies it. for some time i saw only small peasants' houses on the banks; then i began to see villas, pavilions, and cottages half hidden among the trees, and in the shadiest corners fair-haired ladies dressed in white, seated book in hand, or some fat gentleman enveloped in a cloud of smoke with the contented air of a wealthy merchant. all of these little villas are painted rose-color or azure; they have varnished tile roofs, terraces supported by columns, little yards in front or around them, with tidy flower-beds and neatly-kept paths; miniature gardens, clean, closely trimmed, and well tended. some houses stand on the brink of the canal with their foundations in the water, allowing one to see the flowers, the vases, and the thousand shining trifles in the rooms. nearly all have an inscription on the door which is the aphorism of domestic happiness, the formula of the philosophy of the master, as--"contentment is riches;" "pleasure and repose;" "friendship and society;" "my desires are satisfied;" "without weariness;" "tranquil and content;" "here we enjoy the pleasures of horticulture." now and then a fine black-and-white cow, lying on the bank on a level with the water, would raise her head quietly and look toward the boat. we met flocks of ducks, which paddled off to let us pass. here and there, to the right and left, there were little canals almost covered by two high hedges, with branches intertwining overhead which formed a green archway, under which the little boats of the peasants darted and disappeared in the shadows. from time to time, in the midst of all this verdure, a group of houses would suddenly come into view, a neat many-colored little village, with its looking-glasses and its tulips at the windows, and without a sign of life. this profound silence would be broken by a merry chime from an unseen steeple. it was a pastoral paradise, a landscape of idyllic beauty breathing freshness and mystery--a chinese arcadia, with quaint corners, little surprises, and innocent artifices of prettiness, all which seemed like so many low voices of invisible beings murmuring, "we are content." at a certain point the canal divides into two branches, of which one hides itself amongst the trees and leads to leyden, and the other turns to the left and leads to the hague. after we passed this point the _trekschuit_ began to stop, first at a house, then at a garden-gate, to receive parcels, letters, and verbal messages to be carried to the hague. an old gentleman came on board from a villa and took a seat near me. he spoke french, and we entered into conversation. he had been in italy, knew some words of italian, and had read "i promessi sposi." he asked me for particulars in regard to the death of alessandro manzoni. after ten minutes i adored him. he gave me an account of the _trekschuit_. to appreciate the poetry of this national boat it is necessary to take long journeys in company with some dutch people. then they all live just as if they were at home; the women work, the men smoke on the roof; they dine all together, and after dinner they loiter about on the deck to see the sun set; the conversation grows very intimate, and the company becomes a family. night comes on. the _trekschuit_ passes like a shadow through villages steeped in silence, glides along the canals bathed in the silver light of the moon, hides itself in the thickets, reappears in the open country, grazes the lonely houses from which beams the light of the peasant's lamp, and meets the boats of fishermen, which dart past like phantoms. in that profound peace, lulled by the slow and equal motion of the boat, men and women fall asleep side by side, and the boat leaves nothing in its wake save the confused murmur of the water and the sound of the sleepers' breathing. as we went on our way gardens and villas became more frequent. my travelling companion showed me a distant steeple, and pointed out the village of ryswick, where in was signed the celebrated treaty of peace between france, england, spain, germany, and holland. the castle of the prince of orange, where the treaty was signed, is no longer standing. an obelisk has been erected on its site. suddenly the _trekschuit_ emerged from the trees, and i saw before me an extended plain, a large woodland, and a city crowned with towers and windmills. it was the hague. the boatman asked me to pay my fare, and received the money in a leather bag. the driver urged on the horse, and in a few minutes we were in town. after a quarter of an hour i found myself in a spotless room in the hôtel du maréchal de turenne. who knows? it may have been the very room in which the celebrated marshal slept as a young man when he was in the service of the house of orange. the hague--in dutch 'sgravenhage or 'shage--the political capital, the washington of holland, whose new york is amsterdam--is a city that is partly dutch and partly french. it has wide streets without canals, vast wooded squares, grand houses, splendid hotels, and a population composed in great part of wealthy citizens, nobles, public officers, men of letters, and artists; in a word, a much more refined populace than that of any of the other cities of holland. what most impressed me in my first walk round the city were the new quarters where dwells the flower of the moneyed aristocracy. in no other city, not even in the faubourg st. germain in paris, had i ever felt myself such a poor devil as in those streets. they are wide and straight, with small palaces on either side: these are artistic in design and harmonious in coloring, with large windows without blinds, through which one can see the carpets, vases of flowers, and the sumptuous furniture of the rooms on the ground floor. all the doors were closed, and not a shop was to be seen, not an advertisement on the walls, not a stain nor a straw could be found, if one had a hundred eyes. when i passed through the streets there was a profound silence. now and then an aristocratic carriage rolled past me almost noiselessly over the brick pavement, or i saw some stiff lackey standing at a door, or the fair head of some lady behind a curtain. as i walked close to the windows, i could see out of the corner of my eye my shabby travelling-clothes reflected clearly in the large panes of glass, and i repented not having brought my gloves, and felt a certain sense of humiliation because i was not at least a knight by birth. it seemed to me that now and then i could hear soft voices saying, "who is that beggar?" the most noteworthy part of the old town is the binnenhof, a group of old buildings in different styles of architecture, which overlook two wide squares on two sides and a large pool on the third side. in the midst of this group of palaces, towers, and monumental doors, of a gloomy mediæval appearance, is a spacious courtyard which may be entered by three bridges and three doors. in one of those buildings the stadtholders lived. it is now the second chamber of the states general; opposite to it are located the first chamber, the rooms of the ministry, and the other offices of public administration. the minister of the interior has his office in a little, low, black, gloomy tower which leans slightly toward the water of the pool. the binnenhof, the buitenhof (a square extending to the west), and the plaats (another square on the other side of the pool, which is reached by passing under an old door that once formed part of a prison) were the scenes of the most bloody events in the history of holland. in the binnenhof the venerable van olden barneveldt was beheaded. he was the second founder of the republic, the most illustrious victim of the long struggle between the patrician burghers and the stadtholders, between the republican and monarchical principles, which so terribly afflicted holland. the scaffold was erected in front of the building where sat the states general. opposite was the tower from which, they say, maurice of orange, unseen, assisted at the execution of his enemy. in the prison between the two squares was tortured cornelius de witt, who was unjustly accused of plotting against the life of the prince of orange. the furious populace dragged cornelius and john de witt, the grand pensionary, into the plaats all wounded and bleeding, and there they were spit upon, kicked, and slaughtered with pike and pistol, and afterward their corpses were mutilated and defiled. in the same square adelaide de poelgeest, the mistress of albert, count of holland, was stabbed on the d of september in the year , and the stone on which she expired is still shown. these sad memories and those heavy low doors, that irregular group of dark buildings, which at night, when the moon lights up the stagnant pool, have the appearance of an enormous inaccessible castle standing in the midst of the joyous and cultured city,--arouse a feeling of awful sadness. at night the courtyard is lighted only by an occasional lamp; the few people who pass through it quicken their pace as if they are afraid. there is no sound of steps to be heard, no lighted windows to be seen; one enters it with a vague restlessness, and leaves it almost with pleasure. with the exception of the binnenhof, the hague has no important monuments ancient or modern. there are several mediocre statues of the princes of orange, a vast, naked cathedral, and a royal palace of modest proportions. on many of the public buildings storks are carved, the stork being the heraldic animal of the city. many of these birds walk about freely in the fish-market--they are kept at the expense of the municipality, like the bears of berne and the eagles of geneva. the greatest ornament of the hague is its forest, which is one of the wonders of holland and one of the most magnificent parks in the world. it is composed of alders, oaks, and the largest beech trees to be found in europe. it is more than a french league in circumference, and is situated to the east of the city, only a few steps from the last houses. it is a really delightful oasis in the midst of the depressing dutch plains. when one has entered the wood and passed beyond the fringe of pavilions, little swiss cottages, and summer houses dotted about among the first trees, one seems to have lost one's self in a lonely interminable forest. the trees are as thick as a canebrake, the avenues are lost in the dusk; there are lakes and canals almost hidden by the verdure of the banks; rustic bridges, the crossways of unfrequented bridle-paths, shady recesses; and over all a cool, refreshing shade in which one seems to breathe the air of virginal nature and to be far removed from the turmoil of the world. they say that this wood, like that of the town of haarlem, is the remnant of an immense forest which in olden times covered almost the whole of the coast of holland, and the dutch respect it as a monument of their national history. indeed, in the history of holland there are many references to it, proving that at all times it was preserved with a most jealous care. even the spanish generals respected this national worship and shielded the sacred wood from the hands of the soldiers. on more than one occasion of serious financial distress, when the government was disposed to decree the destruction of the forest for the purpose of selling the wood, the citizens exorcised the danger by a voluntary offering. this beloved forest is connected with a thousand memories--records of terrible hurricanes, of the amours of princes, of celebrated fêtes, of romantic adventures. some of the trees bear the names of kings and emperors, others of german electors; one beech tree is said to have been planted by the grand pensionary and poet jacob catz, three others by the countess of holland, jacqueline of bavaria, and they still point out the place where she used to rest after her walks. voltaire also left a record of some sort of gallant adventure which he had with the daughter of a hair-dresser. [illustration: the binnenhof, the hague.] in the centre of the forest, where the underbrush seems determined to conquer everything and springs up, piling itself into heaps, climbing the trees, creeping across the paths, extending over the water, restraining one's steps and hiding the view on every side, as if it wished to conceal the shrine of some forgotten sylvan divinity,--at this spot is hidden a small royal palace, called the house-in-the-wood, a sort of _casa del labrador_ of the villa aranjuez. it was erected in by princess amalia of solms, in honor of her husband, frederick henry, the stadtholder. when i went to visit this palace, while my eyes were busy searching for the visitors' door, i saw a lady with a noble and benevolent face come out and get into her carriage. i took her for some english traveller who had brought her visit to a close. as the carriage passed near me, i raised my hat; the lady bowed her head and disappeared. a moment later one of the ladies in waiting at the palace told me that this "traveller" was no one less than her majesty the queen of holland. i felt my blood flow faster. the word _queen_, independently of the person to whom it referred, has always had this effect on me, although i cannot explain the reason of it. perhaps because it reminds me of certain bright, confused visions of my youth. the romantic imagination of a boy of fifteen is sometimes content to tread the ground, and sometimes it climbs with eager audacity to a giddy height. it dreams of supernatural beauty, of intoxicating perfumes, of consuming love, and imagines that all these are comprised in the mysterious and inaccessible creatures that fortune has placed at the summit of the social scale. and among the thousand strange, foolish, and impossible fancies that enter his mind he dreams of scaling towering walls in the dark with youthful agility, of passing formidable gates and deep ditches, of opening mysterious doors, threading interminable corridors amidst people overcome with sleep, of stepping silently through immense saloons, of ascending aërial staircases, mounting the stones of a tower at the risk of his life, reaching an immense height over the tall trees of moonlit gardens, and at last of arriving, fainting and bleeding, beneath a balcony, and hearing a superhuman voice speak in accents of deep pity, of answering with equal tenderness, of bursting into tears and invoking god, of leaning his forehead on the marble and covering with desperate kisses a foot flashing with gems, of abandoning his face in the perfumed silks, and of feeling his reason flee and life desert him in an embrace more than human. in this palace, called the house-in-the-wood, besides other remarkable things, is an octagonal room, the walls of which from floor to ceiling are covered with paintings by the most celebrated artists of the school of rubens, among which is a huge allegorical painting by jordaens which represents the apotheosis of frederick henry. there is a room filled with valuable presents from the emperor of japan, the viceroy of egypt, and the east india company; and an elegant little room decorated with designs in chiaroscuro, which even when closely examined are taken for bas-reliefs. these are the work of jacob de wit, a painter who at the beginning of the last century won great fame in this art of delusion. the other rooms are small, and handsome without display; they are full of the treasures of a refined taste, as becomes the great and modest house of orange. the custom of allowing strangers to enter the palace the moment after the queen came out seemed strange to me, but it did not surprise me when i learned of other customs and other popular traits, and in a word the character of the royal family of holland. in holland the sovereign is considered as a stadtholder rather than as a king. he has in him, as a certain spanish republican said of the duke of aosta, the least quantity possible in a king. the sentiment of the dutch nation toward their royal family is not so much a feeling of devotion to the family of the monarch as affection for the house of orange, which has shared its triumphs and taken part in its misfortunes--which has lived its life for three centuries. at bottom, the country is republican, and its monarchy is a sort of crowned presidency void of regal pomp. the king makes speeches at the banquets and at the public festivals as the ministers do with us, and he enjoys the fame of an orator because his speeches are extemporary: his voice is very powerful, and his eloquence has a martial ring, which arouses great enthusiasm among the people. the crown prince, william of orange, studied at the university of leyden, passed the public examinations, and took his degree as a lawyer; prince alexander, the second son, is now studying at the same university. he is a member of the students' club, and invites his professors and fellow-students to dinner. at the hague, prince william enters the cafés, converses with his neighbors, and walks about the streets with his young gentlemen friends. in the wood the queen will seat herself on a bench beside any poor old woman, nor can one say she does this, like other princes, to acquire popularity; for that the house of orange can neither gain nor lose, since there is not in the nation (although it is republican by nature and tradition) the least sign of a faction that desires a republic or even pronounces its name. on the other hand, the people, who love and venerate their king, who at the festivals celebrated in his honor will remove the horses and themselves draw his carriage, who insist on every one wearing an orange-colored cockade in homage to the name of orange,--in ordinary times do not occupy themselves at all about his affairs and family. at the hague i had some trouble to learn what grade the crown prince holds in the army. one of the first librarians in the town, to whom i put my question, was astonished at my curiosity, which to him seemed childish, and he told me that probably i could not have found a hundred people in the hague who would have been able to answer my question. the seat of the court is at the hague, but the king passes a large part of the summer in one of his castles in gelderland, and every year spends some days in amsterdam. the people say there is a law which obliges the king to spend ten days during the year at amsterdam, and the municipality of that town are obliged to pay his expenses during those ten days. after midnight of the tenth day even a match that he may strike to light his cigar is at his own expense. * * * * * on returning from the royal villa at the hague i found the wood enlivened by the sunday promenade--music, carriages, a crowd of ladies, restaurants full of people, and swarms of children everywhere. then for the first time i saw the fair sex of holland. beauty is a rare flower in holland, as in all other countries; notwithstanding, in a walk of a hundred steps in the wood at the hague i saw many more beautiful women than i had seen in all the pictures in the dutch galleries. these ladies do not possess the statuesque beauty of the romans, the splendid color of the english, nor the vivacity of the andalusians; but there is about them a refinement, a delightful innocence and grace, a tranquil beauty, a pleasing countenance; they have, as a french writer has rightly said, the attraction of the valerian flower which ornaments their gardens. they are plump, and tall rather than short, they have regular features, and smooth brilliant complexions of a beautiful white and delicate pink--colors which seem to have been suffused by the breath of an angel; they have high cheek-bones; their eyes are light blue, sometimes very light, and sometimes of a glassy appearance, which gives them a vague, wandering look. it is said that their teeth are not good, but this i could not confirm, as they seldom laugh. they walk more heavily than the french and not so stiffly as the english; they dress in the parisian mode, and the ladies at the hague display better taste than those at amsterdam, although they do not dress so richly: they all display their masses of fair hair with considerable pride. i was astonished to see girls who appeared to be fully grown, who in our country would have had the airs and attire of women, still dressed like children, with short skirts and white pantalettes. in holland, where life is easy and impatience an unknown experience, the girls are in no hurry to leave off the ways and appearance of childhood, and, on the other hand, they seem naturally to enter at a comparatively late age that period of life when, as alessandro manzoni says in his ever-admirable way, it seems as though a mysterious power enters the soul, which soothes, adorns, and invigorates all its inclinations and thoughts. here a girl very rarely marries before her twentieth year. i need not speak of the children of the deccan, who, it is said, are married at eight years of age, but in holland the italian and spanish girls, who marry at fourteen or fifteen, are regarded as unaccountable persons. there, girls of fifteen years are going to school with their hair down their backs, and nobody thinks of looking at them. i heard a young man of the hague spoken of with horror by his friends because he was enamoured of a maiden of this age, for to their minds she was considered as an infant. another thing one notices instantly in every dutch city, excepting amsterdam, is the absence of that lower stratum of society known as the demi-monde. there is nothing in dress or manner to indicate the existence of such a class. "beware," said some freethinking dutchmen to me; "you are in a protestant country, and there is a great deal of hypocrisy." this may be true, but the sore that can be hidden cannot be very large. equivocal society does not exist among the hollanders; there is no shadow of it in their life nor any hint of it in their literature; the very language rebels against translating any of those numberless expressions which constitute the dubious, flashy, easy speech of that class of society in the countries where it is found. on the other hand, neither fathers nor mothers close their eyes to the conduct of their unmarried sons, even if they be grown men; family discipline makes no exception of long beards; and this strict discipline is aided by their phlegmatic nature, their habits of economy, and their respect for public opinion. it would be a presumption more ridiculous than impertinent to speak of the character and life of dutch women with an air of experience, when i have been only a few months in holland; so i must content myself with letting my dutch friends speak for themselves. many writers have treated dutch women discourteously. one calls them apathetic housekeepers; another, who shall be nameless, carried impertinence so far as to say that, like the men, they are in the habit of choosing their lovers from among the servant class, and that their aspirations are necessarily low. but these are judgments dictated by the rage of some rejected suitors. daniel stern (comtesse d'agoult), who as a woman speaks with particular authority on this subject, says the women of holland are noble, loyal, active, and chaste. a few authors venture to doubt their much-talked-of calmness in affection. "they are still waters," wrote esquiros, and all know what is said of still waters. heine said they were frozen volcanoes, and that when they thaw--but, of all the opinions i have read, the most remarkable seems to me that of saint evremont--namely, that dutch women are not lively enough to disturb the repose of the men, that some of them are certainly amiable, and that prudence or the coldness of their nature stands them in stead of virtue. one day, in a group of young men at the hague, i quoted this opinion of saint evremont, and bluntly demanded: "is it true?" they smiled, looked at each other, and one answered, "it is:" another, "i think so;" and a third, "it may be." in short, they all admitted its truth. on another occasion i collected evidence proving that matters stand just as they were at the time of the french writer. a group of people were discussing an odd character. "yet," said one, "that little man who seems so quiet in his manner is a great ladies' man." "does he disturb the repose of families?" i asked. they all began to laugh, and one answered: "what! disturb the repose of families in holland? it would be one of the twelve labors of hercules."--"we hollanders," a friend once said to me, "do not take the ladies by storm; we cannot do so, because we have no school of this art. nothing is so false in holland as the famous definition, matrimony is like a besieged fortress; those who are outside wish to enter, while those who are inside wish they were out. here those who are inside are very happy, and those who are outside do not think of entering." another said to me, "the dutch woman does not marry the man; she espouses matrimony." this, which is true of the hague, an elegant city to which there comes a great influx of french civilization, is even truer of the other towns, where the ancient customs have been more strictly adhered to. yet gallant travellers write that the hollanders are a sleepy people, and that their domestic happiness is "_un bonheur un peu gros_." the woman who seldom goes out, who dances little and laughs less, who occupies herself only with her children, her husband, and her flowers, who reads her books on theology, and surveys the street with the looking-glass, so that she need not show herself at the window, how much more poetical is she than--but pardon me, andalusia! i was about to say something rather hard on you. hitherto, some readers may think that i have been pretending to know the dutch language. i hasten to say that i do not know it, and to excuse my ignorance. a people like the dutch, serious and taciturn, richer in hidden qualities than in brilliant showy ones--a people who are, if i may so express myself, self-contained rather than superficial, who do much and talk little, who do not pass for more than they are worth--may be studied without a knowledge of their language. on the other hand, the french language is generally known in holland. in the large cities there is scarcely an educated person who does not speak french correctly, scarcely a shopman who cannot make himself understood in good or bad french, and there is scarcely a boy who is not acquainted with ten or twenty words which suffice to help a stranger out of a dilemma. this diffusion of a language so different from that of the country is the more to be admired when one reflects that it is not the only foreign language generally spoken in holland. english and german are almost as widely known as french. the study of these three languages is obligatory in the secondary schools. cultured people, like those who in italy think it a necessity to know french, in holland generally read english, german, and french with equal facility. the dutch have an especial talent for learning languages, and an incredible courage in speaking them. we italians before we attempt to speak a foreign language require to know enough about it to avoid making great mistakes; we blush when we do make them; we avoid the opportunities of speaking until we are sure of speaking well enough to be complimented, and in this way we continue to lengthen the period of our philological novitiate. in holland one often meets people who speak french with great effort, with a vocabulary of perhaps a hundred words and twenty sentences; but notwithstanding they talk, hold long conversations, and do not seem to be at all worried about what one may think of their blunders and their audacity. waiters, porters, and boys, when asked if they know french, answer with the greatest assurance, "_oui_" or "_un peu_," and they try in a thousand ways to make themselves understood, laughing themselves sometimes at the eccentric contortion of their speech, and ending every answer with "_s'il vous plait_" or a "_pardon, monsieur_;" which are often said so prettily and yet are so out of place that they make one laugh even against one's will. it is considered such a common thing to know french that when any one is obliged to answer that he doesn't speak french, he hesitates, ashamed, and if he is interrogated in the street he will pretend to be busy and hurry on. as for the dutch language, it is a mystery to those who do not know german, and even when one knows german and can read dutch books with a little study, one cannot understand dutch when it is spoken. if i were asked to say what impression it makes on those who do not understand it, i should say that it seems like german spoken by people with a hair in their throats. this effect is produced by the frequent repetition of a guttural aspirate which is like the sound of the spanish _jota_. even the dutch themselves do not consider their language euphonious. i was often asked, playfully, "what impression does it make on you?" as if they understood that the impression could not be altogether agreeable. yet some one has written a book proving that adam and eve spoke dutch in the garden of eden. but, although the dutch speak so many foreign languages, they hold to their own, and grow indignant when any ignorant stranger shows that he believes dutch to be a german dialect, this being, in truth, a theory held by many who only know the language by name. it is almost superfluous to repeat the history of the language. the first inhabitants of the country spoke teutonic in its different dialects. these dialects were blended and formed the ancient speech of the netherlands, which in the middle ages, like the other european languages, passed through the different germanic, norman, and french phases, and ended in the present dutch language, in which there is still a foundation of the primitive idiom and the evidence of a slight latin influence. certainly, there is a striking similarity between dutch and german, and, above all, there are a number of root-words common to the two; but there is, however, a great difference in the grammar, that of the dutch being much simpler in construction, and the pronunciation also is very different. this very likeness is the reason that the dutch generally do not speak german so well as they speak english or french; perhaps the difficulty may be caused by the ambiguity of words, or because it costs them so little effort to understand the language and to speak it for their own use that they stop there, as we often do with french, which we speak at ten years of age and have forgotten at forty. now it is time to go and visit the art gallery, which is the greatest ornament of the hague. on entering we find ourselves at once before the most celebrated of all painted animals, paul potter's "bull"--that immortal bull which, as has been said, was honored at the louvre, when the mania arose of classifying these pictures in a sort of hierarchy of celebrity, by being placed near the "transfiguration" of raphael, the "st peter the martyr" of titian, and the "communion of st. jerome" by domenichino; that bull for which england would pay a million francs, and holland would not sell for double that sum; the bull on which more pages have been written than the strokes of the artist on the canvas, and about which critics still write and dispute as if it were a real living creation of a new animal instead of a picture. the subject of the picture is very simple--a life-size bull, standing with his head turned toward the spectator, a cow lying on the ground, some sheep, a shepherd, and a distant landscape. [illustration: paul potter's bull.] the supreme merit of this bull may be expressed in one word: it is alive. the serious wondering eye, which gives the impression of vigorous vitality and savage pride, is painted with such truth that at the first sight one feels inclined to dodge to the right or left, as one does in a country road when one meets such animals. his moist black nostrils seem to be smoking, and to be drawing in the air with a prolonged breath. his hide is painted with all its folds and wrinkles; one can see where the animal has rubbed himself against the trees and the ground; the hairs look as though they are stuck on the canvas. the other animals are equally fine: the head of the cow, the fleece of the sheep, the flies, the grass, the leaves and fibres of the plants, the moss,--everything is rendered with extraordinary fidelity. although the infinite care the artist must have taken is apparent, the fatigue and patience of the copy do not appear; it seems almost an inspired, impetuous work, in which the painter, impelled by a thirst for truth, has not felt a moment of hesitation or weariness. infinite criticisms were made on this "incredible stroke of audacity by a young man of twenty-four." the large size of the canvas was censured, the commonplace nature of the subject, the poverty of the light effects, for the light is equally diffused and everything is placed in relief without the contrast of shadow,--the stiffness of the legs of the bull, the crude coloring of the plants and animals in the background; the mediocrity of the shepherd's figure. but, for all this, paul potter's bull was crowned with glory as one of the noblest examples of art, and europe considers it as the greatest work of the prince of animal-painters. an illustrious critic very rightly said that "paul potter with his bull has written the true idyl of holland." herein is the great merit of the dutch animal-painters, and of potter above all, that they have not only depicted animals, but have revealed, and told in the poetry of color, the delicate, attentive, almost maternal love with which this dutch agricultural people cherish their cattle. potter's animals interpret the poetry of rural life. by them he has expressed the silence and the peace of the meadows, the pleasure of solitude, the sweetness of repose, and the satisfaction of patient toil. one might almost say that he had succeeded in making himself understood by them, and that they must have put themselves in positions to be copied. he has given them the variety and attractiveness of human beings. the sadness, the quiet content which follows the satisfaction of physical needs, the sensations of health and strength, of love and gratitude toward mankind, all the glimmerings of intelligence and the stirrings of affection, all the variety of nature--all these he has understood and expressed with loving fidelity, and he has further succeeded in communicating to us the feelings by which he was animated. as we look at his pictures a strange primitive instinct of a rural life is gradually roused in us--an innocent desire to milk, to shear, to drive these gentle patient animals that delight the eye and heart. in this art paul potter is unsurpassed. berghem is more refined, but potter is more natural; van de velde is more graceful, but potter is more vigorous; du jardin is more amiable, but potter is more profound. and to think that the architect who afterward became his father-in-law would not at first give him his daughter, because he was only a painter of animals! and if we may believe tradition his celebrated bull served as a sign to a butcher's shop and sold for twelve hundred and sixty francs. another masterpiece in the hague gallery is a small painting by gerard dou, the painter of the celebrated "dropsical woman," which hangs in the louvre between pictures by raphael and murillo. he is one of the greatest painters of the home-life of the dutch, and the most patient of the patient artists of his country. the picture simply represents a woman seated near a window, with a cradle by her side; but in this humble scene there is such a sweet and holy air of domestic peace, a repose so profound, a love so harmonious, that the most obstinate bachelor on earth could not look on it without feeling an irresistible desire to be the one for whom the wife is waiting in that quiet, clean room, or at least to enter it secretly for a moment, even though he remain hidden in the shadow, if so he might breathe the perfume of the innocent happiness of this sanctuary. this picture, like all the works of dou, is painted with that wonderful finish which he carries almost to excess, which was certainly carried to excess by slingelandt, who worked three years continuously in painting the meerman family. this style afterward degenerated into that smooth, affected, painful mannerism where the figures are like ivory, the skies enamel, and the fields velvet, of which van der werff is the best known representative. among other things to be seen in this picture by dou is a broom-handle, the size of a pen-holder, on which they say the artist worked assiduously for three days. this does not seem strange when we reflect that every minute filament, the grain, the knots, spots, dents, and finger-marks are all reproduced. anecdotes of his superhuman patience are recounted which are scarcely credible. it is said he was five days in copying the hand of a madam spirings whose portrait he painted. who knows how long he was painting her head? the unhappy creatures who wished to be painted by him were driven to madness. it is believed that he ground his colors himself, and made his own brushes, and that he kept everything hermetically closed, so that no particle of dust could reach his work. when he entered his studio he opened the door slowly, sat down with great deliberation, and then remained motionless until the least sign of agitation produced by the exercise had ceased. then he began to paint, using concave glasses to reduce the objects in size. this continual effort ended by injuring his sight, so that he was obliged to work with spectacles. nevertheless, his coloring never became weakened or less vigorous, and his pictures are equally strong whether one looks at them near by or far off. they have been very justly compared to natural scenes reduced in photographs. dou was one of the many disciples of rembrandt who divided the inheritance of his genius. from his master he learned finish and the art of imitating light, especially the effects of candle-light and of lamps. indeed, as we shall see in the amsterdam gallery, he equalled rembrandt in these respects. he possessed the rare merit among the painters of his school in that he took no pleasure in painting ugliness and trivial subjects. in the gallery at the hague home-life is represented by dou, by adriaen van ostade, by steen, and by van mieris the elder. van ostade--called the rembrandt of home-life, because he imitated the great master in his powerful effects of chiaroscuro, of delicate shading, of transparency in shadows, of rich coloring--is represented by two small pictures which depict the inside and outside of a rustic house. both are full of poetry, notwithstanding the triviality of the subjects which he has chosen in common with other painters of his school. but he has this peculiarity, that the remarkably ugly girls in his pictures are taken from his own family, which, according to tradition, was a group of little monstrosities, whom he held up to the ridicule of the world. thus nearly all the dutch painters chose to paint the least handsome of the women whom they saw, as if they had agreed to throw discredit on the feminine type of their country. rembrandt's "susanna," to cite a subject which of all others required beauty, is an ugly dutch servant, and the women painted by steen, brouwer, and others are not worth mentioning. and yet, as we have seen, models of noble and gracious beauty were not wanting among them. there are three fine paintings by frans van mieris the elder, the first disciple of dou, and as finished and minute a painter as his master. he together with metsu and terburg, two artists eminent for finish and coloring, belonged to that group of painters of home-life who chose their subjects from the higher classes of society. one of these canvases portrays the artist with his wife. among other paintings, steen is represented by his favorite subject, a doctor feeling the pulse of a lovesick girl in the presence of her duenna. it is an admirable study of expression, of piquant, roguish smiles. the doctor's face seems to say, "i think i understand;" the invalid's, "something more than your prescriptions are needed;" the duenna's, "i know what she wants." other pictures of home-life by schaleken, tilborch, netscher, william van mieris represent kitchens, shops, dinners, and the families of the artists. landscape and marine painting are represented by beautiful gems from the hands of ruysdael, berghem, van de velde, van der neer, bakhuisen, and everdingen. there are also a large number of works by philips wouverman, the painter of horses and battle-pieces. there are two pictures by van huysum, the great flower-painter, who was born at a time when holland was possessed with a mad love of flowers and cultivated the most beautiful flowers in europe. he celebrated this passion with his brush and created it afresh in his pictures. no one else has so marvellously rendered the infinite shades, the freshness, the transparency, the softness, the grace, the modesty, the languor, the thousand hidden beauties, all the appearances of the noble and delicate life of the pearl of vegetation, of the darling of nature, the flower. the hollanders brought to him all the miracles of their gardens that he might copy them; kings asked him for flowers; his pictures were sold for sums that in those days were fabulous. jealous of his wife and his art, he worked alone, unseen by his fellow-artists, lest they should discover the secret of his coloring. thus he lived and died, glorious and melancholy, in the midst of petals and fragrance. but the greatest work in the gallery is the celebrated "lesson in anatomy" by rembrandt. this picture was inspired by a feeling of gratitude to doctor tulp, professor of anatomy at amsterdam, who protected rembrandt in his youth. rembrandt portrays tulp and his pupils grouped round a table on which is stretched a naked corpse, whose arm has been dissected by the anatomist's knife. the professor, who wears his hat, stands pointing out the muscles of the arm with his scissors, and explaining them to his pupils. some of the scholars are seated, others stand, others lean over the body. the light coming from left to right illuminates their faces and a part of the dead man, leaving their garments, the table, and the walls of the room in obscurity. the figures are life-size. it is difficult to describe the effect produced by this picture. the first sensation is a feeling of horror and disgust of the corpse. its forehead is in shadow, its open eyes are turned upward, its mouth half shut as if in amazement; the chest is swollen, its legs and feet are rigid, the flesh is livid and looks as if it would be cold to the touch. in great contrast to this stiffened corpse are the living attitudes of the students, the youthful faces, the bright eyes, intent and full of thought, revealing, in different degrees, eagerness to learn, the joy of comprehension, curiosity, astonishment, the effort of the intellect, the activity of the mind. the face of the master is calm, his eye is serene, and his lips seem smiling with the satisfaction of intimate knowledge of his subject. the whole group is surrounded by an air of gravity, mystery, and scientific solemnity which imposes reverence and silence. the contrast between the light and shade is as marvellous as that between death and life. everything is painted with infinite pains; it is possible to count the little folds of the ruff, the wrinkles in the face, the hairs of the beard. it is said that the foreshortening of the corpse is incorrect, and that in some places the finish degenerates into hardness, but universal approval places the "lesson in anatomy" among the greatest works of art in the world. rembrandt was only twenty-six years old when he painted this picture, which consequently has the mark of his early work. the impetuosity, audacity, and unequalled assurance of his genius, which shine forth in his maturer works, are not yet seen, but his immense power of painting light, his marvellous chiaroscuro, his fascinating magic of contrast, the most original features of his genius, are all to be found here. however little we may know about art, and however much we may have resolved not to sin by excess of enthusiasm, when we come face to face with rembrandt van rijn, we cannot help opening the flood-gates of language, as the spanish say. rembrandt exerts an especial fascination. fra angelico is a saint, michelangelo is a giant, raphael is an angel, titian a prince, rembrandt is a spectre. what else can this miller's son be called? born in a windmill, he arose unexpectedly without a master, without example, without any instruction from the schools, to become a universal painter, who depicted life in every aspect, who painted figures, landscapes, sea-pieces, animals, saints, patriarchs, heroes, monks, riches and poverty, deformity, decrepitude, the ghetto, taverns, hospitals, and death; who in short, reviewed heaven and earth, and enveloped everything in a light so mysterious that it seems to have issued from his brain. his work is at the same time grand and minute. he is at once an idealist and a realist, a painter and an engraver, who transforms everything and conceals nothing--who changes men into phantoms, the most ordinary scenes of life into mysterious apparitions; i had almost said who changes this world into another that does not seem to be and yet is the same. whence has he drawn that undefinable light, those flashes of electric rays, those reflections of unknown stars that like an enigma fill us with wonder? what did this dreamer, this visionary, see in the dark? what is the secret that tormented his soul? what did this painter of the air mean to tell us in this eternal conflict of light and shadow? it is said that the contrasts of light and shade corresponded in him to moods of thought. and truly it seems that as schiller, before beginning a work, felt within himself an indistinct harmony of sounds which were a prelude to his inspiration, so also rembrandt, when about to paint a picture, beheld a vision of rays and shadows which had some meaning to him before he animated them with his figures. in his paintings there is a life, a dramatic action, quite distinct from that of human figures. flashes of brilliant light break across a sombre surface like cries of joy; the frightened darkness flies away, leaving here and there a melancholy twilight, trembling reflections that seem to be lamenting, profound obscurity gloomy and threatening, flashes of dancing sunlight, ambiguous shadows, shadows uncertain and transparent, questionings and sighs, words of a supernatural language like music heard but not understood, which remains in the memory like a dream. into this atmosphere he plunged his figures, some of them enveloped by the garish light of a theatrical apotheosis, others veiled like ghosts, others revealed by a single ray of light darting across their faces. whether they be clothed with pomp or in rags, they all are alike strange and fantastic. the outlines are not clear; the figures are loaded with powerful colors, and are painted with such bold strokes of the brush that they stand out in sculpturesque relief, while over all is an expression of impetuosity and of inspiration, that proud, capricious, profound imprint of genius that knows neither restraint nor fear. after all, every one likes to give his opinion: but who knows, if rembrandt could read all the pages that have been written to explain the secret meanings of his art, whether he would not burst out laughing? such is the fate of men of genius: every one holds that he has understood them better than his neighbor, and restores them in his own way. they are like a beautiful theme given by god which men distort into a thousand different meanings--a canvas upon which the imagination of man paints and embroiders after its own manner. i left the hague gallery with one desire ungratified: i had not found in it any picture by jerom bosch, a painter born at bois-le-duc in the fifteenth century. this madcap of mischief, this scarecrow of bigots, this artistic sorcerer, had made my flesh creep first in the gallery at madrid with a work representing a horrible army of living skeletons scattered about an immense space, in conflict with a motley crowd of desperate and confused men and women, whom they were dragging into an abyss where death awaited them. only from the diseased imagination of a man alarmed by the terrors of damnation could such an extravagant conception have issued. when you look at it, however long it may be since you were afraid of phantoms, you feel a confused reawakening dread. such were the subjects of all his pictures--the tortures of the accursed, spectres, fiery chasms, dragons, uncanny birds, loathsome monsters, diabolical kitchens, sinister landscapes. one of these frightful pictures was found in the cell where philip ii. died; others are scattered throughout spain and italy. who was this chimerical painter? how did he live? what strange mania tormented him? no one knows; he passed over the earth wrapped in a cloud, and disappeared like an infernal vision. on the first floor of the museum there is a "royal cabinet of curiosities," which contains some very precious historical relics, besides a great number of different objects from china, japan, and the dutch colonies. amongst other things there is the sword of that ruyter who began life as a rope-maker at vlissingen, and became the greatest admiral of holland; admiral tromp's cuirass perforated by bullets; a chair from the prison of the venerated barneveldt; a box containing a lock of hair from the head of that van speyk who in , on the schelde, blew up his vessel to preserve the honor of the dutch flag. here, too, is the complete suit of clothes worn by william the silent when he was assassinated at delft--the blood-stained shirt, the jacket made of buffalo skin pierced by bullets, the wide trousers, the large felt hat; and in the same glass case are also preserved the bullets and pistols of the assassin and the original copy of his death-warrant. this modest, almost rough dress, that was worn at the zenith of his power and glory by william, the head of the republic of the netherlands, is a noble testimony to the patriarchal simplicity of dutch manners. there is perhaps no other modern nation, equally prosperous, that has been less given to vanity and pomp. it is related that when the earl of leicester, who was commissioned by queen elizabeth, arrived in holland, and when spinola came to sue for peace in the name of the king of spain, their magnificence was considered almost infamous. it is further said that the spanish ambassadors who came to the hague in to negotiate the famous truce saw some deputies of the dutch states seated in a field, meanly clad and breakfasting on a little bread and cheese which they had carried in their saddle-bags. the grand pensionary, john de witt, the adversary of louis xiv., kept only one servant. admiral ruyter lived at amsterdam in the house of a poor man and swept out his own bedroom. another very curious object in the museum is a cabinet which opens in front like a book-case, representing in all its most minute details the inside of a luxurious amsterdam house at the beginning of the eighteenth century. the czar, peter the great, during his stay in amsterdam, commissioned a rich citizen of that town to make for him this toy house, in order that he might take it back to russia as a souvenir of holland. the rich citizen, whose name was brandt, executed the order like an honest dutchman, slowly and well. the best cabinet-makers in holland made the furniture, the cleverest silversmiths the plate, the most accurate printers printed the tiny books, the finest miniature-painters painted the pictures; the linen was prepared in flanders, the hangings were made at utrecht. after twenty-five years of work all the rooms were ready. in the nuptial chamber everything was prepared for the confinement of the young mistress; in the dining-room stood a microscopic tea service on a table which was the size of a crown; the picture-gallery, which was seen through a magnifying glass, was complete; in the kitchen was everything needful to prepare a savory dinner for a group of liliputians; there was a library, and a cabinet of chinese objects, bird-cages full of birds, prayer-books, carpets, linen for a whole family trimmed with lace and fine embroidery: there were lacking only a married couple, a lady's maid, and a cook rather smaller than ordinary marionettes. but there was one drawback: the house cost a hundred and twenty thousand francs, and the czar, who as all know, was an economical man, refused it, and brandt, to shame the imperial avarice, presented it to the museum of the hague. in the streets of the hague, from the first day, i had met women dressed in such a peculiar manner that i had followed them to observe every particular of their costume. at first sight i thought that they must belong to some religious order or that they were hermits, pilgrims, or women of some nomadic tribes which were passing through holland. they wore immense straw hats lined with flowered calico, short chocolate-colored monk's cloaks made of serge and lined with red cloth; their petticoats were also of serge, short and puffed out as though they wore crinolines; they wore black stockings and white wooden shoes. in the morning they might be seen going to market bearing on their heads baskets full of fish or driving carts drawn by dogs. they usually went alone or in pairs, without any men. they walked in a peculiar manner, taking long strides, with a certain air of despondency, like those who are accustomed to walking on the sand; there was a sadness in their expression and appearance which harmonized with the monastic austerity of their attire. i asked a dutchman who they were, and the only answer he gave me was, "go to scheveningen." scheveningen is a village two miles from the hague, and connected with it by a straight road bordered along its whole length by several rows of beautiful elms, which form a perfect shade. on either side of the road, beyond the elms, there are small villas, pavilions, and cottages with roofs that look like the kiosks of the gardens, and with façades of a thousand fantastic shapes, all bearing the usual inscriptions inviting to repose and pleasure. this road is the favorite promenade of the citizens of the hague on sunday evenings, but on the other days of the week it is almost always deserted. one meets only a few women from scheveningen, and now and then a carriage or the coaches that come and go between the town and the village. as one walks along it seems as though the road must lead to some royal palace surrounded by a large garden or a wide park. the luxuriant vegetation, the shadow and silence, call to mind the forests of andalusia and granada. one no longer remembers scheveningen and forgets that he is in holland. [illustration: on the road to scheveningen.] when the end of the road is reached the change of scene is so sudden that it seems unreal. the vegetation, the shade, the likeness to granada,--all have disappeared, and one stands in the midst of dunes, sand, and desert; one feels the salt wind blow and hears its dull confused sound. from the summit of one of the dunes one may see the north sea. one who has seen only the mediterranean is impressed by a new and profound feeling at sight of that sea and shore. the beach is formed of very fine, light-colored sand, over which the outermost edges of the waves flow up and down like a carpet which is being continually folded and unfolded. this sandy sea-shore extends to the foot of the first dunes, which are steep, broken, corroded mounds deformed by the eternal beating of the waves. such is the dutch coast from the mouth of the meuse to the helder. there are no mollusks, no star-fish, no shells or crabs; there is not a single bush or blade of grass. nothing is seen but sand, waste, and solitude. the sea is no less mournful than the coast. it corresponds closely to one's ideas of the north sea, formed by reading about the superstitious terrors of the ancients, who believed it to be driven by eternal winds and peopled by gigantic monsters. near the shore its color is yellowish, farther out a pale green, and still farther out a dreary blue. the horizon is usually veiled by the mist, which often descends even to the shore and hides all the waters with its thick curtain, which is raised to show only the waves that come to die on the sand and some shadowy fisherman's boat close to land. the sky is almost always gray, overcast with great clouds which throw dense changeable shadows on the waters: in places these are as black as night, and bring to mind images of tempests and horrible shipwrecks; in other parts the sky is lighted up by patches and wavy streaks of bright light, which seem like motionless lightning or an illumination from mysterious stars. the ceaseless waves gnaw the shore in wild fury, with a prolonged roar which seems like a cry of defiance or the wailing of an infinite crowd. sea, sky, and earth regard each other gloomily, as though they were three implacable enemies. as one contemplates this scene some great convulsion of nature seems imminent. the village of scheveningen is situated on the dunes, which ward off the sea, and hide it so entirely that from the shore nothing is to be seen but the cone-shaped church-steeple rising like an obelisk in the midst of the sand. the village is divided into two parts, one of which is composed of elegant houses representing every kind of dutch shapes and colors, and built for the use of strangers, with "to let" posted on them in various languages. the other part, in which the natives live, consists of black cottages, little streets, and retreats which foreigners never think of entering. the population of scheveningen, which numbers only a few thousands, is almost entirely composed of fishermen, the greater number of whom are very poor. the village is still one of the principal stations of the herring fishery, where are cured those celebrated fish to which holland owes her riches and power. but the profits of this industry go to the captains of the fishing vessels, and the men of scheveningen, who are employed as sailors, hardly earn a livelihood. on the beach, in front of the village, many of those wide staunch boats with a single mast and a large square sail may always be seen ranged in line on the sand one beside the other, like the greek galleys on the coast of troy: thus they are safe from the gusts of wind. the flotilla, accompanied by a steam sloop, starts early in june, directing its course toward the scottish coast. the first herrings taken are at once sent to holland, and conveyed in a cart ornamented with flags to the king, who in exchange for this present gives five hundred florins. these boats make catches of other fish as well, which are in part sold at auction on the sea-shore, and in part are given to the scheveningen fishermen, who send their wives to sell them at the hague market. scheveningen, like all the other villages of the coast, katwijk, vlaardingen, maassluis, is a village that has lost its former prosperity in consequence of the decline of the herring fishery, owing, as every one knows, to the competition of england and the disastrous wars. but poverty, instead of weakening the character of this small population, beyond doubt the most original and poetical in holland, has strengthened it. the inhabitants of scheveningen in appearance, character, and habits seem like a foreign tribe in comparison with the people of their own country. they dwell but two miles from a large city, and yet preserve the manners of a primitive people that has always lived in isolation. as they were centuries ago, so are they now. no one leaves their village, and no one who is not a native ever enters it: they intermarry, they speak a language of their own, they all dress in the same style and in the same colors, as did their fathers' fathers. at the time of the fishing only the women and children remain in the village; the men all go to sea. they carry their bibles with them on their departure. on board they neither drink nor swear nor laugh. when the stormy seas toss their little boats on the crests of the waves, they close all the apertures and await death with resignation. at the same moment their wives are singing psalms, shut in their cottages rocked by the wind and beaten by the rain. those little dwellings, which have witnessed so many mortal griefs, which have heard the sobs of so many widows, which have seen the sacred joys of happy return and the disconsolate departure of many husbands, with their cleanliness, their white curtains, with the clothes and shirts of the sailors hanging at the windows,--tell of the free and dignified poverty of their inmates. no vagabonds nor fallen women come out of these homes; no inhabitant of scheveningen has ever deserted the sea, and none of her daughters has ever refused the hand of a sailor. both men and women show by their carriage and the expression of their faces a serious dignity that commands respect. they greet you without bending their heads, and look you in the face as much as to say, "we have no need of any one." in this little village there are two schools, and it is a curious sight to see a swarm of fair-haired children with slates under their arms and pencils in their hands disperse at certain hours among these poverty-stricken streets. scheveningen is not only a village famous for the originality of its inhabitants which all foreigners visit and all artists paint. there are, besides, two great bathing establishments, where english, russians, germans, and danes meet in the summer. the flower of the northern aristocracy, princes and ministers, indeed half the almanach de gotha, come here; then there are balls, fantastic illuminations, and fireworks on the sea. the two establishments are placed on the dunes, and at all hours of the day certain carriages which look like gypsy caravans, drawn by strong horses, are driven from the shore into the sea, where they turn round. whereupon ladies step out from them and bathe in the water, letting their fair hair blow about in the wind. at night the band plays, the visitors walk out, and the beach is enlivened by an elegant, festive, ever-changing crowd, in which every language is heard and the beauty of every country is represented. a few steps distant from this gayety the misanthrope can find solitude and seclusion on the dunes, where the music faintly strikes his ear like a far-off echo, and the houses of the fishermen show him their lights, directing his thoughts to domestic life and peace. the first time i went to scheveningen i took a walk on those dunes which have been so often painted by artists, the only heights on the immense dutch plain that intercept the view--rebellious children of the sea, whose progress they oppose, being at the same time the prisoners and the guardsmen of holland. there are three tiers of these dunes, forming a triple bulwark against the ocean: the outer is the most barren, the centre the highest, and the inner the most cultivated. the medium height of these mountains of sand is not greater than fifteen metres, and all together they do not extend into the land for more than a french league. but as there are no higher elevations near or remote, they produce the false impression of a vast mountainous region. the eye sees valleys, gorges, precipices, views that appear distant and are close at hand--the tops of neighboring dunes on which we imagine a man ought to appear as large as a child, and on which instead he seems a giant. viewed from a height, this region looks like a yellow sea, tempestuous yet motionless. the dreariness of this desert is increased by a wild vegetation, which seems like the mourning of the dead and abandoned nature--thin, fragile grass, flowers with almost transparent petals, juniper, sweet-broom, rosemary, through which every now and then skips a rabbit. neither house, tree, nor human being is to be seen for miles. now and then ravens, curlews, and sea-gulls fly past. their cries and the rustling of the shrubs in the wind are the only sounds that break the silence of the solitude. when the sky is black the dead color of the earth assumes a sinister hue, like the fantastic light in which objects appear when seen through colored glass. it is then, when standing alone in the midst of the dunes, that one feels a sense almost of fear, as if one were in an unknown country hopelessly separated from any inhabited land, and one looks anxiously at the misty horizon for the shadow of a building to reassure him. in the whole of my walk i met but one or two peasants. the dutch peasants usually speak to the people they meet on the road--a rare thing in a northern country. some pull off their caps at the side with a curious gesture, as if they did it for a joke. usually they say "good-morning" or "good-evening" without looking at the person they are greeting. if they meet two people, they say, "good-evening to you both," or if more than two, "good-evening to you all." on a pathway in the middle of the first dunes i saw several of those poor fishermen who spend the whole day up to their waists in water, picking up the shells that are used to make a peculiar cement or to spread over garden-paths instead of sand. it must cost them at least half an hour of hard labor to take off the enormous leather boots that they wear to go into the sea; this would give an excuse to an italian sailor for swearing by all the saints. but these men, on the contrary, perform the task with a composure that makes one sleepy, without giving way to any movement of impatience, nor would they raise their heads until they had finished even if a cannon were to be fired off. on the dunes, near a stone obelisk recording the return of william of orange from england after the fall of the french dominion, i saw for the first time one of those sunsets which awaken in us italians a feeling of wonder no less than that awakened in people from the north by the sunsets at naples and rome. the sun, because of the refraction of light by the mists which always fill the air in holland, is greatly magnified, and diffuses through the clouds and on the sea a veiled and tremulous splendor like the reflection of a great fire. it seemed as if another sun had unexpectedly appeared on the horizon, and was setting, never again to show itself on earth. a child might well have believed the words of a poet who said, "in holland the sun dies," and the most cold-blooded man must have allowed a farewell to escape his lips. as i have spoken of my walk to scheveningen, i will mention two other pleasant excursions that i made from the hague last winter. the first was to the village of naaldwijk, and from this village to the sea-coast, where they were opening the new rotterdam canal. at naaldwijk, thanks to the politeness of an inspector of schools who was with me, i gratified my desire to see an elementary school, and i will state at once that my great expectations were more than realized. the house, built expressly for the school, was a separate building one story in height. we first went into a little vestibule, where there were a number of wooden shoes, which the inspector told me belonged to the pupils, who place them there on their entrance into school and put them on again when they go out. in school the boys wear only stockings which are very thick, consequently their feet do not suffer from cold, especially as the rooms are as hot as if they were a minister's cabinet. on our entrance the pupils stood up and the master advanced toward the inspector. even that poor village master spoke french, and so we were able to enter into conversation. there were in the school about forty pupils, both boys and girls, who sat on opposite sides of the room; all were fair and fat, with plump, good-natured faces; they had the precocious air of little men and women, which i could not observe without laughing. the building was divided into five rooms, each separated from the other by a large glass partition, which enclosed all the space like a wall, so that if a master were absent from one class the teacher of the next class could overlook the pupils of his colleague without leaving his post. all the rooms are large and have high windows which reach from the floor to the ceiling, so that it is almost as light inside as it is outside. the benches, walls, floors, windows, and stoves were as clean as if they had been in a ball-room. having a lively recollection of certain unpleasant places in the schools i attended as a boy, i asked to see the closets, and found them such as few of the best hotels can boast. afterward on the school-room walls i saw a great many things that i remember to have wished for when i sat at the desks, such as small pictures of landscapes or figures, to which the master referred in his stories and instruction, so that they should be stamped the better on the memory; representations of common objects and animals; geographical maps purposely made with large names and painted in bright colors; proverbs, grammatical rules, and precepts very plainly printed. only one thing seemed to me lacking--personal cleanliness. i will not repeat what many have written and some dutchmen affirm, that in holland cleanliness of the skin is generally neglected--that the women are dirty, and that the legs of the tables are cleaner than those of the citizens. but it is certain the cleanliness of inanimate objects is infinitely greater than personal cleanliness, and the deficiency in the last respect is made more apparent by excellence in the first. in an italian school perhaps those boys might have seemed clean, but, comparing them with the marvellous purity of their surroundings, and reflecting that they were the children of the very women who take half a day to wash the doors and shutters, they seemed to me, and in fact were, rather dirty. in some schools in switzerland there are lavatories where the boys are obliged to wash upon entering and leaving the school. i should have been pleased to see such lavatories in the dutch schools too; then all would have been perfect. i said "that poor master," but i found out afterward that he had a salary of more than two thousand two hundred francs and an apartment in a nice house in the village. in holland the masters of elementary schools--the principals, that is, for there are assistant masters--never receive less than eight hundred francs a year. this the minimum that the commune can legally give. no commune keeps to this sum, and some masters have the same salaries as our university professors. it is true that it costs more to live in holland than in italy, but it is also true that the salaries which seem large to us are there considered small, and yet they propose to increase them. it must also be considered that, owing to the difference of national character, the dutch masters are not obliged to expend as much of their breath, their patience, and good-humor as are our italian masters, which is a consideration if it be true that health counts for something. from naaldwijk we went toward the coast. on the road my courteous companion explained to me clearly the point which the question of instruction has reached in holland. in latin countries persons when questioned by a stranger answer him with a view toward airing their knowledge and showing their conversational powers. in holland they try rather to make you understand the subject, and if you do not comprehend directly, they impress it upon you until it is fixed in your mind as clearly and as well as it is in their own. the question of instruction, in holland as in most countries, is a religious question, which in its turn is the most serious, indeed the only great, question that now agitates the country. of the three and a half millions of inhabitants in holland, a third, as i have remarked, are catholics, about a hundred thousand are jews, and the rest are protestants. the catholics, who chiefly inhabit the southern provinces of limbourg and brabant, are not divided politically as they are in other countries, but form one solid clerical legion,--papists, ultramontanists, the most faithful legion of rome, as the dutch themselves say--who buy the very straw that the pontiff is supposed to sleep on, and who thunder italy from the pulpit and the press. this catholic party, which would have no great strength of itself, gains a certain advantage from the fact that the protestants are divided into a great many religious sects. there are orthodox calvinists; protestants who believe in the revelation, but do not accept certain doctrines of the church; others who deny the divinity of christ, without, however, separating themselves from the protestant church; others, again, who believe in god, but do not believe in any church; others--and amongst these are many of the cleverest men--who openly profess atheism. in consequence of this state of things, the catholic party has a natural ally in the calvinists, who as fervent believers and inflexible conservers of the religion of their fathers, are much less widely separated from the catholics than from a large party of those of their own co-religionists. these form, in a certain sense, the clerical wing of protestantism. hence in the netherlands there are catholics and calvinists on one side, and on the other a liberal party, while between the two there hovers a vacillating legion that does not allow either side to gain an absolute supremacy. the chief point of contention between the extreme sections is the question of primary instruction, and this reduces itself, on the part of the catholics and calvinists, to insistence that so-called mixed schools, in which no special religious instruction is given (so that catholics and protestants of all doctrines may support them), shall be superseded by others in which dogmatic instruction is to be given, and that these shall be also supported by the commune under the direction of the state. it is easy to foresee the grave consequences that such a division in the popular educational system would produce--the germs of discord and religious animosity that would be sown, the trouble that would in time arise from separating young people into groups professing different faiths. up to the present time the principle of mixed schools has prevailed, but the victories of the liberals have been costly. the catholics and the calvinists successively obtained various concessions, and are prepared to obtain yet others. the catholic party is, in a word, more powerful than the calvinist party: the one, united and aggressive, gains ground day by day, and it is not unlikely that it will succeed in gaining a victory which, though not lasting, will provoke a violent reaction in the country. things have come to such a pass that in that very holland which fought for eighty years against catholic despotism there are now serious reasons to fear the outbreak of a religious war. [illustration: fisherman's children, scheveningen.] notwithstanding this state of things, which to the present time has prevented the institution of obligatory instruction demanded by the liberals, and keeps a great number of catholic children away from the schools, the education of the lower classes in holland is in a condition that any european state might envy. in proportion, holland contains less people who do not know their alphabet than does prussia. "of all europe," as a dutch writer has said with just pride, although he judges his country severely on other points, "holland is the land where all such knowledge as is indispensable to civilized man is most widely diffused." i was once greatly surprised, on asking a dutchman if there were any women-servants who could not read, to hear myself answered, "well, yes. i remember twenty years ago that my mother had a servant who did not know her alphabet, and we thought it a very strange thing." it is a great satisfaction to a stranger who does not know the language to be sure that if he shows a name on his guide-book to the first street-urchin he meets, the boy will understand it and will try to direct him by gestures. talking of catholics and calvinists, we arrived at the dunes, and, although we were near the coast, we could not see the ocean. "holland is a strange country," i said to my friend, "in which everything plays at hide and seek. the façades hide the roofs, the trees hide the houses, the city hides the ships, the banks hide the canals, the mist hides the fields, the dunes hide the sea." "and some day," answered my friend, "the sea will hide everything and all will be ended." we crossed the downs and advanced toward the coast, where the preparatory works for the opening of the rotterdam canal were in progress. two dykes, one more than a thousand two hundred meters in length, the other more than two thousand meters long, separated from each other by the space of a kilometer, project into the sea at right angles to the coast. these two dykes, which are built to protect vessels entering the canal, are formed by several rows of enormous palisades made of huge blocks of granite, of fagots, stones, and earth; they are as wide as ten men drawn up in a line. the ocean, which continually washes against them, and at high tide overflows them in many parts, has covered everything,--stones, beams, and fagots, with a stratum of shells as black as ebony, which from a distance seems like a velvet coverlet, giving to these two gigantic bulwarks a severe and magnificent appearance, as if they were a warlike banner unfolded by holland to celebrate her victory over the waves. at that moment the tide was coming in, and the battle round the extreme end of the dykes was at its height. with what rage did the livid waves avenge themselves for the scorn of those two huge horns of granite that holland has plunged into the bosom of her enemy! the palisades and the rock foundations were lashed, gnawed, and buffeted on every side; disdainful waters dashed over them and spat upon them with a drizzling rain that hid them like a cloud of dust; then again the waves would flow back like furious writhing serpents. even the sections far from the struggle were sprinkled by unexpected showers of spray, the advance guard of that endless army, and meanwhile the water kept rising and advancing, forcing the foremost workmen to retire step by step. on the longest dyke, not very far from shore, they were planting some piles. workmen with great labor were raising blocks of granite by means of derricks, and others, in groups of ten or fifteen, were removing old beams to make room for new ones. it was glorious to see the fury of the waves lashing the sides of the dyke, and the impassive calm of the workmen, who seemed almost to despise the sea. it crossed my mind that they must be saying in their hearts, as the sailor said to the monster of the comprachicos in victor hugo's romance: "roar on, old fellow!" a wind which chilled us to the bone blew the long, fair curls of the good dutchmen into their eyes, and every now and then threw the spray at their feet or on their clothes--vain provocations to which they did not deign to reply even by a frown. i saw a pile driven into the dyke. it was the trunk of a great tree pointed at one end and supported by two parallel beams, between which a steam-engine drove an enormous iron hammer up and down. the pile had to be driven through several very thick strata of fagots and stones; yet at every blow from the heavy hammer it sunk into the ground, breaking, tearing, and splintering, while it entered the dyke more than a hand's length, as if it were merely a mud hole. nevertheless, what with adjusting and driving the pile, the operation lasted almost an hour. i thought of the thousands that had been driven, of the thousands still to be driven, of the interminable dykes that defend holland, of the infinite number that have been overturned and rebuilt and for the first time my mind conceived the grandeur of the undertaking, and a feeling of dismay crept over me as i stood motionless and speechless. meanwhile, the waters had risen almost to the level of the dyke, with a sound of panting and breathlessness like tired-out voices that seemed to murmur secrets of distant seas and unknown shores; the wind blew colder, it was growing dark, and i felt a restless desire to withdraw from those front bastions into the interior of the fortress. i pulled the coat-tail of my companion, who had been standing for an hour on a boulder, and we returned to the shore and drank a glass of delicious schiedam at one of those shops which are called in dutch "come and ask," where they sell wines, salt meats, cigars, shoes, butter, clothes, biscuits--in fact, a little of everything. then we started on the road back to the hague. my next excursion was the most adventurous that i made in holland. a very dear friend of mine who lived at the hague invited me to go and dine with him at the house of one of his relatives who had shown a courteous desire to make my acquaintance. i asked where his relative lived; and he answered, "far from the hague." i asked in what direction, but he would not tell me; he told me to meet him at the railway-station the next day, and left me. on the next morning we met at the station: my friend bought tickets for leyden. when we arrived at leyden we alighted, but, instead of entering the town, we took a road across country. i besought my companion to reveal the secret to me. he answered that he could not do so, and as i knew that when a dutchman does not mean to tell you anything, no power on earth will make him do it, i resigned myself. it was a disagreeable day in february; there was no snow, but a strong cold wind was blowing which soon made our faces purple. as it was sunday, the country was deserted. we went on and on, passing windmills, canals, meadows, houses half hidden by trees, with very high roofs of stubble mixed with moss. finally we arrived at a village. the dutch villages are closed by a palisade: we passed through the gate, but not a living soul was to be seen; the doors were shut, the window curtains were drawn, and not a voice, nor a footstep, nor a breath was heard. we crossed the village, and paused in front of a church which was all covered with ivy like a summer-house; looking through an aperture in the door, we saw a protestant clergyman with a white cravat preaching to some peasants whose faces were striped with gold, green, and purple, the reflection of the stained-glass windows. we passed through a clean street paved with bricks, and saw stakes put for the storks' nests, posts planted by the peasants for the cows to rub against, fences painted sky blue, small houses with many-colored tiles forming letters and words, ponds full of boats, bridges, kiosks for unknown uses, little churches with great gilded cocks on the top of their steeples; and not a living soul near or far: still we went on. the sky cleared a little, then darkened again; here the sunshine gleamed on a canal, there it made a house sparkle or gilded a distant steeple. then again it hid itself, reappeared, and so on with a thousand coquetries, while on the horizon there appeared oblique lines denoting rain. we began to meet countrywomen with circles of gold round their heads, on which veils were fastened, the whole surmounted by hats; these were trimmed with bunches of flowers and wide fluttering ribbons. we also met some country carriages of the antique louis xv. style, with a gilded box ornamented with carved work and mirrors, peasants with thick black clothes and large wooden shoes, children with stockings of every color in the rainbow. we arrived at another village, which was clean, shining, and brightly colored, with its streets paved with bricks and its windows adorned with curtains and flowers. here we took a carriage and went on our way. a fine icy rain which penetrated to our bones began to fall as soon as we started. muffled up in the wet frozen covers, we reached the bank of a large canal. a man came out of a cottage, led the horse on to a barge, and landed us safe and sound on the opposite bank. the carriage turned down a wide street, and we found ourselves on the bed of the ancient sea of haarlem. our horse trotted along where the fish once swam through the water; our coachman smoked where at one time the smoke of naval battles had rolled; we saw glimpses of canals, of villages, of cultivated fields, of a new world of which only thirty years ago there had not been a trace. after we had driven about a mile the rain stopped, and it began to snow as i had never seen it snow before: it was a real whirlwind of heavy, thick snow, which the strong wind blew into our faces. we unfolded the waterproof covering, opened our umbrellas, tucked ourselves in, and bundled ourselves up, but the wind broke through all our defences and the snow sifted over us, enveloping us in white and covering our heads and feet with ice. after a long turn we left the lake; the snow ceased, we arrived at another village of toy houses, where we left our carriage and proceeded on foot. we went on and on, seeing bridges, windmills, closed cottages, lonely streets, wide meadows, but no human beings. we crossed another branch of the rhine, and arrived at another village barricaded and silent; we continued on our way, occasionally seeing some face looking at us from behind the windows. we then left the village and found ourselves opposite the dunes. the sky looked threatening, and i became alarmed. "where are we going?" i demanded of my friend. "where fortune takes us," he replied. we proceeded through the dunes, along narrow, winding, sandy roads, seeing no sign of habitation anywhere; we went up hill and down dale; the wind drove the sand into our faces; at every step our feet sank in it, and the country grew more and more desolate, gloomy, and foreboding. "but who is your relative?" i said to my companion. "where does he live? what is his business? there is some witchcraft about this; he cannot be a man like other men: tell me where you are leading me." my friend did not answer: he stopped and stared in front of him. i stared too, and far away saw something that looked like a house, alone in the midst of the desert, almost hidden by a rise in the ground. we hastened on; the house seemed to appear and disappear like a shadow. round about we saw stakes which looked like gibbets. my friend tried to persuade me that they were only stakes for storks' nests. we were about a hundred feet away from the house. along a wall we saw a wooden pipe which seemed bathed in blood, but my friend assured me it was only red paint. it was a little house enclosed by a paling; the doors and windows were shut. "don't go in," i said. "there is yet time. there is something uncanny in that house; take care what you are doing. look up; i have never seen such a black sky." my friend did not hear me; he pressed on courageously, and i followed. instead of going toward the door, he took a short cut. behind us we heard a ferocious barking of dogs. we broke into a run, crossed a thicket of underbrush, jumped over a low wall, and knocked at a little door. "there is yet time!" i exclaimed. "it is too late," answered my friend. the door opened, but nobody was to be seen. we mounted a winding staircase and entered a room. oh pleasant surprise! the hermit, the sorcerer, was a merry, courteous young man, and the diabolical house was a villa full of comfort and warmth, sparkling with light, the dwelling of a sybarite--a real fairy palace to which our host retired some months in the year to study and to make experiments on the fertilization of the dunes. how delightful it was to look at the cold desert without through a window draped with curtains and decorated with flower-pots! we went into the dining-room and sat down at a table glittering with silver and glass, in the midst of which, surrounded by gilded and blazoned bottles, was a hot dinner fit for a prince. the snow was beating against the windows, the sea was moaning, the wind blew furiously round the house, which seemed like a ship in a terrible storm. we drank to the fertilization of the dunes, to the victors of achen, to the prosperity of the colonies, to the memory of nino bixio, to the elves. nevertheless, i was still a little uneasy. our host when he needed the servant touched a hidden spring; to tell the coachman to get the carriage ready he spoke some words into a hole in the wall; and these tricks did not please me. "tell me," i said, "tell me that this house really exists; promise me that it is not all a joke and that it will not disappear, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground and a smell of sulphur in the air. assure me that you say your prayers every evening." i cannot describe the laughter, the merriment, the absurd speeches that succeeded each other until the middle of the night, accompanied by the clinking of glasses and the roaring of the tempest. at last the moment of departure arrived: we went down and were rolled away in a roomy carriage which dashed rapidly across the desert. the ground was covered with snow, the dunes were outlined in white on the dark sky, the carriage glided noiselessly in the midst of strange indistinct forms, which succeeded each other rapidly in the light of the lantern and seemed to melt into each other. in that vast solitude a dead silence reigned which robbed us of speech. after a time we began to see dwellings and arrived at a village. we crossed two or three deserted streets, with snow-covered houses on either side, with a few lighted windows showing human shadows. at last we came to a railway-station, and reached the hague in a few minutes, although we had been deluded to think we had taken a long journey and crossed an imaginary country. must i tell the truth? if i were asked to swear at the moment i am writing that the house in the midst of the dunes was a reality, i should request ten minutes for reflection. it is true that the master was polite enough to come and bid me good-bye at the station the day i left the hague, and that when i saw him clearly by daylight he did not seem to have anything strange about him; but we all know the various forms, the simulations, the thousand arts which a certain gentleman and his servants assume. at last i saw a dutch winter, not as i had hoped to see it on leaving italy, for it was very mild; but still holland was presented to me as we are in the habit of picturing it to ourselves in the south of europe. early in the morning the first thing that attracts the eye in the silent white streets is the print of innumerable wooden shoes left in the snow by the boys on their way to school, and so large are the wooden shoes that they look like the tracks of elephants. these footsteps generally go in a straight line, showing that the boys take the shortest cut to school, and, like steady, zealous dutchmen, do not play and lose time on the road. one can see long rows of children wrapped up in large scarfs, with their heads half hidden between their shoulders--little bundles arm in arm, walking two by two, or three by three, or pressed together in groups like a bunch of asparagus, out of which peep only the tips of their noses and the ends of books. when the boys have disappeared the streets are deserted for a short time, for the dutch do not rise early, especially in the winter. one can walk some distance without meeting any one or hearing any sound. the snow seems whiter surrounding those rose-colored houses, which have all their projections outlined with a pure white line, and the wooden heads outside of the shops wear white cotton wigs; the chains of the railings look like ermine; everything presents a strange appearance. when it freezes and the sun shines, the façades seem covered with silver sparks, the ice heaped upon the banks of the canals shines with all the colors of the rainbow, and the trees glitter with thousands of little pearls, like the plants in the enchanted gardens of the arabian nights. it is then that it is beautiful to walk in the forest at the hague at sunset, treading on the hardened snow, which crackles under one's feet like powdered marble, in the avenues of large, white, leafless beech trees, which look like one gigantic crystallization, and cast blue and violet shadows, dotted with myriads of points which glisten like diamonds in the paths dyed pink by the setting sun. but nothing compares with the sight of the dutch country seen from the top of a steeple at morning after a heavy fall of snow. beneath the gray and lowering sky one looks over that vast white plain, from which, roads, houses, and canals have disappeared, and nothing is seen but elevations and depressions, which, like the folds of a sheet, give a vague idea of the forms of hidden houses. the boundless white is unstained save by the clouds of smoke that rise almost timidly from the distant dwellings, as if to assure the spectator that beneath the desert of snow human hearts are still beating. it is impossible to speak of the winter in holland without mentioning what constitutes the originality and the attraction of winter life in that country--the skating. skating in holland is not only a recreation; it is the ordinary means of transportation. to cite a well-known example, all know the value of it to the dutch in the memorable defence of haarlem. when there is a hard frost the canals are transformed into streets, and sabots tipped with iron take the place of boats. the peasants skate to market, the workmen to their work, the small tradespeople to their business; entire families skate from the country to the town with their bags and baskets on their shoulders or drive in sledges. skating to them is as habitual and easy as walking, and they skim along so rapidly that one can scarcely follow them with the eye. in past years bets were commonly made between the best dutch skaters that they would skate down the canals on either side of the railway as fast as the train could go; and usually the skaters not only kept abreast of the engine, but even beat it. there are people who skate from the hague to amsterdam and back again on the same day; university students leave utrecht in the morning, dine at amsterdam, and return home before the evening; and a bet has been made and won several times of going from amsterdam to leyden in little more than an hour. persons who have been drawn by sticks held by skaters have told me that the speed with which they skim over the ice is enough to turn one giddy; but this rapidity is not the only remarkable thing about it: another point very much to be admired is the security with which they traverse great distances. peasants will go from one town to another at night. young men go from rotterdam to gouda, where they buy very long clay pipes, and return to rotterdam carrying them unbroken in their hands. sometimes as one is walking along a canal one sees a figure flit by like an arrow, to disappear immediately in the distance. it is a peasant-girl carrying milk to a house in the city. there are sledges of every size and shape, some pushed by skaters, others drawn by horses, others propelled by means of two iron-tipped sticks which are worked by the person seated in the sledge. one sees carts and carriages taken off of their wheels and mounted on two boards, on which they glide with the same rapidity as the other sleds. on holiday occasions the boats from scheveningen have been seen to glide over the snow through the streets of the hague. sometimes ships in full sail are seen skimming over the ice of the large rivers, going so fast that the faces of the few who dare to make this experiment are terribly cut by the wind. the most beautiful fêtes in holland are given on the ice. when the meuse is frozen, rotterdam becomes a place of reunions and amusements. the snow is brushed away until the ice is made as clean as a crystal floor; restaurants, coffee-houses, pavilions, and benches for spectators are set up, and at night all is illuminated. during the day a swarm of skaters of every age, sex, and class crowds the river. in other towns, especially in friesland, which is the classical land of the art, there are clubs of men-and women-skaters who institute public races for prizes. stakes and flags are set up all along the canals, railings and stands are raised; immense crowds come from the villages and the country-side. bands play; the élite of the town are present. the skaters present themselves dressed in a peculiar costume, the women wearing pantaloons. there are races for men and races for women; then both men and women race together. the names of the winners are enrolled in the annals of the art and remain famous for many years. in holland there are two different schools of skating, the so-called dutch school and the frieslander school, each of which uses a peculiar kind of skate. the frieslander school, which is the older, aims only at speed; the dutch school cultivates grace as well. the frieslanders are stiff in their motions; they throw their bodies forward, and hold themselves very straight, looking as though they were starched, and keeping their eyes fixed on the goal. the dutch skate with a zigzag movement, swaying from left to right and from right to left with an undulating motion of the body. the frieslander is an arrow, the dutchman a rocket. the women prefer the dutch school. the ladies of rotterdam, amsterdam, and the hague are, in fact, the most fascinating skaters in the netherlands. they begin to skate as children, continue as girls and wives, reaching the height of beauty and the summit of art at the same time, while their skates strike out sparks from the ice which kindle many fires. it is only on the ice that dutch women appear light-heeled. some attain a marvellous perfection. those who have seen them say that it is impossible to imagine the grace of movement, the bows, the glides, the thousand pretty delicate arts that are displayed. they fly and return like swallows and butterflies, and in this exercise they grow animated and their placid beauty is transformed. but all are not so skilled: many dare not show themselves in public, for those who would be considered prodigies with us are scarcely noticed there, to such perfection has the art been carried. the men, too, perform all kinds of tricks and feats, some writing words of love and fantastic figures in their twirls, others making rapid pirouettes, then gliding backward on one leg for a long distance; others twist about, making numbers of dizzy turns in a small space, sometimes bending down, then leaning to one side, then skating upright or crouching like india-rubber figures moved by a secret spring. the first day that the canals and small docks are covered with ice strong enough to bear the skaters is a day of rejoicing in the dutch towns. skaters who have made the experiment at break of day spread the news abroad; the papers announce it; groups of boys about the streets burst into shouts of delight; men and women-servants ask permission to go out with the determined air of people who have decided to rebel if refused; old ladies forget their age and ailments and hurry off to the canal to emulate their friends and daughters. at the hague the basin, which is in the middle of the city, near to the binnenhof, is invaded by a mingling crowd of people, who interlace, knock against each other, and form a confused giddy mass. the flower of the aristocracy skates on a pond in the middle of the wood, and there in the snow may be seen a winding and whirling maze of officers, ladies, deputies, students, old men, and boys, among whom the crown prince is sometimes to be seen. thousands of spectators crowd around the scene, music enlivens the festival, and the enormous disk of the dutch sun at sunset sends its dazzling salutation through the gigantic beech trees. when the snow is packed hard the turn of the sleigh comes. every family has a sleigh, and at the hour the world goes out walking they appear by hundreds. they fly past in long rows two or three abreast. some are shaped like shells, others like swans, dragons, boats, or chariots. all are gilded and painted in various colors; the horses which draw them are covered with handsome furs and magnificent trappings, their heads ornamented with plumes and tassels, and their harness studded with glittering buttons. in the sleighs sit ladies clothed in sable, beaver, and blue fox. the horses toss their heads, enveloped in a cloud of steam which rises from them, while their manes are covered with ice-drops. the sleighs dart along, the snow flying about them like silver foam. the splendid uncurbed procession passes and disappears like a silent whirlwind over a field of lilies and jessamine. at night, when the torches are lit, thousands of small flames follow each other and flit about the silent town, casting lurid flashes of light on the ice and snow, the whole scene appearing to the imagination like a great diabolical battle over which the spectre of philip ii. presides from the top of the binnenhof tower. [illustration: main drive in the bosch, the hague.] but, alas! everything changes, even the winter, and with it the art of skating and the use of sleighs. for many years the severe winters of holland have been followed by such mild ones that not only the large rivers, but even the small canals in the towns, do not freeze. in consequence the skaters who have been so long out of practice do not risk giving public exhibitions when the occasion presents itself; and so, little by little, their number becomes smaller, and the women especially are forgetting the art. last winter they hardly skated at all, and this winter ( ) there has not been a race, and not even a sleigh has been seen. let us hope that this deplorable state of affairs will not last, and that winter will return to caress holland with its icy bear's paw, and that the fine art of skating will once more arise with its mantle of snow and its crown of icicles. let me announce meanwhile the publication of a work called "skating," upon which a dutch legislator has been employed for many years--a work that will be the history, the epic, and code of this art, from which all european skaters, male and female, will be able to draw instruction and inspiration. while i remained at the hague i frequented the principal club in the town, composed of more than two thousand members. it is located in a palace near the binnenhof, and there it was that i made my observations upon the dutch character. the library, the dining-room, and the card-room, the large drawing-room for conversation, and the reading-room were as full as they could be from four o'clock in the afternoon until midnight. here one met artists, professors, merchants, deputies, clerks, and officers. the greater number come to drink a small glass of gin before dinner, and return later to take another comforting sip of their favorite liquor. nearly all converse, and yet one hears only a light murmur, so that if one's eyes were shut one would say that about half of the actual number was present. one can go round the rooms many times without seeing a gesture of excitement or hearing a loud voice: at a distance of ten steps from the groups one would not know that any one was speaking, except by the movement of his lips. one sees many corpulent gentlemen with broad, clean-shaven faces and bearded throats, who talk without raising their eyes from the table or lifting their hands from their glasses. it is very rare to see among these heavy faces a lively, piquant physiognomy like that of erasmus, which many consider the true dutch type, though i am not of their opinion. the friend who opened the door of the club to me presented me to several of its habitués. the difference between the dutch and the italian character is especially evident in introductions. on one occasion i noticed that the person to whom i was introduced scarcely bowed his head, and then remained silent some moments. i thought my reverend face had not pleased him, and felt an echo of cordial dislike in my heart. in a little while the person who had introduced me went away, leaving me tête-à-tête with my enemy. "now," thought i, "i will burst before i will speak, a word to him." but my neighbor, after some minutes of silence, said to me with the greatest gravity, "i hope, if you have no other engagement to-day, you will do me the honor of dining with me." i fell from the clouds. we then dined together, and my amphytrion placidly filled the table with bottles of bordeaux and champagne, and did not let me depart until i had promised to dine with him again. others, when i would ask information about various things, would hardly answer me, as if they were trying to show me that i was troublesome, so that i would say to myself, "how contemptible they are!" but the next day they would send me all the details neatly and clearly written out, and minute in a higher degree than i desired. one evening i asked a gentleman to point out to me something in that ocean of figures that goes by the name of _guide to european railways_. for some moments he did not answer, and i felt mortified. then he took the book, put on his spectacles, turned over the leaves, read, took notes; added and subtracted for half an hour, and when he had finished he gave me the written answer, putting his spectacles back into their case without speaking a word. many of those with whom i passed the evening used to go home at ten o'clock to work, and to return to the club at half-past eleven, after which they would remain until one o'clock. when they had said, "i must go," there was no possibility of changing their minds. as the clock struck ten they left the door; at half-past eleven they stepped over the threshold. it is not surprising that with this chronometrical precision they find time to do so many things, without doing anything in haste; even those who do not depend on their studies for their livelihood have read entire libraries. there is no english, german, or french book, however unimportant, with which they are unacquainted. french literature especially they have at their fingers' ends. and what is said of literature can be said with more reason of politics. holland is one of the european countries in which the greatest number of foreign papers are to be found, particularly those that deal principally with national affairs. the country is small and peaceful, and the news of the day is soon exhausted; consequently it frequently happens that after ten minutes the conversation has passed beyond the rhine and deals with europe. i remember the astonishment with which i heard the fall of the ministry of scialoia and other italian matters discussed as if they were domestic affairs. one of my first cares was to sound the religious sentiment of the people, and here i found, to my surprise, great confusion. as a learned dutchman most justly wrote a short time ago, "ideas subversive of every religious dogma have made much way in this land." it is quite a mistake, however, to believe that where faith decreases indifference enters. such men as appeared to pascal monstrous creatures--men who live without giving any thought to religion, of whom there are numbers in our country--do not exist in holland. the religious question, which in italy is merely a question, in holland is a battle in which all brandish their arms. in every class of society, men and women, young and old, occupy themselves with theology and read or listen to the disputes of the doctors, besides devouring a prodigious number of polemical writings on religion. this tendency of the country is shown even in parliament, where the deputies often confute their opponents with biblical quotations read in hebrew, or translated and commentated, the discussion degenerating into very disquisitions on theology. all these conflicts, however, take place in the mind rather than in the heart; they are devoid of passion, and one proof of this is that holland, which of all the countries in europe is divided into most sects, is also the country in which these sects live in the greatest harmony and where there is the greatest degree of tolerance. if this were not the case, the catholic party would not have made such strides as it has made, protected from the first by the liberals against the only intolerant party in the country, the orthodox calvinists. i did not make the acquaintance of any calvinists, and i was sorry on that account. i never believed all that is recounted of their extreme rigour; for example, that there are among them certain ladies who hide the legs of the tables with covers, for fear that they might suggest to the minds of visitors the legs of the mistress of the house. but there is no doubt that they live with extreme austerity. many of them never enter a theatre, a ball-room, or a concert-hall. there are families who on the sabbath content themselves with eating a little cold meat, so that the cook may rest on that day. every morning in many houses the master reads from the bible in the presence of the family and servants, and they all pray together. but, nevertheless, this sect of orthodox calvinists, whose followers are almost all amongst the aristocracy and the peasantry, does not exert a great influence in the country. this is proved by the fact that in parliament the calvinists are inferior in numbers to the catholic party and can do nothing without them. i have mentioned the theatre. at the hague, as in the other large dutch cities, there are no large theatres nor great performances. they generally produce german operas sung by foreign singers, and french comedies and operettas. concerts are the great attraction. in this holland is faithful to its traditions, for, as is well known, dutch musicians were sought after in all the christian courts as early as the sixteenth century. it has also been said that the dutch have great ability in singing in chorus. in fact, the pleasure of singing together must be great if it is in proportion to the aversion they have to singing alone, for i do not ever remember hearing any one sing a tune at any hour or in any part of a dutch town, excepting street urchins, who were singing in derision at drunken men, and drunkards are seldom seen excepting on public holidays. i have spoken of the french operettas and comedies. at the hague not only the plays are french, but public life as well. rotterdam has an english imprint, amsterdam is german, and the hague parisian. so it may truthfully be said that the citizens of the large dutch towns unite and temper the good qualities and the defects of the three great neighboring nations. at the hague in many families of the best society they speak french altogether; in others they affect french expressions, as is done in some of the northern towns of italy. addresses on letters are generally written in french, and there is a small branch of society, as is frequently the case in small countries, that professes a certain contempt for the national language, literature, and art, and courts an adopted country beyond the meuse and the rhine. the sympathies, however, are divided. the elegant class inclines toward france, the learned class toward germany, and the mercantile class toward england. the zeal for france grew cold after the commune. against germany a secret animosity has arisen, generated by the fear that in her acquisitive tastes she might turn toward holland. this feeling still ferments, though it is tempered by community of interest against clerical catholicism. when it is said that the hague is partly a french city, it must be understood that this relates to its appearance only; at bottom the dutch characteristics predominate. although it is a rich, elegant, and gay city, it is not a city of riot and dissipation, full of duels and scandals. the life is more varied and lively than that found in other dutch towns, but not less peaceful. the duels that take place in the hague in ten years may be counted on the five fingers of one's hand, and the aggressor in the few that take place is usually an officer. notwithstanding, to show how powerful in holland is this "ferocious prejudice that honor dwells on the point of the sword," i recall a discussion between several dutchmen which was raised by a question of mine. when i asked whether public opinion in holland was hostile to duels, they answered all together, "exceedingly hostile." but when i wanted to know whether a young man in good society who did not accept a challenge would be universally praised, and would still be treated and respected as before--whether, in short, he would be supported by public opinion so that he would not repent his conduct--then they all began discussing. some weakly answered, "yes;" others resolutely, "no." but the general opinion was on the negative side. hence i concluded that although there are few duels in holland, this does not arise, as i thought, from a universal and absolute contempt for the "ferocious prejudice," but rather from the rarity of the cases in which two citizens allow themselves to be carried by passion to the point of having recourse to arms; which is a result of nature rather than of education. in public controversies and private discussions, however violent, personal insults are very rare, and in parliamentary battles, which are sometimes very vigorous, the deputies are often exceedingly impertinent, but they always speak calmly and without clamor. but this impertinence consists in the fact rather than in the word, and wounds in silence. in the conversations at the club i was astonished at first to note that no one spoke for the pleasure of speaking. when any one opened his mouth it was to ask a question or to tell a piece of news or to make an observation. that art of making a period of every idea, a story of every fact, a question of every trifle, in which italians, french, and spaniards are masters, is here totally unknown. dutch conversation is not an exchange of sounds, but a commerce of facts, and nobody makes the least effort to appear learned, eloquent, or witty. in all the time i was at the hague i remember hearing only one witticism, and that from a deputy, who speaking to me of the alliance of the ancient batavians with the romans, said, "we have always been the friends of constituted authority." yet the dutch language lends itself to puns: in proof of this there is the incident of a pretty foreign lady who asked a young boatman of the _trekschuit_ for a cushion, and not pronouncing the word well, instead of cushion said kiss, which in dutch sounds almost the same; and she scarcely had time to explain the mistake, for the boatman had already wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. i had read that the dutch are avaricious and selfish, and that they have a habit of boring people with long accounts of their ailments, but as i studied the dutch character i came to see that these charges are untrue. on the contrary, they laugh at the germans for their complaining disposition. to sustain the charge of avarice somebody has brought forward the very incredible statement that during a naval battle with the english the officers of the dutch fleet boarded the vessels of the enemy, who had used all their ammunition, sold them balls and powder at exorbitant prices, after which they continued the battle. but to contradict this accusation there is the fact of their comfortable life, of their rich houses, of the large sums of money spent in books and pictures, and still more of the widespread works of charity, in which the dutch people certainly stand first in europe. these philanthropic works are not official nor do they receive any impulse from the government; they are spontaneous and voluntary, and are carried on by large and powerful societies that have founded innumerable institutes--schools, prizes, libraries, popular reunions--helping and anticipating the government in the duty of public instruction,--whose branches extend from the large cities to the humblest villages, embracing every religious sect, every age, every profession, and every need; in short, a beneficence which does not leave in holland a poor person without a roof or a workman without work. all writers who have studied holland agree in saying that there probably is not another state in europe where, in proportion to the population, a larger amount is given in charity by the wealthy classes to those who are in want. it must not, however, be imagined that the dutch people have no defects. they certainly have them, if one may consider as defects the lack of those qualities which ought to be the splendor and nobility of their virtues. in their firmness we might find some obstinacy, in their honesty a certain sordidness; we might hold that their coldness shows the absence of that spontaneity of feeling without which it seems impossible that there can be affection, generosity, and true greatness of soul. but the better one knows them, the more one hesitates to pronounce these judgments, and the more one feels for them a growing respect and sympathy on leaving holland. voltaire was able to speak the famous words: "adieu, canaux, canards, canaille;" but when he had to judge holland seriously, he remembered that he had not found in its capital "an idle person, a poor, dissipated, or insolent man," and that he had everywhere seen "industry and modesty." louis napoleon proclaimed that in no other european country is there found so much innate good sense, justice, and reason as there is in holland; descartes gave the hollanders the greatest praise a philosopher can give to a people when he said that in no country does one enjoy greater liberty than in holland; charles v. pronounced upon them the highest eulogy possible to a sovereign when he said that they were "excellent subjects, but the worst of slaves." an englishman wrote that the dutch inspire an esteem that never becomes affection. perhaps he did not esteem them highly enough. i do not conceal the fact that one of my reasons for liking them was the discovery that italy is much better known in holland than i should have dared to hope. not only did our revolution find a favorable echo there, as was natural in a independent nation free and hostile to the pope, but the italian leaders and the events of recent times are as familiarly known as those of france and germany. the best newspapers have italian correspondents and furnish the public with the minutest details of our affairs. in many places portraits of our most illustrious citizens are seen. acquaintance with our literature is no less extended than knowledge of our politics. putting aside the fact that the italian language was sung in the halls of the ancient counts of holland, that in the golden age of dutch literature it was greatly honored by men of letters, and that several of the most illustrious poets of that period wrote italian verses or imitated our pastoral poetry,--the italian language is considerably studied nowadays, and one frequently meets those who speak it, and it is common to see our books on ladies' tables. the "divina commedia," which came into vogue especially after , has been twice translated into rhymed triplets. one version is the work of a certain hacke van mijnden, who devoted all his life to the study of dante. "gerusalemme liberata" has been translated in verse by a protestant clergyman called ten kate, and there was another version, unpublished and now lost, by maria tesseeschade, the great poetess of the seventeenth century, the intimate friend of the great dutch poet vondel, who advised and helped her in the translation. of the "pastor fido" there are at least five translations by different hands. of "aminta" there are several translations, and, to make a leap, at least four of "mie prigioni," besides a very fine translation of the "promessi sposi," a novel that few dutch people have not read either in their own language, in french, or in italian. to cite another interesting fact, there is a poem entitled "florence," written for the last centenary of dante by one of the best dutch poets of our day. it is now in place to say something about dutch literature. holland presents a singular disproportion between the expansive force of its political, scientific, and commercial life and that of its literary life. while the work of the dutch in every other field extends beyond the frontier of the land, its literature is confined within its own borders. it is especially strange that, although holland possesses a most abundant literature, it has not, as other little states, produced one book that has become european, unless we class among literary works the writings of spinoza, the only great philosopher of his country, or consider as dutch literature the forgotten latin treatises of erasmus of rotterdam. yet if there be a country which by its nature and history suggests subjects to inspire the mind to the production of such poetical works as appeal to the imagination of all nations, that country is holland. the marvellous transformations of the land, the terrible inundations, the fabulous maritime expeditions,--these ought to have given birth to a poem powerful and original even when stripped of its native form. why did not this occur? the nature of the dutch genius may be adduced as a reason, which, aiming at utility in everything, wished to turn literature also to a practical end. another tendency, the opposite of this, though, perhaps derived from it, is that of soaring high above human nature to avoid treading on the ground with the mass; a weariness of genius which gave to judgment the ascendency over the imagination; an innate love of all that was precise and finished, which resulted in a prolixity in which grand ideas were diluted; the spirit of the religious sects, which enchained within a narrow circle talents created to survey a vast horizon. but neither these nor other reasons can keep one from wondering that there should not be one writer of dutch literature who worthily represents to the world the greatness of his country--a name to be placed between rembrandt and spinoza. however, it would be a mistake to overlook at least the three principal figures of dutch literature, two of whom belong to the seventeenth and one to the nineteenth century--three original poets who differ widely from each other, but represent in themselves dutch poetry in its entirety: vondel, catz, and bilderdijk. [illustration: the vyver, the hague.] vondel, the greatest poet holland has produced, was born in at cologne, where his father, a hatmaker, had taken refuge, having fled from antwerp to escape from the spanish persecutions. while still a child the future poet returned to his country on a barrow, together with his father and mother, who followed him on foot, praying and reciting verses from the bible. his studies began at amsterdam. at fifteen years of age he was already renowned as a poet, but his celebrated works date from . at the age of thirty he knew only his own language, but later he learned french and latin, and applied himself with ardor to the study of the classics; at fifty he gave himself up to greek. his first tragedy (for he was chiefly a dramatist), entitled "the destruction of jerusalem," was not very successful. the second, "palamades," in which was delineated the piteous and terrible tale of olden barneveldt, a victim of maurice of orange, caused a criminal action to be brought against the author. he fled, and remained in concealment until the unexpectedly mild sentence was given which condemned him to a fine of three hundred florins. in he travelled in denmark and sweden, where he was received with great honors by gustavus adolphus. eleven years later he opened the theatre at amsterdam with a drama on a national theme, "gilbert of amstel," which is still performed once a year in his memory. the last years of his life were very unhappy. his dissipated son reduced him to poverty, and the poor old man, tired of study and broken down with sorrow, was obliged to beg for a miserable employment at the city pawnbroker's. a few years before his death he embraced the catholic faith, and, seized with fresh inspiration, composed the tragedy of "the virgin" and one of his best poems entitled "the mysteries of the altar." he died at a great age, and was buried in a church at amsterdam, where a century afterward a monument was erected in his honor. besides tragedies he wrote martial songs to his country, to illustrious dutch sailors, and to prince frederick henry. but his chief glory was the drama. an admirer of greek tragedy, he preserved the unities, the chorus, the supernatural, substituting providence for destiny, and demons and angels (the good and evil spirits of christianity) for the angry and propitious gods. he drew nearly all his subjects from the bible. his finest work is the tragedy of "lucifer," which, notwithstanding the almost insuperable difficulties of stage setting, was represented twice at the theatre in amsterdam, after which it was interdicted by the protestant clergy. the subject of the drama is the rebellion of lucifer, and the characters are the good and bad angels. in this as in his other plays there abound fantastic descriptions full of splendid imagery, passages of powerful eloquence, fine choruses, vigorous thought, solemn phrases, rich and sonorous verse, while here and there are gleams and flashes of genius. on the other hand, his work is pervaded by a mysticism which is sometimes obscure and austere, by a discord between christian ideas and pagan forms. the lyrical element predominates over the dramatic, good taste is often offended, and, above all, the thought and feeling, though aiming at the sublime, rise too high above this earth, and elude the comprehension of the human heart and mind. nevertheless, historical precedence, originality, ardent patriotism, and a noble and patient life have made vondel a great and venerated name in his country, where he is regarded as the personification of national genius, and is placed in the enthusiasm of affection next to the first poets of other lands. vondel is the greatest, jacob catz is the truest, personification of dutch genius. he is not only the most popular poet of his nation, but his popularity is such that it may be affirmed that there is no other writer of any land, not excluding even cervantes in spain and manzoni in italy, who is more generally known and more constantly read, while at the same time there is perhaps no other poet in the world whose popularity is more necessarily limited to the boundaries of his own country. jacob catz was born in of a noble family in brouwershaven, a town of zealand. he studied law, became pensionary of middelburg, went as ambassador to england, was grand pensionary of holland, and, while he performed the duties of these offices with zeal and rectitude, he devotedly cultivated poetry. in the evening, after he had transacted affairs of state with the deputies of the provinces, he would retire to his home to write verses. at seventy-five years of age he asked to be released from further service, and when the stadtholder told him with appreciative words that his request had been granted, he fell on his knees in the presence of the assembly of the states and thanked god, who had always protected him during the course of his long and exacting political life. a few days later he retired to one of his villas, where he enjoyed a peaceful and honorable old age, studying and writing up to the year , when he died, in the eighty-first year of his life, mourned by all holland. his poems fill several large volumes, and consist of fables, madrigals, stories from history and mythology, abounding in descriptions, quotations, sentences, and precepts. his work is pervaded with goodness, honesty, and sweetness, and he writes with frank simplicity and delicate humor. his volume is the book of national wisdom, the second bible of the dutch nation--a manual which teaches how to live honestly and in peace. he has a word for all--for boys as well as old men, for merchants as well as princes, for mistresses as well as for maids, for the rich as well as for the poor. he teaches how to spend, to save, to do housework, to govern a family, and to educate children. he is at the same time a friend, a father, a spiritual director, a master, an economist, a doctor, and a lawyer. he loves modest nature, the gardens, the meadows; he adores his wife, does his work, and is satisfied with himself and with other people, and would like every one to be as contented as he is. his poems are to be found beside the bible in every dutch house. there is not a peasant's cottage where the head of the family does not read some of his verses every evening. in days of sadness and doubt all look for comfort and find it in their old poet. he is the intimate fireside friend, the faithful companion of the invalid; his is the first book over which the faces of affianced lovers bend; his verses are the first that children lisp and the last that grand-sires repeat. no poet is so loved as he. every dutchman smiles when he hears his name spoken, and no foreigner who has been in holland can help naming it with a feeling of sympathy and respect. the last of the three, bilderdijk, was born in and died in : his was one of the most marvellous intellects that have ever appeared in this world. he was a poet, historian, philologist, astronomer, chemist, doctor, theologian, antiquary, jurisconsult, designer, engraver--a restless, unsettled, capricious man, whose life was nothing but an investigation, a transformation, a perpetual battle with his vast genius. as a young man, when he was already famous as a poet, he abandoned the muse and entered politics; he emigrated with the stadtholder to england, and gave lessons in london to earn a livelihood. he tired of england and went to germany; bored by german romanticism, he returned to holland, where louis bonaparte overwhelmed him with favors. when louis left the throne, napoleon the great deprived the favorite of his pension, and he was reduced to poverty. finally he obtained a small pension from the government, and continued studying, writing, and struggling to the last day of his life. his works embrace more than thirty volumes of science, art, and literature. he tried every style, and succeeded in all excepting the dramatic. he enlarged historical criticism by writing one of the finest national histories his country possesses. he wrote a poem, "the primitive world," an abstruse, gloomy composition which is very much admired in holland. he dealt with every possible question, confounding luminous truths with the strangest paradoxes. he even raised the national literature, which had fallen into decadence, and left a phalanx of chosen disciples who followed in his steps in politics, art, and philosophy. holland regards him not only with enthusiasm, but with fanaticism, and there is no doubt that after vondel he is the greatest poet of his country. but he was possessed by a religious frenzy, a blind hatred of new ideas, which caused him to make poetry an instrument of sects: he introduces theology into everything, and consequently he could not attain to that free serene region beyond which genius cannot obtain enduring victories and universal fame. round these three poets, who represent the three vices of dutch literature--of losing themselves in the clouds, of creeping on the ground, of entangling themselves in the meshes of mysticism--are grouped a number of epic, comic, satiric, and lyric poets, most of whom flourished in the seventeenth and a few in the eighteenth century. many of them are renowned in holland, but none possesses sufficient originality to attract the attention of the passing stranger. the present condition deserves a rapid glance. criticism by stripping from dutch history the veil of poetry with which the patriotism of writers had clothed it, has placed it on the wider and more productive plain of justice. philological studies are held in high honor in holland, and almost all the sciences are represented by men of european fame. these are facts of which no scholar is ignorant, and a bare mention of them is sufficient. in pure literature the most flourishing style is the novel. holland has had its national novelist, its walter scott, in van lennep, who died a few years ago, a writer of historical romances which were received with enthusiasm by all classes of society. he was an effective painter of customs, a learned, witty writer, and a master of the art of dialogue and description, but, unfortunately, often prolix. he used old artifices, adopted forced solutions, and often was not sufficiently reticent. in his last book, "the adventures of nicoletta zevenster," while admirably describing dutch society at the beginning of this century, he had the unheard-of audacity to describe an improper house at the hague. all holland was in an uproar. his book was discussed, criticised, condemned, praised to the skies, and the battle still continues. other historical novels were written by a certain schimmel, a worthy rival of van lennep, and by a madame rosboon toussaint, an accomplished author of deep study and real talent. nevertheless, historical romance may be considered dead even in holland. the modern novels of social life and the story meet with better fortune. most prominent in this field is beets, a protestant clergyman and a poet, the author of a celebrated book entitled "the dark chamber." koetsweldt is another of this class, and there are also some young men of great gifts who have been prevented from rising to any height by haste, the demon that persecutes the literature of to-day. holland has still another kind of romance which is its own. it might be called indian romance, since it describes the habits and life of the people of the colonies. of late years several novels have been published in this style, which have been received in the country with great applause and have been translated into several languages. among these is the "beau monde of batavia," by professor ten brink, a learned, and brilliant writer, of whom i should like to be able to speak at length to attest in some degree my gratitude and admiration. but _apropos_ of indian romances, it is pleasant to notice how in holland at every step one hears and sees something that reminds one of the colonies, as if a ray of the indian sun penetrated the dutch winter and colored the life. the ships which bring a breath of wind from those distant lands to the home ports, the birds, the flowers, the countless objects, like sounds mingled with faint music, call up in the mind images of another nature and another race. in the cities of holland, among the thousands of white faces, one often meets men whose visages are bronzed by the sun, who have been born or have lived for many years in the colonies--merchants who speak with unusual vivacity of dark women, bananas, palm forests, and of lakes shaded by vines and orchids; young men who are bold enough to risk their lives amid the savages of the islands of borneo and sumatra; men of science and men of letters; officers who speak of the tribes which worship fish, of ambassadors who carry the heads of the vanquished dangling from their girdles, of bull and tiger fights, of the frenzy of opium-eaters, of the multitudes baptized with pomp, of a thousand strange and wonderful incidents which produce a singular effect when related by the phlegmatic people of this peaceful country. poetry, after it lost da costa, a disciple of bilderdijk, a religious poet and enthusiast, and genestet, a satirical poet who died very young, had few champions in the last generation, and these are now silent or sing with enfeebled voice. the stage is in a worse condition. the untrained, ranting dutch actors usually appear only in french or german dramas, comedies which are badly translated, and the best society does not go to see them. writers of great talent, like hofdijk, schimmel, and van lennep, wrote comedies which were admirable in many ways, but they never became popular enough to hold the stage. tragedy is in no better condition than comedy and the drama. from what i have said it would appear that there is not at present any great literary movement in holland; but on the contrary, there is great literary activity. the number of books published is incredible, and it is marvellous with what avidity they are read. every town, every religious sect, every society, has its review or newspaper. besides this, there is a multitude of foreign books: english novels are in the hands of all; french works of eight, ten, and twenty volumes are translated into the national language. this is the more remarkable in a country where all cultivated people can read the originals, and it proves how customary it is not only to read, but to buy, although books are a great deal more expensive in holland than elsewhere. but this superabundance of publications and this thirst for reading are precisely those elements which are injuring literature. writers, in order to satisfy the impatient curiosity of the public, write in too great haste, and the mania for foreign literature smothers and corrupts the national genius. nevertheless, dutch literature has still a just claim to the esteem of the country: it has declined, but has not become perverted; it has preserved its innocence and freshness; what is lacking in imagination, originality, and brilliancy is compensated by wisdom, by the severe respect for good manners and good taste, by loving solicitude for the poorer classes, by the effective energy with which it advances charity and civil education. the literatures of other lands are great plants adorned with fragrant flowers; dutch literature is a little tree laden with fruit. on the morning when i left the hague, after my second visit to the city, some of my good friends accompanied me to the railway-station. it was raining. when we were in the waiting-room, before the train started, i thanked my kind hosts for the courteous reception they had given me, and, knowing that perhaps i should never see them again, i could not help expressing my gratitude in sad and affectionate words, to which they listened in silence. only one interrupted me by advising me to guard against the damp. "i hope at least some of you will come to italy," i continued, "if only to give me the opportunity of showing my gratitude. do promise me this, so that i may feel a little consoled at my departure. i will not leave if some one does not say he will come to italy." they looked into each other's faces, and one answered laconically, "perhaps." another advised me not to change french gold in the shops. at that moment the last bell rang. "well, then, good-bye," i said in an agitated voice, pressing their hands. "farewell: i shall never forget the glorious days passed at the hague; i shall always recall your names as the dearest remembrance of my journey. think of me sometimes." "good-bye," they all answered in the same tone, as if they were expecting to see me the next day. i leaped into the railway-carriage stricken at heart, and looked out of the window until the train started, and saw them all standing there, motionless, silent with impassive faces, their eyes fixed on mine. i waved a last farewell, and they responded with a slight bend of the head, and then disappeared from my sight for ever. whenever i think of them i see them just as they were when i left them, in the same attitude, with their serious faces and fixed eyes, and the affection that i feel for them has in it something of austerity and sadness like their native sky on the day when i last beheld them. the end of volume i. [illustration: the delft gate at rotterdam.] dutch life in town and country by p. m. hough, b.a. with thirty-two illustrations contents i. national characteristics ii. court and society iii. the professional classes iv. the position of women v. the workman of the towns vi. the canals and their population vii. a dutch village viii. the peasant at home ix. rural customs x. kermis and st. nicholas xi. national amusements xii. music and the theatre xiii. schools and school life xiv. the universities xv. art and letters xvi. the dutch as readers xvii. political life and thought xviii. the administration of justice xix. religious life and thought xx. the army and navy xxi. holland over sea index list of illustrations the delft gate at rotterdam types of zeeland women zeeland peasant--the dark type a zeeland woman--the dark type dutch fisher girls a bridal pair driving home a dutch street scene a sea-going canal a village in dyke-land a canal in dordrecht an overyssel farmhouse an overyssel farmhouse approach to an overyssel farm zeeland costume zeeland costumes an itinerant linen-weaver farmhouse interior, showing the linen-press type of an overyssel farmhouse a farmhouse interior, showing the door into the stable farmhouse interior, the open fire on the floor palm paschen--begging for eggs rommel pot a hindeloopen lady in national costume rural costume--cap with ruche of fur an overyssel peasant woman zeeland children in state kermis 'hossen-hossen--hi-ha!' st. nicholas going his rounds on december th skating to church parliament house at the hague--view from the great lake interior of delftshaven church (where the pilgrim fathers worshipped before leaving for new england) utrect cathedral dutch life in town and country chapter i national characteristics there is in human affairs a reason for everything we see, although not always reason in everything. it is the part of the historian to seek in the archives of a nation the reasons for the facts of common experience and observation, it is the part of the philosopher to moralize upon antecedent causes and present results. neither of these positions is taken up by the author of this little book. he merely, as a rule, gives the picture of dutch life now to be seen in the netherlands, and in all things tries to be scrupulously fair to a people renowned for their kindness and courtesy to the stranger in their midst. and this strikes one first about holland--that everything, except the old parish churches, the town halls, the dykes and the trees, is in miniature. the cities are not populous, the houses are not large, the canals are not wide, and one can go from the most northern point in the country to the most southern, or from the extreme east to the extreme west, in a single day, and, if it be a summer's day, in _day-light_, while from the top of the tower of the cathedral at utrecht one can look over a large part of the land. [illustration: types of zeeland women.] as it is with the natural so it is with the political horizon. this latter embraces for the average dutchman the people of a country whose interests seem to him bound up for the most part in the twelve thousand square miles of lowland pressed into a corner of europe; for, extensive as the dutch colonies are, they are not 'taken in' by the average dutchman as are the colonies of some other nations. there are one or two towns, such as the hague and arnhem, where an indo-dutch society may be found, consisting of retired colonial civil servants, who very often have married indian women, and have either returned home to live on well-earned pensions or who prefer to spend the money gained in india in the country which gave them birth. but holland has not yet begun to develop as far as she might the great resources of netherlands india, and therefore no very great amount of interest is taken in the colonial possessions outside merely home, official, or indo dutch society. [illustration: zeeland peasant--the dark type.] with regard to the affairs of his country generally, the state of mind of the average dutchman has been well described as that of a man well on in years, who has amassed a fair fortune, and now takes things easily, and loves to talk over the somewhat wild doings of his youth. nothing is more common than to hear the remarks from both old and young, 'we _have_ been great,' 'we have _had_ our time,' 'every nation reaches a climax;' and certainly holland has been very great in statesmen, patriots, theologians, artists, explorers, colonizers, soldiers, sailors, and martyrs. the names of william the silent, barneveldt, arminius, rembrandt, rubens, hobbema, grotius, de ruyter, erasmus, ruysdael, daendels, van speijk, tromp afford proof of the pertinacity, courage, and devotion of netherland's sons in the great movements which have sprung from her soil. to have successfully resisted the might of a philip of spain and the strategy and cruelties of an alva is alone a title-deed to imperishable fame and honour. dutch men and women fought and died at the dykes, and suffered awful agonies on the rack and at the stake. 'they sang songs of triumph,' so the record runs, 'while the grave diggers were shovelling earth over their living faces.' it is not, therefore, to be wondered at that a legacy of true and deep feeling has been bequeathed to their descendants, and the very suspicion of injustice or infringement of what they consider liberty sets the dutchman's heart aflame with patriotic devotion or private resentment. phlegmatic, even comal, and most difficult to move in most things, yet any 'interference' wakes up the dormant spirit which that prince of orange so forcibly expressed when he said, in response to a prudent soldier's ear of consequences if resistance were persisted in, 'we can at least die in the last ditch.' until one understands this tenacity in the dutch character one cannot reconcile the old world methods seen all over the country with the advanced ideas expressed in conversation, books, and newspapers. the dutchman hates to be interfered with, and resents the advice of candid friends, and cannot stand any 'chaff.' he has his kind of humour, which is slow in expression and material in conception, but he does not understand 'banter.' he is liberal in theories, but intensely conservative in practice. he will _agree_ with a new theory, but often _do_ as his grandfather did, and so in holland there may be seen very primitive methods side by side with _fin de siècle_ thought. in a _salon_ in any principal town there will be thought the most advanced, and manner of life the most luxurious; but a stone's-throw off, in a cottage or in a farmhouse just outside the town, may be witnessed the life of the seventeenth century. some of the reasons for this may be gathered from the following pages as they describe the social life and usages of the people. in the seven provinces which comprise the netherlands there are considerable differences in scenery, race, dialect, pronunciation, and religion, and therefore in the features and character of the people. united provinces in the course of time effect a certain homogeneity of purpose and interest, yet there are certain fundamental differences in character. the frisian differs from the zeelander: one is fair and the other dark, and both differ from the hollander. and not only do the provincials differ in character, dialect, and pronunciation from one another, but also the inhabitants of some cities differ in these respects from those of other cities. an educated dutchman can tell at once if a man comes from amsterdam, rotterdam, or the hague. the 'cockney' of these places differs, and of such pronunciations 'hague dutch' is considered the worst, although--true to the analogy of london--the best dutch is heard in the hague. this difference in 'civic' pronunciation is certainly very remarkable when one remembers that the hague and rotterdam are only sixteen miles apart, and the hague and amsterdam only forty miles. arnhem and the hague are the two most cosmopolitan cities in the kingdom, and one meets in their streets all sorts and conditions of the netherlander. [illustration: a zeeland woman--the dark type.] all other towns are provincial in character and akin to the county-town type. even amsterdam, the capital of the country, is only a commercial capital. the court is only there for a few days in each year; parliament does not meet there; the public offices are not situated there; and diplomatic representatives are not accredited to the court at amsterdam but to the court at the hague; and so amsterdam is 'the city,' and no more and no less. this venice of the north looks coldly on the pleasure seeking and loving hague, and jealously on the thriving and rapidly increasing port of rotterdam, and its merchant princes build their villas in the neighbouring and pleasant woods of bussum and hilversum, and near the brilliantly-coloured bulb-gardens of haarlem, living in these suburban places during the summer months, while in winter they return to the fine old houses in the heerengracht and the many other 'grachten' through which the waters of the canals move slowly to the river. but to the hague the city magnates seldom come, and the young men consider their contemporaries of the court capital wanting in energy and initiative, and very proud, and so there is little communication between the two towns--between the city and belgravia. one knows, as one walks in the streets of amsterdam, the hague, rotterdam, or utrecht, that each place is a microcosm devoted to its own particular and narrow interests, and in these respects they are survivals of the italian cities of the middle ages. there is, indeed, great similarity in the style of buildings, and, with the exception of maestricht, in the south of the country, which is mediæval and flemish, one always feels that one is in holland. the neatness of the houses, the straight trees fringing the roads, the canals and their smell, the steam-trams, the sound of the conductor's horn and the bells of the horse-trams, the type of policeman, and above and beyond all the universal cigar--all these things are of a pattern, and that pattern is seen everywhere, and it is not until one has lived in the country for some time that one recognizes that there are differences in the mode of life in the larger towns which are more real than apparent, and that this practical isolation is not realized by the stranger. the country life of the peasant, however, is much more uniform in character, in spite of the many differences in costume and in dialect. the methods of agriculture are all equally old-fashioned, and the peasants equally behind the times in thought. their thrifty habits and devotion to the soil of their country ensure them a living which is thrown away by the country folk of other lands, who at the first opportunity flock into the towns. but the dutch peasant _is_ a peasant, and does not mix, or want to mix, with the townsman except in the way of business. he brings his garden and farm produce for sale, and as soon as that is effected--generally very much to his own advantage, for he is wonderfully 'slim'--he rattles back, drawn by his dogs or little pony, to the farmhouse, and relates how he has come safely back, his stock of produce diminished, but his stock of inventions and subtleties improved and increased by contact with housewives and shopkeepers, who do their best to drive a hard bargain. in dealing with the 'boer' the townspeople's ingenuity is taxed to the utmost in endeavouring to get the better of one whose nature is heavy but cunning, and families who have dealt with the same 'boer' vendor for years have to be as careful as if they were transacting business with an entire stranger. the 'boer's' argument is simplicity itself: 'they try to get the better of me, and i try to get the better of them'--and he _does_ it! if, however, there are these differences between city and city and class and class, there is one common characteristic of the dutchman which, like the mist which envelops meadow and street alike in holland after a warm day, pertains to the whole race, viz. his deliberation, that slowness of thought, speech, and action which has given rise to such proverbs as 'you will see such and such a thing done "in a dutch month."' the netherlander is most difficult to move, but once roused he is far more difficult to pacify. many reasons are given for this 'phlegm,' and most people attribute it to the climate, which is very much abused, especially by dutch people themselves, because of its sunlessness during the winter months; though as a matter of fact the climate is not so very different from that in the greater part of england. the temperature on an average is a little higher in summer and a little lower in winter than in the eastern part of england; but certainly there is in the southern part of the country a softness in the air which is enervating, and in such places as flushing snow is seldom seen, and does not lie long. but the same thing is seen in cornwall. hence this climatic influence is not a sufficient reason in itself to account for the undeniable and general 'slowness' of the dutchman. it is to be found rather in the history of the country, which has taught the netherlander to attempt to prove by other people's experience the value of new ideas, and only when he has done so will he adopt them. this saps all initiative. there is a great lack of faith in everything, in secular as well as religious matters, the dutchman will risk nothing, for four cents' outlay he must be quite certain of six cents in return. as long as he is in this mood the country will 'mark time,' but not advance much. the dutchman believes so thoroughly in being comfortable, and, given a modest income which he has inherited or gained, he will not only not go a penny beyond it in his expenditure, but often he will live very much below it. he would never think of 'living up to' his income; his idea is to leave his children something very tangible in the shape of guldens. a small income and little or no work is a far more agreeable prospect than a really busy life allied to a large income. all the cautiousness of the scotchman the dutchman has, but not the enterprise and industry. with his cosmopolitanism, which he has gained by having to learn and converse in so many languages, in order to transact the large transfer business of such a country as the netherlands, he has acquired all the various views of life which cosmopolitanism opens to a man's mind. the dutchman can talk upon politics extremely well, but his interest is largely academic and not personal; he is as a man who looks on and loves _desipere in loco_. the dutchman is therefore a philosopher and a delightful _raconteur_, but at present he is not doing any very great things in the international battle of life, though when great necessity arises there is no man who can do more or do better. chapter ii court and society society life in holland is, as everywhere else, the gentle art of escaping self-confession of boredom. but society in holland is far different from society abroad, because the hague, the official residence of queen wilhelmina, is not only not the capital of her kingdom, but is only the third town of the country so far as importance and population go. the hague is the royal residence and the seat of the netherlands government; but although, as a rule, cabinet ministers live there, most of the members of the first chamber of the states-general live elsewhere, and a great many of their colleagues of the second chamber follow their example, preferring a couple of hours' railway travelling per day or per week during the time the states sit, to a permanent stay. hence, so far as political importance goes, society has to do without it to a great extent. nor is the hague a centre of science. the universities of leyden, utrecht, and amsterdam are very near, but, as the dutch proverb judiciously says, 'nearly is not half;' there is a vast difference between having the rose and the thing next to it. in consequence the leading scientific men of the netherlands do not, as a rule, add the charm of their conversation to social intercourse at the hague. high life there is represented by members of the nobility and by such high officials in the army, navy, and civil service as mix with that nobility. of course there are sets just as there are everywhere else, sets as delightful to those who are in them as they are distasteful to outsiders; but talent and money frequently succeed in making serious inroads upon the preserves of noble birth. this is, however, unavoidable, for the netherlands were a republic for two centuries, and the scions of the ancient houses are not over-numerous. they fought well in the wars of their country against spain, france, and great britain, but fighting well in many cases meant extermination. on the other hand, two centuries of republican rule are apt to turn any republicans into patricians, particularly so if they are prosperous, self-confident, and well aware of their importance. and a patrician republic necessarily turns into an oligarchy. the prince-merchants of holland were holland's statesmen, holland's absolute rulers; two centuries of heroic struggles, intrepid energy, crowned with success on all sides, may even account for their belief that they were entrusted by the almighty with a special mission to bring liberty, equal rights, and prosperity to other nations. when, after napoleon's downfall, the netherlands constituted themselves a kingdom, the depleted ranks of the aristocracy were soon amply filled from these old patrician families. clause of the netherlands constitution says, 'the queen grants nobility. no dutchman may accept foreign nobility.' this is the only occasion upon which the word nobility appears in any code. no act defines the status, privileges, or rights of this nobility, because there are none. there is, however, a 'hooge raad van adel,' consisting of a permanent chairman, a permanent secretary, and four members, whose functions it is to report on matters of nobility, especially heraldic and genealogic, and on applications from town councils which wish to use some crest or other. this 'high council of nobility' acts under the supervision of the minister of justice, and its powers are regulated by royal decrees, or writs in council. the titles used are 'jonkheer' (baronet) and 'jonkvrouw,' baron and baroness, 'graaf' (earl) and 'gravin.' marquess and duke are not used as titles by dutch noblemen. if any man is ennobled, ail his children, sons as well as daughters, share the privilege, so there is no 'courtesy title;' officially they are indicated by the father's rank from the moment of their birth, but as long as they are young it is the custom to address the boys as 'jonker,' the girls as 'freule.' for the rest, life at the hague is very much like life everywhere else. in summer there is a general exodus to foreign countries; in winter, dinners, bazaars, balls, theatre, opera, a few officiai court functions, which may become more numerous in the near future if the young queen and prince henry are so disposed, are the order of the day. for the present, 'het loo,' that glorious country-seat in the centre of picturesque, hilly, wooded gelderland, continues to be the favourite residence of the court, and only during the colder season is the palace in the 'noordeinde,' at the hague, inhabited by the queen. her majesty, apparently full of youthful mirth and energy, enjoys her life in a wholesome and genuine manner. state business is, of course, dutifully transacted; but as the entire constitutional responsibility rests with the cabinet ministers and the high councils of state, she has no need to feel undue anxiety about her decisions. she is well educated, a strong patriot, and has on the whole a serions turn of mind, which came out in pathetic beauty as she took the oath in the 'nieuwe kerk' of amsterdam at her coronation. how far she and her husband will influence and lead society life in holland remains to be seen. both are young, and their union is younger still. during the late king's life and queen emma's subsequent widowhood, society was for scores of years left to itself, and of course it has settled down into certain grooves. but, on the other hand, the tastes and inclinations of well-bred, well to do people, with an inexhaustible amount of spare time on their hands, and an unlimited appetite for amusement in their minds, are everywhere the same. of course, ministerial receptions, political dinners, and the intercourse of ambassadors and foreign ministers at the hague form a special feature of social life there, but here, again, the hague is just like european capitals generally. once every year the dutch court and the dutch capital proper meet. legally, by the way, it is inaccurate to indicate even amsterdam as the capital of holland; no statute mentions a capital of the kingdom, but by common consent amsterdam, being the largest and most important town, is always accorded that title, so highly valued by its inhabitants. the royal palace in amsterdam is royal enough, and it is also sufficiently palatial, but it is no royal palace in the strict sense of the word. it was built ( - ), and for centuries was used, as a town hall. as such it is a masterpiece, and one's imagination can easily go back to the times when the powerful and masterful burgomasters and sheriffs met in the almost oppressing splendour of its vast hall. it is an ideal meeting-place for stern merchants, enterprising shipowners, and energetic traders. every hall, every room, every ornament speaks of trade, trade, and trade again. and there lies some grim irony in the fact that these merchants, whose meeting-place is surmounted by the proud symbol of atlas carrying the globe, offered that mansion as a residence to their kings, when holland and amsterdam could no longer boast of supporting the world by their wealth and their energy. here they meet once a year--the stern, ancient city, represented by its sturdy citizens, its fair women, its proud inhabitants, and holland's youthful queen, blossoming forth as a symbol of new, fresh life, fresh hope and promise. here they meet, the sons and daughters of the men and women who never gave way, who saw their immense riches accrue, as their liberties grew, by sheer force of will, by inflexible determination, by dauntless power of purpose; here they meet, the last descendant of the famous house of orange-nassau, the queenly bride, whose forefathers were well entitled to let their proud war-cry resound on the battlefields of europe: 'À moi, généreux sang de nassau!' when the queen is in amsterdam the citizens go out to the 'dam,' the square where the palace stands, offering their homage by cheers and waving of hats, and by singing the war-psalm of the old warriors of william the silent, 'wilhelmus van nassouwe.' then the leaders of amsterdam, its merchants, scientists, and artists, leave their beautiful homes on heeren-and keizers-gracht, with their wives and daughters wrapped in costly garments, glittering in profusion of diamonds and rubies and pearls, and drive to the huge palace to offer homage to their queen, just as proud as she, just as patriotic as she, just as faithful and loyal as she. three hundred years have done their incessant work in welding the house of orange and amsterdam together; ruptures and quarrels have occurred; yet, after every struggle, both found out that they could not well do without each other; and now when the queen and the city meet, mutual respect, mutual confidence, and reciprocal affection attest the firm bond which unites them. to the amsterdam patriciate the yearly visit of the queen is a social function full of interest. to the queen it is more than that; she visits not only the patricians, she also visits the people, the poor and the toilers. of course amsterdam has its socialists, and a good many of them, too, and socialists are not only fiery but also vociferous republicans as a rule, who believe that royalty and a queen are a blot upon modern civilization. but their sentiments, however well uttered, are not popular. for when 'our child,' as the queen is still frequently called, drives through the workmen's quarter of amsterdam, the 'jordaan' (a corruption of the french _jardin_), the bunting is plentiful, the cheering and singing are more so, and the general enthusiasm surpasses both. the 'man in the street,' that remarkable political genius of the present age, has scarcely ever wavered in his simple affection for his prince and princess of orange; and though this affection is personal, not political--for nothing is political to 'the man in the street'--there it is none the less, and it does not give way to either reasoning or prejudice. such is the external side of court life. internally it strikes one as simple and unaffected. queen emma was a lady possessing high qualifications as a mother and as a ruler. she grasped with undeniable shrewdness the popular taste and fancy, she had no difficulty in realizing that her rather easy-going, sometimes blustering, consort could have retained a great deal more of his popularity by very simple means, if he had cared to do so. she did care, so she allowed her little girl to be a little girl, and she let the people notice it. she went about with her, all through the country, and the people beheld not two proud princesses, strutting about in high and mighty manner, but a gracions, kind lady and an unaffected child. this child showed a genuine interest in sport in friesland, in excavations in maastricht, in ships and quays and docks in rotterdam and amsterdam, and in hospitals and orphanages everywhere. anecdotes came into existence--the little queen had been seen at 'hop-scotch,' had refused to go to bed early, had annoyed her governess, had been skating, had been snow balling her royal mother, etc. and later, when she was driving or riding, when she attended state functions or paid official visits, there was always a simplicity in her turn out, a quiet dignity in her demeanour, which proved that she felt no particular desire to advertise herself as one of the wealthiest sovereigns of the world by the mere splendour of her surroundings. this supreme tact of queen emma resulted in her daughter being educated as a queen, as the dutch like their sovereigns. court life in the hague or at the loo certainly lacks neither dignity nor brilliancy, but it lacks showiness, and many an english nobleman lives in a grander style than holland's queen. now, education may bend, but it does not alter a charactcr, and whatever qualifies may have adorned or otherwise influenced the late king, he was no more a stickler for etiquette or a lover of display than queen emma has proved to be. so there is a probability that their daughter will also be satisfied with very limited show, and if prince henry be wise, he will not interfere with the queen's inclinations. he is said to be 'horsy,' but the same may be said of her, though as yet her 'horsiness' has not become an absorbing passion, nor is it likely to be. it is said also that she abhors music; but as long as she, as queen, does not transfer her abhorrence from the art to the artists, no harm will be done. the facts are that, simple as her tastes are, she does not impose her simplicity upon others. when she presides at state dinners or at court dinners, she is entirely the _grande dame_, but when she is allowed to be wholly herself, in a small, quiet circle, she is praised by every one, low or high, who has been favoured with an invitation to the royal table, for her natural and unaffected manners, her urbanity, and her gentle courtesy. chapter iii the professional classes the professional classes of holland show their characteristics best in the social circle in which they move and find their most congenial companionships. imagine, then, that we are the guests of the charming wife of a successful counsel ('advocaat en procureur')--mr. walraven, let us call him--settled in a large and prosperous provincial town. she is a typical dutch lady, with bright complexion, kind, clear blue eyes, rather dark eyebrows, which give a piquant air to the white and pink of the face, and a mass of fair golden hair, simply but tastefully arranged, leaving the ears free, and adorning but not hiding the comely shape of the head. she wears a dark-brown silk dress, covered with fine brussels lace around the neck, at the wrists, along the bodice, and here and there on the skirt. a few rings glitter on her fingers, and her hands are constantly busy with a piece of point lace embroidery; for many dutch ladies cannot stand an evening without the companionship of a 'handwerkje,' as fancy-needlework is called. it does not in the least interfere with their conversational duties. she is rather tall. dutch men and women seem to have all sizes equally distributed amongst them; it cannot be said that they are a short people, like the french and the belgians, nor can the indication of middle size be so rightly applied to them as to their german neighbours, whereas the taller anglo-saxons can frequently find their match in the netherlands. the room in which we are seated is furnished in so-called 'old dutch style.' my friend and his wife have collected fine old wainscots, sideboards and cupboards of richly carved oak in friesland and in the flemish parts of belgium. their tables and chairs are all of the same material and artistically cut. a very dark, greenish-grey paper covers the walls; the curtains, the carpet, and the doors are in the same slightly sombre shades. venetian mirrors, delft, chinese and rouen china plates, arranged along the walls, over the carved oak bench, and on the over-mantel, make delightful patches of bright colour in the room, and the easy-chairs are as stylish as they are comfortable. our visit has fallen in the late autumn, and the gas burns bnghtly in the bronze chandelier, while the fire in the old-fashioned circulating stove, a rare specimen of ancient flemish design, makes the room look cosy and hospitable. for the moment our friend the lawyer is absent. he has been called away to his study, for a client has come to see him on urgent business, and we are left in the gracious society of his wife in the comfortable sitting-room. on the table the japan tray, with its silver teapot, sugar-basin, milk-jug and spoon-box of mother-of-pearl and crystal, and its dark-blue real china cups and saucers, enjoys the company of two silver boxes, on silver trays, full of all sorts of 'koekjes' (sweet biscuits). many dutch families like to take a 'koekje' with their tea, tea-time falling in holland between and o'clock, half-way between dinner at or p.m. and supper at or p.m. a cigar-stand is not wanting, nor yet dainty ash-trays; while by the side of our hostess is an old-fashioned brass 'komfoor,' or chafer,[footnote: _komfoor_ (or _kaffoor_) and _chafer_ are etymologically the same word, derived from the latin _califacere_. the french member of the family is _chauffoir_.] on a high foot, so that within easy reach of the lady's hand is the handle of the brass kettle, in which the 'theewater' is boiling. conversation turns from politics and literature to the ball to which my hostess, her husband, and we as their guests have been invited at a friend's house. she intends to go earlier; he and we are to follow later in the evening, for that evening his 'krans' is to meet at his house, and it will keep us till eleven o'clock. a 'krans' is simply a small company of very good friends who meet, as a rule, once a month, at the house of one of them, and at such meetings converse about things in general. the english word for 'krans' is 'wreath,' and the name indicates the intimate and thoroughly friendly relations existing between the composing members. they are twisted and twined together not merely by affectionate feeling, but also by equality of social position, education, and intelligence. our friend's little circle numbers seven, and as every one of them happens to be the leading man in his profession in that town, and in consequence wields a powerful influence, their 'krans' is generally nicknamed the 'heptarchy.' our friend the lawyer is not only a popular legal adviser, but as 'wethouder' (alderman) for finance and public works he is the much-admired originator of the rejuvenated town. the place had been fortified in former days, but after the home defence of holland was re-organized and a system of defence on a coherent and logically conceived basis accepted, all fortified towns disappeared and became open cities, of which this was one. the public-spirited lawyer grasped the situation at once, and, spurred by his influence and enthusiasm, the town council adopted a large scheme of streets, roads, parks, and squares, so that when all was completed the inhabitants of the old city scarcely knew where they were. besides this, he is legal adviser of the local branch of the netherlands bank, a director on the boards of various limited companies, and the president-director of a prosperous savings bank. nevertheless, he finds time in his crowded life to read a great deal, to see his friends occasionally, and to keep up an incessant courtship of his handsome wife, who in return asseverates that he is the most sociable husband in the world. after walraven has returned to the tea table, his admiring consort leaves us, and shortly afterwards his best friend, within and without the 'krans,' dr. klaassen, appears on the scene. he and dr. klaassen were students at the same university, and nothing is better fitted to form lifelong friendship than the freedom of holland's university life and university education. dr. klaassen is one of the most attractive types of the dutch medical man. his university examinations did not tie him too tightly to his special science. like ail dutch students, he mixed freely with future lawyers, clergymen, philosophers, and philologists, and it is often said that while the university teaches young men chiefly sound methods of work, students in holland acquire quite as much instruction from each other as from their professors. doctor klaassen left the university as fresh as when he entered it, and ready to take a healthvariousest in all departments of human affairs. he is a man to whom the homeric phrase might well be applied--'a physician is a man knowing more than many others.' his non-professional work takes him to the boards and comrmttees of societies promoting charity, ethics, religion, literature, and the fine arts. the local branch of the famous 'maatschappÿ tot nut van 't algemeen' (the 'society for promoting the common-weal') and its various institutions, schools, libraries, etc., find in him one of their most energetic and faithful directors; a local hospital admitting people of all religions denominations has grown up by his untiring energy; and he prepared the basis upon which younger men afterwards built what is now a model institution in holland; nor does he forget the poor and the orphans, to whom he gives quite half his time, though how much of his money he gives them nobody knows, least of all he himself. the reverend mr. barendsen, the third arrival, is a very different person. his sermons are eloquent; he is a fluent speaker--too fluent, some say, for words and phrases come so easily to him that the lack of thought is not always felt by this preacher, although noticed by his flock. now, a sermon for dutch protestants is a difficult thing; it has to be long enough to fill nearly a whole service of about two hours; and it is listened to by educated and uneducated people, who all expect to be edified. dominee barendsen, like so many of his colleagues, tries to meet this difficulty by giving light nourishment in an attractive form. but if his sermons do not succeed as well as his kind intentions deserve, his influence is firmly established by his sympathetic personality. he may be much more superficial than his two friends; he may be less dogged, less tenacious than they; yet his fertile brain, his quick intelligence, and his serious character have won for him a unique position, and his public influence is very great. both doctor and parson meet and mix in the best society of the town, but the slums of the poor are also equally well known to them; neither is a member of the town council, but the same institutions have their common support. livings in holland are not over-luxurious; and the consequence is that many 'dominees' go out lecturing, or make an additional income by translating or writing books. some of holland's best and most successful authors and poets are, or were, clergymen, such as allard pierson, p. a. de génestet, nicolaas beets (hildebrand), coenraad busken huet, j. j. l. ten kate, dr. jan ten brink, bernard ter haar, etc. dominee barendsen is likewise well known in dutch literary circles. general hendriks is the next to be announced. dutch officers do not like to go about in their uniform, but the gallant general is also expected at the ball, and so he has donned his military garments. he is a 'genist,' a royal engineer, and had his education at the royal military academy at breda. this means that he is no swashbuckler, but a genial, well-mannered, open-minded and well-read gentleman, with a somewhat scientific turn of mind and a rare freedom from military prejudice. hollanders are not a military people in the german sense, and fire-eaters and military fanatics are rare, but they are rarest amongst the officers of the general staff, the royal engineers, and the artillery. general hendriks married a lady of title with a large fortune, so his position is a very pleasant one. his friendship for the other 'heptarchists' is necessarily of recent date, for he has been abroad a great deal, and was five years in the dutch east indies fighting in the endless war against atchin. his stay there has widened his views still more, and when he tells of his experiences he is at once interesting and attractive, for he is well-informed and a charming _raconteur_. his rank causes society to impose on him duties which he is inclined to consider as annoying, but he fulfils them graciously enough. he is a popular president-director of the "groote societeit" (the great club), and of caecilia, the most prominent society for vocal and instrumental music; and whenever races, competitions, exhibitions, bazaars, and similar social functions, to which the dutch are greatly addicted, take place, general hendriks is sure to be one of the honorary presidents, or at least a member of the working board, and his urbanity and affability are certain to ensure success. he has been a member of the states-general, and is said to be a probable future minister of war. but the weak spot in his heart is for poetry and for literature generally; the number of poems he knows by heart is marvellous, and at the meetings of the heptarchy he freely indulges his love of quotations, a pleasure he strictly denies himself in other surroundings, for fear of boring people. but everybody has a dim presumption that the general knows a good deal more than most people are aware of, and this dim presumption is strengthened by the very firm conviction that he is an exceedingly genial man and a 'jolly good fellow.' mr. ariens, lit.d., 'rector of the gymnasium (equivalent to head-master of a grammar school), is the most remarkable type even in this very remarkable set of men. he is highly unconventional, and his boys adore him, while his old boys admire him, and the parents are his perennial debtors in gratitude. he is unconventional in everything, in his dress, in his way of living, in his opinions and judgments, but he parades none of these, reducing them to neither a whim nor a hobby. he passed some years in the dutch indies, travelled all over europe, knows more of greek, latin, and antiquities than anybody else, and is as thoroughly scientific as any university professer. but the government will never give him a vacant chair, for his pedagogical powers surpass even his scientific abilities, and they cannot spare such men in such places. to some aristocratic people his noble simple-mindedness is downright appalling; but when he goes about in dull, cold, wintry weather and visits the poor wretches in the slums, where nature and natural emotions and forms of speech are quite unconventional, he is duly appreciated. for he is not only a splendid 'gymnasii rector,' he is also a very charitable man, though he likes only one form of charity, that by which the rich man first educates himself into being the poor man's friend, and then only offers his sympathy and help, the charity which the one can give and the other take without either of them feeling degraded by the act. he is not a public-body man, our 'rector,' but his friends appreciate his keen, just judgment. they may disagree with him on some points, but a discussion with him is always interesting on account of his original, fresh method of thought, and instructive by reason of his very superior and universal knowledge. his best friend is mr. jacobs, a civil engineer. dutch civil engineers are educated at delft, at the polytechnic school, after having passed their final examination at a 'higher burgher school.' boys of sixteen or seventeen are not fit to digest sciences by the dozen, and, however pleasant and convenient it may be to become a walking cyclopedia, a cyclopedia is not a living book, but a dead accumulation of dead knowledge, which may inform though it does not educate. happily, the majority of dutch engineers are saved by the polytechnic school, where they have about the same liberty as undergraduates at the universities to go their own way. educationally they are not so well equipped, attention only being paid to mental instruction, for the director of a 'higher burgher school' is a different man from the rector of a gymnasium, while the system over which he presides is more or less incoherent so far as educational considerations go. but if a civil engineer is a success he is generally a big one. so is mr. jacobs. he is thoroughly well read, though his reading may be somewhat desultory. his splendid memory, assisted by a remarkably quick wit, allows him to feel interested in nearly everything--sociology, literature, art, music, theatre, sport, charity, municipal enterprise. if he is superficial, nobody notices it, for he is much too smart to show it. his general level-headedness makes him an inexhaustible source of admiration to dr. ariens, whose peer he is in kindness of heart. his manner is irreproachable; he never loses his temper in discussion, and treats his opponents in such a quiet, courteous way that they are obviously sorry to disagree with him. his business capacities are of the first rank; he makes as much money as he likes, and however crowded his life may be, he always finds time for more work. he is a member of the town council and a staunch supporter of walraven's progressive plans. walraven has certain misgivings about jacobs' thoroughness, but he fully realizes his friend's quick grasp of things. he may build bridges, irrigate whole districts, and drain marshes in holland, open up mines in spain, build docks in america, or hunt for petroleum in russia; he is always sure to succeed, and a fair profit for himself, at any rate, is the invariable result of his exertions. he travels a great deal, knows everybody everywhere, and always turns up again in the old haunts, bristling with interesting information, visibly enjoying his busy, full life, and not without a certain vanity, arising from the feeling that his fellow-citizens are rather proud of him. the last to come is mr. smits, president of the court of justice, a man of philosophical turn of mind, an ardent student of social problems, a fine lawyer, a first-rate speaker, a shrewd judge of men, and a tolerant and mild critic of their weaknesses. he also is a member of the town council, and, like jacobs, a member of a municipal committee of which walraven is the chairman. their duties are the supervision and general management of the communal trade and industry, such as tramways, gas-works, water-supply, slaughter-houses, electrical supply, corn exchange, public parks and public gardens, hothouses and plantations, etc. smits is also the chairman of two debating societies, one for workmen and the other for the better educated classes; but social problems are the chief topics discussed at both. these societies, he says, keep him well in touch with the general drift of the popular mind; as a fact, by his encouraging ways, he draws from the people what is in their thoughts and hearts, and very often succeeds in correcting wrong impressions and conceptions. he is also the worshipful master of the local masonic lodge, 'the three rings,' so called after the famous parable of religions tolerance in lessing's noble drama, _nathan der weise_. dutch freemasonry is not churchy as in england; it is charitable, teaches ethics as distinct from, but not opposed to, religion, admits men of all creeds and of no creed whatever, and preaches tolerance all round; but it fights indifferentism, apathy, or carelessness on all matters affecting the material, intellectual, and psychical well-being of mankind. smits feels very strongly on all these matters, and his enthusiasm is of a staying kind; but the ancient device 'suaviter in modo' has quite as much charm for him as its counterpart, 'fortiter in re.' the consequence is that superficial people take him for a socialist because he neither prosecutes nor persecutes socialists for the opinions they hold. himself an agnostic, and lacking religions sentiment, he realises so well the supreme influence of religion on numberless people and the comfort they derive from it, that many consider him not nearly firm enough in his intercourse with roman catholics or 'orthodox' protestants, with whom, in fact, he frequently arranges political 'deals.' for smits is, if not the chairman, the most influential and active member of the liberal caucus; and, being in favour of proportional representation, he insists that the other political parties shall have their fair number of town councillors. such are the men who come together in this elegant and yet homely sitting-room; each of them a leader in his profession, each of them coming in daily and close contact with all sorts and conditions of men and women in the town, and enabled by their wide and unbiassed views of humanity and human affairaffairsntrol them and to divert the common energies in wise paths. the 'heptarchy' has, of course, no legal standing as such, but from their conversations one understands the influence which its members wield by their intellectual and moral superiority. they conspire in no way to attain certain ends, but discuss things as intimately as only brothers or man and wife can discuss them, in the genial intimacy of their unselfish friendship. they generally agree on the lines to be taken in certain matters, but even if they fail to agree, this does not prevent them from acting according to their own rights, still respecting each other's convictions and preferences. and not only local topics are discussed in the meetings of the 'heptarchy,' for politics, art, trade, and science, foreign and dutch, come within their scope; for their intellectual outlook, like their sympathies, is universal. towards eleven o'clock we take leave of each other. walraven, hendriks, and ourselves go to the ball at the house of the 'commissaris der koningin' (queen's commissioner), the lord-lieutenant of the county, baron alma van strae. baron and baroness alma live in a palatial mansion, and we find the huge reception and drawing rooms full of a gay crowd of young folk. the rooms are beautifully decorated, there is a profusion of flowers and palms in the halls and on the stairs; and a host of footmen in bright-buttoned, buff-coloured livery coats, short trousers, and white stockings, move quietly about, betraying the well-trained instincts of hereditary lackeydom. there are county councillors, judges, officers of army and navy, bankers, merchants, manufacturers, town councillors, the mayor and town clerk, the president and some members of the chamber of commerce, and committee-men of orphanages and homes for old people. all have brought their wives, daughters, and sons to do the dancing, for though they occasionally join themselves, they prefer to indulge in a quiet game of whist or to settle down in baron alma's smoking and billiard room for a cigar. these social fonctions, however, are much the same in holland as in other countries. etiquette may differ in small details, but on the whole the world of society lives the same life, cultivates the same interests, and amuses or bores itself in much the same fashion. it is _tout comme chez nous_ in this as in nearly everything else. on the whole, this elegant crowd shows a somewhat greater amount of deference towards professionals than towards officials. doctors, lawyers, and parsons are clearly highly esteemed; it is the victory of intellect in a fair field of encounter. in the hague the officials beat them, but not so much on account of their office as in consrquence of the fact that so many are titled persons, highly connected and frequently well off. but after the great revolution and the napoleonic times officialdom lost its influence and social importance in holland in consequence of the demolition of the oligarchic, patrician republic; and clause five of the netherlands constitution, which declares that 'every netherlander may be appointed to every public office,' is a very real and true description of the actual, visible facts of social life. chapter iv the position of women the dutch woman, generally speaking, is not the 'new woman' in the sense of taking any very definite part in the politics of the country. neither does she interest herself, or interfere, in ecclesiastical matters. dutchmen have not a very high opinion of the mental and administrative qualities of their womenfolk outside of what is considered their sphere, but for all that the women of the upper class are certainly more clever than the men, but as they do not take any practical part in the questions which are 'burning,' as far as any question does burn in this land of dampness, their interest is academic rather than real. the wives of the small shopkeeper, the artisan, and the peasant take much the same place as women of these classes in other european countries. they are kind mothers, thrifty housewives, very fond of their 'man,' not averse to the fascinations of dress, and in their persons and houses extremely trim and tidy, while the poorest quarters of the large towns are, compared with the slums of london, manchester, and liverpool, pictures of neatness. it is true that windows are seldom opened, for no dutch window opens at the top, and so in passing by an open door in the poor quarters of a town one gets a whiff of an inside atmosphere which baffles description; but the inside of the house is 'tidy,' and one can see the gleam of polished things, telling of repeated rubbings, scrubbings, and scourings. in fact, cleanliness in holland has become almost a disease, and scrubbing and banging go on from morning until night both outside and inside a house. probably the abundant supply of water accounts for the universal washing, for, not content with washing everything inside a house, they wash the outside too, and even the bark of any trees which happen to lie within the zone of operations. the plinths and bricks of the houses are scrubbed as far as the arms can reach or a little hand-squirt can carry water. in cottages both in town and country there is the same cleanliness, but the people stop short of washing themselves, and the bath among the poorer classes is practically unknown. people of this kind may not have had one for thirty or forty years, and will receive the idea with derision and look on the practice as a 'fad,' while the case of many animals is seriously cited as an argument that it is quite unnecessary. a doctor told me once of a rich old patient of the farming class near utrecht who, on being ordered a bath, said, 'any amount of physic, but a bath--never!' on the principle that you cannot do everything, personal cleanliness is apt to go to the wall, and the energies of the dutchwomen of the lower middle and the poorer classes are concentrated on washing everything _inanimate,_ even the brick footpath before the houses, which accounts for the clean appearance of the dutch streets in town and country. even a heavy downpour of rain does not interfere with the housewife's or servant's weekly practice, and you will see servants holding up umbrellas while they wash the fronts of the houses. this excessive cleanliness, together with the other household duties of mother and wife, fills up the ordinary day, and a newspaper or book is seldom seen in their hands. passing on to the middle class, we find the mistress's time largely taken up with directing the servants and bargaining with the tradesmen, who in many cases bring their goods round from house to house. the lady of the house takes care to lock up everything after the supplies for the day have been given out, and the little basket full of keys which she carries about with her is a study in itself. even in the upper class this locking up is a general practice, for very few people keep a housekeeper. the mistress also takes care of the 'pot.' this is an ingenious but objectionable device to make a guest pay for his dinner. on leaving a house after dining you give one of the servants a florin, and all the money so collected is put into a box, and at certain times is divided between the servants, so that a servant on applying for a situation asks what is the value of the 'pot' in the year. there are signs of this practice of feeing servants after a dinner being done away with, for it spoils the idea of hospitality, and one's host on bidding you 'good-bye' resorts to many little artifices in order not to see that you do fee his servant, added to which you are very likely to shake hands with him with the florin in your hand, which you have been furtively trying to transfer to the left hand from the right, and very often the guest drops the wretched coin in his efforts to give it unseen. it is to be hoped that the ladies of holland will succeed in abolishing a custom which is disagreeable alike to entertainer and entertained. the women of the upper middle class are certainly much better educated than their english sisters. they always can speak another language than their own, and very often two, french and english now being common, while a few add german and a little italian, but most of them read german, if they do not speak it. french is universal, however, for the french novel is far more to the taste than the more sober english book. the number and quality of these french books read by the dutch young lady are enough to astonish and probably shock an english girl, who reads often with difficulty the safe 'daudet' ('sapho' excepted), but the young dutchwoman knows of no _index expurgatorius,_ and reads what she likes. at the same time the classics of england and germany are very generally read and valued, and many a dutchwoman could pass a better examination on the text and meaning of shakespeare than the english-woman, whose knowledge is too often limited to memories of the cambridge texts of the great poets used in schools. but, well educated as the dutchwoman undoubtedly is, there is nothing about her of the 'blue-stocking,' and she does not impress you as being clever until a long acquaintance has brought out her many-sided knowledge. the great pity is that her education leads to so little, for there are very few channels into which a dutchwoman can direct her knowledge. politics turn for the most part on differences in religions questions, which are abstruse and dry to the feminine mind, and of practical political life she sees nothing. there is no 'terrace,' no primrose league, no canvassing, no political _salon_, no excitement about elections; and added to these negatives, women get snubbed if they venture opinions on political matters, and young people generally look upon politics _et hoc genus omne_ as a bore, and the names of the great statesmen at the helm of affairs are frequently not even known by the younger generation. little interest is also taken in the army and navy, owing to the fact that there is so little active service in the former and to the smallness of the latter; and woman does not care much about orders, regulations, manoeuvres and comparative strengths--she wants 'heroes,' and to know what they have done, and does not consider what the 'services' might, could, or should do. the officers who have served in india and have seen active service rank high in her estimation, but as these are few, beyond the affection bestowed upon soldier husband, brother, or lover, which is chiefly displayed in anxiety lest they should be sent to do garrison duty in some town where social advantages are small or _nil_, there is no great interest taken in army affairs by the dutchwoman. as to the navy, they philosophically acquiesce in the fact that as a ship must sail on the water they must patiently bear the necessary separation from their sailor friends. when we come to things ecclesiastical there is still less interest taken in the church. the roman catholic church is outside the question, for the position of the laity there has been well described as 'kneeling in front of the altar, sitting under the pulpit, and putting one's hand in one's pocket without demur when money is required.' the protestant laity, however, do not take any great interest in the national church, and while there are deaconesses devoted to nursing and all good works, as there are _soeurs de charité_ in the roman communion, yet the rank and file of dutchwomen do not trouble about their church beyond attending it occasionally--one may say, very occasionally. there is but little brightness in the services of the reformed church, no ritual, no scope for artistic work, no curates, and above and beyond ail, no career in the church for the clergy. at the best they may get sent to one of the large towns, but the life is the same as in the village for the wife of the 'domine,' as the dutch pastor is called. and if the domines move about in fear and trembling because of the argus-eyes and often midas-like ears of the deacons, their wives must be still more discreet. one 'domine' has been known to brave public opinion and ride a bicycle, but for a mother in israel to do the like would scandalize all good members of the reformed church. the wives of the clergy, however, do good and useful work, and probably are more real helpmeets to their husbands than women in any other class of what may be called official life, but they take no sort of lead in parochial or ecclesiastical matters. they do not direct the feminine influences which do work in the parish, but rather take their place as one of them. if, therefore, a woman marries a clergyman, she does so for love of the man and his work's sake; there cannot be a tinge of ambition as to the career of her husband, for there are no such things as comfortable rectories and prospective deaneries or bishoprics, with their consequent influence and power. nothing but love of the man brings the 'domine' a wife, and she knows that there will be inquisitorial eyes and not too kind speeches about her behaviour from the 'faithful,' while the great people, to their loss, will ignore her socially in much the same way as queen elizabeth did the wives of the bishops in her day. passing to lighter subjects, dutch girls are now breaking loose from the stiffness and espionage in which their mothers were brought up, and this is without doubt in a large measure due to the introduction of sport. tennis, hockey, golf, and more especially bicycling have conferred, by the force of circumstances, a freedom which strength of argument, entreaty, and tears failed to effect. mothers and and chaperons do not, as a rule, bicycle, and play tennis and golf; they cannot always go to club meetings, even to yawn through the sets, and so the young people play by themselves, and there are fast growing a lack of restraint and a healthy freedom of intercourse which are gravely deprecated by grand-mammas, winked at by mothers, but enjoyed to the full by daughters. but quidnuncs prophesy, however, that people will not marry as early as of yore, for young people get to know one another too well by unrestricted intercourse, and the halo with which each sex surrounds the other is dispelled. be this as it may, no dutch girl wishes to go back to the old days when she could go nowhere alone. yet, however much men like to have women as companions in games, they are not so willing to allow them much to say in matters which the masculine mind considers its own province; for the fact is that most dutchmen consider women inferiors, and when there is a question of admittance into literary or artistic circles and clubs, women's work has to be of an undeniably high order. there are one or two ladies' clubs, but they do not at present flourish, there being so few public platforms on which women can meet, and so the 'social grade' determines women's relative position by women's votes, and there is small chance of crossing the rubicon then. there is no doubt, however, that women in holland are slowly winning their way to greater independence of life. they are filling posts in public offices; they are going to the universities; they are studying medicine and qualifying as doctors; and no doubt they will in time compel men to acknowledge their claims to live an independent life rather than a dependent one. besides, in holland, as in other countries, the proportion between the sexes is unequal, and so necessity will force open doors of usefulness hitherto closed to women. the dutchwoman dresses expensively in all the towns, and generally well. the toilettes are mostly of a german model, which suits the build of the dutchwoman better than the fashions of paris. rarely, however, do women dress in that simple style in vogue in english morning dress, and a dutch town or seaside resort is filled in the mornings with gay toilettes more fitted for the row or the boulevard. even when bicycling the majority do not dress very simply. [illustration: dutch fisher-girls.] [illustration: a bridal pair driving home.] holland has always been noted for the variety and quaintness of its provincial and even communal costumes, and these may all still be seen, though they are dying out slowly. in some, and in fact many cases, a modern bonnet is worn over a beautiful gold or silver headpiece, fringed with lace, but ancient and modern do not in such cases harmonize. of the distinctly provincial costumes, that of friesland is generally considered the prettiest, but as illustrations are given of them all in a later chapter, it must be left to the reader to decide the point for himself. the fisherfolk more than any other retain their distinctive dress, although even among them some of the children are habited according to modern ideas, and certainly when the women are doomed to wear fourteen or sixteen skirts, which have the effect of making them liable to pulmonary complaints, it is surprising that modern fashions are not more generally adopted. the plea for modernity in respect of dutch national costumes is considered rank heresy among artists, but the figures look better in a picture and at a distance than in everyday life, added to which the custom of cutting off or hiding the hair, which some of the head-dresses compel, is not one to be encouraged; and it is a wonder that woman, who knows as a rule her charms, has for so long consented to be deprived of one of the chief ones. but in holland, as in all countries where education is spreading, cosmopolitanism in dress is increasing, and the picturesque tends to give place to the convenient and in many cases the healthy. marriage with all its preliminaries is woman's triumph, and in holland she makes the most of it. the manner of seeking a wife and proposing is no doubt the same in the netherlands as in other european countries, with the exception of france; but once accepted, the happy man must resign himself to the accustomed routine. first of all he exchanges rings, so that a man who is engaged or married betrays the fact as well as a woman by a plain gold ring worn on the third finger. a girl, therefore, has a better chance against those who were 'deceivers ever' than in a country where no such outward and visible sign exists. the engagement is announced by cards being sent out, counter-signed by the parents on both sides, and a day is fixed for receiving the congratulations. the betrothed are then considered almost married. engagements are, of course, frequently broken off, but such a thing as an action for 'breach of promise' is impossible, and would be considered most mercenary and mean. as a rule, engagements are not long, and as soon as the wedding-day is agreed upon, the preceding fortnight is filled with parties of various kinds, while there is another great reception just before the wedding day, in which, as before, the bride and bridegroom have to stand for hours receiving the congratulations of their friends. every now and then they will snatch a chance to sit down, but another arrival brings them again to their feet, weary but smiling. on the wedding morning the happy couple drive to the town hall; for all marriages must first be celebrated by the civil authorities, and so they appear before the burgomaster, who says something appropriate, and they make their vows and sign the papers, after which, if they desire it, there is a service at the church which is called a 'benediction,' at which they are blessed, and have to listen to a long sermon, at the close of which a bible is given them. this sermon is not the least of the trying experiences, for frequently many of the older members of the party are reduced to tears by allusions to former members of the two families, and all sorts of subjects alien to the particular service are introduced. at a recent wedding known to me, the guests had to listen to a long address in which the transvaal war and the paris exhibition were commented upon. not only so, but no fewer than three collections are taken at the service, so that people who desire to enter into the holy estate of matrimony must not lack fortitude when they have made up their minds to it. but once married, a dutch home is indeed 'home, sweet home,' as is the case more or less in all the northern countries, where the changeful climate compels people to live a great deal within four walls. dutch fathers are kind, and the mothers are indulgent, and among the poorer classes especially family affection is very great. most beautiful and touching instances might be abundantly quoted of family devotion, and a society like that for the 'prevention of cruelty to children' would find little to do in holland. chapter v the workman of the towns the condition of the dutch urban working classes is by no means an enviable one. granting that wages are much higher than half a century ago, when bread cost fivepence-halfpenny the loaf as against three halfpence to-day, and when clothes and furniture cost fifty per cent. more than now, the average working-man cannot be otherwise described than as distinctly poor when compared with his english colleague. yet it would be misleading to judge exclusively by the scale of wages, and against making comparisons of the kind the reader should at once be warned. the fact is that there are very wide divergences of condition amongst the working classes of holland. a carpenter or a blacksmith earning from £ to £ s. in weekly wages all the year round will rank, if sober and well-behaved, as a comparatively well-to-do workman. on the other hand, a bricklayer or a painter, whose work in winter is very uncertain, and who earns, maybe, a bare £ a week during the nine months of the year wherein he can find work, is a poor workman at the best, and his condition is greatly to be deplored. more pitiable still, however, is the case of working-class families in some of the manufacturing towns, where wages are still lower, and where an even tolerable standard of life cannot be maintained unless mother and children take their place in the factory side by side with the head of the household as regular wage-earners. for, as labour is cheap and families are numerous in holland, as soon as the boys and girls have reached the sacramental age of twelve, at which dutch law allows them to work twelve hours a day, they leave school, and enter the factory and workshop. it is no joke for these children, who have to leave their little beds, frequently under the tiles, at or a.m., or earlier, summer and winter, to gulp down some hot coffee, or what is conveniently called so, to swallow a huge piece of the well-known dutch 'roggebrood,' or rye-bread, and then to hurry, in their wooden shoes, through the quiet streets of the town to their place of work. sometimes they have time to return home at or . a.m. for a second hurried 'breakfast,' which as often as not is their first, for many of them start the day's work on an empty stomach. those who cannot run home and back in the half-hour usually allowed for the first 'schaft,' or meal-time, take their bread-and-butter with them in a cotton or linen bag, and their milk-and-water or coffee in a tin, and so shift as well as they can. dinner-time, as a rule, finds the whole family united from about twelve until one o'clock or half-past in the kitchen at home. this kitchen is, of course, used for cooking, washing, dwelling, and sleeping purposes. the walls are whitewashed, and the floor consists of flag-stones. of luxury there is none, of comfort little. generally the fare of the day is potatoes, with some vegetable, carrots, turnips, cabbage, or beans. a piece of bacon, rarely some beef, is sometimes added; while mutton is hardly ever eaten in holland, unless by very poor people. fish is too expensive for most of them, except fried kippers or bloaters. if there is time over, and the house has a little garden attached to it, the children help by watering the vegetables growing there, should it be summer-time, or by making themselves generally useful. but at or . they have to be back at the workshop, and until p.m. the drudgery goes on again. on saturday evening the boy brings his sixpence, or whatever his trifling wages may be, to his mother. rent and the club-money for illness and funeral expenses must be at hand when the collectors call either on sunday or monday morning. as a rule, though the exceptions are numerous enough, the father also brings his whole pay with him; but drink is the curse--a decreasing curse, it may be, but still a curse--of many a workman's family, and in such cases the inroads it makes in the domestic budget are very serious. so the boys grow up, in a busy, monotonous life, until they are called upon to subject themselves to compulsory military service. before they become recruits they have usually joined various societies--debating, theatrical, social, political, or other. arnold toynbee has a good many admirers and followers in holland, who do yeoman's work after his spirit, and bring bright, healthy pleasure into the lives of these youthful toilers. divines of all denominations, protestant and catholic, have also their 'at homes' and their 'congregations,' and innocent amusement is not unseldom mixed with religious teaching at their meetings. in this way, too, a helpful, restraining influence is exerted upon youth. and gradually the boy becomes a young man, associating with other young men, and, like his wealthier neighbours, discussing the world's affairs, dreaming of drastic reforms, and thinking less and less of the dreary home, where father and mother, grown old before their time, are little more than the people with whom he boards, and who take the whole or part of his wages, allowing him some modest pocket-money for himself. in the meantime his sisters have been living with some middle-class family, starting as errand-girls, being afterwards promoted to the important position of 'kindermeid' or children's maid, though all the time sleeping out, which means that before and after having toiled a whole day for strangers, they do part of the housework for their mothers at home. after some time, however, they find employment as housemaids, or in other domestic positions. if they have the good fortune to find considerate yet strict and conscientious mistresses, the best time of their life now begins; there is no exhaustion from work, yet good food, good lodging, and kind treatment. should they care to cultivate the fine art of cooking, they get instruction in that line, and are in most cases allowed to work independently, and even, when reliable and trustworthy, to do the buying of vegetables, etc., by themselves in the market-places, which all dutch towns boast of, and in which the produce of the land is offered for sale in abundance and appetizing freshness. all this tends to teach a servant-girl how to use alike her eyes, hands, and brain, and to educate her into a thrifty, industrious, and tidy workman's wife, who will know how to make both ends meet, however short her resources may be. this is one of the reasons why so many dutch workmen's homes, notwithstanding the low wages, have an appearance of snug prosperity--the women there have learned how to make a little go a long way. and how about their future husbands? have they, too, learned their trade? perhaps; if they are particularly strong, shrewd, industrious, and persevering, though technical education ('ambachtsonderwys') is much a thing of the future in holland. in the general course of life a boy goes to a trade which offers him the highest wages. if he can begin by earning eightpence a week, he will not go elsewhere to earn sixpence if the wear and tear of shoes and clothes is the same in both cases, although the sixpenny occupation may perhaps be better suited to his tastes, ability, and general aptitude. to his mother the extra two pence are a consideration; they may cover some weekly contribution to a necessary fund. running errands is his first work, until accidentally some workman or some apprentice leaves the shop, in which case he is moved up, and a new boy has the errands to do. but now he must look out for himself; his master is not over-anxious to let him learn all the ins and outs of the work, for as soon as his competitors hear that he has a very clever boy in his shop, he is sure to lose that boy, who is tempted away by the offer of better pay. nor are the workmen greatly inclined to impart their little secrets, to explain this thing and that, and so help the young fellow on. why should they? nobody did it for them; they got their qualifications by their own unaided exertions--let the boy do the same. moreover, the 'baas,' or chief, does not like them to 'waste their time' in that manner, and the 'baas' is the dispenser of their bread-and-butter; so the boy is, as a rule, regarded merely as a nuisance. there are workshops, first-class workshops, too, where no apprentices have been admitted for dozens of years, simply because the employers do not see their way to make an efficient agreement with the boys or their parents which would prevent them from letting a competitor enjoy the results of their technical instruction. one would not be astonished that in these circumstances all over holland the want of technical schools is badly felt, and that agitation for their provision is active. only some twenty-four such schools exist at present; the oldest, that at amsterdam, dates from , and the youngest, that of nymegen, was established in . partly municipal schools, partly schools built by the private effort of citizens, they all do their work well. it is only during the last few years that the nation has begun to ask whether technical education ought not to be taken up by the state. the dutch like private enterprise in everything, and are always inclined to prefer it to state or municipal action; but they have come to recognize that technical schools may be good schools, and may do good work on behalf of the much-needed improvement of handicraft, even though not private ventures, and that so far this branch of national education has not kept up with the times. the idea which will probably in the end gain the day, is that the technical schools should be managed by the town councils and subsidized by the state, who in return would receive the right of supervision and inspection, and of laying down general rules for their curricula. for the present, however, there is no law settling the question, and the apprentices are the sufferers by the lack, since the employers shrink from employing their means, time, and knowledge on behalf of unscrupulous competitors. in general the life of an urban working-man is a constant struggle against poverty and sickness. children come plentifully, rather too much so for the unelastic possibilities of their parents' wages. the young wife does not get stronger by frequent confinements; and the fare is bound to get less nourishing as the mouths round the domestic board increase--always simple, it often becomes insufficient. the mother, working hard already, has to work harder still and to do laundry work at home or go out as a charwoman, in order to increase the modest income. in industrial centres women frequently work in the factories as well, though the law does at least protect them against too long hours and premature work after confinement. thanks to the dutch thrift, burial funds and sickness funds come promptly to the rescue when death lays his iron grip on the wasted form of the poor town-bred babies, when illness saps the man's power to earn his usual wages, and the family's income is for the time cut off. of these benefit funds there are about in holland, distributed amongst some towns. half of them are burial funds, and half mixed burial and sickness funds; their members number about two millions; yet, although they certainly do much to prevent extreme poverty, they do it in a manner which in many cases is little short of a scandal. their legal status is rather uncertain, and in consequence many managers do as they like, and make a good thing for themselves out of their duty to the poor. too often these managers are supreme controllers of the funds, and the members have no influence whatever. in many cases the only official the latter know is the collector, who calls at their houses for the weekly contributions. this official frequently resorts to questionable tricks for extorting money from the poor helpless members, who simply and confidently pay what they are told to pay--small sums, of course, a few cents or pence, it may be, but still 'adding up' in the long run--and when sorrow and death enter their humble dwellings they are easily imposed upon by cool scoundrels, who trade on their disinclination to quarrel about money when there is a corpse in the house. another danger of the irregular condition of these funds lies in the fact that outsiders may take out policies on the lives of certain families. a few years ago the country was shocked by the alarming story of a woman who had poisoned a series of persons merely to be able to get the funeral expenses paid to herself, while many a wretched little baby has in this manner been the horrible investment of heartless neighbours, who, knowing the poor thing was dying, took out policies for its funeral. for medical examination is not required for these beautifully managed associations. their premiums are, however, so high that this detail does not materially affect their sound financial position; and this being the case, it cannot be denied that the absence of such examinations considerably increases their general utility for the labouring classes. [illustration: a dutch street scene.] the clubs for preventing financial loss by illness do require a medical examination. they number in holland nearly , distributed in over towns. some allow a fixed sum of money during illness, others provide doctor and medicines, others do both. but the same objections and grievances which workmen entertain against burial funds apply likewise to these latter clubs. the curious thing is that, instead of grumbling, the workman does not make up his mind to mend matters by insisting on having a share in the management of societies and funds to which he has contributed so large a part of his earnings. as yet, however, the dutch labouring classes have not found the man who is able to organize them for this or other purposes. they have able advocates, eloquent, passionate reformers, straightforward, honest friends, but the work of these is more destructive criticism than constructive organization. where organization exists, it is political, social, religious, but not industrial--local, but not universal, and it often has the bitter suggestion of charity. on the other hand, the poor fellows have so often been imposed upon that they feel very little confidence in each other and in the wealthier classes who profess deep interest in their woes and sorrows. there are no very large industrial centres in holland; the wages are so low that most workmen are obliged to find supplementary incomes, either by doing overtime, or by doing odd jobs after the regular day's work is over. hence there is not much time or energy left for the common cause. some great employers, like mr. j.c. van marken, of delft, and messrs. stork brothers, of hengeloo, have organizations of their own, by which important ameliorations are obtained; but smaller employers hear the labour leaders constantly deprecating such efforts and preaching the blessings of social democracy as the true panacea, so they do not see why they should put themselves to any inconvenience or expense for the sake of earning abuse and ingratitude. moreover, many of these employers adhere to the obsolete maxim of the manchester economists, that labour is merely a sort of merchandise, of which the workman keeps a certain stock-in-trade, and that the capitalist's simple task, as a man of business, is to buy that labour as cheaply as possible, and that he has done with the seller as soon as his stock-in-trade is exhausted. happily, a good many others understand now that in the long run this ridiculous theory is quite as bad for the state as killing was for the fowl which laid the golden eggs. at all events, the feelings of the workman for his 'patroon,' as the old name still in use calls the employer, are none of the kindest. sweating is a much less common occurrence in holland than it was some twenty years ago; but while it would be mere demagogic clap-trap to speak of the remorseless exhaustion of labour by capital, there is nevertheless room enough for the cultivation of greater amenity between the two. and so it will remain for some time to come. social legislation may do a great deal in the course of time, but it cannot do everything, and at best it must follow the awakening of the popular conscience. hence progress must be made step by step, for nothing is so menacing to the stability of the social fabric as sudden changes, and a wise statesman prefers to let every one of his acts do its own work, and produce its own consequences, before he risks the next move. the disintegration of social life is much worse than social misery, for disintegration makes misery universal, and throws innumerable obstacles in the way towards restoration. and, however much the dutch understand the workman's feelings and position, however much they all long to see the latter improved, they also have learned enough of social and political history to know that for the community in general the only wise and safe principle of action is progress by degrees--evolution, not revolution. chapter vi the canals and their population when drusus a few years before the commencement of our era excavated the yssel canal, and thus gave a new arm to the rhine, he began a process of canalization in the frisian and batavian provinces which has been going on more or less ever since. to the foreigner holland or the northern netherlands must always appear a land of dykes and canals, the one not more important for protection than the other as an artery of communication; spreading commerce and supporting national life. napoleon, with _naïve_ comprehensiveness, called holland the alluvion of french rivers. dutch patriots declare with legitimate pride, 'god gave us the sea, but we made the shore,' and no one who has seen the artificial barrier that guards the mainland from the hook to the texel will disparage their achievement or scoff at their pretensions. [illustration: a sea-going canal.] the sea-dyke saves holland from the northern ocean, sombre and grey in its most genial mood, menacing and stormy for the long winter of our northern hemisphere; but it is to the inland dykes that protect the low-lying polders that holland owes her prosperity and the sources of wealth which have made her inhabitants a nation. the original character of the country, a marshland intersected by the numerous channels of the rhine and the meuse, rendered it imperative that the system of dykes should be accompanied by a brother system of canals. the over-abundant waters had not merely to be arrested, they had to be confined and led off into prepared channels. in this manner also they were made to serve the purposes of man. high-roads across swamps were either impracticable or too costly; but canals furnished a sure and convenient means of transport and communication. at the same time they did not imperil the security of the country. roads on causeways or reared on sunken piles would have opened the door to an invader, but the canals provided an additional weapon of defence, for the opening of the dykes sufficed to turn the country again into its primeval state of marshland. the occasion on which this measure alone saved holland during the french invasion of is a well-known passage in history, and the hopes of the dutch in resisting the attack of any powerful aggressor would centre in the same measure of defence, which is the submerging of the country, practically speaking, under the waters of the canals and rivers. there exists a popular belief that there is at amsterdam one master key, a turn of which would let loose the waters over the land, but whether it is well founded or not no one except a very few officials can say. pending any unfortunate necessity for breaking through the dykes and letting loose the waters, it may be observed in passing that the effectual maintenance of the dykes is a constant anxiety, and entails strenuous exertions. they stand in need of repeated repairing, and it is computed that they are completely reconstructed in the course of every four or five years. a sum of nearly a million sterling is spent annually on the work. a large and specially trained staff of engineers are in unceasing harness, a numerous band of dyke watchers are constantly on the look-out, and when they raise the shout, 'come out! come out!' not a man, woman, or child must hold back from the summons to strengthen the weak points through which threatens to pass the flood that would overwhelm the land. it is a constant struggle with nature, in which the victory rests with man. as the dyke is the bulwark of dutch prosperity in peace, it might be converted into the ally of despairing patriotism in war. there are marked differences among the canals. the two largest and best known canals, the north canal and the north sea canal, are passages to the ocean for the largest ships, and specially intended to benefit the trade of amsterdam. the north canal was made in - , soon after the restoration of the house of orange, with an outlet at helder, near the mouth of the texel. it has a breadth of between and yards, a length of miles, and a depth of feet, which was then thought ample. after forty years' use this canal was found inadequate from every point of view. it was accordingly decided to construct a new canal direct from amsterdam to ymuiden across the narrowest strip of holland. although the y was utilized, the labour on this canal was immense, and occupied a period of eleven years, being finally thrown open to navigation in . in length it is under miles, but its average breadth is yards, and the depth varies from to feet. consequently the largest ships from america or the indies can reach the wharves of amsterdam as easily as if it were a port on the sea-coast. leaving aside the sea-passages that have been canalized among the islands of zeeland, the remaining canals are inland waterways serving as the principal highways of the country, giving one part of the country access to the other, and especially serving as approaches or lanes to the great rivers meuse and rhine. [illustration: a village in dyke-land.] the interesting canal population of holland is, of course, to be found on these canals, which are traversed in unceasing flow from year's end to year's end by the tjalks, or national barges. on these boats, which more resemble a lugger than a barge, they navigate not only the canals of their own country, but the rhine up to coblentz, and even above that place. it has been computed that germany imports half its food-supply through rotterdam, and much of this is borne to its destined markets on tjalks. the william canal connects bois le duc with limburg, and saves the great bend of the meuse. the yssel connects with the drenthe the orange and the reitdiep canals, which convey to the rhine the produce of remote groningen and friesland. the rhine represents the destination of the bulk of the permanent canal population of holland, whose floating habitations furnish one of the most interesting sights to be met with on the waters of the country, but which represent one of the secret phases of the people's life, into which few tourists or visitors have the opportunity of peering. the canal population of holland is fixed on a moderate computation at , persons. for this number of persons the barge represents the only fixed home, and the year passes in ceaseless movement across the inland waters of the country or on the great german river, excepting for the brief interval when the canals are frozen over in the depth of winter. even during these periods of enforced idleness the barge does not the less continue to be their home, for the simple reason that the canal population possesses no other. their whole life for generations, the bringing up and education of the children, the years of toil from youth to old age, are passed on these barges, which, varying in size and still more in condition, are as closely identified with the name of home in their owners' minds as if they were built of brick and stone on firm land. the ambition of the youth who tugs at the rope is to possess a tjalk of his own, and he diligently looks out for the maiden whose dowry will assist him, with his own savings, to make the purchase. this he may hope to procure for five or six hundred gulden, if he will be content with one of limited dimensions, and somewhat marked by time. when a family comes he will want a larger and more commodious boat, but by that time the profits which his first tjalk will have earned as a carrier will go far towards buying a second. the tjalks are all built in the same form and from a common model. they carry a mast and sail, although for the greater part of their journeys they are towed by their owners, or rather by the familles, wife and children, of the owner. mynheer, the barge-owner, is usually to be seen smoking his pipe and taking his ease near the tiller. formerly it was otherwise, for the towing was done by dogs, under the personal direction of, and no doubt with some assistance from, the barge-owner himself, while his wife and children remained on the poop of the boat. but five and twenty years ago the authorities of amsterdam issued a law prohibiting the employment of dogs in the work of towing, and gradually this law was generally adopted and enforced throughout the country. when dogs were emancipated from their servitude on the canal-bank the family had to take their places, and by degrees the ease-loving head of the family has grown content to look on and think towing a labour reflecting on his dignity. there is nothing unusual in the sight of a barge being towed by an old woman, her daughter or daughter-in-law, and several children. as they strain at the rope the work seems extremely hard, but the people themselves appear unconscious of any hardship or inequality in the distribution of labour. the barge is in the first place a conveyance. the whole of the front part of the boat represents the hold in which the cargo is placed. this is generally represented by cheese or vegetables, timber, peat, and stones, the last-named being a return-cargo for the repairing of dykes and the construction of quays. but in the second place it is a house or place of residence, and the stern of the boat is given up for that purpose. the living room is the raised deck or poop, on which is not only the tiller, but the cooking-stove. the sleeping-room forms the one covered-in apartment. it is easily divisible into two by a temporary or removable partition, and it always possesses the two little windows, one on each side of the tiller, which give it so great a resemblance to a doll's house. this resemblance is certainly heightened by the custom of colouring the barges, which are always painted a bright colour, red or green being perhaps the most usual. as ornament there is usually a good deal of brasswork; the handle of the tiller is generally bordered with the metal, and the owner seems to take pride in nailing brass along the bulwarks of his boat where it is not wanted and is even little seen. it has been suggested that the polishing of these brass plates or bars provides a pleasant change from the dull routine work of towing. the brightness of the paint and the brasswork constitutes the pride of the barge-owners, and supplies a standard of comparison among them. to increase the homelike aspect of this water residence, birds and plants, always in more or less quantity and variety, are to be seen either in the windows or on the deck. the poorest bargee, which generally means the youngest or the beginner, will have one song-bird in a gilt cage, and as he accumulates money in his really profitable calling, he will add to his collection of birds a row of flowers and bulbs in pots. thus he says, with a glow of satisfaction, 'i possess an aviary and a garden, like my cousin hans on the polders, although my home is on the moving waters.' to strengthen the illusion what does he do but fix a toy gate on the poop above his sleeping-cabin, and thus cherishes the belief that he is on his own domain? in the evening, when the towing is over for the day, the women bring out their sewing, the children play round the tiller, and the good man smokes his immense pipe with complete and indolent satisfaction. and so day passes on to day without a variation, and life runs by without a ripple or a murmur for the canal population, while the mere landsmen look on with envy at what seems to them an idyllic existence, and even ladies of breeding and high station have been known to declare that they would gladly change places with the mistress of the bargee's quarter-deck. that was no doubt in the days before women had to take on themselves the brunt and burden of the towing. [illustration: a canal in dordrecht.] but even for the canal population of holland the halcyon days are past. the spirit of reform is in the air. it may not be long before the tjalk, with its doll's house and its residential population, will finally disappear, and leave the canals of holland as dull and colourless as the inland waters of any other country. the reform seems likely to come about in this way. there are at least , children resident on the canal-boats. how are they to be properly educated and brought up as useful citizens if they are to continue to lead a migratory existence which never leaves them for a fortnight in a single place? formerly, nobody cared whether they were educated or not. they were left undisturbed to live their lives in their own simple and primitive way. as de amicis wrote: 'the children are born and grow up on the water; the boat carries all their small belongings, their domestic affections, their past, their present, and their future. they labour and save, and after many years they buy a larger boat, selling the old one to a family poorer than themselves, or handing it over to the eldest son, who in his turn instals his wife, taken from another boat, and seen for the first time in a chance meeting on the canal.' but now the state has begun to interest itself in the children, and its intervention threatens to put a rude and summary ending to the system of heredity and exclusion which has kept the canal population a class apart. for some time past schools have been in existence, especially devoted to the education of the barge children, and whenever the barges are moored in harbour the children are expected to attend them. but these periods of halting are very brief and uncertain. the stationary barge earns no money, and it may even be that the parents evade the law as far as possible for fear of seeing their children acquire a distaste for the life in which they have been brought up. but the government, having taken one step in the matter, cannot afford to go back, and it must also have definite satisfactory results to show for its legislation. the tentative measure of temporary schools along the canals has not leavened the illiteracy of the canal population. it will, therefore, become necessary at no great interval to devise some fresh and drastic regulations. compulsory attendance at school for nine months of the year, which now applies to children in normal circumstances, may not be the lot of the barge children for some time, but when it comes, as it inevitably will one day, it will of necessity mean the break-up of the home life on the canals, for the children will have to be left behind during the almost unceasing voyages, and a place of residence will have to be provided on land. where the children are the women will soon be, and gradually this place of residence will become the home, displacing the barge in the associations and affections of the canal population. whether these changes will benefit those most affected by them cannot be guaranteed, but at least they will put an end to the separate existence of the canal population. when this result has been compassed by the inexorable progress of education and knowledge, the gradual disappearance of the canal population, the class of hereditary bargees as we have known it, and as it still exists, may be expected to follow at no remote date, for it was based on the enforcement of the family principle, and on the devotion of a whole community, from its youngest to its eldest member, to its maintenance. as it is the tow-barge is something of an anachronism, but the withdrawal of the youthful recruits, whose up-bringing alone rendered it possible, will entail its inevitable extinction. the decay and break-up of the guild of tjalk owners will be hastened by the introduction of steam and electricity as means of locomotion. the canals will lose the bright-coloured barges which are to-day their most striking feature, and the population that has so long floated over their surface. life will be duller and more monotonous. the canal population, so long distinct, will be merged in the rest of the community. the tug will displace the tow-rope. the pullers will be housed on land, mastering the three r's instead of learning to strain at the girth. but there is still a brief period left during which the canal population may be seen in its original primitive existence, devoted to the barge, which is the only home known to six or seven thousand families, and traversing the water roads of their country in unceasing and endless progression. there is nothing like it in any other country of europe. venice has its water routes, but the gondola is not a domicile. there was a canal population in england, but, like much else in our modern life, it has lost whatever picturesqueness it might once have claimed. for a true canal population, bright and happy, living the same life from father to son and generation to generation, we must go to holland. there these inland navigators ply their vocation with only one ambition, and that to become the owner of a tjalk, and to rear thereon a family of towers. it is said that the life is one that requires the consumption of unlimited quantitics of 'schnapps,' and the humidity of the atmosphere is undoubted. but even free libations do not diminish the prosperity of the bargees. they are a thriving race, and it must also be noted to their credit that they are well behaved, and not given to quarrels. collisions on the thickly-covered canals are rare; malicious collisions are unknown. the barges pass and repass without hindrance, the tow-ropes never get entangled, there is mutual forbearance, and the skill derived from long experience in slipping the ropes uncler the barges does the rest. the conditions under which the canal population exists and thrives are a survival of an older order of things. when they disappear another of the few picturesque heritages of mediæval life will have been removecl from the hurly-burly and fierce competition of modern existence. chapter vii a dutch village villages in holland are towns in miniature, for the simple reason that when you have a marsh to live in you drain a part of it and build on that part, and so build in streets, and do not form a village as in england, by houses dotted here and there round a green or down leafy lanes. the village green in holland is the village street or square in front of the church or 'raadhuis.' here the children play, for you cannot play in a swamp, and that is what polder land is seven months out of the year, and so we find that a dutch village in most parts of the country is a town in miniature. [illustration: an overyssel farmhouse.] thirty years ago the 'raadhuis' would have been the village inn, barber's shop, and the principal hotel all rolled into one, and the innkeeper, as a natural consequence, the wealthiest man in the neighbourhood. the farmers would have sat at the 'raad,' i.e. the village council, with their caps over their eyes, long gouda pipes in their mouths, and a 'glaasje klare' ('schiedam') under their chairs which they would have steadily sipped at intervals, puffing at their pipes during the whole sitting. their wooden shoes ('klompen'), scrubbed for the occasion to a brilliant white with the help of a good layer of whitening, might have been seen in a row standing on the door-mat, for no well-educated farmer would ever have dreamed of entering a room with shoes on his feet, and he would have taken his 'pruim,' or quid of tobacco, which every farmer chews even when smoking, out of his mouth and laid it on the window-sill, the usual receptacle for such things, and there it would lie in its own little circle of brown fluid, to be replaced either in his own or his neighbour's mouth after the meeting was over. nowadays a farmer goes to the 'raad' dressed in a suit of black clothes and with his feet encased in leather boots. he never wears 'klompen' save when at work in the field or on the farm. he also talks of his 'gemeente,' for all holland is portioned off into 'gemeenten,' and a village is such in as good a sense as large towns like the hague and amsterdam, and better if anything, for the taxes there are not so high. each 'gemeente' is separately governed by a burgomaster and 'leden van den raad', which is nothing more nor less than a county council, presided over by a prominent man nominated by the sovereign, and not elected by the members, of which some are called 'wethouders,' and are, like the other members, elected by the residents of the district. these wethouders, with the burgomaster, form the 'dagelyksch bestuur.' all ordinary matters concerning the 'gemeente,' such as giving information to the minister of war about the men who have signed for the militia, or about any person living in their 'gemeenten,' are regulated by the 'dagelyksch bestuur,' though matters of import are brought before the 'raad.' next in importance to the burgomaster come the 'gemeenteontvanger,' who receives all the taxes, and the 'notary, who is the busiest man in the village, although the doctor and clergyman or priest have a large share in the work of contributing to the welfare of the villagers. [illustration: an overyssel farmhouse.] a village clergyman is an important person, for he is held in high honour by his parishioners, and his larder is always well stocked free of cost. his income also is relatively larger than that of a town pastor, for besides his fixed salary he reaps a nice little revenue from the pastures belonging to the 'pastorie,' which he lets out to farmers. the schoolmaster, on the contrary, is treated with but little consideration, and he often feels decidedly like a fish out of water, for though belonging by birth to the labouring class, he is too well educated to associate with his former companions and yet not sufficiently refined to move in the village 'society,' besides which he would not be able to return hospitality, as his salary only amounts to from £ to £ a year, and nowhere is the principle of reciprocity more observed than in dutch hospitality in certain classes. in very small villages many offices are combined in one person, and so we find a prominent inhabitant blacksmith, painter, and carpenter, while the baker's shop is a kind of universal provider for the villagers' simple wants. the butcher is the only person who is the man of one occupation, though he, too, goes round to the neighbouring farms to help in the slaughtering of the cattle, and sometimes lends a hand in the salting and storing of the meat. the farmers live just outside the village, and only come there when they go to the 'raad' or on saturday evenings when the week's work is done. they then visit the barber before meeting at the _café_ for their weekly game of billiards. every resident of the village also betakes himself to his 'club' or 'societeit' on saturday night, and just as the 'mindere man,' i.e. farmers and labourers, have their games and discuss their farms, their cattle, and the price of hay or corn, so, too, the 'notabelen' discuss every subject under the sun, not forgetting their dear neighbours. on sunday mornings the whole 'gemeente' goes to church, from the burgomaster to the poorest farm-labourer, and all are dressed in their best. the men of the village have put aside their working-clothes, and are attired in blue or black cloth suits with white shirt fronts and coloured ties. the women have donned black dresses, caps and shawls, and carry their scent-bottles, peppermints, and 'gezangboek' (hymn-book) with large golden clasps. the 'stovenzetster,' a woman who acts as verger, shows the good people to their seats and provides the women, if the weather is cold, with 'warme stoven' (hot stoves), to keep their feet comfortable. these little 'stoves' contain little three-cornered green or brown pots ('testen'), in which pieces of glowing peat are put, and sometimes when the peat is not quite red-hot it smokes terribly, and gives a most unpleasant odour to the building. the women survive it, however, by resorting to their _eau de cologne,_ which they sprinkle upon their handkerchiefs, and keep passing to their neighbours during the whole service. the village schoolmaster has a special office to perform in the sunday service. it is he who reads a 'chapter' to them before the entrance of the clergyman, who only comes when service has begun. then the sermon, which is the chief part of the service in dutch churches, begins. this sermon is very long, and the congregation sleep through the first part very peacefully, but the rest is not for long, for when the domine has spoken for about three-quarters of an hour he calls upon his congregation to sing a verse of some particular psalm. the schoolmaster starts the singing, which goes very slowly, each note lasting at least four beats, so that the tune is completely lost. however, as a rule, every one sings a different tune, and nobody knows which is the right one. two collections are taken during the service, one for the poor and one for the church, the schoolmaster and the elders ('ouderlingen') of the church going round with little bags tied to very long sticks, which they pass ail along a row in which to receive the 'gifts.' generally one cent is given by each of the congregation. [illustration: approach to an overyssel farm.] after church is over the sunday lunch takes the next place in the day's routine. the table is always more carefully set out on sundays than on other days, and to the usual fare of bread, butter, and cheese are added smoked beef and cake, while the coffee-pot stands on the 'komfoortje' (a square porcelain stand with a little light inside to keep the pot hot), and the sugar-pot contains white sugar as a sunday treat, for sugar is very dear in holland, and cannot form an article of daily consumption. servants always make an agreement about sugar; hence on week-days a supply of 'brokken' (sweets something like toffee, and costing about a penny for three english ounces) is kept in the sugar-pot, and when the people drink coffee they put a 'brok' in their mouths and suck it. should their cup be emptied before the 'brok' is finished, they replace it on their saucers till a second cup is poured out for them, and if they do not take a second cup, then their 'brok' is put back into the sugar-pot again. after lunch the men now find their way to the 'societeit,' or in summer to the village street, where they walk about in their shirt-sleeves and smoke. the children go to their sunday schools, or, if they are roman catholics, to their 'leering,' which is a bible-class held for them in church, and in villages where there is no sunday school they, too, leisurely perambulate the village dressed in their best clothes, even if it is a wet day. the women first clear away the lunch utensils, and then have a little undisturbed chat with their neighbours on the doorstep, or go to see their friends in town. at four o'clock the whole family assembles again in the parlour for their 'borreltje,' either consisting of 'boerenjongens' (brandied raisins) or 'brandewyn met suiker' (brandy with sugar), which they drink out of their best glasses. there is no church in the evening, so the villagers retire early to bed, so as to be in good trim for the week's hard work again. from this sketch it will be judged that life in a village is very dull. there is nothing to break the monotony of the days, and one season passes by in precisely the same way as another. days and seasons, in fact, make no difference whatever in the villager's existence. there is no pack of hounds to fire the sporting instinct; no excitement of elections; no distraction of any kind. all is quiet, regular, and uneventful, and when their days are over they sleep with their fathers naturally enough, for only too often have they been half asleep all their lives. chapter viii the peasant at home to describe an 'average' dutch peasant would be to say very little of him. there is far too much difference in this class of people all over the netherlands to allow of any generalization. in zeeland we meet two distinct types; one very much akin to the spanish race, having a spaniard's dark hair, dark eyes, and sallow complexion, and often very good-looking. the other type is entirely different, fair-haired, light-eyed, and of no particular beauty. in limburg, the most southern province of the netherlands, one finds a mixture of the german, flemish, and dutch types, and the language there is a dialect formed from all those three tongues, while in the most northern province, groningen, the people speak a dialect resembling that spoken in overyssel and gelderland, and the frisians, their neighbours, would feel themselves quite strangers in the last named provinces, and would not even be able to make themselves understood when speaking in their usual language. in the betuwe the dialect spoken differs from that in the veluwe, but no distinct line can be drawn to determine where one dialect begins and the other ends. in their mode of dressing, too, there is a great difference between the people of one province and of another, and in zeeland every island has its own special costume. just as they differ in dress, so they also differ in appearance and education, wealth, and civilization. a north holland farmer is well-to-do and independent. for centuries he has battled and disputed every inch of his land with the sea, and it has been pointed out by observant people that the effects of the strife are still marked in his harsh and rugged features and independent ways. it is well known that his cattle are the best in all the country, for the pastures, by reason of the damp polder ground, are very rich, and yield year out year in an abundant crop of grass and hay, the cows he keeps for milking purposes giving from to litres, or from to pints, of milk a day, which is a very high yield. [illustration: zeeland costume.] the 'vrye fries'--for the frisian congratulates himself on never having been conquered, but always having in days of war and tribal feud made his own terms more or less with an adversary--stands higher in culture and intellect, and is also more enterprising, than the great majority of the dutch peasants. he welcomes many inventions, and is willing to risk something in trying them, and so one can see many kinds of machinery in use on the frisian farms. he also works with the most modern and approved artificial manures. [illustration: zeeland costumes.] the groningen and overyssel boer[footnote: peasant and farmer as a rule are convertible terms. a farmer is a peasant, although a peasant is not always the owner of a farm. in point of education the farmer himself does not differ from the average labourer on his farm, and both alike are classed as 'boeren.'] follows his example unless the farms are so small as to make large machinery impracticable, when he goes along the path marked out by his great-grandfather, and finds safety, if not novelty, in so doing. all over the north of holland the cows are good, and there is milk, butter, and cheese in abundance at the markets, especially the two last-named articles, as nearly all the milk is sent to the 'zuivelfabrieken,' as butter and cheese factories are called. travelling from north to south, and so reaching the wilhelminapolder in zeeland, we come across the steam-plough, but that is the only place in the netherlands where it is in use. the further south one goes--zeeland excepted--the lower becomes the standard of life, and the peasants seem to care for little else than their fields and cattle, while the people of noord brabant are the poorest and dirtiest of them all. the produce of the soil varies according to the ground cultivated. in utrecht and brabant many thousand acres are devoted to tobacco, while overyssel and gelderland, as a rule, grow rye, oats, buckwheat, and flax. in drenthe the greater part of the province yields peat, and north and south holland are famous all over the world for their rich pastures. cabbages and cauliflowers are also extensively cultivated for exportation, and in friesland they have begun to cultivate them also. from wateringen to the hoek van holland one sees smiling orchards, while from leyden to haarlem blossom the world-famed bulb fields, too well known to need special description. the farm-work is done in the spring and summer. the women invariably help with the lighter work of weeding in the fields, while in harvest-time they work as hard as the men, and very picturesque they look in their broad black hats and white linen skirts. but when the harvest is gathered in, and the pigs have been converted into hams and sausages, the man's chief labour is over, although the manuring of the land and the threshing of the corn have to be attended to. still, he has his evenings wherein to sit by the fireside and smoke, presumably gathering energies the while for the coming spring. a woman's work, however, is never ended, for while the man smokes she spins the flax grown on her own ground and the wool from the sheep of the farm. in some parts of overyssel it is still the custom for the women to meet together at some neighbouring friend's house to spin, and during these sociable evenings they partake of the 'spinning-meal,' which consists of currant bread and coffee, and in turn sing and tell stories. a weaver always visits every house once a year with his own loom to assist at these gatherings, and when the linen is woven it is rolled up and tied with coloured ribbons, decorated with artificial flowers, and kept in the linen-press--the pride of every dutch housewife--and when a daughter of the house marries several rolls of this linen are added to her trousseau. the wealth of a farm is, in fact, calculated by the number of rolls. these are handed down for generations, and often contain linen more than a hundred years old. the wool, when woven, is made up into thick petticoats, of which every well-dressed peasant woman wears six or seven. the education of the farmer is not very liberal. a child generally goes to school until he is twelve years of age, and during that time he has learnt reading, writing, and arithmetic. as a rule, however, he does not attend regularly, as his help is so often wanted at home, especially at harvest-time, and although the new education law--the 'leerplichtwet' of july th, --has made school attendance compulsory, yet a child is allowed to remain at home when wanted if he has attended school regularly during the six previous months. the interest of the parent and the inclination of the child are thus combined to the retarding of the intellectual progress of the boer. and yet, although they are so badly taught, the peasantry have a very good opinion about things in general, and if you assist them in their work and show them that you can use your hands as well as they can they have great respect for you, and will listen to anything you like to tell them about or read to them. the women especially have very pronounced views of their own, a trait not confined to netherland womenfolk. to go about among them is at present the best way of educating them, and when you have once won their regard they will go through fire and water for you; but they despise any one who 'does nothing,' for, like most manual workers, they do not understand that brain-work is as hard as manual labour. [illustration: an itinerant linen-weaver.] [illustration: farmhouse interior, showing the linen-press.] the farmhouses in most parts of the country are neat and more or less of a pattern, although they differ in minor details. outside their appearance is very quaint and picturesque, and the roofs are either thatched or tiled. in groningen they now hardly resemble farms. they are, indeed, little country seats, and the interior is decidedly modern. some of the very poorest-looking houses are to be found in overyssel and drenthe. these are built of clay, and stand halfway in the ground. the roofs are covered with sods taken from the 'drentsche veengronden.' some of these 'plaggewoningen,' as they are called, are not more than twelve feet square and eight feet high. the ceiling of the room inside the dwelling is only four or five feet high, and above this the stores of hay and corn are kept. a hole in the roof serves as chimney, and in the floor--which is nothing but hard clay--a hole is dug to serve as fireplace. on the larger farms in overyssel the main building is generally divided into two parts. the back part is for the cattle, which stand in rows on either side, with a large open space in the centre, called the 'deel,' where the carts are kept. a large arched double door leads into it, while the thatched roof comes down low on either side. leading from the 'deel,' or stable, into the living-room is a small door, with a window to enable the inhabitants to see what is going on among their friends of the fields. against the wall which forms the partition between the stable and living-room is the fireplace. you will sometimes find an open fire on the floor, though in the more modern houses stoves are used. the chimney-piece is in the shape of a large overhanging hood with a flounce of light print 'schoorsteenval' round it, and a row of plates on a shelf above serves for ornament. the much-prized linen-press, which has already been mentioned, is usually placed at right-angles to the outer door, so as to form a kind of passage. in some farmhouses there is no partition at all between the stable and living-room, but the cattle are kept at the back, and the people live at the other end, near the window. this is called a 'loshuis,' or open house, and very picturesque it is to look at. the smell of the cows is considered to be extremely healthy, and consumptive patients have been completely cured (so it is popularly believed) by sleeping in the cowsheds. besides being healthy, this primitive system is also cheap, for the cows give out so much warmth that it is almost unnecessary to have fires except for cooking purposes. some of these open houses have no chimneys, the smoke finding its way out between the tiles of the roof or through the door. there is a hayloft above the part occupied by the cattle, while over the heads of the family hams, bacon, and sausages of every description hang from the rafters. smoke is very useful in curing these stores, and this may account for the absence of a chimney. in brabant, however, where there are chimneys, the farmer hangs his stores in them, so that when looking up through the wide opening to the sky beyond numerous tiers of dangling sausages meet one's admiring gaze. the living-room is a living-room in every sense of the word, for the family work, eat, and sleep there. sometimes a larger farm has a wing attached to it containing bedrooms, but this is not general, and even so most of the family sleep in the living-room. the beds are placed round the room. they are, in fact, cupboards, and by day are fixed in the wall. green curtains are hung before the beds, and are always drawn at night, completely concealing the beds from view. some have doors like ordinary cupboards, but this is more general in north holland. in hindeloopen (friesland) one or two beds in the living-room are kept as 'pronk-bedden' (show beds). they are decked out with the finest linen the farmers' wives possess, the sheets gorgeous with long laces, and the pillow-slips beautifully embroidered. these beds are never slept in, and the curtains are kept open all day long, so that any one who enters the room can at once admire their beauty. some of the more wealthy have a 'best bedroom,' which they keep carefully locked. they dust it every day, and clean it out once a week, but never use it. in south holland it is more customary to have a 'pronk-kamer' ('show-room'), which is not a bedroom, but a kind of parlour. this room is never entered by the inhabitants of the house except at a birth or a death, and in the latter case they put the corpse there. in hindeloopen the dead are put in the church to await burial, and there they rest on biers specially made for the occasion. a different bier is used to represent the trade or profession or sex of the dead person. these biers are always most elaborately painted (as, indeed, are all things in hindeloopen), with scenes out of the life of a doctor, a clergyman, a tradesman, or a peasant. [illustration: type of an overyssel farmhouse.] the costume worn by the peasantry is always quaint, and this is especially so in hindeloopen. the waistband of a peasant woman takes alone an hour and a half to arrange. it consists of a very long, thin, black band, which is wound round and round the waist till it forms one broad sash. the dress itself includes a black skirt and a check bodice, a white apron, and a dark necktie; from the waistband hangs at the right-hand side a long silver chain, to which are attached a silver pincushion, a pair of scissors, and a needle-case; then on the left-hand side hangs a reticule with silver clasps; and a long mantle, falling loose from the shoulders to the hem of the skirt, is worn over all out-of-doors. this latter is of some light-coloured material, with a pattern of red flowers and green leaves. on the head three caps are worn, one over the other, and for outdoor wear a large, tall bonnet is donned by way of completing the costume. [illustration: a farmhouse interior, showing the door into the stable.] all the frisian costumes are beautiful. many ladies of that province still wear the national dress, and a very becoming one it is. in overyssel the women all over the province dress alike and in the same way their ancestors did. in the house the dress is an ordinary full petticoat of some cotton stuff, generally blue, and a tight-fitting and perfectly plain bodice with short sleeves, a red handkerchief folded across the chest, and a close-fitting white cap, with a little flounce round the neck. when they go to market with their milk and eggs they are very smart.[footnote: butter used to be one of the wares they took to market, but now so many butter-factories have arisen, and also so much is imported from australia, that it is hardly worth their while to make it.] they then wear a fine black merino skirt, made very full, and the inevitable petticoats, which make the skirt stand out like a crinoline. on sundays they wear the same costume as on market-days, and in winter they are to be seen with large indian shawls worn in a point down the back in the old-fashioned way. when they go to communion, as they do four times a year, the shawls are of black silk with long black fringes. the hair is completely hidden by a close-fitting black cap, and some women cut off their hair so as to give the head a perfectly round shape. over the black cap is worn a white one of real lace, called a 'knipmuts,' the pattern of which shows to advantage over the black ground. a deep flounce of gauffred real lace goes round the neck, while round the face there is a ruche or frill, also very finely gauffred. a broad white brocaded ribbon is laid twice round the cap, and fastened under the chin. long gold earrings are fastened to the cap on either side of the face, and the ears themselves are hidden. the style of gauffering is still the same as is seen in the muslin caps of so many dutch pictures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially in those of frans hals. when in mourning, the women wear a plain linen cap without any lace, and the men a black bow in their caps. it is quite a work of art to make up a peasant woman's head-dress, and several cap-makers are kept busy at it all day long. the clothes the men wear are not so elaborate. they used to be short knickerbockers with silver clasps, but these have entirely gone out of fashion, and they have been replaced by ordinary clothes of cloth or corduroy. both sexes wear wooden shoes, which the men often make themselves. in the far-famed little island of marken, the men are very clever at this work, and they carve them beautifully. in some lonely hamlets the unmarried women wear black caps with a thick ruche of ostrich feathers or black fur round the face. the jewellery consists of garnet necklaces closed round the neck and fastened by golden clasps. the garnets are always very large, and this fashion is general ail over the netherlands. in stompwyk, a little village between the hague and leyden, a peasant family possesses garnets as large as a swallow's egg. if the dress of the boers is solid, quaint, and national, the daily food of the class is in keeping with their conservative temper and traditional gastronomic ability. it is of the plainest character, but often consists of the strangest mixtures. when a pig is killed, and the different parts for hams, sides of bacon, etc., have been stored, and the sausages made--especially after they have boiled the black-puddings, or 'bloedworst,' which is made of the blood of the pigs--a thick fatty substance remains in the pot. this they thicken with buckwheat meal till it forms a porridge, and then they eat it with treacle. the name of this dish is 'balkenbry.' a portion of this, together with some of the 'slacht,' i.e. the flesh of the pig, is sent as a present to the clergyman of the village, and it is to be hoped he enjoys it. another favourite dish, especially in overyssel and gelderland, is 'kruidmoes.' this is a mixture of buttermilk boiled with buckwheat meal, vegetables, celery, and sweet herbs, such as thyme, parsley, and chervil, and, to crown all, a huge piece of smoked bacon, and it is served steaming hot. the poor there eat a great deal of rice and flour boiled with buttermilk, which, besides being very nutritious, is 'matchless for the complexion,' like many of the advertised soaps. the very poor have what is called a 'vetpot.' this they keep in the cellar, and in it they put every particle of fat that remains over from their meals. small scraps of bacon are melted down and added to it, for this fat must last them the whole winter through as an addition to their potatoes. indeed, the 'vetpot' plays as great a part in a poor man's house as the 'stock-pot' does in an english kitchen. [illustration: farmhouse interior, the open fire on the floor.] the meals are cooked in a large iron pot, which hangs from a hook over the open hearth. the fuel consists of huge logs of wood and heather sods, which are also used for covering the roofs of the 'plaggewoning.' black or rye bread takes the place of white, and is generally home-made. in brabant the women bake what is called 'boeren mik.' this is a delicious long brown loaf, and there are always a few raisins mixed with the dough to keep it from getting stale. those who have no ovens of their own put the dough in a large long baking-tin and send it to the baker. one of the children, on his way back from school, fetches it and carries it home _under his arm_. you may often see farmers' children walking about in their wooden shoes with two or more loaves under their arms. both wooden shoes and loaves are used in a dispute between comrades, and the loaf-carrier generally gains the day. the crusts are very hard and difficult to cut, but, inside, the bread is soft and palatable. in brabant the peasants--small of stature, black-haired, brown-eyed, more of the flemish than the dutch type--are as a rule roman catholics, and on shrove tuesday evening 'vastenavond,' 'fast evening' (the night before lent), they bake and eat 'worstebrood.' on the outside this bread looks like an ordinary white loaf, but on cutting it open you find it to contain a spicy sausage-meat mixture. all the people in this part of the country observe the carnival, with its accustomed licence. times for farming are bad in the netherlands as elsewhere. the rents are high and wages low, and the consequence is that many peasants sell their farms, which have for a long time been in their families, and rent them again from the purchasers. the relations between landlord and tenants are in some respects still feudalistic, and hence very old-fashioned. on some estates the landlord has still the right of exacting personal service from his tenants, and can call upon them to come and plough his field with their horses, or help with the harvesting, for which service they are paid one 'gulden,' or s. d. a day, which, of course, is not the full value of their labour. the tenants likewise ask their landlord's consent to their marriages, and it is refused if the man or woman is not considered suitable or respectable. a farmer who keeps two or three cows pays a rent of £ a year for his farm, which only yields enough to keep him and his family, not in a high standard of living either. the rent is generally calculated at the rate of three per cent. of the value. he pays his farm-labourers cents, or s. d., for a day's work. in former days, however, money was never given, and the wages of a farm-servant then were a suit of clothes, a pair of boots, and some linen, while the women received an apron, some linen, and a few petticoats once a year. now they get in addition to this £ a year. in gramsbergen (overyssel) a whole family, consisting of a mother, her daughter, and her two grown-up sons, earned no more than four or five guilders ( s. or s.) between them, but then they lived rent free. it is not wonderful, therefore, that farm-labourers are scarce, and that many a young man, unable to earn enough to keep body and soul together decently, seeks work in the factories here or in belgium,[footnote: according to a recent return, , netherlands workmen are employed in belgium.] while those who do not wish to give up agricultural pursuits migrate to germany, where the demand for 'hands' is greater and the wages consequently higher. in former days strangers came to this country to earn money. now the tables are turned, and the fact that holland is situated between two countries whose thriving industries demand a greater number of workers every year will yet bring serious trouble and loss to dutch agriculture. [footnote: just now great results are expected from the 'allotment system,' of which a trial has been made in friesland on the extensive possessions of mr. jansen, of amsterdam.] chapter ix rural customs the hollander is a very conservative individual, and therefore some curious customs still prevail among the peasant and working classes in the netherlands, especially in the eastern provinces, for there the people are most primitive, and there it is that we find many queer old rhymes, apparently without any sense in them, but which must have had their origin in forgotten national or domestic events. a remnant of an old pagan custom of welcoming the summer is still to be seen in many country places. on the saturday before whitsunday, very early in the morning, a party of children may be seen setting out towards the woods to gather green boughs. after dipping these in water they return home in triumph and place them before the doors of those who were not 'up with the lark' in such a manner that, when these long sleepers open them, the wet green boughs will come tumbling down upon their heads. very often, too, the children pursue the late risers, and beat them with the branches, jeering at them the while, and singing about the laziness of the sluggard. these old songs have undergone very many variations, and nowadays one cannot say which is the correct and original form. they have, in fact, been hopelessly mixed up with other songs, and in no two provinces do we find exactly the same versions. the 'luilak feest,'[footnote: this day is called luilak (sluggard) in some parts of the country and the feast is called luilakfeest.'] of which i have just spoken, goes by the name of 'dauwtrappen' ('treading the dew') in some parts of the country, but the observance of it is the same wherever the custom obtains. [illustration: palm paschen--begging for eggs.] 'eiertikken' at easter must also not be overlooked. for a whole week before easter the peasant children go round from house to house begging for eggs, and carrying a wreath of green leaves stuck on a long stick. this stick and wreath they call their 'palm paschen,' which really means palm-sunday, and may have been so called because they make the wreath on that day. down the village streets they go, singing all the while and waving the wreath above their heads:-- palm, palm paschen, hei koekerei. weldra is het paschen dan hebben wy een ei. een ei--twee ei, het derde is het paschei. palm, palm sunday, hei koekerei. soon it will be easter and we shall have an egg. one egg--two eggs, the third egg is the easter egg. they knock at every farmhouse, and are very seldom sent away empty-handed. when they have collected enough eggs to suit their purpose--generally three or four apiece--they boil them hard and stain them with two different colours, either brown with coffee or red with beetroot juice, and then on easter day they all repair to the meadows carrying their eggs with them, and the 'eiertikken' begins. the children sit down on the grass, and each child knocks one of his eggs against that of another in such a way that only one of the shells breaks. the child whose egg does not break wins, and becomes the possessor of the broken egg. the strangest of all these begging-customs, however, is the one in vogue between christmas and twelfth night. then the children go out in couples, each boy carrying an earthenware pot, over which a bladder is stretched, with a piece of stick tied in the middle. when this stick is twirled about, a not very melodious grumbling sound proceeds from the contrivance, which is known by the name of 'rommelpot.' by going about in this manner the children are able to collect some few pence to buy bread--or gin--for their fathers. when they stop before any one's house, they drawl out, 'give me a cent, and i will pass on, for i have no money to buy bread.' the origin both of the custom and song is shrouded in mystery.[footnote: a society of research into old folklore and folk-song has recently been founded by some of the leading dutch literary authorities, who also propose to publish a little periodical in which all these customs will be collected and noted.] besides the customs in vogue at such festive seasons as whitsuntide, easter, and christmas, there are yet others of more everyday occurrence which are well worth the knowing. in overyssel, for instance, we find a very sensible one indeed. it is usual there when a family remove to another part of the village, or when they settle elsewhere, for the people living in the neighbourhood to bring them presents to help furnish their new house. sometimes these presents include poultry or even a pig, which, though they do not so much furnish the house as the table, prove nevertheless very acceptable. as soon as all the moving is over and they are comfortably installed in their new home, the next thing to do is to invite all the neighbours to a party. this is a very important social duty and ought on no account to be omitted, as it entitles host and hostess to the help of all their guests in the event of illness or adversity taking place in their family. if, however, they do not conform to this social obligation, their neighbours and friends stand aloof, and do not so much as move a finger to help them. should one of the family fall ill, the four nearest male neighbours are called in. these men fetch the doctor, and do all the nursing. they will even watch by the invalid at night, and so long as the illness lasts they undertake all the farm-work. sometimes they will go on working the farm for years, and when a widow is left with young children in straitened circumstances, these 'noodburen' ('neighbours in need') will help her in all possible ways, and take all the business and worry off her hands. [illustration: rommel pot.] in case of a marriage, too, the neighbours do the greater part of the preparations. they invite the relations and friends to come to the wedding, and make ready the feast. the invitations are always given by word of mouth, and two young men[footnote: in gelderland we find this same custom and also in friesland, but in this last-named province the invitation is given by two young girls.] nearly related to the bride and bridegroom are appointed to go round from house to house to bid the people come. they are dressed for this purpose in their best sunday clothes, and wear artificial flowers and six peacock's feathers in their caps. the invitation is made in poetry, in which the assurance is conveyed that there will be plenty to eat and plenty of gin and beer to drink, and that whatever they may have omitted to say will be told by the bride and bridegroom at the feast. this verse in the native patois is very curious-- 'goen dag! 'daor stao'k op minen staf en weet niet wat ik zeggen mag, nou hek me weer bedach en weet ik wat ik zeggen mag hier sturt ons gut yan vente als brugom en mientje elschot as de brud, ende' noget uwder ut margen vrog on tien ur op en tonne bier tiene twalevenne, op en anker win, vif, zesse en en wanne vol rozimen. de zult by venterboer verschinen met de husgezeten en nums vergeten, vrog kommen en late bliven anders kun wy t nie 't op krigen lustig ezongen, vrolik esprongen, springen met de beide beene, en wat ik nog hebbe vergeten zult ow de brogom ende brud verbeten. hej my elk nuw wal verstaan dan laot de fles um de taofel gaon 'good day! 'i rest here on my stick, i don't know what to say, now i have thought of it and know what i may say: here sent us gart van vente, the bridegroom, and mientje elschot, the bride, to invite you to-morrow morning at ten o'clock to empty ten or twelve barrels of beer, five or six hogsheads of wine, and a basket full of dried grapes. you will come to the house of venterboer with all your inmates and forget nobody. come early and remain late, else we can't swallow it all down. then sing cheerfully, leap joyfully, leap with both your legs. and, what i have yet forgotten, think of the bridegroom and bride. if you have understood me well let pass the bottle round the table.' the day before the wedding is to take place the bridegroom and some of his friends arrive at the bride's house in a cart, drawn by four horses, to bring away the bride and her belongings. these latter are a motley collection, for they consist not only of her clothes, bed and bed-curtains, but her spinning-wheel, linen-press full of linen, and also a cow. after everything has been loaded upon the cart, and the young men have refreshed themselves with 'rystebry' (rice boiled with sweet milk), they drive away in state, singing as they go. the following day the bride is married from the house of her parents-in-law, and as it often happens that the young couple live with the bridegroom's people, it is only natural that they like to have the house in proper order before the arrival of the wedding-guests, who begin to appear as soon as eight o'clock in the morning. when all the invited guests are assembled and have partaken of hot gin mixed with currants, handed round in two-handled pewter cups, kept especially for these occasions, the whole party goes, about eleven o'clock, to the 'stadhuis,' or town hall, where the couple are married before the burgomaster, and afterwards to the church, where the blessing is given upon their union. on returning home the mid-day meal is ready, and, on this festive occasion, consists of ham, potatoes, and salt fish, and the clergyman is also honoured with an invitation to the gathering. the rest of the day is spent in rejoicings, in which eating and drinking take the chief part. the bride changes her outer apparel about four times during the day, always in public, standing before her linen-press. the day is wound up with a dance, for which the village fiddler provides the music, the bride opening the ball with one of the young men who invited the guests, and she then presents him with a fine linen handkerchief as a reward for his invaluable services on the occasion. in friesland a curious old custom still exists, called the 'joen-piezl,' which furnishes the clue to an odd incident in mrs. schreiner's 'story of an african farm.' when a man and girl are about to be married, they must first sit up for a whole night in the kitchen with a burning candle on the table between them. by the time the candle is burnt low in its socket they must have found out whether they really are fond of each other. the marriage customs in north and south holland are very different to the former. as soon as a couple are 'aangeteekend,' i.e. when the banns are published for the first time (which does not happen in church, but takes the form of a notice put up at the town hall), and have returned from the 'stadhuis,' they drive about and take a bag of sweets ('bruidsuikers') to all their friends. on the wedding-day, after the ceremony is over, the bride and bridegroom again drive out together in a 'chaise'--a high carriage on very big wheels, with room for but two persons. the horse's head, the whip, and the reins are all decorated with flowers and coloured ribbons. the wedding-guests drive in couples behind the bride and bridegroom's 'chaise,' and the progress is called 'speuleryden.' sometimes they drive for miles across country, stopping at every _café_ to drink brandy and sugar, and when they pass children on the road these call out to them, 'bruid, bruid, strooi je suikers uit' ('bride, bride, strew your sugars about.') handfuls of sweets will thereupon be seen flying through the air and rolling about the ground, while the children tumble over each other in their eager haste to collect as many of these sweets as they can. sometimes as much as twenty-five pounds of sweets are thus scattered upon the roadside for the village children. such a wedding is quite an event in the lives of these little ones, and they will talk for weeks to come about the amount of sweets they were able to procure. [illustration: a hindeloopen lady in national costume.] [illustration: rural costume--cap with ruche of fur.] at ryswyk, a little village near the hague, and in most villages in westland, south holland, the bride and bridegroom present to the burgomaster and wethouders, and also to the 'ambtenaar van den burgerlyken stand' who marries them at the 'stadhuis,' a bag of these sweets, while one bearing the inscription, 'compliments of bride and bridegroom,' is given to the officiating clergyman immediately after the ceremony in church. on their way home all along the road they strew 'suikers' out of the carriage windows for the gaping crowds. some of the less well-to-do farmers, and those who live near large towns, give their wedding-parties at a _café_ or 'uitspanning.' this word means literally a place where the horse is taken out of the shafts, but it is also a restaurant with a garden attached to it, in which there are swings and seesaws, upon which the guests disport themselves during the afternoon, while in the evening a large hall in the building is arranged for the ball, for that is the conclusion of every 'boeren bruiloft.' very often the ball lasts till the cock-crowing, and then, if the 'bruiloft houers' are roman catholics, it is no uncommon practice first to go to church and 'count their beads' before they disperse on their separate ways to begin the duties of a new day. a birth is naturally an occasion that calls for very festive celebration. when the child is about a week old, its parents send round to all their friends to come and rejoice with them. the men are invited 'op een lange pyp en een bitterje,' the women for the afternoon 'op suikerdebol.' at twelve o'clock the men begin to arrive, and are immediately provided with a long gouda pipe, a pouch of tobacco, and a cut glass bottle containing gin mixed with aromatic bitters. while they smoke, they talk in voices loud enough to make any one who is not acquainted with a farmer's mode of speech think that a great deal of quarrelling is going on in the house. this entertainment lasts till seven o'clock, when all the men leave and the room is cleared, though not ventilated, and the table is rearranged for the evening's rejoicings. dishes of bread and butter, flat buttered rusks liberally spread with 'muisjes' (sugared aniseed--the literal translation is 'mice'), together with tarts and sweets of all descriptions, are put out in endless profusion on all the best china the good wife possesses. for each of the guests two of these round flat rusks are provided, two being the correct number to take, for more than two would be considered greedy, and to eat only one would be sure to offend the hostess. eating and drinking, for 'advocatenborrel' (brandy and eggs) is also served, go on for the greater part of the afternoon. the mid-day meal is altogether dispensed with on such a day, and, judging by appearances, one cannot say that the guests look as if they had missed it! it is quite the national custom to eat rusks with 'muisjes' on on these occasions, and these little sweets are manufactured of two kinds. the sugar coating is smooth when the child is a girl, and rough and prickly like a chestnut burr when the child is a boy; and when one goes to buy 'muisjes' at a confectioner's he is always asked whether boys' or girls' 'muisjes' are required. hundreds-and-thousands, the well-known decoration on buns and cakes in an english pastry-cook's shop, bear the closest resemblance to these dutch 'muisjes.' when a little child is born into a family of the better classes, the servants are treated to biscuits and 'mice' on that day; while in the very old-fashioned dutch families there is still another custom, that of offermg 'kandeel,' a preparation of eggs and rhine wine or hock, on the first day the young mother receives visitors, and it is specially made for these occasions by the 'baker' nurse. funeral processions are a very mournful sight on all occasions, but a dutch funeral depresses one for about a month after. the hearse is all hung with black draperies, while on the box sits the coachman wearing a large black hat called 'huilebalk.' from the rim overlapping the face hangs a piece of black cord. this he holds in his mouth to prevent the hat from falling off his head. the hearse itself is generally embellished by the images of grinning skulls, though the carriages following the hearse have no distinctive mark. if such a funeral procession happens to come along the road you yourself are going, you may be sure of enjoying its company the whole way, for the horses are only allowed to walk, never trot, and it takes hours to get to the cemetery. in former days the horses were specially shod for this occasion in such a way that they went lame on one leg. this end was achieved by driving the nail of the shoe into the animal's foot, for people thought this added to the doleful aspect of the _corétge_ as it advanced slowly along the road. happily this cruelty is now dispensed with, and indeed is entirely forbidden by the society for the prevention of cruelty to animais, but the ugly aspect of the hearses remains the same. [illustration: an overyssel peasant woman.] at a death, the relatives of the deceased have large cards printed, announcing the family loss. these cards are taken round to every house in the neighbourhood by a man specially hired for the purpose. this man, called an 'aanspreker,' carries a list of the names and addresses of the people on whom he has to leave the cards; if the people sending out the cards have friends in any other street of the town, a card is left at every house in that street. [illustration: zeeland children in state.] if the deceased was an officer, the cards, beside being sent round in the neighbourhood, are left at every officer's house throughout the town. to whichever profession the deceased belonged, to the people of that profession the cards are sent. a minister of state or any other person occupying a very high position sends cards to every house in the town and suburbs. in a village or country place a funeral is rather a popular event, and the preparations for it somewhat resemble the preparations for a feast. this, for instance, is the case in overyssel. when one of a family dies, the nearest relatives immediately call in the neighbouring women, and these take upon themselves all the necessary arrangements. they send round messages announcing the death and day of interment; they buy coffee, sugar-candy, and a bottle of gin, wherewith to refresh themselves while making the shroud and dressing the dead body; and the next morning they take care that the church bells are duly rung, and, in the afternoon, when the relations and friends come to offer their condolences, they serve them, as they sit round the bier, with black bread and coffee. when the plates and cups are empty the visitors leave again without having spoken a word. on the day of the funeral, the guests assemble at two o'clock in the afternoon. they first sit round the tables and eat and drink in silence, and when the first batch have satisfied their appetites they move away and make room for others. after this meal all walk round the coffin, and repeat, one after another, 'twas een goed mensch,' ('he or she was a good man or woman,' as the case may be). then the lid of the coffin is fastened down with twelve wooden pegs, which the most honoured guest is allowed to hammer in, and the coffin is forthwith placed on an ordinary farm-cart. the nearest relations get in, too, and sit on the coffin, and the other women on the cart facing the coffin. this custom is adhered to, notwithstanding the prohibition by law to sit on any conveyance carrying a coffin. the women are in mourning from tip to toe, and closely enveloped in black merino shawls, which they wear over their heads. the men follow on foot, and it is a picturesque though melancholy sight to watch these funeral processions, always at close of day, solemnly wending their way along the road, the dark figures of the women silhouetted against a sky all aglow with those glorious sunsets for which overyssel is famous. chapter x kermis and st. nicholas of all the festivals and occasions of popular rejoicing and merriment in holland none can compare with the kermis and the festival of st. nicholas, which are in many ways peculiarly characteristic of dutch life and dutch love for primitive usage. the kermis is particularly popular, because of the manifold amusements which are associated with it, and because it unites all classes of the population in the common pursuit of unsophisticated pleasure. as its name implies, the kermis ('kerk-mis') has a religious origin, being named after the chief part of the church service, the mass. just as the feast of st. baro received the name 'bamisse,' so that of the consecration of the church was called the 'church-mass,' or 'kerk-mis.' in ancient times, if a church was consecrated on the name-day of a certain saint the church was also dedicated to that saint. such a festival was a chief festival, or 'hoof feest,' for a church, and it was not only celebrated with great pomp and solemnity, but amusements of all kinds were added to give the celebration a more festive character. in large towns there were kermissen at different times of the year in different parishes, for each church was dedicated to a different saint, so that there were as many dedicatory feasts in a town as there were churches in it. at a very early period in the nation's history the church-masses began to wear a more worldly character, for the merchants made them an occasion for introducing their wares and trading with the people, just as they did at the ordinary 'year-markets.' these year-markets always fell on the same day as the kermissen, but they had a different origin. they were held by permission of the sovereign, and were first instituted to encourage trade; but gradually the kermis and the year-market went hand-in-hand, for the people could no longer imagine a year-market without the kermis amusements, or a kermis without booths and stalls, so if there was not sufficient room for the latter to be built on the streets or squares, the priest allowed them to be put up in the churchyard or sometimes even in the church. moreover, if it was not possible to have the year-market in the same week as the kermis, then the kermis was put off to suit the year-market, and these latter were of great aid to the religious festivals, for they attracted a greater number of people, and as dispensations were given for attending the masses both the churches and the markets benefited. the mass lasted eight days, and the year-market as long as the church festival. the church protected the year-markets, and rang them in. with the first stroke of the kermis clock the year-market was opened and the first dance commenced, followed by a grand procession, in which all the principal people of the town took part, and when the last stroke died away white crosses were nailed upon all the bridges, and on the gates of the town. these served both as a passport and also as a token of the 'markt vrede' (market peace), so that any one seeing the cross knew that he might enter the town and buy and sell _ad libitum_, also that his peace and safety were guaranteed, and that any one who disturbed the 'markt vrede' would be banished from the place, and not be allowed to come back another year. in some places this yearly market was named, after the crosses, 'cruyce-markt.' very festive is the appearance of a town in the kermis week. on the opening day, at twelve o'clock, the bells of the cathedral or chief church are set ringing, and this is the sign for the booths to be opened and the 'kermispret' to begin. everywhere tempting stores are displayed to view, and although a scent of oil and burning fat pervades the air, nobody seems to mind that, for it only increases the delight the kermis has in store for them. the stalls are generally set out in two rows. the most primitive of these is the stall of hard-boiled eggs and pickled gherkins, whose owner is probably a jew, and pleasant sounds his hoarse voice while praising his wares high above all others. if he does prevail upon you to come and try one of his eggs and gherkins it only adds more relish to your meal when he tells you of the man who only paid one cent for a large gherkin which really cost two, and although he already had put it in his mouth he made him put the other part back. or when you go to eat 'poffertjes,' which look so tempting, and with the first bite find a quid of tobacco in the inoffensive-looking little morsel, do not let this trifling incident disturb your equanimity, but try another booth. it is quite worth your while to stand in front of a 'poffertjeskraam' and see how they are made. the batter is simply buckwheat-meal mixed with water, and some yeast to make it light. over a bright fire of logs is placed a large, square, iron baking-sheet with deep impressions for the reception of the batter. on one side sits a woman on a high stool, with a bowl of the mixture by her side and a large wooden ladle in her hand. this she dips into the batter, bringing it out full, then with a quick sweep of the arm she empties its contents into the hollows of the baking-sheet. a man standing by turns them dexterously one by one with a steel fork, and a moment later he pricks them six at a time on to the fork; this he docs four times to get a plateful, and then he hands it over to another man inside the booth, who adds a pat of butter and a liberal sprinkling of sugar. the 'wafelkramen' are not so largely patronized, as the price of these delicacies is rather too high for the slender purses of the average 'kermis houwer,' but 'oliebollen'--round ball-shaped cakes swimming in oil--are within the reach of all, as they cost but a cent apiece. servants and their lovers, after satisfying their appetites with these 'oliebollen,' go and have a few turns in the roundabouts by way of a change, and then hurry to the fish stall, where they eat a raw salted herring to counteract the effects of the earlier dissipation. the more respectable servant, however, turns up her nose at the herrings, and goes in for smoked eel. these fish-stalls are very quaint in appearance, for they are hung with garlands of dried 'scharretje' (a white, thin, leathery-looking fish), which dangle in front, and form a most original decoration. in the towns a separate day and evening are set apart for the servant classes to go to the fair, and there is also a day for the _élite_. at the commencement of the reign of king william iii. the whole court, including the king and queen, used to meet at the hague kermis on the lange voorhout on thursday afternoons, between two and four o'clock, and walk up and down between the double row of stalls; and in the evening of that day they all visited either the most renowned circus of the season or went to see the 'kermis stuk,' or special play acted in fan-time. the servants' evening, as it is held in rotterdam, is the most characteristic. it is an evening shunned by the more respectable people, for the 'kermisgangers are a very rowdy lot. they amuse themselves chiefly by running along the streets in long rows, arm-in-arm, singing 'hossen--hossen-hossen!' they also treat each other to 'nieuw rood met suiker'--black currants preserved in gin with sugar--until they are all quite tipsy, and woe to any quiet pedestrian who has the misfortune to pass their way, for with loud 'hi-has' they encircle him and make him 'hos' with them. the evening is commonly called the 'aalbessen (black-currant) hos.' [illustration: kermis: 'hossen-hossen--hi-ha!' _(after the picture of van geldrop_)] an equally curious but not so bad a custom is the groninger 'koek eten.' all groningers are fond of cake, and the 'groninger kauke' is a widespread and very tasty production; but for this special purpose is used the 'ellekoek,' a very long thin cake, which, as its name implies, is sold by the yard. it is very tough, and just thin enough to hold in a large mouth, and when a man chooses a girl to keep kermis with him they must first see whether they will suit one another as 'vryer and vryster' by eating 'ellekoek.' this is done in the following manner. they stand opposite one another, and each begins at an end and eats towards the other. they may not touch the cake with their hands, but must hold it between their teeth all the while they are eating, and if they are unable to accomplish this feat and kiss when they get to the middle it is a sure sign that they are not suited to one another, and so the partnership is not concluded. in some parts of friesland and in voorburg, one of the many villages near the hague, there is another cake custom, the 'koekslän,' which is a sort of cake lottery. the cakes are all put out on large blocks, which are higher at the sides than in the middle, and, for twopence, any one who likes may try his luck and see if he can break the cake in two by striking it with a stout stick provided by the stall-keeper for the purpose. it is necessary to do this in one blow, for a second try involves the payment of another fee. he who succeeds carries off the broken cake, and receives a second one as a prize. some men are very clever at this, and manage to carry off a good many prizes. just as the kermis is rung in by the bells, so also it is tolled out again. this, however, is not an official proceeding, but a custom among the schoolboys of the gymnasium and higher burgher schools. at the hague, on the last day of the fair, all the 'schooljeugd' assembled in the lange voorhout, dressed in black, just as they would dress for a funeral, while four of them carried a bier, hung with wreaths and black draperies. on this bier was supposed to rest all that remained of the kermis. in front of the bier walked a boy ringing a large bell, and proclaiming, 'de kermis is dood, de kermis wordt begraven' ('the kermis is dead, and is going to be buried'). behind the bier came all the other boys with the most mournful expression upon their faces they could muster for the occasion, and thus they carried the 'dead fair' through the principal streets of the town, and at last buried it in the 'scheveningsche boschjes.' but this custom is now a thing of the past, for the kermis at the hague has been abolished, even as it has been abolished in most of the other towns throughout the kingdom, for all authorities were agreed that fair-time promoted vice and drunkenness, and the old-fashioned kermis is now only to be found in rotterdam, leyden, delft, and some of the smaller provincial towns and villages. the th of december is the day dedicated to st. nicholas, and its vigil is one of the most characteristic of dutch festivals. it is an evening for family reunions, and is filled with old recollections for the elders and new delights for the younger people and children. just as english people give presents at christmas time, so do the dutch at st. nicholas, only in a different way, for st. nicholas presents must be hidden and disguised as much as possible, and be accompanied by rhymes explaining what the gift is and for whom st. nicholas intends it. sometimes a parcel addressed to one person will finally turn out to be for quite a different member of the family than the one who first received it, for the address on each wrapper in the various stages of unpacking makes it necessary for the parcel to change hands as many times as there are papers to undo. the tiniest things are sent in immense packing-cases, and sometimes the gifts are baked in a loaf of bread or hidden in a turf, and the longer it takes before the present is found the more successful is the 'surprise.' the greatest delight to the giver of the parcel is to remain unknown as long as possible, and even if the present is sent from one member of the family to another living in the same house the door-bell is always rung by the servant before she brings the parcel in, to make believe that it has come from some outsider; and if a parcel has to be taken to a friend's house it is very often entrusted to a passer-by, with the request to leave it at the door and ring the bell. in houses where there are many children, some of the elders dress up as the good bishop st. nicholas and his black servant. the children are always very much impressed by the knowledge st. nicholas shows of all their shortcomings, for he usually reminds them of their little failings, and gives them each an appropriate lecture. sometimes he makes them repeat a verse to him or asks them about their lessons, all of which tends to make the moment of his arrival looked forward to with much excitement and some trembling, for st. nicholas generally announces at what time he is to be expected, so that all may be in readiness for his reception. on the eventful evening a large white sheet is laid out upon the floor in the middle of the room, and round it stand all the children with sparkling eyes and flushed faces, eagerly scrutinizing the hand of the clock. as soon as it points to five minutes before the expected time of the saint's arrivai they begin to sing songs to welcome him to their midst, and ask him to give as liberally as was his wont, meanwhile praising his goodness and greatness in the most eloquent terms. the first intimation the children get of the saint's arrival is a shower of sweets bursting in upon them. then, amid the general scramble which ensues, st. nicholas suddenly makes his appearance in full episcopal vestments, laden with presents, while in the rear stands his black servant with an open sack in one hand in which to put all the naughty boys and girls, and a rod in the other which he shakes vigorously from time to time. when the presents have all been distributed, and st. nicholas has made his adieus, promising to come back the following year, and the children are packed to bed to dream of all the fun they have had, the older people begin to enjoy themselves. first they sit round the table which stands in the middle of the room under the lamp, and partake of tea and 'speculaas,' until their own 'surprises' begin to arrive. at ten o'clock the room is cleared, the dust-sheet which was laid down for the children's scramble is taken up, and all the papers and shavings, boxes and baskets that contained presents are removed from the floor; the table is spread with a white table-cloth; 'letterbanket' with hot punch or milk chocolate is provided for the guests; and, when all have taken their seats, a dish of boiled chestnuts, steaming hot, is brought in and eaten with butter and salt. cigars, the usual resource of dutchmen when they do not know what to do with themselves, do not form a feature of this memorable evening (memorable for this fact also), not so much out of deference to the ladies who are in their midst as for the reason that they are too fully occupied with other and even pleasanter employments. [illustration: st. nicholas going his rounds on december th.] the personality of st. nicholas, as now known by dutch children, is of mixed origin, for not merely the bishop of lycië, but woden, the frisian god of the elements and of the harvest, figures largely in the legends attached to his name. woden possessed a magic robe which enabled him when arrayed in it to go to any place in the world he wished in the twinkling of an eye. this same power is attached to the 'beste tabbaard' of st. nicholas, as may be seen from the verse addressed to him:-- 'sint niklaas, goed, heilig man trek je beste tabberd an ryd er mee naar amsterdam van amsterdam naar spanje.' [st. nicholas, good, holy man put on your best gown ride with it to amsterdam, from amsterdam to spain.] the horse sleipnir, on whose back woden took his autumn ride through the world, has been converted into the horse of st. nicholas, on which the saint rides about over the roofs of the houses to find out where the good and where the naughty children live. in pagan days a sheaf of corn was always left out on the field in harvest time for woden's horse, and the children of the present day still carry out the same idea by putting a wisp of hay in their shoes for the four-footed friend of the good saint. the black servant who now always accompanies st. nicholas is an importation from america, for the pilgrim fathers carried their st. nicholas festival with them to the new country, and some of their descendants who came to live in holland brought 'knecht ruprecht' with them, and so added another feature to the st. nicholas festivity. what the dutch originally knew of the life and works of 'dominus sanctus nicolaus' was told them by the spaniards at the time of their influence in holland, and so it is believed that the saint was born at myra, in lycie, and lived in the commencement of the fourth century, in the reign of constantine the great. from his earliest youth he showed signs of great piety and self-denial, refusing, it is said, even when quite a tiny child, to take food more than once a day on fast days! his whole life was devoted to doing good, and even after his death he is credited with performing many miracles. maidens and children chiefly claim him as their patron saint, but he also guards sailors, and legend asserts that many a ship on the point of being wrecked or stranded has been saved by his timely influence. during his lifetime the circumstance took place for which he was ever afterwards recognized as the maidens' guardian. a certain man had lost all his money, and to rid himself from his miserable situation he determined to sell his three beautiful daughters for a large sum. st. nicholas heard of his intention, and went to the man's house in the night, taking with him some of the money left him by his parents, and dropped it through a broken window-pane. the following night st. nicholas again took a purse of gold to the poor man's house, and managed to drop it through the chimney, but when he reached the man's door on the third night it was suddenly opened from the inside, and the poor man rushed out, caught st. nicholas by his robe, and, falling down on his knees before him, exclaimed, 'o nicholas, servant of the lord, wherefore dost thou hide thy good deeds?' and from that time forth every one knew it was st. nicholas who brought presents during the night. in pictures one often sees st. nicholas represented with the threefold gift in his hand, in the form of three golden apples, fruits of the tree of life. another very well known dutch picture is st. nicholas standing by a tub, from which are emerging three bags. about fifty years ago such a picture was to be seen in amsterdam on the corner house between the dam and the damrak, with the inscription, 'sinterklaes.' the story runs that three boys once lost their way in a dark wood, and begged a night's lodging with a farmer and his wife. while the children were asleep the wicked couple murdered them, hoping to rob them of all they had with them, but they soon discovered that the lads had no treasure at all, and so, to guard against detection, they salted the dead bodies, and put them in the tub with the pigs' flesh. that same afternoon, while the farmer was at the market, st. nicholas appeared to him in his episcopal robes, and asked him whether he had any pork to sell. the man replied in the negative, when st. nicholas rejoined, 'what of the three young pigs in your tub? 'this so frightened the farmer that he confessed his wicked deed, and implored forgiveness. st. nicholas thereupon accompanied him to his house, and waved his staff over the meat-tub, and immediately the three boys stepped forth well and hearty, and thanked st. nicholas for restoring them to life. the birch rod, which naughty dutch children have still to fear, has also a legendary origin, and is not merely an imaginary addition to the attributes of the saint. a certain abbot would not allow the responses of st. nicholas to be sung in his church, notwithstanding the repeated requests of the monks of his order, and he dismissed them at last with the words, 'i consider this music worldly and profane, and shall never give permission for it to be used in my church.' these words so enraged st. nicholas that he came down from the heavens at night when the abbot was asleep, and, dragging him out of bed by the hair of his head, beat him with a birch rod he carried in his hand till he was more dead than alive. the lesson proved salutary, and from that day forth the responses of st. nicholas formed a part of the service. the st. nicholas festival has always been kept with the greatest splendour at amsterdam. it was there that the festival was first instituted, and the first church built which was dedicated to his name; for when gysbrecht iii., heer van amstel, had the amstel dammed, many people came to live there, and houses arose up on all sides, and naturally, when the want of a church was felt, and it was built, the good nicholas was chosen the patron saint of the town. on his name-day masses were held in the church, and the usual kermis observed, booths and stalls were set out in two rows all along the damrak, where the people of amsterdam could buy sweets and toys for their children. special cakes were baked in the form of a bishop, and named, after st. nicholas, 'klaasjes.' they were looked upon as an offering dedicated to the saint according to the old custom of their forefathers, which can be again traced to the service of woden. not only amsterdammers, however, but people from all the neighbouring towns flocked to the st. nicholas market, and followed the amsterdammers' example of filling their children's shoes with cakes and toys, always telling them the old legend that st. nicholas himself brought these presents through the chimney and put them in their shoes. during and after the reformation this now popular festival had to bear a great deal of opposition, for authors and preachers alike agreed that it was a foolish feast, and led to superstition and idolatry. hence the decree was issued, in the year , that no cakes might be baked and no kermis held, and even the children were forbidden to put out their shoes as they were accustomed to do. but for once in a way people were sensible enough to understand that giving their children a pleasant evening had nothing to do either with superstition or idolatry, and so the festival lived on with protestants as well as roman catholics, although one point was gained by the reformers, in that st. nicholas was no longer looked upon as holy and worshipped, but was only honoured as the patron saint and guardian of their children. the fairs which once belonged to the festival of st. nicholas are no longer held in the street, at any rate in the larger towns, but the exchange of presents is as universal as ever, and the shops look as festive as shops in england do at christmas-time. in many other ways, indeed, st. nicholas corresponds to christmas in other countries, and protestants and catholics alike observe it, although there is no religions significance in the festival. the season, too, has its special cakes and sweets. there are the flat hard cakes, made in the shapes of birds, beasts, and fishes--the so-called 'klaasjes'--for they are no longer baked only in the form of a bishop, as they used to be. then there is 'letterbanket,' made, as the name implies, in the form of letters, so that any one who likes can order his name in cake, and the 'marsepein' (marzipan) is now made in all possible shapes, though formerly only in heart-shaped sweets, ornamented with little turtle-doves made of pink sugar, or a flaming heart on a little altar. these sweets, it is said, were invented by st. nicholas himself, when he was a bishop, for the benefit and use of lovers; for st. nicholas held the office of 'hylik-maker,' and many a couple were united by him. that is why the confectioners bake 'vryers and vrysters' of cake at st. nicholas time. if a young man wanted to find out whether a girl cared for him, he used to send her a heart of 'marsepein' and a 'vryer' of cake. should she accept this present he knew he had nothing to fear, but if she declined to accept it he knew there was no hope for him in that quarter. these large dolls of cake were usually decorated with strips of gold paper pasted over them, but this fashion has gone out of use, and has caused the death of another old custom; for it used to be a great treat for children and young people to go and help the confectioners (who wrote all their customers an invitation for that evening) on the th of december to prepare their goods for the 'étalage.' any cake that broke while in their hands they were allowed to eat, and no doubt many did break. it is not likely that this celebration of st. nicholas will ever be abolished, and the shopkeepers do their best to perpetuate it by offering new attractions for the little folk every year. figures of st. nicholas, life-size, are placed before their windows; and some even have a man dressed like the good saint, who goes about the streets, mounted on a white steed, while behind him follows a cart laden with parcels, which have been ordered and are left in this way at the different houses. crowds of children, singing, shouting, and clapping their hands, follow in the rear, adding to the noise and bustle of the already crowded streets, but people are too good-natured at st. nicholas time to expostulate. smiling faces, mirth, and jollity abound everywhere, and good feeling unites all men as brethren on this most popular of all the dutch festivals. chapter xi national amusements holland, like other countries, is indebted to primitive and classic times for most of its national amusements and children's games, which have been handed down from generation to generation. many of the same games have been played under many differing governments and opposing creeds. hollander and spaniard, protestant and catholic alike have found common ground in those games and sports which afford so welcome a break in daily work. 'hinkelbaan,' for example, found its way into the netherlands from far phoenicia, whose people invented it. the game of cockal, 'bikkelen,' still played by dutch village children on the blue doorsteps of old-fashioned houses, together with 'kaatsen,' was introduced into holland by nero claudius druses, and it is stated that he laid out the first 'kaatsbaan.' the frisian peasant is very fond of this game; and also of 'kolven,' the older form of golf; and often on a sunday morning after church he may be seen dressed in his velvet suit and low-buckled shoes, engaged in these outdoor sports. about a century ago a game called 'malien' was universally played in south holland and utrecht. for this it was necessary to have a large piece of ground, at one end of which poles were erected, joined together by a porch. the bail was driven by a 'mahen kolf,' a long stick with an iron head and a leather grip, and it had to touch both poles and roll through the porch. the 'maheveld' at the hague and the 'mahebaan' at utrecht remind one of the places in which this game was played. in friesland the sunday game for youths is 'het slingeren met dimterkoek'--throwing deventer cake. four persons are required to play this game. the players divide themselves into opposite parties, and play against each other. first they toss up to see which of the parties and which of the boys shall begin. he on whom the lot falls is allowed to give his turn to his opponent, which he often does if, on feeling the cake, he notices that it is soft and liable to break easily. if, on the contrary, it is hard, he keeps the first throw for himself. holding the cake firmly in his right hand, he takes a little run, bends backward, and with a sudden swing throws the cake forward (as one throws a stone) so that it flies away a good distance, breaking off just at the grip. this piece, called 'hanslik,' or handpiece, he must keep in his hand, for if he drops it he must let his turn pass by once, and his throw is not counted. the distance of the throw is now measured and noted down, whereupon one of the opposing party takes the piece of cake and throws it, and so it goes on alternately till each has had a turn. the distances of the throws of every two boys are counted together, and the side which has the most points wins. there are also games played only at certain seasons of the year, as the 'eiergaren' at easter-time. this was very popular even in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. on easter monday all the village people betake themselves to the principal street of the 'dorp' to watch the 'eiergaarder.' at about two o'clock in the afternoon the innkeeper who provides the eggs appears upon the scene with a basket containing twenty-five. these he places on the road at equal distances of twelve feet from each other. in the middle of the road is then placed a tub of water, on which floats a very large apple, the largest he has been able to procure. two men are chosen from the ranks of the villagers. the one is led to the tub, his hands are tied behind his back, and he is told to eat the floating apple; the other has to take the basket in his hand and pick up while running all the eggs and arrange them in the basket before the apple is eaten. he who finishes his task first is the winner, and carries off the basket of eggs as a prize. it provokes great fun to see the man trying to get hold of the floating-apple, which escapes so easily from the grasp of his teeth, but some men are wise enough to push the apple against the side of the tub, and of course as soon as they have taken one bite the rest is easily eaten. when the game is over, the greater number of the villagers go and drink to the good health of the winner at the public-house, and so the innkeeper makes a good thing out of this custom also, and for a game like this it is certainly wise to refresh one's self _after_ the event. skittles and billiards are very popular with the peasant and working classes on sunday afternoons, the only free time a labourer has for recreation. games of chance, also, in which skill is at a minimum, are as numerous in holland as in any other country. children's games naturally occupy a large share in young netherlands life, especially outdoor romping games. of indoor games there are very few, a fact which may, perhaps, be accounted for by the custom of allowing children to play in the streets. in former days children of all classes played together in outdoor sports and games, and developed both their muscles and their republican character. even prince frederik hendrik (who was brother to and succeeded prince maurits in ), when at school at leyden, mixed freely with his more humble companions, and was often mistaken for an ordinary schoolboy, and an old woman once sharply rebuked him for daring to use her boat-hook to fish his ball out of the water into which it had fallen. nor did she notice to whom she was speaking until a passer-by called her attention to the fact that it was the prince, whereupon the poor old soul became so frightened that she durst not venture out of her house for weeks from imaginary fear of falling into the clutches of the law, and ending her days in prison. games may be divided into two classes, those played with toys and those for which no toys are needed; but whatever the games may be they all have their special seasons. once a man wrote an almanack on children's games, and noted down ail the different sports and their seasons, but, as the poet huggens truly said, 'de kindren weten tyd van knickeren en kooten, en zonder almanack en ist hen nooit ontschoten,' which, freely translated, means that children know which games are in season by intuition, and do not need an almanack, so he might have saved himself the trouble. 'the children know the time to play marbles and "kooten," and without an almanack have not forgotten.' in the eighteenth century driving a hoop was as popular an amusement with children as it is now, only then it was also a sport, and prizes were given to the most skilful. in fact, hoop-races were held, and boys and girls alike joined in them. they had to drive their hoops a certain distance, and the one who first reached the goal received a silver coin for a prize. this coin was fastened to the hoop as a trophy, and the more noise a hoop made while rolling over the streets the greater the honour for the owner of it, for it showed that a great many prizes had been gained. in drenthe the popular game for boys is 'man ik sta op je blokhuis,' similar to 'i am the king of the castle,' but there is also the 'windspel.' for the latter a piece of wood and a ball are necessary. the wood is placed upon a pole and the ball laid on one side of it, then with a stick the child strikes as hard as possible the other side of the piece of wood, at the same time calling 'w-i-n-d,' and the ball flies up into the air, and may be almost lost to sight. 'boer lap den buis,' an exciting game from a boy's point of view, is a general favourite in gelderland and overyssel. for this the boys build a sort of castle with large stones, and after tossing up to see who is to be 'boer,' the boy on whom the lot has fallen stands in the stone fortress, and the others throw stones at it from a distance, to see whether they can knock bits off it. as soon as one succeeds in doing so he runs to get back his stone, at the same time calling out 'boer, lap den buis,' signifying that the 'boer' must mend the castle. if the 'boer' accomplishes this, and touches the bag before he has picked up his stone, they change places, and the game begins anew. little girls of the labouring classes have not much time for games of any sort, for they are generally required at home to act as nursemaids and help in many other duties of the home life, but sometimes on summer afternoons they bring out their younger brothers and sisters, their knitting and a skipping-rope, which they take in turns, and so pass a few pleasant hours free from their share (not an inconsiderable one) of household cares, or in the evenings, when the younger members of the family are in bed, they will be quite happy with a bit of rope and their skipping songs, of which they seem to know many hundreds, and which might be sung with equal reason to any other game under the sun for all the words have to do with skipping. after a long spell of rain the first fall of snow is hailed with delight, for it is a sign that frost is not far off. jack frost, after several preliminary appearances in december, usually pays his first long visit in january (sometimes, however, this is but a flying visit of two or three days), and, as a rule, a dutchman may reckon on a good hard winter. as soon, therefore, as he sees the snow he thinks of the good old saying--'sneeuw op slik in drie dagen ys dun of dik' ('snow on mud in three days' time, thin or thick'). ice is to be expected, and he gets out his skates with all speed. this is one of the few occasions when the people of the netherlands are enthusiastic. certainly skating is _the_ national sport. the ditches are always the first to be tried, as the water in them is very shallow, and naturally freezes sooner than the very deep and exposed waters of river and canal, over which the wind, which is always blowing in holland, has fair play; but when once these are frozen, then skating begins in real earnest. the tracks are all marked out by the hollandsche ysvereeniging, a society which was founded in in south holland, and which the other provinces have now joined. finger-posts to point the way are put up by this society at all cross-roads and ditches, with notices to mark the dangerous places, while the newspapers of the day contain reports as to which roads are the best to take, and which trips can be planned. for people living in south holland the first trip is always to the vink at leyden, as it can be reached by narrow streams and ditches, and it is quite a sight to see the skaters sitting at little tables with plates of steaming hot soup before them. the vink has been famous for its pea soup many years, and has been known as a restaurant from . when the galgenwater is frozen (the mouth of the rhine which flows into the sea at kat wyk), then the vink has a still gayer appearance, for not only skaters, but pedestrians from leyden and the villages round about that town, flock to this _cafe_ to watch the skating and enjoy the amusing scenes which the presence of the ice affords them. then the broad expanse of water, which in summer looks so deserted and gloomy as it flows silently and dreamily towards the sea, is dotted ail over with tents, flags, 'baanvegers,' and, if the ice is strong, even sleighs. among the peasant classes of south holland it is the custom, as soon as the ice will bear, to skate to gouda, men and women together, there to buy long gouda pipes for the men and 'goudsche sprits' for the women, and then to skate home with these brittle objects without breaking them. as they come along side by side, the farmer holding his pipe high above his head and the woman carefully holding her bag of cakes, every passer-by knocks against them and tries to upset them, but it seldom happens that they succeed in doing so, as a farmer stands very firmly on his skates, and, as a rule, he manages to keep his pipe intact after skating many miles. the longest trip for the people of south holland, north holland, and utrecht, is through these three provinces, and the way over the ice-clad country is quite as picturesque as in summer-time, the little mills, quaint old drawbridges, and rustic farmhouses losing nothing of their charm in winter garb. all along the banks of the canals and rivers little tents are put up to keep out the wind; a roughly fashioned rickety table stands on the ice under the shelter of the matting, and here are sold all manner of things for the skaters to refresh themselves with--hot milk boiled with aniseed and served out of very sticky cups, stale biscuits, and sweet cake. the tent-holders call out their wares in the most poetical language they can muster-- 'leg ereis an! leg ereis an! in het tentje by de man. warme melk en zoete koek en een bevrozen vaatedoek.' ['put up, put up at the tent with the man; warm milk and sweet cake, and a frozen dish-cloth.'] and they tell you plainly that you may expect unwashed cups, for the cloth wherewith to wipe them is frozen, as well as the water to cleanse them. under the bridges the ice is not always safe, and even if it has become safe the men break it up so that they may earn a few cents by people passing over their roughly constructed gangways, and so boards are laid down by the 'baanvegers' for the skaters to pass over without risking their lives. besides making these wooden bridges, the 'baanvegers' keep the tracks clean. every hundred yards or so one is greeted by the monotonous cry of 'denk ereis an de baanveger,' so that on long trips these sweepers are a great nuisance, for having to get out one's purse and give them cents greatly impedes progress. the ice society has, however, minimized the annoyance by appointing 'baanvegers' who work for it and are paid out of the common funds, so that the members of the society who wear their badge can pass a 'baanveger' with a clear conscience, while as the result of this combination you can skate over miles of good and well-swept ice without interference for the modest sum of tenpence, this being the cost of membership of the society for the whole season. [illustration: skating to church.] the kralinger plassen and the maas near rotterdam are greatly frequented spots for carnivals on the ice, but the grandest place for skating and ice sports of all kinds is the zuyder zee. in a severe winter this large expanse of ice connects instead of dividing friesland with north holland. here we see the little ice-boats flying over the glossy surface as fast as a bird on the wing, and sleighs drawn by horses with waving plumes, while thousands of people flock from amsterdam to the little isle of marken, and the variety of costume and colour swaying to and fro on the fettered billows of the restless inland sea makes it seem for the moment as though the netherlander's dream had come true, and zuyder zee had really become once more dry land. in winter every one, from the smallest to the greatest, gives himself up to ice-sports, and even the poor are not forgotten. in some villages races are proclaimed, for which the prizes are turfs, potatoes, rice, coals, and other things so welcome to the poor in cold weather. a racer is appolnted for every poor family, and where there are no sons big enough to join in the races, a young man of the better classes generally offers his services, and, when successful, hands his prize over to the family he undertook to help. skating is second nature with the dutch, and as soon as a child can walk it is put upon skates, even though they may often be much too big for it. moreover, when the ice is good, winter-time affords recreation for the working as well as the leisured classes, for the canals and rivers become roads, and the hard-worked errand-boys, the butchers' and the bakers' boys manage to secure many hours of delightful enjoyment as they travel for orders on skates. the milkman also takes his milk-cart round on a sledge, and the farmers skate to market, saving both time and money, for then there is no railway fare to be paid, and a really good skater goes almost as fast as a train in holland--especially the frisian farmers, for frisians are renowned for their swift skating, and the most famous racer of the commencement of the nineteenth century, kornelis ynzes reen, skated four miles in five minutes. but although the ice affords, and always has afforded, so much pleasure, there are periods in history when the frost caused great anxiety to the people of the netherlands. the cities naarden and dordrecht are easily reached by water, and when that is frozen it would give any one free access to the town, and so in time of war frost was a much-dreaded thing. in the year this fear was realized, for when the ships of the geuzen round about naarden were stuck fast in the ice, and the zuyder zee was frozen, the enemy, armed with canoes and battle-axes, came over the ice from the y and across the zuyder zee to naarden. the best skaters among the geuzen immediately volunteered to meet the spaniards on the ice. they took only their swords with them, and while the ships' cannon had fair play from the bulwarks of the vessels over the heads of the geuzen into the spanish ranks, the geuzen could approach them fearlessly and unmolested for a hand-to-hand fight. the spaniards, who, besides being very heavily armed were very bad skaters, were soon defeated, for they kept tumbling over each other. the geuzen pursued them to amsterdam, and then returned to their ships, where they were greeted with great enthusiasm, and, as the thaw set in the next day, they were happily saved from a renewed attack. chapter xii music and the theatre singing was one of the principal social pastimes of the dutch nation during the eighteenth and far into the nineteenth century, and the north hollander was especially fond of vocal music. when young girls went to spend the evening at the house of a friend they always carried with them their 'liederboek '--a volume beautifully bound in tortoise-shell covers or mounted with gold or silver. the songs contained in these books were a strange mixture of the gay and grave. jovial drinking-songs or 'kermisliedjes' would find a place next to a 'christian's meditation on death.' it was an _olla podrida_, in which everybody's tastes were considered. recitations were also a feature of these little gatherings. nowadays these national songs are rarely heard. french, italian, and german songs have taken their place, and it is but seldom one hears a real dutch song at any social gathering. the 'people,' too, seem to have forgotten their natural gift of poetry, for the only songs now heard about the streets are badly translated french or english ditties. if england brings out a comic song of questionable art, six months later that song will have made its way to holland, and will have taken a popular place in a dutch street musician's _répertoire;_ it will be whistled in many different keys by butcher and baker boys, and will be heard issuing painfully from the wonderful mechanism of the superfluous concertina. for almost every one in holland possesses some musical instrument on which he plays, well or otherwise, when his daily work is over, or on sunday evenings at home. and here a notable characteristic of the dutch higher classes must be mentioned by way of contrast. musical though they are, trained as they generally are both to play and sing well, they yet seldom exercise their gifts in a friendly, social, after-dinner way in their own homes. they become, in fact, so critical or so self-conscious that they prefer to pay to hear music rendered by recognized artists, and so a by no means inconsiderable element of geniality is lost to the social and domestic circle. the decay of folk-song is the more regrettable, since holland is rich in old ballads, some of which, handed down just as the people used to sing them centuries ago, are quaint, _naïve,_ and exceedingly pretty. the melodies have all been put to modern harmonies by able composers, and published for the use of the public. 'het daghet in het oosten, het lichtis overal,' is a little jewel of poetic feeling, and the melody is very sweet. the story, like most of the songs of the past troublous centuries, tells of a battlefield where a young girl goes to seek her lover, but finds him dead. so, after burying him with her own white hands, with his sword and his banner by his side, she vows entrance into a convent. the story is a picture in miniature of the times, and as a piece of literature it ranks high. music of some sort finds a place in the homes of the poorest, and the concert, theatre, and opera are as much frequented by the humble of the land as by the wealthy and noble born. the servant class on their 'evening out' frequently go to the french opera, and there is not a boy on the street but is able to whistle some tune from the great modern operas, such as 'faust,' 'lohengrin,' and other standard works. and no wonder, for the choristers in the operas walk behind fruit-carts all day long, and often call out their wares in the musical tones learnt while following their more select profession as public singers. some, of course, cannot read a note of music, and the melodies they have to sing have to be drummed, or rather trumpeted, into their ears. to this end they are placed in a row, and a man with a large trumpet stands before them and plays the tune over and over again until they know it off. in the summer-time whole parties of these jewish youths--for jewish they chiefly are--go about the woods on their sabbath day singing the parts they take in the operas in the winter season, and crowds of people flock to hear them, for their voices are really well worth listening to. concerts are naturally not so largely patronized by the people as are operas and theatres. in the larger towns of holland especially theatricals take a very prominent place in popular relaxation, and even the smaller towns and villages, should they lack theatres and be unable to get good theatrical companies to pay them periodical visits, arrange for dramatic performances by local talent. the popularity of the opera may be judged from the fact that at amsterdam, the hague, rotterdam, groningen, arnhem and utrecht, operas in dutch and french are regularly given, and occasionally works in german and even italian are produced. money is scarce in holland, the people generally have little to spare, so grand opera-houses, such as are thought necessary in most european cities of any pretension to culture, are impossible, and the singers can seldom count on liberal fees. but most of the best works are heard all the same--which, after all, is the principal thing--and the enjoyment and edification which result are not less genuine because of the simplicity of the properties and the humble character of the entire surroundings. yet outdoor music possesses a powerful attraction for the dutch humbler classes, as for the same classes in most, if not all, countries; and when in the summer-time there is music in the wood at the hague on sunday afternoons or wednesday evenings, the walks round about the 'tent' are alive with servants and their lovers, parading decorously arm-in-arm. happy fathers, too, with their wives and children in sunday best, perambulate the grounds or rest on the seats amongst the trees and listen to the 'bosch-muziek.' people of the better class only are members of the 'witte societeit,' and sit inside the green paling to listen to the music and drink something meanwhile. for it is strange but true, that a dutchman never seems thoroughly to enjoy himself unless he has liquid of some sort at hand, and never feels really comfortable without his cigar. indeed, if smoking were abolished from places of public amusement, most dutchmen would frequent them no more. in winter concerts are given every other wednesday at the hague--and what is true of the hague applies to amsterdam and all other towns of any size in the country--and the public hall is always packed; but besides these 'diligentia' concerts there are others given by various singing societies, so that there is variety enough to choose from. in the summer-time there is another attraction besides the wood for the people of the hague, for the season at scheveningen opens on the st of june, and there is music at the kurhaus twice a day--in the afternoon on the terrace of that building, and in the evening in the great hall inside. on friday night is given what is called a 'symphony concert.' to this all the world flocks, for no one who at all respects himself, or esteems the opinion of society, would venture to miss it. whether every one understands or enjoys the high class music given is another question, which it would be imprudent to press too urgently, but then it belongs to 'education' to go to concerts, and so all enjoy it in their own way. for the townspeople and the working-classes, who have no free time during the week, concerts are given at the large voorhout on the sunday evenings in summer, so that on that day even the busiest and poorest may enjoy recreation of a better kind than the public-house offers them, and this effort on their behalf is greatly appreciated by the people, who gladly make use of the opportunities of hearing good and popular music. the national love of music is assiduously fostered by the netherlands musical union, whose branches are to be found all over the country. every town has musical and singing societies of some kind--private as well as public--and these make life quite endurable in winter, even in the smallest places. nor do these 'zangvereenigingen' derive their membership exclusively from the higher classes, for the humbler folk have organizations of their own. even the servant girl and the day-labourer will often be found to belong to singing clubs of some kind. music is also taught at most of the public schools, though it was long before the government capitulated upon the point, and gave this subject a place side by side with drawing as part of the normal curriculum of the children of the people. happily for the musical and dramatic tastes of the nation, both the concert and the theatre are cheap amusements in holland. as a rule, the dearest seats cost only from s. to s., while the cheapest, even in first-class houses at amsterdam, rotterdam, and the hague, cost as little as sixpence. the only exceptions are when renowned artists tour the country, and even then the prices seldom exceed £ for the best places. there is one musical event which makes a more serious call upon the purse, and it is the periodical operatic performance of the wagner society in amsterdam. as a rule, two representations a year are given, and some of the best singers of europe are invited to sing in one or other of wagner's operas. the best dutch orchestra plays, and chosen voices from the amsterdam conservatoire take part in the choruses. the scenery is worthy of bayreuth itself, and such expense and care are bestowed upon these choice performances that, though the house is invariably filled on every occasion, the fees for admission never pay the costs, so that the musical enthusiasts of amsterdam, haarlem, and the hague regularly make up the deficit each year, which sometimes amounts to as much as £ . while, however, the dutch may with truth be classed as a distinctly musical nation, they would seem to have outlived their fame in the domain of musical art. for it should not be forgotten that holland has in this respect a distinguished history behind it. so long ago as the times of pope adrian i. a dutch school of music was established under the tuition of italian masters, and it compared favourably with the contemporary schools of other nations. even in the ninth century holland produced a composer famous in the annals of music in the person of the monk huchbald of st. amand, in flanders. he it was who changed the notation, and arranged the time by marking the worth of each note, and he is also remembered for his 'organum,' the oldest form of music written in harmonies. it is often lamented that the compositions of to-day lack the originality which marked the earlier works. the country has none the less produced some noticeable composers during the past century. of these j. verhuïst, w.f.g. nicolal, daniël de lange, richard hol, and g. mann are best known, though of no modern composer can it be said that he has any special 'cachet,' for the younger men, fed as they are on the works of other nations, grow into their style of thinking and writing, and follow almost slavishly in their footsteps. it is unfortunate that many rising composers cannot be persuaded to publish their works. the reason is that the cost of publishing in the netherlands is almost fabulous, and if they do publish them at all it is done in germany. but even then the circulation is so limited, owing to the smallness of the country, that it does not repay the cost; and so they prefer to plod on unknown, or to cultivate celebrity by giving private concerts of their own works. chapter xiii schools and school life if the dutch peasant is not generally well educated it is not for want of opportunity, but rather because he has not taken what is offered him. for many years past a good elementary education has been within the reach of all. even the small fees usually asked may be remitted in the case of those parents who cannot afford to pay anything, without entailing any civil disability; but attendance at school was only made compulsory by an act which passed the second chamber in march, , and which, at the time of writing, has just come into force. it is said that as many as sixty thousand dutch children are getting no regular schooling. about one half of this number live on the canal-boats, and will probably give a good deal of trouble to those who will administer the new act; for, as we have already seen, the families that these boats belong to have no other homes and are always on the move, so that it must ever be difficult to get hold of the children, especially as their parents do not see the necessity of sending them to school. it remains to be seen, therefore, whether any great improvement will resuit from the new act, especially as private tuition may take the place of attendance at a school, and exemption is granted to those who have no fixed place of abode, and to parents who object to the tuition given in all the schools within two and a half miles of their homes. under these conditions it seems that any one who wishes to evade the law will have little difficulty in doing so. the canal-boat people, apparently, are exempt so long as they do not remain for twenty-eight days consecutively in the same 'gemeente,' or commune. the education provided by the state is strictly neutral in regard to religion and politics, but there are many denominational schools all over the country. protestants call theirs 'bible schools,' and romanists call theirs 'catholic schools,' and both these receive subsidies from the state if they satisfy the inspectors. private schools also exist, but do not as a rule receive state aid. they are all, however, under state supervision and subject to the same conditions as to teachers' qualifications; and a very good rule is in force, namely, that no one may teach in holland without having passed a government examination. instruction in the elementary schools supported by government is in two grades, though the dividing line is not always clearly drawn. in amsterdam, for example, there are four different grades. in the lower schools the subjects taught are, besides reading, writing, and arithmetic, grammar and history, geography, natural history and botany, drawing, singing and free gymnastics, and the girls also learn needlework, but a large proportion of the pupils are satisfied with a more modest course, and know little more than the three r's. the children attending these schools are between six and twelve years of age, though in some rural districts few of them are less than eight years old, but according to the new law they must begin to attend when they are seven and go on until they are twelve or thirteen according to the standard attained. in the upper grade schools the same subjects are taught in a more advanced form, with the addition of universal history, french, german, and english. these languages, being optional, are taught more or less after regular school hours. all the teachers in these schools must hold teachers' or head-teachers' certificates, to gain which they have to pass an examination in all the subjects which they are to teach except languages, for each of which a separate certificate is required. every commune must have a school, though hitherto no one has been obliged to attend it, and lately, owing to the new education act, the builders have been busy in many places enlarging the schools to meet the new requirements. if there are more than forty children two masters are now necessary, and for more than ninety there must be at least three. ten weeks' holidays are allowed in the year, and these are to be given when the children are most wanted to help at home, in addition to which leave of absence may be granted in certain cases by the district inspectors. holidays, therefore, vary according to the conditions of a town or village. all schools are more or less under state control. they are divided into three classes according to the type of education which they provide. lower or elementary education has already been dealt with. between this and the higher education of the 'gymnasia' and universities comes what is called 'middelbaar onderwijs'--that is, secondary, or rather intermediate, education. this is represented by technical or industrial schools, 'burgher night schools,' and 'higher burgher schools.' the first named train pupils for various trades and crafts, more especially for those connected with the principal local industries. the course is three years or thereabouts, following on that of the elementary schools, and there is generally an entrance examination, but the conditions vary in different communes. sometimes the instruction is free, sometimes fees are charged amounting to a few shillings a year, the cost being borne by the communes, and in a few towns there are similar schools for girls who have passed through the elementary schools. the technical classes for girls cover such subjects as fancy-work, drawing and painting of a utilitarian character, and sometimes book keeping and dress-making. most of them are free, but for some special subjects a small payment is required. drawing seems to be a favourite subject, and in most of these technical schools there are classes for mechanical drawing as well as for some kind of artistic work connected with industry. in addition there are numerous art schools, some of them being devoted to the encouragement of fine art, while in others the object kept in view is the application of art to industry. the 'burgher night schools,' like the technical schools, are supported by the communes in which they are situated. there are about forty of them in all, and most of them are very well attended, in some cases the regular students, who are all working men and women, number several hundreds. the instruction is similar to that given in the technical schools, that is to say, it is chiefly practical, and local industries receive special attention. formerly there were day schools also for working men, on the same lines as these, but they were not a success, and the technical schools have taken their place. of a higher class, but still included in the term 'middelbaar onderwijs,' is the 'modern' education of the 'higher burgher' schools. the majority of these schools were founded by the communes, the rest by the state, but internally they are ail alike, and all are inspected by commissioners appointed by the government for the purpose. pupils enter at twelve years of age, and must pass an entrance examination, which, like nearly every examination in holland, is a government affair. having passed this, they attend school for five years, as a rule, but at some of these institutions the course lasts only three years. in some degree the 'higher burgher' schools correspond to the modern side of an english school: at least the subjects are much the same, embracing mathematlcs, natural science, modern languages and commercial subjects, and no latin or greek is taught. the education is wholly modern and practical, with the object of preparing pupils for commercial life. there are 'higher burgher' schools for girls as well as for boys, at which nearly the same education is provided. a great advantage of these schools is that they are very cheap; at the most expensive the yearly fees amount to a little more than thirty pounds, but at the majority they only come to four or five. to teach in such schools as these one must have a diploma or a university degree. a separate diploma is necessary for each subject, and the examination is not easy. even a foreigner who wishes to teach his own language must pass the same examination as a dutchman. no difference is made between the masters at the boys' schools and the ladies who teach the girls; exactly the same diplomas are required in both cases. the 'gymnasia,' to which allusion has been made, are classical schools, which prepare boys for the universities. the age of entry is the same as at the modern schools, twelve; but the course is longer, as a rule covering six years instead of five, and at the end of this course comes a government examination, the passing of which is a necessary preliminary to a university degree. the 'gymnasia' were founded by an act of parliament, but are supported by the communes, which in this case are the larger towns, but they are assisted, as a rule, by a government grant. the fees are very small, only about, £ a year. there are a few private and endowed schools, which may send up candidates for the same examinations as are taken by the pupils of the state schools, and it is among these that we find the only boarding schools in the country. some of these have certain privileges; for instance, the headmaster may engage assistants who do not hold diplomas, which makes it easier for him to get native teachers for modern languages; but in the state schools proper, the selection of undermasters does not rest with the head, or director, as he is called, at all. foreign teachers are not very plentiful, as the diplomas are not easy to get, and a native, who has to relearn much of his own language from a dutch point of view, has little or no advantage over a dutchman in the examinations. no sketch of dutch schools would be complete without some reference to the way in which modern languages are studied, for this is the most striking feature in the national education, and is of great importance when we are considering the national life and character of holland. former generations of dutchmen won a place among the 'learned nations' by their knowledge of the classical languages; and their descendants seem to have inherited the gift of tongues, but make a more practical use of it. french, german, english, and dutch, which go by the name of 'de vier talen,' or 'the four languages,' have taken the place of greek and latin. in the 'gymnasia' every pupil learns to speak them as a matter of course, and in the 'higher burgher' schools the same languages receive special attention, with a view to commercial correspondence. even in the upper elementary schools, boys and girls are taught some or all of them. a boy entering one of the higher schools at the age of twelve or thirteen generally has some knowledge of, at least, one foreign language, acquired either at an elementary school, or at home, and he is never shy of displaying that knowledge. if his parents are well off, he has probably learned to speak french or english in the nursery, and it sometimes happens that he even speaks dutch with a french or an english accent, having been brought up on the foreign language and acquired his native longue later. german as a rule is not begun so soon, the idea being that its resemblance to dutch makes it easier, which is no doubt true to a certain extent. the result, however, is very often that the easiest language of the three is the one least correctly spoken. as in all continental countries, there is nothing in holland corresponding to the english public school system. the 'gymnasia' prepare boys for the universities, and the 'higher burgher' schools train them for commercial life and some professions, somewhat in the same way as english modern schools, but there the resemblance ends. as a rule, a dutch boy's school life is limited to the hours he spends at lessons; the rest of the day belongs rather to home life. there are a few boarding schools in holland, but the life in such schools in the two countries is different in almost every respect. the size of the schools may have something to do with this, though by itself it is not enough to account for the difference. a dutch head-master once drew my attention to the lack of tradition in his own and other schools in the country, and expressed a hope that time might work a change. at present there is little sign of such a change. tradition has hardly had time to grow up yet, for few of the existing schools are much more than twenty years old, and its growth is retarded by the small numbers, which make any widespread freemasonry among old boys impossible. but there is another and more serious obstacle. the uniform control which the government exercises over ail schools alike, state, endowed, or private, whatever advantages it may have, certainly hinders the development of that individuality which makes 'the old school,' to many an english boy, something more than a place where he had lessons to do and was prepared for examinations. a rough sketch of the inside of a dutch school will doubtless be of interest. one of the few endowed schools in holland may be taken as fairly typical of its class, but not of the state schools, though it competes with these and combines the classical and modern courses. it lies in the country, near a small village, and in this respect also differs from the 'gymnasia' and 'higher burgher' schools, which are ail situated in the larger towns. one of the first things which attracts notice is the large number of masters. it seems at first that there are hardly enough boys to go round. this is due to the law, which requires that every master must be qualified to teach his particular subject either by a university degree or by an equivalent diploma. few hold more than two diplomas, and consequently much of the teaching is done by men who visit this and other schools two or three times a week. in this particular foundation the three resident masters are foreigners, but such an arrangement is exceptional. classes seldom include more than half a dozen boys, and very often pupils are taken singly, and therefore each boy receives a good deal of individual attention. such a school is divided into six forms or classes, but not for teaching purposes; the day's work is differently arranged for each boy, and these classes merely record the results of the last examination. some of the lessons last for an hour, but the rest are only three quarters of an hour long; they make up in number, however, what they lack in length, amounting to about nine and a half hours a day. owing to the time being so much broken up, it may be doubted whether the amount of work done is any greater here than in an average english school where the aggregate of working hours is considerably less. amongst our dutch friends, however, and there may be others who share their opinion, the general belief is that english schoolboys learn very little except athletics. with regard to sports and pastimes, these are the only schools in which any interest is taken or encouragement given therein. football is played here on most half-holidays during the winter, and sometimes on sunday, and occasionally its place is taken by hockey. it must be admitted that the standard of play is not very high in either game, though many of the boys work hard and, with better opportunities, might develop into high-class players; but as there are only about thirty boys in the school, competition for places in the teams is not very keen. rowing has lately been introduced, not to the advantage of the football eleven. it may be remarked, by the way, that only association football is played in holland; the rugby game is strictly barred by head-masters and parents as too dangerous. attempts have been made to introduce cricket, but the game meets with little encouragement. there is a lawn-tennis court, however, which is constantly in use during the summer term. bicycling is very popular, not only here, but in holland generally; in fact, most of the boys seem to prefer this form of exercise to any of the games which have been mentioned. whether at work or play, all the boys are under the constant supervision of one or other of the resident masters, and the head is not far off. a few of the seniors are allowed to go outside the grounds when they please, but the rest may only go out under the charge of a master. in spite of this apparently strict supervision, however, there is not much real discipline. corporal punishment is not allowed; both public opinion and the law of the land are against it. other punishments, such as detention and impositions, are ineffectual, and are generally regarded by the culprit as unjustly interfering with his liberty. consequently the masters have not much hold over the boys, who might, if they chose, perpetrate endless mischief without fear of painful consequences so long as they did nothing to warrant expulsion; but the young hollander does not appear to have much enterprise in that direction. perhaps he is sometimes kept out of mischief by his devotion to the fragrant weed, for he generally learns to smoke at a tender age, with his parents' consent, and no exception is taken to his cigar except during lessons; but it is certainly startling to see the boys smoking while playing their games, as well as on all other possible occasions. a large proportion of the boys at the 'gymnasia,' perhaps the majority of them, pass on to the universities, some to qualify for the learned professions, others because it is the fashion in holland as in other countries for young men who have no intention of following any profession to spend a few years at a university in search of pleasure and experience; but the experience in this case is peculiar and unique. chapter xiv the universities as to the universities themselves, it is not necessary to consider them separately, as all four of them, leyden, groningen, utrecht and amsterdam, are alike in constitution. they are not residential, there are no beautiful buildings, there are no rival colleges, no tutors or proctors, and no 'gate;' nor are they independent corporations like oxford and cambridge and durham, for, though they retain some outward forms which recall a former independence, they are now maintained and managed entirely by the state, which pays the professors and provides the necessary buildings. the subjects to be taught and the examinations to be held in the various faculties are laid down by statute. consequently the universities show the same want of individuality as the schools, and, to an outsider at least, there seems to be nothing of the 'alma mater' about them under the present _régime,_ and no real ground for preferring any one of them to the others. at the same time, fathers usually send their sons to the universities at which they themselves have studied, except when they and the professors happen to hold very different political opinions, but such a custom may be due as much to the national love of order and regularity as to any real attachment to a particular university. as to the political opinions of professors, their influence on the students cannot be very great in the majority of cases, being limited to the effect produced by lectures, for there is no social intercourse between teacher and taught. the professors, though very learned men, do not enjoy any great social standing, and the title does not carry with it anything like the same rank as in some other countries. the system on which these universities work may be a sound and logical one so far as it goes, and more up-to-date than the english residential system, which its enemies deride as mediæval and monastic; but it is a cast iron system, designed with the object of preparing men for examinations, and one which does nothing to discover promising scholars or to encourage original work and research among those who have taken their degrees, or, according to the dutch phrase, have gained their 'promotion'. there are no scholarships, nor anything that might serve the same purpose, though some such institution could hardly find a more favourable soil than that of holland. instruction of a very learned and thorough character is offered to those who will and can receive it, and that is all. the classes are open to all who pay the necessary fees, which are trifling, though the degree of doctor may only be granted to those who have passed the 'gymnasium' final or an equivalent examination, and, provided he makes these payments, a student is free to do as he pleases, so far as his university is concerned. discipline there is none, except in very rare cases, when the law provides for the expulsion of offenders; only theological candidates are indirectly restrained from undue levity by having to get a certificate of good conduct at the end of their course. there is no chapel to keep, for the student's religion and morals are entirely his own concern; there are no 'collections,' for if a man does not choose to read he injures no one but himself by his idleness; and there is no vice-chancellor's court, for in theory students are on the same footing as other people before the law, though in practice the police seldom interfere with them more than they can help. it is not surprising that young men not long from school should sometimes abuse such exceptional freedom, but their ideas of enjoyment are rather strange in foreign eyes. one of their favourite amusements seems to be driving about the town and neighbourhood in open carriages. on special occasions all the members of a club turn out, wearing little round caps of their club colours, and accompanied as likely as not by a band, and drive off in a procession to some neighbouring town, where they dine; in the night or next morning they return, all uproariously drunk, singing and shouting, waving flags and flinging empty wine-bottles about the road. i do not wish to imply that all dutch students behave in this way, but such exhibitions are unfortunately not uncommon, and show to what lengths 'freedom' is permitted to go. there is a limit, however, even to the liberty of students, as appears from the following anecdote. one of these young men gave a wine-party in his lodgings, and some one proposed, by way of a lark, to wake up a young woman who lived in the house opposite, and fetch her out of bed, so a rocket was produced and fired through the open window. the bombardment had the desired effect, but it also set the house on fire, and the joker's father was called on to make good the damage. then the police took the matter up, and the culprit got several weeks' imprisonment for arson, after which he returned to the university and resumed his interrupted studies. there was no question of rustication, as the court simply inflicted the penalty laid down in the code, and there was no other authority that had power to interfere in the matter at all. as may well be imagined, students are not generally popular with the townsfolk, who resent the unequal treatment of the two classes, not because they wish for the same measure of license, but because anything like rowdiness contrasts strongly with their own habits; and extravagance, not an uncommon failing among students in holland or elsewhere, is absolutely repugnant to the average dutch citizen. this feeling of resentment seems to be growing, and has already had some slight effect upon the civil authorities; if the students find some day that they have lost their privileged position, they will have only themselves to thank, and certainly the change will do them no harm. but though a certain number go to the universities merely to amuse themselves or to be in the fashion, most of them work well, even if they do not attend lectures regularly all through their course. in some faculties private coaching offers a quicker and easier way to 'promotion' than the more orthodox one through the class-rooms. no doubt there are some who are in no hurry to leave the attractions of student life, but not many cling to them so persistently as a certain dutch student, to whom a relative bequeathed a liberal allowance, to be paid him as long as he was studying for his degree. he became known as 'the eternal student,' to the great wrath of the heirs who waited for the reversion of his legacy. for most men the ordinary course is long enough, for it averages perhaps six or seven years, though there is no fixed time, and candidates may take the examinations as soon as they please. the nominal course--that is, the time over which the lectures extend--varies in the different faculties, from four years in law to seven or eight in medicine, but very few men manage, or attempt, to take a degree in law in four years. the other faculties are theology, science, including mathematics, and literature and philosophy. the degree of doctor is given in these five faculties, and to obtain it two examinations must be passed, the candidate's and the doctoral. after passing the latter a student bears the title _doctorandus_ until he has written a book or thesis and defended it _viva voce_ before the examiners. he is then 'promoted' to the degree, a ceremony which generally entails, indirectly, a certain amount of expense. it appears to be the correct thing for the newly-made doctor to drive round in state, adorned with the colours of his club and attended by friends gorgeously disguised as lacqueys, and leave copies of his book at the houses of the professors and his club fellows, after which he, of course, celebrates the occasion in the invariable dutch fashion, with a dinner. many students, however, are not qualified to try for a degree, not having been through the 'gymnasia,' and others do not wish to do so. sometimes the candidate's examination qualifies one to practise a profession, and is open to all, in other cases, in the faculty of medicine for example, it gives no qualification, and is only open to candidates for the degree, but then there is another, a 'professional' examination, for those who do not aim at the ornamental title. the cost of living at the universities naturally depends very much on the student's tastes and habits. he pays to the university only florins (_£ s d_) a year for four years, after which he may attend lectures free of charge, so the minimum annual expenditure is small; but it should be borne in mind that the course is about twice as long as in england. a good many students live with their families, which is cheaper than living in lodgings; and as nearly all classes are represented, there is a considerable difference in their standards of life. some are certainly extravagant, as in all universities, which tends to raise prices, but, on the other hand, many of them are men whose parents can ill afford the expense, but are tempted by the value which attaches to a university career in holland, and these bring the average down. between these two extremes there are plenty who do very well on £ or so a year, and £ is probably considered a sufficiently liberal allowance by parents who could easily afford a larger sum. even the students' corps need not lead to any great expense, as it consists of a number of minor clubs, and nearly every one joins it, so that the pace is not always the same; students who wish to keep their expenses down naturally join with friends who are similarly situated, leaving the more extravagant clubs to the young bloods who have plenty of money to spare. the corps is the only tie which holds the students together where there are no colleges, and athletics play but a very small part. each university has its corps, to which all the students belong except a few who take no part in the typical student life, and are known as the 'boeven,' or 'knaves.' a rector and senate are elected annually from among the members of four or five years' standing to manage the affairs of the corps. in order to become a member, a freshman, or 'green,' as he is called in holland, has to go through a rather trying initiation, which lasts for three or four weeks. having given in his name to the senate, he must call on the members of the corps and ask them to sign their names in a book, which is inspected by the senate from time to time, and at each visit he comes in for a good deal of 'ragging,' for, as he may not go away until he has obtained his host's signature, he is completely at the mercy of his tormentors. if he does not obey their orders implicitly and give any information they may require about his private affairs, he is likely to have a bad time, but as long as he is duly submissive he is generally let off with a little harmless fooling. one 'green,' a shy and retiring youth, who did not at all relish the impertinent inquiries which were made into his morals and family history, was made to stand at the window and give a full and particular account of himself to the passers-by, with interesting details supplied by the company. sometimes, however, the joking is more brutal and less amusing. for instance, as a punishment for shirking the bottle, the victim was compelled to kneel on the floor with a funnel in his mouth, while his tormentors poured libations down his throat. when the 'green time' is over the new members of the corps are installed by the rector, and drive round the town in procession, finishing up, of course, with a club dinner. the corps has its head-quarters in the students' club, which corresponds more or less to the 'union' at an english university, though differing from the latter in two important respects: first, there are no debates, and secondly, the members are exclusively students, for, as i have already noticed, there is no social intercourse between the professors and their pupils. the reading-rooms at the club are a favourite lounge of a great many of the students, but it must be admitted that the literature supplied there is not always of a very wholesome kind, seeing that it includes 'realism' of the most daring description, with illustrations to match, and obscene parisian comic papers. every member of the corps also belongs to one of the minor clubs of which it is made up, and which are apparently nothing more than messes, very often with only a dozen members, or less. a few sport clubs exist, also under the control of the corps, but they do not play a very prominent part, for the taste for athletic exercises is confined to a small minority. considering the small number of players, the proficiency attained in the exotic games of football and hockey is surprisingly high. the rowing is even better, and attracts a larger number, being perhaps more suited to the physical characteristics of the race than those games for which agility is more necessary than weight and strength. boat-races are held annually between the several universities, in which the form of the crews is generally very good. if i am not mistaken, some of the dutch crews that have rowed at henley represented university clubs. the typical student, however, though well enough endowed with bone and muscle, has no ambition whatever to become an athlete, or to submit to the fatigue and self-denial of training. probably the way he lives and his aversion to athletics, more than the length of his course of study, account for his elderly appearance, for he is not only obviously older than the average undergraduate, but begins to look positively middle-aged both in face and figure almost before he has done growing. before leaving the subject of the students' corps, mention must be made of the great carnival which each corps holds every five years to commemorate the foundation of its university. the 'lustrum-maskerade,' which is the chief item in the week of festivities, is a historical pageant representing some event in the mediæval history of holland. the chief actors are chosen from among the wealthiest of the students, and spare no trouble or expense in preparing their get-up, while the minor parts are allotted to the various clubs within the corps, each club representing a company of retainers or men-at-arms in the service of one of the mock princes or knights. for six days the players retain their gorgeous costumes and act their parts, even when excursions are made in the neighbourhood in company with the friends and relatives who come to join in the commemoration, and the mixture of mediæval and modern costumes in the streets has a somewhat ludicrous effect. on the first day the visitors are formally welcomed by the officers of the corps. former students of all ages meet their old comrades, and the men of each year, after dining together, march together to the garden or park where the reception is held. anything less like the usual calm and serious demeanour of these seniors than the way in which they dance and sing through the town is not to be imagined, for the oldest and most sedate of them are as wildly and ludicrously enthusiastic as the youngest student; and their arrival at the reception, with bands of music, skipping about and roaring student songs like their sons and grandsons, is, to say the least, comical. but the occasion only comes once in five years, and they naturally make the most of it. the next day the masquerade takes place, beginning with a procession to the ground, and is repeated two or three times before huge crowds of spectators, for the townsmen are as excited as the students and the relatives, at least on the first two days. great pains are always taken to ensure historical correctness in every detail, and the leading parts are often admirably played, and it must be the unromantic dress of the lookers-on that spoils the effect and makes one think of a circus. if only the crowd could be brought into harmony with the masqueraders in the matter of clothes the illusion might be complete; as it is, one can hardly imagine for a moment that the knights who charge so bravely down the lists mean to do one another any serious damage. a tournament is very often the subject of the pageant, or an important part of it, or sometimes a challenge and single combat are introduced as a sort of _entr'acte_. for the last four days of the feast there is no fixed order of procedure; balls, concerts, garden-parties, and so on are arranged as may be most convenient, while the intervals are spent in visits, dinners, and drives. not until the end of the week does any student lay aside his gay costume and resume the more prosaic garments of his own times. all through the week the influence of the corps, which is the life of the university from the student's point of view, is manifest in the collective character of all the festivities, everything being done either by the corps itself or under its direction. from a comparison of this celebration with 'commem' week we can, perhaps, gather a very fair idea of the typical points of difference between the students of holland and our own country. chapter xv art and letters the art of a country is ever in unity with the character of the people. it reflects their ideas and sentiments; their history is marked in its progress or decline; and it shows forth the influences that have been at work in the minds and very life of the nation from which it springs. if this is true of all countries, it is nowhere so visibly true as in holland. there art underwent the most decided changes during the various periods of war and armed peace through which the little country passed. it may truly be said that 'the first smile of the young republic was art, for it was only after the revolt of the dutch against the spanish ... that painting reached a high grade of perfection.' one is accustomed to take it for granted too readily that the glory of dutch art lies in the past; that the works and fame of a van eyck, a rubens, rembrandt, van dyck, and ruysdael sum up holland's contribution to the art of the world, and that this chapter of its history, like the chapters which deal with its maritime supremacy, its industrial greatness, and its struggles for liberty, is closed for ever. nothing could be farther from the fact. dutch art was never more virile, more original, more self-conscious than to-day, when it is represented by a band of men whose genius and enthusiasm recall the great names of the past. professer richard muther has well said, in his 'history of modern painting,' that, 'so far from stagnating, dutch art is now as fresh and varied as in the old days of its glory.' the dutch painters of the present day include, indeed, quite a multitude of men of the very first rank, and some of them, like the three brothers maris, are unexcelled. jacob maris, who died so recently as , was known for his splendid landscapes, and still more for his town pictures and beach scenes. willem maris has a partiality for meadows in which cattle are browsing in tranquil content. thys maris has a very different style. he paints grey and misty figures and landscapes all hazy and scarcely visible. his love of the obscure and the suggestive led to the common refusal of his portraits by patrons, who complained that they lacked distinctness. no painter, however, commands such large prices as he, and from £ to £ is no rare figure for his canvases. h. w. mesdag is holland's most celebrated sea painter. he pictures the ever rolling ocean with marvellous power, and carries the song of the waves and the cry of the wild sea birds into his great paintings, which speak to one of the life and toil of the fishermen, the never weary waters, and the ever varying aspects of sea and sky. in this domain he is unrivalled, and he has certainly done some magnificent work. mesdag has an exhibition of his own works every sunday morning in his studio at the hague, and any one who wishes is allowed to visit it, while for the general public's benefit there is the mesdag panorama in the same town. mauve, who died in , was best known for his pastoral scenes. his pictures of sheep on the moors and fens recall pleasant memories of summer days and sunny hours. josef israels went largely to the life of fishermen for his motives, though one of his best-known works is that noble one, 'david before saul.' bosboom one naturally associates with church interiors, wonderfully well done; blommers, artz, and bles likewise paint interiors, the first two choosing their subjects by preference from the houses of the working classes, while bles confines himself to the dwellings of the wealthy. bisschop is unquestionably the best of the dutch portrait-painters, though his still life is considered even more artistic than his portraits. the foremost of the lady portrait and figure painters is therese schwartze, who, like josselin de jong, often takes queen wilhelmina as a grateful subject for her brush. the foregoing may be regarded as painters of the old school, though every one has so much originality as to be virtually the initiator of a distinct direction. the newer schools are represented by men like j. toorop, voerman, verster, camerlingh onnes, bauer, and hoytema. toorop is the well-known symbolist. his style is oriental rather than dutch, and his topics for the most part are mystical in character. he is famous also for his decorative art. this many-sided man is probably the greatest artist soul in holland. he is expert in almost every domain of art. etching, pastel and water-colour drawing, oil-painting, wood-cutting, lithography, working in silver, copper, and brass, and modelling in clay, belong equally to his accomplishments, though as a painter he is, of course, best known. voerman, once known for his minutely painted flowers, is now a pronounced landscape painter. his cloud studies are marvellous, though perhaps the landscape colours are somewhat hard and overdone in the effort to produce the desired effects. he paints, as a rule, the rolling cumulus, and is one of the first of the younger artists. verster is known best for his impressionist way of painting flowers in colour patches, though he has now taken to the minute and mystical method of representing them. onnes, like toorop, is a decided mystic, and there is a vein of mysticism in all his paintings. he is famous for his light effects in glass and pottery, and has especially a wonderful knack of painting choirs in churches ail in a dreamy light. bauer is better known, perhaps, by his drawings and etchings than by his paintings. he paints with striking beauty old churches, temples, and mosques, generally the exteriors, and the effect of his minute work is wonderful. bauer is also one of the finest of dutch decorative artists. hoytema is known for his illustrations. animal life is his _forte_, especially owls and monkeys. among other younger painters who, though not yet of european reputation, may still be classed with many of the older generation, are jan veth and h. haverman, both of whom excel in portraits. the lady artists who have best held their own with the stronger sex include, in addition to those named, mme bilders van bosse, who paints woods and leafy groves with striking power; and the late mme. vogels-roozeboom, who found her inspiration in the flora of nature. in her day (she died in ) she was the first of floral painters, and whenever she raised her brush the finest of flowers rose up as at the touch of a magic wand. second to her, though not so well known by far, came mlle w. van der sande bakhuizen. the dutch are not only a nation of painters, but a nation of picture-lovers, though in holland, as in other countries, one not seldom sees upon walls from which better would be expected tawdry art, about which all that can be said is that it was bought cheap. the country possesses a number of good public galleries, and much is done in this way and by the frequent exhibition of paintings to foster the love of the artistic. the principal exhibitions are those of the pulchri studio and the kunst-kring (art circle) at the hague, and the 'arti et amicitia' at rotterdam. to become a working member of the pulchri studio is counted a great honour, for the artists who are on the committee are very particular as to whom they admit into their circle, and they ruthlessly blackball any one who is at all 'amateurish' or who does not come up to their high standard. for this reason it is that so many of the younger artists give exhibitions of their own works as the only way of getting them at all known. sculpture is not much practised in holland. it would seem to be an art belonging almost entirely to southern climes, although there was a time when the dutch modelled busts and heads from snow. the monument of piet hein was originally made of snow, and so much did it take the fancy of the people of delftshaven, the place of his birth, that they had a stone monument erected for him on the place where the one of snow had stood. it is only recently, however, that sculpture has been re-introduced into holland as a fine art, and those artists who have taken it up need hardly fear competition with their brethren of other continental countries, for their names are already on every tongue. the first amongst those who have shown real power is pier pander, the cripple son of a frisian mat-plaiter, who came over from rome (where he had gone to complete his studies) at the special invitation of the queen to model a bust of the prince consort, duke hendrik of mecklenburg-schwerin. other notable sculptors are van mattos, ode, bart de hove, and van wyck. there is also another art which is in considerable vogue, and in which much good work has been done--that of wood-carving. in this the painter and illustrator hoytema has shown considerable skill. needless to say, holland is also as famous now as ever for its pottery. delft ware was ever the fame of the dutch nation, though the rosenbach and gouda pottery is now gaining approval. it may be doubted, however, whether the love for the latter is altogether without affectation. one is inclined to believe that many of its admirers are enthusiastic to order. they admire because the leading authorities assure them it is their duty so to do. the netherlands, though very limited in area and small in population, can also boast of having contributed much that is excellent to the literature of the world, and in its roll of famous literary men are to be found names which would redeem any country from the charge of intellectual barrenness. spinoza, erasmus, and hugo de groot (grotius), to name no others, form a trio whose influence upon the thought of the world, and upon the movements which make for human progress, has been beyond estimation, and which still belongs to-day to the imperishable inheritance of the race. as illustrating the world-wide fame of hugo de groot it is interesting to note that on the occasion of the peace conference held at the hague in the american representatives invited all their fellow-delegates to delft, and there, in the church of his burial, papers were read in which the claim of the great thinker to perpetual honour was brought to the memories of the assembled spokesmen of the civilized world. it is with the modern literature and literary movements of holland, however, that these pages must concern themselves, and for practical purposes we may confine ourselves principally to the latter part of the completed century. for the early part of the nineteenth century was by no means prolific in literary achievement, and does not boast of many great names, if one disregards the writers whose lives linked that century with its predecessor, like betjen wolff and agatha deken. when, in - , holland again became a separate kingdom, that important event failed to mark a new era in dutch literature. strange to say, though the political changes of the time powerfully influenced the sister arts of music and painting, which show strong traces of the transition of that crisis in the nation's history, upon literature they had no effect whatever. before no very brilliant writers came to the front, though the period was not without notable names, such as willem bilderdijk, hendrik c. tollens, and isaac da costa, all of whom possessed a considerable vogue. bilderdijk's chief claim to fame is the fact that he wrote over , lines of verse, and regarded himself as the superior of shakespeare; tollens had a name for rare patriotism, and wrote many fine historical poems and ballads; while da costa, who was a converted jew, had to the last, in spite of a considerable popularity as a poet, to contend with the oftentimes fatal shafts of ridicule. a new period opened, however, about , in the _gids_ movement promoted by e.j. potgieter and r.c. bakhuizen van den brink, who were editors of the _gids_ and the severest of literary critics. the _gids_ was the dutch equivalent of the _edinburgh review_ under jeffrey, and its criticisms were so much dreaded by the nervous dutch author of the day that the magazine received the name of 'the blue executioner,' blue being the colour of its cover. if, however, potgieter and bakhuizen were unsparing in the use of the tomahawk, the service which they rendered to dutch letters by their drastic treatment of crude and immature work was healthy and lasting in influence, for it undoubtedly raised the tone and standard of literary work, both in that day and for a long time to come, and so helped to establish modern dutch literature on a firm basis. perhaps the foremost figure in the literary revival which followed was conrad busken huet, unquestionably the greatest dutch critic of the last century, whose book 'literary criticisms and fancies,' which contains a discriminating review of all writers from bilderdijk forward, is essential to a thorough study of dutch literature during the nineteenth century. huet also emancipated literature from the orthodoxy in thought which had characterized the earlier dutch writers, especially by his novel 'lidewyde.' no novelist has more truly reflected the old fashioned ideas and simple home life of holland than nicholas beets, who still lives and even writes occasionally, though almost a nonagenarian. his 'camera obscura,' which has been translated into english, entitles beets to be recognized as the dickens of holland, and his two novels, 'de familie stastoc' and 'de familie kegge,' are familiar to every dutchman. the historical novelists, jacob van lennep and mrs. bosboom toussaint, should not be overlooked. one of the foremost dutch poets of the century is petrus augustus de génestet. although he is not free from rhetoric, and frequently uses old and worn-out similes, his general view of things is wider and his feeling deeper than those of any of his contemporaries in verse. the contrast, for example, between him and carel vosmaer, though they belong to the same period, is very striking, for while the poetry of génestet is full of feeling and ideality, that of vosmaer is unemotional; and though he dresses his thoughts in beautiful words, the impression left upon the mind after reading his poetry is that which might be left after looking at a gracefully modelled piece of marble--it is fine as art, but cold and dead, and so awakens no responsive sympathy in the mind of the beholder. but the greatest of modern dutch authors, and the one who may be termed the forerunner of the renaissance of , was e. douwes dekker, who died thirteen years ago. dekker had an eventful career. he went to the dutch indies at the age of twenty-one, and there spent some seventeen years in official life, gradually rising to the position of assistant resident of lebac. while occupying that office his eyes were opened to the defective system of government existing in the colonies, and the abuses to which the natives were subjected. he tried to interest the higher officials on behalf of the subject races, but as all his endeavours proved unavailing he became disheartened, and, resigning his post, returned to holland with the object of pleading in government circles at home the cause which he had taken so deeply to heart. as a deaf ear was still turned to all his entreaties he decided, as a last resource, to appeal for a hearing at the bar of public opinion. he entered literature, and wrote the stirring story 'max havelaar,' in which he gave voice to the wrongs of the natives and the callous injustices perpetrated by the colonial authorities. the book made a great sensation, and has unquestionably had very beneficial results in opening the public's eyes to some of the more glaring defects of colonial administration. in dutch literature entered upon an entirely new phase. the chief authors of the movement then begun were lodewryk van deyssel, albert verwey, and willem kloos, who in the monthly magazine, _de nieuwe gids_, exercised by their trenchant criticisms the same beneficial and restraining influence upon the literature of the day as potgieter and bakhuizen did forty years before. the columns of the _nieuwe gids_ were only opened to the very best of dutch authors, and any works not coming up to the editors' high ideas of literary excellence were unmercifully 'slated' by these competent critics. independence was the prominent characteristic of the authors of the period. they shook themselves free from the old thoughts and similes, and created new paths, in which their minds found freer expression. the new thoughts demanded new words, hence came about the practice of word-combination, which was in direct defiance of the conservative canons of literary style which had hitherto prevailed, so that nowadays almost every author adds a new vocabulary of his own to the dutch language, so enhancing the charm of his own writings and adding to the literary wealth of the nation in general. the poetess whom holland to-day most delights to honour is helena lapidoth swarth, whose works increase in worth and beauty every year. her command of the dutch language and her power of wresting from it literary resources which are unattainable by any other writer have made her the admiration of all critics of penetration. louis couperas is also another living poet of mark, who, however, does not confine himself to formal versification, for his prose is also poetry. his best works are 'elme vere,' the first book he wrote, and the characters in which are said to have been all taken from life, and his novels 'majesty' and 'universal peace,' which have gained for him a european reputation, for they have been translated into most modern languages. women authors who have written works with a special tendency are cornelie huygens, who is known particularly by her novel 'barthold maryan;' mrs. goekoop de jong, who champions the cause of women's rights; and anna de savornin lohman, who, in a striking book entitled, 'why question any longer?' has written very bitterly against the political conditions of the circle of society in which she moves. while the authors of the present day are beneficially leavening popular opinion by inculcating higher and healthier sentiments, there are also authors in holland, as elsewhere, who debase good metal, and write from a purely material standpoint. to this class of authors belong marcellus emants and frans netcher. of dutch dramatic writers, herman heyermans is one of the most noteworthy, and some of his plays have been translated into french, and produced in paris theatres. it is a great drawback to literary effort in holland that the _honoraria_ paid to authors are so low that most writers who happen not to be pecuniarily independent--and they are the majority--are unable to make a tolerable subsistence at home by the pen alone, and are obliged to contribute to foreign publications, and some even resort to teaching. many dutch authors of high rank write anonymously in english, french, and german magazines, and probably earn far more in that way than by their contributions to dutch ephemeral literature, for the ordinary fee for a sheet of three thousand words--which is the average length of a printed sheet in a dutch magazine--is only forty francs. the pity is that dutch literature itself is not known as well as it deserves to be, for any one who takes the trouble to master the dutch language will find himself well repaid by the treasures of thought which are contained in the modern authors of holland. chapter xvi the dutch as readers although printing was not invented in holland, the nation would not have been unworthy of that honour, for there is a widespread culture of the book among all classes of the population, and the newspaper and periodical press makes further a very large contribution to its intellectual food. nearly two thousand booksellers and publishers are engaged in the task of bringing within easy reach of their customers everything they wish to read. it is no unusual thing to find a decently equipped retail bookshop in quite unimportant townlets, and even in villages. by an admirable arrangement every publisher sends parcels of books for the various retailers all over the country to one central house in amsterdam--'het bestelhuis voor den boekhandel' (the booksellers' collecting and distributing office). in this establishment the publishers' parcels are opened, and all books sent by the various publishers for one retailer are packed together and forwarded to him, by rail, steamer, or other cheap mode of conveyance. in consequence, any doctor, clergyman, or schoolmaster can receive a penny or twopenny pamphlet in his out-of-the-way home, as well as any book or periodical from london, paris, berlin, vienna, etc., within a remarkably short time, without trouble, and without extra expense in postage, by simply applying to the local bookseller. the dutch are very cosmopolitan in their reading. many children of the superior working classes learn french at the primary schools; most children of the middle class pick up english and german as well at the secondary schools, and a large proportion of them are able to talk in these three foreign languages; and as opportunities for intercourse are not over-abundant in the smaller towns, they keep up their knowledge of these languages by reading. indeed, the five millions of dutchmen are, relatively, the largest buyers of foreign literature in europe. the translator, however, comes to the rescue of those who succeed in forgetting so much of their foreign languages that they find reading them a very mitigated enjoyment. this question of translation is rather a sore point in the relations between dutch and foreign authors and publishers. the pecuniary injury done to foreign authors, however, is very slight, while in reputation they have benefited; for if dutch private libraries are not without their shakespeare, motley, macaulay, dickens, thackeray, kingsley, browning, not to mention french and german classics, this is mainly due to the fact that the parents of the present generation had the opportunity of buying dutch translations, and explained to their children the value and the beauty of these works. moreover, most authors and publishers in foreign countries, using languages with world-wide circulation, are apt to miscalculate the profits made by dutch publishers, with their very limited market and limited sale. a royalty of £ for the right of translating some novel would be regarded as a contemptibly small sum in the english book world, but £ in dutch currency presses heavily on the budget of a dutch translation, of which only some hundred or so copies can be sold at a retail price of not quite five shillings, and is an almost prohibitive price to pay for the copyright of a novel which is only used as the _feuilleton_ of a local paper with an edition of under a thousand copies a week. as a fact, many dutch publishers pay royalties to their foreign colleagues as soon as the publication is important enough to bear the expense; but the majority clearly will only give up their ancient 'right' of free translation, and agree to join the berne convention, if a practicable way can be found out of the financial difficulty. for the present, then, the dutch are cosmopolitan readers, direct or indirect. in the average bookseller's shop one finds, of course, a majority of novels--novels of all sorts and conditions--supplemented by literary essays and poems. in a number of cases the bookseller is not merely a shopkeeper who deals in printed matter, and supplies just what his customers ask for, but a man of education and judgment, who is well able to give his opinion on books and authors. often he has read them, though oftener, of course, he is guided by the leading monthly and weekly magazines and reviews, and by the publishers' columns of the leading daily newspapers. the bookseller is thus in many cases the trusted manager and guiding spirit of one or more 'leesgezelschappen,' or 'reading societies.' these societies have a history. at the end of the eighteenth century they were often political and even revolutionary bodies. the members or subscribers met to discuss books, pamphlets, and periodicals, but frequently they discussed by preference the passages in the books bearing upon political conditions, and argued improvements which they considered desirable or necessary. as time passed by, and free institutions became the possession of the dutch, the political mission of the reading society became exhausted, but the institution itself survived, and continues to the present day. the 'leesgezelschap' owes its special form to another peculiarity of the dutch--their intensely domesticated, home-loving character. family life, with its fine and delicate intimacies between husband and wife, between parent and children, is the most attractive feature of national existence in the netherlands. family life is, indeed, the centre from which the national virtues emanate, because there the individual members educate each other in the practice of personal virtues. the dutchman is not constitutionally reserved and shy; he knows how to live a full, strong, public life; he never shrinks from civic duties and social intercourse; but his love of home life takes the first place after his passion for liberty and independence. club life in holland is insignificant, and few clubs even attempt to create a substitute for home life; they are merely used for friendly intercourse for an hour or so every day, and as better-class restaurants. a dutchman prefers to do his reading at home, in the domestic circle, with the members of his family, or in his study if he follows some scientific occupation, and his 'leesgezelschap' affords him the opportunity of doing this. there are military, theological, educational, philological, and all sorts of scientific reading societies, besides those for general literature. they work on the co-operative system. the manager is in many cases a local bookseller, buying dutch and foreign books, magazines, reviews, illustrated weeklies and pamphlets in one or more copies, according to the number, the tastes, and the wants of the members. most societies take in books and periodicals in four languages--dutch, french, german, english--and so their members keep themselves well acquainted with the world's opinion. and all this, be it added, costs the subscriber vastly less than the fees of english circulating libraries, with their restricted advantages and heavy expenses of delivery. between the book and the newspaper lies a form of literature which is specifically dutch--the 'vlugschrift,' _brochure_, or pamphlet. the _brochure_ is an old historical institution. in the eighteenth century it was very popular as a vehicle for the zeal of fiery reformers who thus vented their opinions on burning political questions of the day. there is no necessity nowadays for these small booklets, so easily hidden from suspicions eyes, though the _brochure_ is still used whenever, in stirring speech or impassioned sermon, holland's leading men address themselves to the emotions of the hour. these _brochures_, as a rule, cost no more than sixpence, yet, none the less, the thrifty dutch have 'leesgezelschappen' which buy and circulate them among their subscribers; they take everything from everybody, never caring whose opinions they read upon the various subjects of current interest, a trait which evidences a very praiseworthy lack of bias. this lack of bias is not so obvions so far as newspaper reading is concerned. like other people, the dutch take such newspapers as defend or represent their own political opinions, and often affect towards journals on the other side a contemptuous indifference which is only half real. political parties in holland differ slightly from those of great britain, except that in the former country politics and religion go together. thus in holland a liberal who at the same time is not advanced in religious thought hardly exists, and would scarcely be trusted. in consequence the liberals were not defeated at the last general elections because they were liberals, but because their opponents (the anti-revolutionists and roman catholics) denounced them as irreligious and atheistical. in political strife the religious controversy takes the form of an argument for and against the influence of religious dogma upon politics and education. now, as far as journalism goes, the liberal and radical newspapers unquestionably take the lead. the roman catholics are like the anti-revolutionists, very anxious to provide their readers with wholesome news, but this anxiety is not successfully backed up by care that this wholesome news shall be early as well; hence their journalism is somewhat behind the times. of most of the progressive newspapers it may be said that the whole of the contents are interesting; as to the rest, they are only interesting because of the leading articles, which are sometimes written by eminent men. as far as circulation goes, _het nieuws van den dag_ can boast to be the leading journal, its edition running to nearly , copies a day. up to the present its editors have been advanced, or 'modern,' protestant clergymen, in the persons of simon gorter, h. de veer, and p.h. ritter. although not taking a strong line in politics, its inclinations are decidedly towards moderate liberalism, and, thanks to its cheap price-- s. d. per annum--its extensive, prudently and carefully selected and worded supply of news, and its sagacious management, it became the family paper of the dutch, excellently suiting the quiet taste of the middle class of the nation. it is found everywhere save in those few places where the roman catholic church has sufficient influence to get it boycotted. the _nieuws_, as it is generally called, gives from twenty-four to thirty-two, and even more, pages of closely printed matter, of which the advertisements occupy rather over than under half. one does not see it read in public more than any other dutch paper, and two reasons account for this. one is the fact that, as has been said, a dutchman prefers to do his reading at home--'met een boekje, in een hoekje' ('with my book in a quiet corner') is the dutchman's ideal of cosy literary enjoyment. then, too, dutch newspaper publishers prefer a system of safe quarterly subscriptions to the chance of selling one day a few thousand copies less than the other, since even the largest circulation in holland is too limited for risky commercial vicissitudes. hence they make the price for single numbers so high that only the prospect of long hours in a railway-carriage frightens a dutchman into buying one or more newspapers. the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_ is another typical dutch newspaper, but appealing to quite other instincts than the _nieuws._ in their quiet way the dutch are rather proud of their _nieuwe kotterdammer_, which inspires something like awe for its undeniable, but slightly ponderous, virtues. the _nieuwe rotterdammer_ is absolutely liberal, and stands no radical or social democratic nonsense; its leading articles are lucid, cool, logical, and to the point; it has correspondents everywhere, at home and abroad; and all staunch liberals of a clear-cut, even dogmatic type, who love free trade and look upon municipal and state intervention as pernicious, swear by it. the present chief editor is dr. zaayer, formerly a liberal member of the second chamber of the states-general, a shrewd, well-read dutchman, with a splendid university education; and the manager, j.c. nijgh, is as clever a man of business as rotterdam can produce. as far as it is possible to lead dutchmen by printed matter, the _nieuwe rotterdammer_ does it. its supply of news is so fresh and so reliable that everybody reads it, even the roman catholics in north brabant and limburg, holland's two catholic counties. the next important newspaper is _het algemeen handelsblad_ of amsterdam, which is peculiarly the journal of the amsterdam merchants, shipowners, and traders. the _handelsblad_ is not so exclusively liberal as its competitor in rotterdam, for its inclinations are of a more advanced turn, and it is always ready to admit rather radical articles on social matters if written by serious men. its chief editor is dr. a. polak, of whom it is said that what he does not know about the working and meaning of the dutch constitution and the dutch law is hardly worth knowing. his articles display a calm, sound, scientific brain and an honest, straightforward mind. its managing editor is charles boissevain, whose contributions to the paper, entitled 'van dag tot dag' ('from day to day'), are equally admirable for brilliancy of style, broadness of spirit, and the manly outspokenness of their contents. this journal has likewise an extensive staff and a huge army of correspondents at home and abroad. a third liberal journal of growing influence is the radical _vaderland_, of which the late minister of the interior, mr. h. goeman borgesius, now a member of the second chamber, was chief editor during many years, though there no longer exists any personal connexion between the two, and the _vaderland_ is, if anything, more advanced in politics than its former editor. its chief influence is at the hague, formerly a stronghold of conservatism, until the conservative party disappeared entirely. other liberal, radical, and social democratic newspapers are published all over the country, the most important and influential being the liberal-democratic _arnhemsche courant._ mr. troelstra, one of the socialist leaders, edits a daily, _het volk_ ('the people'), a well-written party newspaper, whose influence, however, does not extend beyond its party. professor abraham kuyper, leader of the anti-revolutionist or calvinist party, the largest but one in the country, was editor of the _standaard_ until he became president minister of the netherlands. in opposition to the liberal principle, as formulated by the italian reformer cavour, 'a free church in a free state,' he maintains that the bible, being god's word, is the only possible basis for any state, and holds that the king and the government derive their power and authority not from the people, but from god. his _standaard_ is another proof that whatever this universal genius does bears the unmistakable stamp of his power and personality. one may be thoroughly opposed to his principles, but nobody can help admiring the sterling merit of his leading articles. if kuyper writes or speaks upon any subject under the sun, you will be sure to find him thoroughly acquainted with it; but then his turn of mind is so original and his style is so brilliant, that he discloses points of view which give it fresh interest to those who most cordially disagree with him. the brilliancy of his journalistic powers is not confined, however, to his leaders. the _standaard_ has another and more purely polemical feature, its 'driestars'--short paragraphs, separated in the column by three asterisks, whence their name. these 'driestars' are the pride and the wonder of the dutch press, on account of their trenchant, clever, courageous wording, a wording which is sure to incite the opponent to bitter defence or fiery attack, and to provide the adherent with an argument so finely sharpened and polished that he delights in the possession of so excellent a weapon. dr. kuyper's political opponent in the calvinist party is mr. a. f. de savornin lohman, the leader of the aristocrats, whereas kuyper is the head of the 'kleine luyden'--the humble toilers of the fields and towns. mr. lohman was a member of the first calvino-catholic cabinet, and is still a great power in his party; in consequence his _nederlander_ exerts some influence, though not nearly so much as the _standaard_. the two most prominent roman catholic newspapers are the conservative _tyd_ ('time') and the somewhat democratic _centrum_. both are party papers pure and simple, and are excellently edited, so far as party politics are concerned, by clever, well educated, well read men. the _centrum_ frequently enjoys the co-operation of dr. herman schaepman, the priest-poet, whose somewhat ponderous eloquence is agreeably relieved by a glowing enthusiasm and a refreshing force of conviction. kuyper, boissevain and schaepman are, indeed, three journalists of whom any country might be proud. their style, their individuality, and their mental power are equally remarkable, and though living and working in different grooves of life, using different modes of thought, and cherishing different ideals, they powerfully impress and influence their readers by the purity of their aims, the honesty of their convictions, and the chivalry of their controversial methods. but of the three boissevain is the only one who is a journalist for the sake of journalism. yet neither calvinist nor catholic journal tries to compete with the _nieuwe rotterdammer_ or the _handelsblad_ in the publication of original and high-class information. they aim rather at providing their readers with the necessary party arguments, and the news is a matter of secondary importance. as to the provinces in general, of the towns and villages of holland, nearly are the happy possessors of a local newspaper of some description, and altogether daily and weekly journals, devoted variously to the representation of political, clerical, mercantile, scientific, and other interests, are published in the whole country. the dutch like to see more than one newspaper, but the majority of people cannot afford to be dual subscribers, and a great many cannot even afford to buy a single news-sheet regularly. hence agencies exist for circulating the papers from one reader to another. those who receive them straight from the publisher pay most, and those who are contented to enjoy their news when one, two, or three days old pay but a small fee. the newspaper circulating agency is very general in holland, and in centres of restricted domestic resources it plays a very useful place in social and political life. chapter xvii political life and thought holland is a democratic kingdom. democracy was born there in the sixteenth century, and is still unquestionably thriving. but democracy was born in peculiar circumstances; it was reared by men whose ideas of democracy differed, for, while the leaders of the nation consistently worked for popular government, they did not all or always mean exactly the same thing by the word 'people,' and hence did not aim at exactly the same goal. the french revolution of the eighteenth century upset the outward form of the dutch commonwealth; it did away with ancient and more or less obsolete fetters, which proved no longer strong enough to support the growth of political life, though still sufficiently strong to hinder it. it could do nothing for, and add nothing to, the profound love of liberty and the passion for independence which are dearer to every dutchman than life itself, but it could and did extend the blessing of political and religious freedom to a greater number of people. love of liberty brought about the disestablishment of the church, and love of toleration made holland follow this measure in the fifties by the emancipation of the roman catholics. every one who is acquainted with dutch history understands that these two things have as much meaning for dutch political as for dutch religious life. but side by side with religious and political freedom came also economic freedom. the guilds were abolished, and so the bonds by which the handicrafts had been prevented from moving with the movements of the times, and thus of living a healthy life, were swept away. the social revolution acted like the doctor who enters a close and stuffy sick-room and throws open the windows and door, so that the invalid may get the very first necessity of life--fresh air. so it was with a sigh of relief that the dutch--and not they alone--said, 'no state interference in matters of trade and industry, let us keep open the windows and doors!' no doctor, however, will compel his patient to live in a constant draught, winter and summer, since upon one occasion a liberal admission of fresh air was necessary to save that patient's life. there can be no doubt that during the nineteenth century the doors and windows were kept open rather too long. the great employers of labour were strong enough to stand the draught, for centuries of prosperity had made them a powerful class; but their men had no such advantages, and they were worse off when steam power brought about another revolution by creating the so-called system of 'capitalistic production' and the growth of the large industries. hence it comes about that holland, like all civilized countries, is now trying to find out how far the windows and the doors must be closed, so as to allow the men to live as well as the masters. this, in few words, characterizes dutch party politics from the social and economic side. political parties in the netherlands obviously differ not only in their views upon political, religious, and economic issues, but also as to the degree of precedence to be allowed to each of these three departments of national life and thought. the liberals say, "politics first; if these are sound and religion and commerce are free, everything will be right." the social democrats reply, "politics only concern us as a means of obtaining real and substantial economic liberty and material equality; religion does not affect us at all, and certainly does not help to solve the practical problems of human life." differing from both, the anti-revolutionists assert, "whosoever leaves the firm ground of god's word, the holy scriptures, as the only true basis for public and private action, can have neither sound politics nor sound economics." the roman catholics also put religion on the first plane, but they are in the most difficult position of all. they are a minority, even a decreasing minority, and know perfectly well that they will never be a majority; so they recognize that in the first place they must try to be good dutchmen, faithful, loyal citizens of the state, while in the second place they must not give up one single ideal of their church. their faith in the eternal existence of their ecclesiastic system enables them on the one hand to be patient and to wait, just as on the other hand it teaches them not to sit still, but to act, to work, either by themselves or conjointly with any party that may assist them to realize, or even to get nearer to, any of their religious ideals. when the liberals, in the middle of the nineteenth century, did an act of great toleration by emancipating the roman catholic church, the protestants threw over the liberal cabinet, and the liberal leader, thorbecke, was returned to parliament by the most catholic town of holland, maestricht, in limburg. but afterwards the anti-revolutionists raised the cry for denominational education, and the dutch liberals were rather sore to find their former friends join their antagonists. the soreness was in consequence of a miscalculation; the liberals had forgotten that in becoming emancipated the roman catholics did not become liberals, but remained roman catholics as before, faithful to their creed, and to their ideals, even at the cost of political friendship. the common ground upon which anti-revolutionists and roman catholics meet is the conviction that religion must in everything be the starting-point. the anti-revolutionists take the scriptures as such; the roman catholics accept the pope's decisions, given _ex cathedrâ_, as inspired by the holy spirit and transmitted to him by conclaves and councils. for the rest, rome's creed is sheer idolatry to the anti-revolutionist protestants, whereas rome looks upon ail protestants as lost heretics. but both, again, consider such protestants--the so-called 'moderns'--who reject the trinity, the miracles, the divine origin of the bible, and certain other dogmas, as simple atheists, and as most 'moderns' are liberals, and _vice-versâ_, they proclaim the liberal state to be an atheistic state. strictly speaking, there is really no conservative party in holland, for it ceased to exist in the beginning of the seventies. after thorbecke gave holland the liberal constitution of , the conservatives tried for a time to obstruct the country's political development, but ultimately they gave up the attempt, and their best and ablest men, mr. j. heemsherk azn and earl c. th. van lynden van sandenburg, headed liberal cabinets as men professing very moderately progressive views, yet openly opposed to the restoration of the somewhat autocratic and aristocratic conditions which prevailed before in consequence of the reaction against the chaotic era of the french revolution and napoleon bonaparte. yet though there is no conservative party in holland, there are, none the less, conservatives in every party. the liberal party counts three sections, the old liberals, the radico-liberals, and the liberal democrats. the old liberals adhere to thorbecke's principles, and maintain that it is the primary business of a liberal state to promote individuality and to create on this basis the general conditions by which social development can be achieved. according to them the state has no right to interfere in everything, to cure everything, to provide everything, as the collectivist would like; on the contrary, its first duty is abstinence--simply to preserve a fair field and to show no favour. these old liberals, in fact, regard the state as a legal corporation which exists merely to administer justice and to guard the constitutional rights of its citizens. their political friends and next-of-kin are the radico-liberals of the 'liberal union,' who form, for the present, the bulk of the party. they admit the value of individual energy and enterprise, and hold that unlimited scope must be allowed to these; they even contend that, on the whole, the system of unfettered individualism proved to be more in the workman's favour than the opposite; but they also admit that this condition is not such as it might and ought to be, and in consequence they do not object to social legislation wherever individual efforts fail. the advanced liberal democrats ('de vryzinnige democraten') differ fundamentally from both the foregoing parties. they give prominence to political rights and franchises, and hence fall foul of a leading clause (clause ) of the constitution, which confers electoral powers upon only such adult male inhabitants as 'possess characteristics of capability and prosperity.' the members of the 'liberal union' admit that the requirement of a certain measure of prosperity withholds from numbers of citizens the right to influence their country's affairs by their votes. they admit also that the constitution ought to be altered on this point, but they doubt whether it is sound practical politics to put this item in the foreground. they say, in effect, 'we can quite well provide the country with adequate social legislation either with or without the help of the disfranchised section of the population, for if we propose measures dealing with social problems, even the more conservative amongst us will not object, and those measures will come on the statute book. but there is not the slightest chance that we shall ever get the old liberals to give the franchise to poor and destitute people, who have no financial stake whatever in the country. so by insisting upon adult suffrage you merely postpone social legislation indefinitely. moreover, the object of our social legislation can only be to make the poorer class more capable and more prosperous, and as soon as that end is gained they get the franchise automatically, without any change of the constitution.' to this the liberal democrats reply: 'social legislation must not be regarded as a grudgingly admitted necessity, it is the paramount duty of the state, and as social legislation principally affects those who are now disfranchised, it is only just to begin by affording them the opportunity of expressing their opinions upon the subject, and hence to alter the constitution so as to give them votes, for they know best what they want.' the liberal democrats deny, in fact, that the state can make any laws that do not affect the social life as well as the legal position of its citizens, and contend that those who hold that natural laws rule the social relations of man with man, and that on this ground the state ought to refrain from interference, merely allow the state to protect the stronger against the weaker classes, whereas its duty is the contrary. positive interference in social matters is, according to them, the state's duty, and it may only refrain when the free operation of social forces creates no conditions or relationships which offend modern ideas of justice and equity. the democrats have, unquestionably, by their secession, greatly crippled the strength of the liberal party, and it will be long before the younger generation of liberals can take the places thus vacated and a rejuvenated and unanimous party can issue from the present dissensions. the only other political party in holland who do not accept religion as the one safe starting-point for politics are the social democrats. when the german socialists of the school of marx discovered how the sudden development of steam and machinery was followed by a vast amount of distress amongst the labouring classes, affecting also such of the lower middle class as principally traded with workpeople, they at once jumped at the conclusion that the same thing was bound to go on for ever. perhaps it was with a feeling of despair, therefore, that the father of dutch social democracy, f. domela nieuwenhuys, gradually drifted into anarchism, or, as he prefers to call it, free socialism, and finally abandoned all political action. the younger generation, led by f. van der goes, h. van kol, and, last but not least, p. j. troelstra, still vigorously carry on the fray, however, and a very considerable number of dutch workmen follow them. their ambition is to conquer political power in holland, and as soon as they have it to revolutionize, not the country, but the statute-book, in such a manner that they may acquire the economic power as well. of course, they wish to abolish individual property in all the means of production, and to make the state the owner of all these; and it is their hope that a general love for the commonwealth, and zeal for the general welfare of all, may take the place of the present egotism and sordid pursuit of wealth. [illustration: parliament house at the hague. view from the great lake.] the anti-revolutionists also have their conservatives and progressives. dr. kuyper always speaks of a 'left' and a 'right' wing of his party, and as the conservative 'right' is largely composed of the members of the dutch nobility, he once sneeringly called this fraction 'the men with the double names.' their proper title is 'free anti-revolutionists,' and their leader, jhr. a.f. de savornin lohman, who in , with baron ae. mackay (lord reay's cousin), led the first anti-revolutionist-catholic majority in the second chamber of the states-general. the third faction is headed by dr. bronsveld, and is called the 'christian historicals,' who differ on one great principle from the two others, inasmuch as they seek the re-establishment of the netherlands hervormde kerk as state church. but, however much they differ in practical measures, their common ground is the recognition of the holy scriptures as the only right basis for statesmanship, and their conviction that the present modern state is merely a passing, non-dutch consequence of the french revolution and its disastrous teachings. they all agree that the netherlands should be governed according to the principles that made holland great and powerful ever since the reformation of the sixteenth century. dr. kuyper is fully convinced that the french revolution thrust holland off its historical line of development, and he wants to return, as near as possible, to the point reached before that event, or, at any rate, to lead the state forward in the old direction. all anti-revolutionists hold that their first civic duty is obedience to god;--if conscience requires resistance to the authorities, resist them, whatever you may suffer. at the same time they eschew clericalism and object to every form of state church. hence one of their chief antipathies is clause of the constitution, which continues in the same way as before the disestablishment of the church the payments by the exchequer to various clergymen of all denominations. in opposition to this they demand entire and absolute liberty and equality for all churches and confessions, and, theoretically, admit that one can be a member of their party without being of their creed. with regard to education, they do not desire to substitute denominational state schools for the present neutral ones, but they object that at present the state compels parents, who desire religious schools for their children, not only to find all necessary money for these 'free schools,' but to contribute in addition to the school taxes, to the advantage of such parents as hold that secular and religious education are better disconnected, since religious education must needs be dogmatical and sectarian, and that the churches and not the state should look to this, whereas school education can quite well be given without reference to religion at all. the anti-revolutionist position, on the other hand, is that it is not the state's duty to provide school or any other education, all education being a matter of private concern for the individual family, and not a public business at all; though they allow that where parents are unable to maintain them schools may be erected by the taxpayers' money. they also deprecate legislation against intemperance, immorality, and prostitution, because they think such laws do not remove the evils themselves, but merely attack their visible signs, and relieve moral trespassers of part of their responsibility by protecting them against certain consequences of their acts. they are opposed to the legal and compulsory observance of the sabbath, holding this to be an affair of the churches and of individuals; but they support laws to compel employers to allow their men a sufficient weekly rest on sundays. they admit a limited state interference in social matters, but contend that it must not discourage individual effort, or create a host of officials, inspectors, and controllers. the franchise must, according to them, never enable one section of the nation to supersede the other by sheer force of numbers; they do not admit that the majority system is the ultimate and only criterion of legality and justice; moreover, the family being the unit from which the commonwealth has grown into existence, they contend that heads of families are the natural electors. where the old liberals say that the financial test is the right one for voters, the anti-revolutionists hold that no one has a real stake in the country who has not a family and knows nothing of the responsibilities involved thereby. dr. kuyper is the democratic leader of what he calls, in classical but antiquated dutch, the 'kleine luyden' (the 'little people') amongst the anti-revolutionists. he knows that the 'double-named' free anti-revolutionists have little sympathy with his social programme, but this does not matter, since they are perfectly well aware of the fact that they owe everything, as far as political power goes, to the 'little people.' finally, there is the left wing of the roman catholic party, who derive their social convictions from pope leo's encyclica 'rerum novarum,' which affords a great many points upon which joint action is possible, for leo xiii. is often called in holland 'the workmen's pope.' both anti-revolutionists and roman catholics entertain entirely different political ideals, but they agree upon this, that the modern liberal state is not really neutral in religions matters, but is 'modern protestant,' and 'modern' protestantism spells atheism in their eyes; and both regard a weak and fragile christian as a better citizen than the best atheist or agnostic. for this reason they are combined in hostility to the existing system of elementary education, which they suspect of an atheistic tendency. these two questions, religion and the schools, virtually exhaust the vital points of agreement between the anti-revolutionists and the roman catholics, though in an emergency they might possibly unite on social legislation or some mild form of protection. the latter would, however, have to be very mild indeed, for dr. kuyper is a free trader, and the 'little people' like cheap bread just as well as other folk. for holland it might be a matter of great importance if progressive social legislation became kuyper's chief work. there is no doubt a great drawback in this mixing up by ail parties of politics and religion. kuyper, the calvinist; schaepman, the catholic; drucker, treub, and molengraaf, the liberal democrats; goeman borgesius, the man of the 'liberal union;' and troelstra, the socialist, all have many common ideas on social questions, although they may differ in principles and seek different aims. each of them, however, has conservative opponents in his own party, and there is just a possibility that the next few years may bring about not only a healthy measure of social development, but also a much-desired readjustment of parties, on non-theological, undogmatical lines. chapter xviii the administration of justice there are two very marked differences between the administration of justice in holland and in england. the first is that what are called 'petty offences' are not tried and disposed of summarily in the former country. there the offender in such cases is subjected to a process known as 'verbalization'--that is, his name, address, age, and all particulars of the offence are noted by the police; and he is thereupon informed that he will be called upon to give an account of himself later. a week or two may pass before the offender receives verbal or printed notice requiring his presence before the court of the cantonal judge, which answers somewhat to the english police court. this delay in the administration of justice is regarded as a great defect even in holland, and one which is more and more being recognized. the establishment of the police court as known and conducted in england is felt, therefore, to be a great _desideratum_, and it is by no means unlikely that it may be introduced before long, since the dutch have always shown themselves ready to adopt any modification of their own institutions which the experience of other countries may prove to be clearly desirable. the second difference is that trial by jury as englishmen understand it does not exist in the netherlands. but here the dutch are not likely to abandon their own tradition. the jury in holland is composed of experienced and qualified judges, who are not apt to modify their opinions as to the guilt or innocence of accused persons owing to the tears of the latter or the passionate appeals of their advocates. rightly or wrongly, the most eminent lawyers in holland ascribe the often-recurring cases of miscarriage of justice in some countries which have adopted the jury system to this system itself, and it is very improbable, therefore, that in this respect the dutch will copy any of their neighbours. the organization of justice in holland originated in the code napoleon, which was introduced shortly after the country's annexation to the french empire. in the judicial system in vogue to-day, which is the result of modifications introduced at various times during last century, and particularly by a law of the year , the administration of justice is vested in the high court (_hooge raad_), the provincial courts of justice (_gerechtskoven_), the arrondissements (_rechtbanken_), and the cantonal courts (_kantongerechten_). the high court consists of a president, a vice-president, from twelve to fourteen councillors, a procurator-general, three advocates-general (who form, with the procurator-general, the 'public ministry' or office of public prosecution), also a greffier, or clerk of court, and two deputy greffiers. most of the appointments are made by the sovereign, and are for life. the high court is situated at the hague, and its principal duty is to control the administration of justice by the lower courts, a process known as 'cassation.' if, for example, one of the lower courts has pronounced a sentence from which there is no appeal in that court, and one of the contending parties is of opinion that the sentence is excessive, that party may require the high court to cancel or annul (_casseer_) the verdict. when an appeal for cassation or annulment is thus made, the high court has not to go into the question of the guilt or innocence of the contending parties, but merely into the question whether the lower court has judged rightly or whether it was competent to judge the case at all. such 'cassations' occur almost daily, not because the high court has a reputation for reversing the verdicts given below, but because the process offers at least a good chance of getting a sentence reduced. the public prosecution, however, has power to set in motion the process of cassation without being called upon so to do if the interests of justice should in its opinion require it. to the jurisdiction of the high court belong also piracy cases, the apportionment of prizes made in war, and the determination of accusations against state officials of abuse of power. of provincial courts there are five, each composed of officials similar in name, though not in rank, to those of the high court, and they, too, are for the most part appointed by the crown, though not all for life. these provincial courts pronounce judgment in the second instance--that is, when the decision of a lower court has been appealed against. this is, in fact, their principal function, though they also pronounce judgment in the first instance in cases of difference between the cantonal courts or arrondissement courts. the latter are so named from the divisions into which the country was split up for administrative purposes during the napoleonic _régime_, for the existing arrondissement boundaries are virtually the same as those of ninety years ago. there are twenty-three arrondissement courts, thirteen of the first-class and ten of the second class. their principal business is to pronounce judgment in the first instance, even in criminal cases, but they also decide in the final instance in cases of dispute between the cantonal courts, which are under their jurisdiction. they likewise adjudicate upon claims for compensation up to a certain amount, upon disputes regarding the boundaries of land and property, and upon complaints relating to water-supply, drainage, and the like, while cases of mendicancy, vagrancy, and evasion of taxes are decided by these courts summarily. the cantonal courts are, as already stated, the nearest equivalent in holland to the english police courts. their members, however, are legally trained and salaried men, though attached to each court are several unsalaried deputies. the judges of these courts are appointed for life by the crown, and the minor officiais for a term of years. all the petty cases which in england come before the police court are in holland adjudicated upon by the cantonal courts. poaching, personal violence, cruelty to animals, damage done to dwellings, trees, or crops, are all cases for these courts, and so long as the fines imposed do not exceed two guineas, their judgment is final, but in other cases the right of appeal exists. mention has just been made of the fact that even from the lowest court of law in holland the amateur judge is rigidly excluded. no one who has not acquired the diploma of doctor of laws from one of the dutch universities is allowed to assume any responsible duty associated with the administration of justice. the same severe requirement is imposed upon the legal profession in general. the possession of the diploma of doctor of laws and letters alone entitles a man to practise as advocate. amongst themselves the members of the legal profession also exercise a sort of mutual surveillance by means of their councils of supervision and discipline, whose duty it is to take care that nothing is done by an advocate which is contrary to the law or to the honour of the faculty. these councils are chosen from amongst the lawyers themselves in all towns where there are more than fourteen resident advocates, but in smaller places their duties are discharged by the provincial or arrondissement courts. should a lawyer be guilty of any serious misdemeanour he is promptly expelled from the community of advocates, and he may be even refused the right to plead in any of the public courts. in passing, it is an interesting feature of the dutch judicial system that in every place where there is a court of justice, higher or lower, there exists a consultation bureau where people without means may obtain gratuitous advice in legal matters. unless a charge laid before this consultation bureau appears on the face of it to be unsustainable, the bureau appoints one of its members to act as legal adviser and counsellor to the applicant free of cost. in criminal cases the president of the court concerned appoints a legal adviser for the accused, though the latter may choose another advocate if he pleases. it will be interesting to enter one of these dutch courts of law, and a cantonal court may perhaps best serve as an example, since that resembles most closely the english _forum_ of the people--the police court. let us assume that we are privileged persons, though engaged in serious legal business. we are bidden to make an appearance at a quarter to eleven o'clock in the morning, and, presenting ourselves at that hour, we take our seats on comfortable chairs, ranged round a long square table in the large public waiting-room. as many other people are coming in, and the room threatens soon to be crowded, a considerate attendant, knowing that we are in favour with the grave and reverend seigniors who preside over the court, shows us into another and smaller room, where one of the deputy clerks (greffier) is seated working at his books. one by one other persons come in, pay small sums of money, of which the deputy clerk evidently keeps an exact account, together with the names and addresses of the payers, the amounts yet remaining due--everything, in fact, relating to each person's case. we note that some of the payers inquire how much they yet owe, and the sum being told them, they forthwith take their departure. we learn that these are all people who were fined some time ago for petty offences, and who are, or pretend to be, unable to pay the full amount at once. hence they are allowed to pay by instalments, and it is the duty of the clerk to keep an accurate account of their contributions. our own turn having come round, we are now ushered into the court, where we see his worship the judge seated at the head--which happens to be the middle--of a long table, covered by the inevitable green cloth. papers, ink-stands, and pens are before him; at his left hand sits the clerk, and next to him the first deputy clerk. we observe, too, how carefully the proprieties are observed in the matter of dress. all the judicial functionaries present wear a costume consisting of a black toga reaching to the heels, with a white 'bef,' or collar-band, hanging in front halfway down to the waist, and also a black _barrette_, or square cap, as in france. five persons are seated in the chairs next to ours and opposite to the judge. they have just testified that the last will of their parent has been duly carried out, and that each of them has received his share, being in this case ' guilders ½ cents'. (don't forget the half-cent, for attention to minutiae is one of those characteristics of the dutch which strikes us at every turn). presently the judge asks the eldest of the party whether his name is not 'so-and-so.' the answer being in the affirmative, his worship nods to the clerk, who begins to read out in clear and measured tones-- 'i, so-and-so (description and address follow), hereby declare and testify to have received as my share in the heritage of my parent the sum legally apportioned to me, being guilders ½ cents.' then the judge asks: 'are you prepared to swear that this is true, and that as far as you know nothing is kept behind so that justice is not fully carried out?' this is the legal formula in use upon such an occasion, and it produces the expected reply. 'very well, then,' proceeds the judge, 'repeat after me, "so truly help me god almighty!"' the familiar words of the dutch oath are accompanied by the uplifting of the right hand and the pointing to heaven of the first two fingers. then follow the other four members of the family in order of age. all of them swear in the usual words, except the second daughter, who demurs, on which the judicial eyebrows are raised in surprise. it appears that the maiden suffers from religious scruples, being firmly of opinion that swearing an oath is forbidden by holy scripture. the judge listens respectfully, and simply answers, 'then repeat after me, "i hereby solemnly declare that the words read out to me just now are the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."' the conscientious witness having no objection to a simple affirmation, the words are promptly repeated, the business is completed, and the party are all allowed to withdraw. now our own turn has come. one of our party, we will assume, has been appointed by the cantonal judge to be guardian over a minor son of another of our number. all declare who, what, and whence they are, and that the guardian has received his appointment with their common consent, while the guardian himself makes formal declaration of accepting the duty. he is thereupon sworn by the judge in the occupation of his office, promising 'to act in all things as a true and faithful guardian should act, so truly help me god almighty.' these several incidents are fairly typical of the sort of business which occupies the attention of these minor courts. as we leave the building, however, we learn another piece of interesting information in the course of conversation with the deputy clerk whose acquaintance we first made. it is that the principle of 'punishment by instalments' is applied in the case of the poorer classes, not merely in the matter of fines, but also of imprisonment, save in criminal cases. many a poor man, for instance, who shortly after being sentenced to, say, a week's or a fortnight's imprisonment has happened to find employment would be ruined if compelled to go to prison at once. he is therefore allowed, as in russia, to select his own time for surrendering himself to the prison authorities, and if, as often happens in poaching cases, two different offences have brought upon him two terms of imprisonment, he is allowed to come before the judge, with the request that he may combine these two terms, beginning his incarceration at a fixed date. the court to whose clemency he thus appeals generally grants the request, and the man is thus enabled to work for his livelihood whilst the demand for labour is general, and to go to prison when he happens to be out of work, and would only be one mouth more to feed at home, where his wife and children already find difficulty enough in making both ends meet. when imprisonment is thus post-poned the offender receives from the court a document, on the presentation of which at the prison door the master of the prison will admit him as a temporary occupant of one of the cells. old gaol-birds, however, are not treated so tenderly, but the judges soon learn by experience when and how to apply this merciful arrangement, and when to refuse it altogether. in general the statistics of crime give holland a decidedly favourable reputation. serious misdemeanours are comparatively rare. crimes like burglary, theft, and the like, are certainly committed often enough, but there is no evidence to show that they are on the increase, while life and property are at least as secure in the large dutch towns as anywhere else in europe. the hague, though a city of , inhabitants, is sufficiently protected by the comparatively small number of policemen. rotterdam and amsterdam both have a larger number of policemen per thousand inhabitants than the hague, but this is natural, owing to the more heterogeneous character of the population of these great commercial centres. it is a notable fact that in every town in holland the burgomaster or mayor is the supreme head of the police, and that the chief commissary of police must not merely co-operate with him, but is in the last resort subject to his direct command. in spite of the fact that courts of summary jurisdiction of the english type do not exist in holland, the police authority possesses a considerable amount of power. mention has been made of the process of 'verbalization' as applied to common misdemeanours. in the case of drunkenness or fighting, however, the offenders are at once taken before the commissary of police, who promptly deals with them. offences against which the police are entirely powerless are those of adulteration of food, household quarrels so long as they remain within certain bounds, and an offence of quite modern origin known as 'bottle-drawing' (_anglicè_, 'long-firm frauds'). this last is an ingenious species of fraud which has become very common in holland of late years. a person orders a quantity of goods from merchants of various towns on the pretence of opening accounts, which he promises will quickly assume large dimensions. consignment after consignment of wares is sent, but never paid for, and when at last the too trustful merchant discovers that he has been playing into the hands of a swindler he gets no redress, for the artful schemer has disappeared, taking with him the proceeds of the goods received. for a time this sort of fraud was quite popular, but then the eyes of the business community were opened, and the strong hand of the law fell upon several offenders with crushing weight, after which 'bottle-drawing' lost in attractiveness. on the whole, the police in holland are commendably energetic as well as dutiful, and the relationship between the police authority and the public is generally a friendly and trustful one. it may be noted that the dutch law strongly discourages divorce. in general the present generation is apt to regard separation and divorce with greater favour than its fathers did, but though this feeling may to some extent influence the decisions of dutch judges in divorce proceedings, the law itself, strictly interpreted, offers little hope to those who would weaken the marriage tie. when married people disagree to such an extent that a rupture between them is imminent, and a demand for divorce is made, proof is required that the demand comes only from one side, for divorce by common consent is against the law except in cases of adultery. in every other case the judge of the cantonal court must do his utmost to effect a reconciliation. should, however, a demand for divorce be repeated, this same judge, or a judge of a superior court, must again endeavour to bring the parties together, and only in the event of failure is judicial separation _a mensâ et thoro_ pronounced, and this separation must exist for a number of years--as a rule seven--before actual divorce can take place. nevertheless, both separation and divorce are far more frequent nowadays than ten or twenty years ago, owing largely to the judicial disposition to interpret the law more in accordance with what are known as 'modern ideas.' holland is one of the few countries which no longer tolerate capital punishment. it was abolished thirty years ago, and, in spite of the strenuous efforts of the reactionary party, it is not likely to be re-established. quite recently, mr. c. loosjes wrote a pamphlet in advocacy of the reenactment of capital punishment, and his position at the ministry of justice gave to this work considerable weight. his contention was that since capital punishment was abolished, the crimes of murder, attempted murder, poisoning, and parricide had increased, but mr. loosjes failed to make sufficient allowance for the fact that during the period covered by his statistics the population of the country had greatly increased. the fact is that during the twenty years preceding abolition considerably more crimes punishable by death occurred than during the twenty years following that act of clemency, civilisation, and enlightenment, while as compared with other countries holland takes a very favourable position indeed, standing, together with england, belgium, and germany, at the head of the nations having the smallest number of crimes of a kind usually punished by death. chapter xix religious life and thought the dutch are a thoroughly religious people. religious sentiments and introspective inclinations were bound to develop and prosper in the low lands, where vast plains of fertile land are only limited by the endless sea below, the unfathomable blue of heaven above; where man feels himself an atom, lost in the vastness of creation, yet safe, because he is placed there by the will of a beneficent maker. introspective, personal, individualistic, self-centred are their painters and their poets. these were greatly so when holland's fleets ruled the seas, and when holland's influence and power were felt far beyond ils own narrow frontiers; and they are still so in our days. this individualism accounts for the many sects found among the dutch reformed. the roman catholic church, the only episcopacy in holland, numbers only two sections: those--the majority--who admit the infallibility of the pope, and those--a small minority--who, although recognizing the pope as chief of the church, do not agree with the decisions of the vatican council of , proclaiming this papal infallibility. the roman catholic church is a tolerably prospering institution, thanks to the absolute freedom which it, like all the sister churches, enjoys in holland, where, ever since the revolution of , a state church has been an unknown thing. on the whole, however, its growth is not keeping pace with the increase of the population. a former census indicated that the roman catholics numbered two-fifths of the whole population, but the latest puts them down at only one-third, and in the second chamber of the states general there are only twenty-five roman catholic members out of a total of a hundred representatives. their present organization dates from , when the liberals agreed to the appointment by the pope of one archbishop in utrecht, and four bishops in haarlem, bois-le-duc, breda, and roermond. the bishoprics are divided in decanates, and in the pope completed the organization by instituting chapters, each governed by one provost and eight canons. the archbishops and bishops do not officially participate in political life in holland, although, as a matter of course, nobody can help noticing their influence upon the electorate; the minor clergy as a rule are less discreet in this matter than their chiefs, whereas the political leader of the roman catholics in the second chamber is dr. herman schaepman, a priest, a professer at the seminary of rysenburg, a statesman, an orator, and a poet, whose quintuple attainments are equally admired, although his scientific importance is not generally considered to be quite as weighty as the rest of his remarkable personality. far more significant for dutch religious life are the other two-thirds of the population, protestants to the back-bone. the former state church, the netherlands reformed church, was left in a most awkward position when, in , disestablishment was forced upon it. up till , when jann rudolf thorbecke saved holland and the royal house from another revolution, by imposing a liberal constitution upon the reluctant king william ii, the netherlands reformed church had no sound, well-regulated status; but not before was the last tie connecting state and church severed. the state now no longer exercises spiritual or other supervision, but merely pays a yearly allowance to the various clergymen, without vindicating or claiming any rights in return. on the other hand, the state no longer pays or appoints university professors to teach specific reformed theology; every church of every description looks after this on behalf of its own students, and whereas the roman catholic clergy are educated at the seminaries, the general synod, the supreme governing board of the netherlands reformed church, nominates two professors for each of the four dutch universities at leyden, utrecht, groningen, and amsterdam. it is necessary to point here to a peculiarity in dutch religious and political life. at the time when liberal politics were developing in holland, critical and historical research made itself conspicuous in the teaching of leading dutch ecclesiastics like scholten and kuenen. the reformation upset the divine authority of the pope; these modern critics denied and destroyed the faith in the divine authority of the bible. they were educated, and afterwards taught their lessons at the university of leyden, where the future liberal statesmen of holland were preparing for their task; they had the same ideals, the same modes of thought. [illustration: interior of delftshaven church (where the pilgrim fathers worshipped before leaving for new england).] the ecclesiastics called themselves 'moderns;' the politicians were designated 'liberals.' both vindicated the supreme right of freedom in everything: free criticism, free research, free thought, free speech. the reign of pure intellectualism became supreme; every emotion, every sentiment was dissected, measured by the measure of inexorable logic; and rationalism, later doomed to bankruptcy, was in those days all-triumphant. so it came about that the liberals were 'moderns' and the 'moderns' liberals; and as the state was for a quarter of a century governed by liberals who involuntarily made the church 'modern,' populated by liberals, so it also came about that their religious opponents became their political foes. these opponents were called 'orthodox;' they felt this imposition of liberty as the worst coercion one man could apply to another--the coercion of the conscience. they did not care to see the bible treated as a piece of sheer human manufacture, however exalted; they felt it a burning shame to have to pay taxes towards the maintenance of irreligious, or even anti-religious, scientific chairs and colleges. they thought of their stern forefathers, who had broken the power of the mighty spanish empire, strengthened by god's word and by that only. to them the netherlands reformed church and the netherlands state lost their sound and only safe basis by the assertion that there was something changeable, something non-eternal in the bible; that this bible, revered as containing the holy scriptures, might be replaced by any human system of thought to serve as the foundation for the structure of the state. this blending of modernism and liberalism afforded to them absolute proof that any abandonment of the ancient creed and the revered confession meant ruin both to state and church. so they followed the time-honoured practice of the dutch race; they separated, broke away from a species of liberty which was not of their liking, and became 'anti-revolutionists' and 'separatists' ('afgescheidenen'); calvin, with his staunch, severe protestantism, being their ideal as statesman and spiritual leader. the dutch language has two words for one thing: 'hervorming' and 'reformatie.' but there is a vast difference between the netherlands 'hervormde' and the netherlands 'gereformeerde' churches. the former is the late state church, the latter is the church of the 'afgescheidenen,' who, before joining the netherlands gereformeerde, called themselves 'christelyk gereformeerde.' these two joined in , and are now known as the 'gereformeerde kerken' (the reformed churches). their leader is professer abraham kuyper, the present president minister of the netherlands. he, like dr. schaepman, is a born orator, a prolific author, a scientific ecclesiastic, a strong democratic leader of men, an admirable organizer, and perhaps the most brilliant journalist in holland; but beyond this, he is a staunch protestant of the strictest calvinistic type, to whom the roman catholic church is a blasphemous and idolatrous institution. in he created the 'society for higher education on a reformed basis,' and in his 'free university' was consecrated in the 'nieuwe kerk' (the new church) at amsterdam, dr. kuyper ever since the opening acting as one of the professors. his flock is now strong in numbers, but his and their faith is stronger and has worked miracles, building churches and schools, maintaining preachers and teachers, finding money for everything, and finally, for the second time, gaining a political victory, with the help of such strange auxiliaries as the roman catholics. what unites them is the conviction they have in common that a state and a government not led themselves by religion must lead a nation to perdition. to them liberal governments, although theoretically free from clerical influence, are actually led and unduly influenced by the 'modern' protestants of holland. these 'modern' protestants reject the dogma of the holy trinity and various other dogmas which the roman catholics and the orthodox protestants consider the essence of the christian creed; they are, therefore, in the opinion of the latter, mere atheists, and consequently unfit to rule the destinies of a nation. [illustration: utrecht cathedral.] these 'modern' protestants came to the fore during the last fifty years. the university of groningen taught a humanism, which created a reaction towards the ancient confessors of the creed, the 'reveal,' or awakening. subsequently modern cosmosophy tried to adjust its opinions to modern science and the results of modern research in every branch of human knowledge. this was a great blow to the ancestral faith and the venerable confession. in those days coenraad busken huet published his 'letters on the bible,' popularizing the scientific criticisms of the sacred book. gradually leyden's university took the lead, johannes henricus scholten, abraham kuenen, and the utrecht philosopher cornelis willem opzoomer assisting the new movement by their profound knowledge, their irresistible logic, their brilliant style, and their high enthusiasm. in those years holland went through ail the throes accompanying the appearance of new life; it was a time of intellectual stress and strain, a time of controversial storm in which unrelenting criticism and critical research carried away everything that could not exist in the light of exact science and exacter thinking. jacobus izaak doedes, johannes jacobus van oosterzee, chantepic de la saussaye, the successors of guillaume groen van prinsterer, jan rudolf thorbecke's greatest opponent, and isaäc da costa, willem bilderdyk's famous pupil, defended the ancient creed, but the general synod was 'modern' and the 'orthodox' had a difficult time. in numbers of places the 'dominees,' or preachers, were orthodox, and in order to provide their own followers with spiritual fare, the 'moderns' established in the 'nederlandsche protestantenbond,' or netherlands protestant league. this league sees that all over the country 'modern' sermons are preached, 'modern' sunday schools instituted, meetings of protestants arranged, and everything is done that can support or promote religious life. besides these two large bodies of protestants, the orthodox and the moderns, holland has a good many lutherans, baptists, or mennonites, and remonstrants. of the lutherans the most numerous are the evangelical lutherans, who faithfully maintain the augsburg confession, while the moderns, known as reinstated lutherans, abandoned that organ of doctrine. there is not, however, much animosity between the two sects at the present time, neither making a strong point of dogma, but both giving a prominent place to the demands of christian practice. the mennonites--so called after the dutch reformer menno simons ( - )--were in olden times the most persecuted protestants of all. roman catholics, lutherans, and calvinists were equally hard upon them, and many of them lost their lives on account of their convictions. they have no test, no church, no rite, no clergy. they have fraternities, and in these the minister is the 'voorganger' (guide or leader), though his education, social position, and general duties are the same as those of all other protestant ministers. in amsterdam they have their own seminary, and the names of professors samuel muller, sytske hoekstra bzn, jacob gysbert de hoop scheffer, and jan van gilse are honoured in the country and outside the 'general baptist society,' as their central body is called. their teaching and preaching appeal not only to the religions, but very strongly to the ethical and moral tendencies of humanity. the remonstrants (formerly arminians) came upon the scene towards the end of the sixteenth century. dirk vorlkertsz coornhert had written a very able refutation of the dogma of predestination. the town council of amsterdam ordered jacob arminius to write a book against coornhert's work. but behold! when arminius settled down to the task, and read coornhert's argument carefully, he came to the conclusion that the other was right, and from an opponent he turned into a powerful ally. this happy lack of bias has ever been the particular feature of arminian doctrine, and, like the mennonites, the remonstrants hold that the value of religion is determined by its beneficial influence on ethics. considering the ethical or social fermentation which holland, like every other country, has witnessed during the last decades, it is not surprising to find a great many 'modern' members of the netherlands 'hervormde kerk' joining the remonstrant fraternity, which affords absolute liberty as regards dogma and confession, and at the same time satisfies their altruistic inclinations. it is one of the commonest contentions of the age that ethics and religion can exist in one being independently of each other. one very advanced sect of modern dutch protestants--not yet, however, numbering a great many adherents--does not go quite to this extreme, but in the 'vrye gemeente,' or 'free community,' they represent religion as a thing complete in itself, a thing purely pertaining to the individual, personal spiritual life. this 'free community' was established in by two amsterdam ministers, pieter hermannus hugenholtz and frederik willem nicolaas hugenholtz. they neither observe ascension day nor whitsuntide; they abolished baptism and the eucharist; and, however charitable the members may be in their private capacities, the free community, as such, does not practise poor-relief or charity in any form. in this connexion it is interesting to add a few words about dutch free masonry. the dutch free masons of the present day are not so much moralists as ethicists. the well-being of the commonwealth based upon the well-being of every member--spiritually, intellectually, and materially--is their threefold aim. they feel and express profound admiration for every form of religious life, utterly indifferent as to the existence or non-existence of any dogma accompanying it, since they freely realize how strong a motive religion is to ethics; they admit roman catholics, orthodox or modern protestants, jews, buddhists, mohammedans, atheists and agnostics into their fraternity, no confessional test whatever being put to any one; they only require faithful co-operation towards the general betterment of human society as a whole. the hebrew church has also enjoyed perfect freedom ever since the constitution of made the right of congregation absolute and incontestable. but after being fettered during so many centuries, it took even this energetic and tenacious race some twenty years to shake itself free from the lingering influences of long-protracted restraint. it was only in that the netherlands israelitic congregation was established; the portuguese jews in holland have a separate governing body. modern and ancient views clash here, as everywhere else, but the consciousness of their illustrious history, not sullied, but adorned with greater brilliancy by centuries of persecution, becomes gradually more powerful in the mind of the dutch jew, and invigorates his natural and national tendency towards the ancient rites and doctrines of his classic creed. chapter xx the army and navy although the dutch maintained their independence in the sixteenth century against the most formidable regular army in europe, and also did their fair share of fighting in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they have long ceased to aspire to the rank of a military power. the separation from belgium in - put an end to the orange policy of creating a powerful netherland state from lorraine to the north sea which could hold its own with either france or prussia, and since that period holland has gradually sunk, and seemingly without discontent, into the position of a third-rate power. this has taken place without any apparent loss of the old love of independence, but it has necessarily been accompanied by a diminution not only of the military spirit, but of military efficiency and readiness. the spectacle of immense armies of millions of men in the neighbouring states seems to have produced a sense of helplessness among the people of the netherlands, and to have led them to believe that resistance, were it needful, would be futile. the inglorious campaign of , when pichegru occupied holland almost without a blow, serves as a sort of object-lesson to demonstrate the hopelessness of any attempt at resistance, instead of the creditable campaign of ; when the dutch expelled dumouriez from their country. curiously enough, the transvaal war has revived national hope and confidence by showing what a well-armed people without military training can do when standing on the defensive. time is necessary to prove whether this new sentiment will remove the fatalistic feeling of helplessness that has been creeping over dutch public men, and brace them to efforts worthy of their ancestry. the sense of impotency has not been confined to the land forces alone. in that matter it was felt that a nation of less than five millions could not compete with those that numbered forty and fifty millions. but the same sentiment exists also with regard to maritime power, where the competition is not of men, but of money. the immense navies of modern days, and the enormous cost of their maintenance and renovation, seem to exclude small states from the rank of naval powers. holland, with the finest material for manning a navy of any continental state, can be no exception to the general rule. her little navy is a model of efficiency, her small cruisers of tons are not surpassed by any of the same size, and the _morale_ of her officers, one may not doubt, is worthy of the service that produced not only the ruyters and tromps of old days, but suffren, our most able opponent during the long napoleonic struggle. none the less, the dutch navy remains a small navy quite overshadowed by the immense organizations of the present age, and without any possible chance of competing with them. this self-evident fact exercises a depressing influence on dutch opinion, which has latterly shown a marked desire to ally the country with some other. an alliance with belgium, that of the north and south netherlanders, the old union of the provinces broken in and imperfectly restored from to , would be hailed with delight. the difficulty of attaining this consolidation of netherland opinion and resources, on account of pronounced religious differences, has resulted in the formation of a considerable body of opinion favourable to an alliance with germany. for the moment, events in south africa have placed the old english party in a hopeless minority. although the dutch possess in probably an unabated degree all the sturdy characteristics that distinguished them of old, it seems as if prosperity had somewhat blunted the edge of patriotism, at least to the extent of rendering them unwilling to submit to the hardships of the conscription, when fully applied to the whole people. as the consequence the dutch do not come under the head of an armed nation, and the war effective of their army is less than , men. the regulations applying to the army are based on the law of , which was modified in one important particular by an act of . the army was to be raised partly by conscription and partly by voluntary enlistment. the annual contingent by conscription was fixed at , men. every man became liable to conscription at the age of nineteen, but as the right of purchasing exemption continued in force until the act of referred to, all well-to-do persons so minded escaped from the obligation of military service. at the same time its conditions were made as light as possible. nominally the conscripts had to serve for five years, but in reality they remained one year with the colours, and afterwards were called out for only six weeks' training during each of the four subsequent years. the regular army thus obtained mustered on a peace footing , men and officers, and on a war footing , officers and men and guns, excluding fortress artillery. considering the interests entrusted to its charge, the dutch army must be pronounced the weakest of any state possessing colonies--a position of no inconsiderable importance from the historical and political point of view. it will be said, no doubt, that holland possesses other land forces besides her regular army, and this is true, but they are by the admission of the dutch themselves ill organized and not up to the level of their duties. there is the schutterij, or national volunteer force--perhaps militia would be a more correct term, because the law creating it is based on compulsion. the law organizing the schutterij was passed in april, , by which ail males were required to serve in it between the ages of twenty-five and thirty, and from thirty to thirty-five in the schutterij reserve. an active division is formed out of unmarried men and widowers without children. this division would be mobilized immediately on the outbreak of war, and would take its place alongside the regular army. it probably numbers five thousand men out of the total of , active schutterij. the reserve schutterij does not exceed , , but behind ail these is what is termed indifferently the landsturm, or the _levee en masse_. there is only one defect in this arrangement, which is that by far the larger portion of the population has never had any military training except that given to the schutterij, which is practically none at all. a _levee en masse_ in holland would have precisely the value, and no more, that it would have in any other non-military state which either did not possess a regular army of adequate efficiency and strength, or which had not passed its population through the ranks of a conscript army. the dutch schutterij is ostensibly based on the model of the swiss rifle clubs, and the obligatory part of its service relates to rifle-practice at the targets, but there the similarity ends. there is no room to question the efficiency of the swiss marksmen, and the tests applied are very severe. but in holland the practice is very different. the schutterij meetings are made the excuse for jollity, eating and drinking. they are rather picnics than assemblies for the serious purpose of qualifying as national defenders. even in marksmanship the ranges are so short, and the efficiency expected so meagre, that the military value of this civic force is exceedingly dubious. it could only be compared with that of the garde civique of belgium, and with neither the swiss rifle corps nor our own volunteers. curiously enough, there is, however, an offshoot of the schutterij based also on the old organization of an ancient guild called the "sharpshooters." its members are supposed to be good shots, or at least to take pains to become so, and they practise at something approaching long ranges. but it is a very limited and somewhat exclusive organization based on a considerable subscription. it is the society or club of well-to-do persons with a bent towards rifle-practice. an application to the schutterij of the obligations forming part of the voluntary and self-imposed conditions accepted by the sharpshooters would, no doubt, add much to its efficiency, and might in time give holland a serviceable auxiliary corps of riflemen. besides the home army, holland possesses a very considerable colonial army which is commonly known as the indian contingent. this force garrisons java, sumatra, and the other colonies in the east. the army of the east indies numbers , europeans and , natives, principally malays of java. besides this regular garrison a schutterij force is maintained in java. it consists of europeans and natives. the europeans are the planters and the members of the civil service. the natives are the retainers of some of the native princes, and the overseers and more responsible men employed on the european plantations. the total garrison of the dutch east indies is consequently a very considerable one, viewed by the light of its duties, but allowance has to be made for the interminable war in atchin, which keeps several thousand men permanently engaged, and never seems nearer an ending. the dutch authorities find great difficulty in recruiting their army for the east indies, and with the growth of prosperity this difficulty increases. indeed, the garrison could not be maintained at its present high strength but for the numerous volunteers who come forward for this well-paid service from germany and belgium. at one time these outside recruits became so numerous owing to the tempting offers made to them by the dutch authorities that the two governments interested presented formal protests against their proceedings. germany has always been very sore on the subject of losing any of her soldiers, and belgium has much need of all the men likely to serve abroad in the congo state. there are still foreigners of german and belgian race in the dutch indian army, but any design of turning it into a foreign legion on the same model as that of the force which has served france so well in algeria and her colonies has fallen through. the only active service or practical experience of war which the dutch army has had since the end of the struggle with belgium has been in the east indies. the lombock expedition of is still remembered for its losses and disasters, but on that occasion the dutch displayed a fine spirit of fortitude under a reverse, and ended the campaign by bringing the hostile sultan to reason. the long struggle with the atchinese has been marked by heroism on both sides, and is evidence that the dutch have not lost their old tenacity. at the same time the government finds considerable difficulty in obtaining the requisite number of voluntary exiles to preserve its possessions in the eastern archipelago, and it may find itself obliged to reduce the effective strength of its garrison. moreover, the hygienic conditions are still extremely unfavourable, and the rate of mortality among europeans in java and the celebes is particularly high. it may be no longer true, as was said with perhaps some exaggeration in the time of marshal daendels at the beginning of last century, that the european dutch garrisons die out every three years, but the death-rate is certainly high, and a considerable part of the garrison returns invalided by fever a very few months after its arrival in the east. at present the dutch indies are absolutely safe because england does not covet them, and would never dream of molesting the dutch in them provided she herself remains unmolested. but should international competitions break out in that quarter of the world holland might experience some difficulty in maintaining her garrison at an adequate strength for the proper discharge of her international duties, but this contingency is not likely to present itself for another twenty or thirty years. the troops of the regular dutch army will compare favourably with any of their neighbours. they are not as stiff on parade as the germans, and they are more solid than the french. their physique is good, although, owing to the practice of purchasing a substitute, which has too lately ceased to allow of the change to come into full effect, the infantry contains an abnormal number of short men, which gives a misleading idea of the average height of the race. the minimum height of the infantry soldier is ft. ½ ins., which is very low for a people whose general stature is quite on a level with our own. there is certainly one point in which the dutch soldiers strike the observer as being different from their neighbours. they seem light-hearted and jovial, not at all oppressed by the severe claims of discipline, and at the same time quite free from the slouch that gives the belgian linesman a non-military appearance. the strength of the dutch army lies undoubtedly in its corps of officers, a body of specially qualified men fitted to discharge the duties that devolve on the leaders of any army. the majority of these pass through the royal military academy, an institution from which we might borrow some features with advantage. candidates are admitted between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, and undergo a course of four years before they are eligible for a commission. as the charges at the academy are limited to _£ s_. a year, the expense of becoming an officer forms no prohibitive barrier, and in a course of training spread over four years the cadet can be turned into a fully qualified officer before he is entrusted with the discharge of practical duties. moreover, his training does not stop with his leaving the academy. it is supposed to be necessary to complete it by a further course in camps of instruction, and subsequently by what are called state missions in the temporary service of other armies. this practice is fairly general on the continent, although it is never resorted to by the british, who are less acquainted with the organization of continental armies than is the case with even third or fourth-rate states. the headquarters of the dutch engineers are at utrecht, of the artillery at zwolle, of the infantry at the hague, and of the cavalry at breda. utrecht is the most important of these military stations, because the engineers are the most important branch of the army, and also because it is the centre of the canal and dyke system of holland. the school or college of the state civil engineers, to whom is entrusted the care of the dykes, is at utrecht. they are known as waterstaat, and utrecht may be held to supplement and complete the machinery existing at the capital, amsterdam, for flooding the country. in theory and on paper, the defence of holland is based on the assumption that in the event of invasion the country surrounding amsterdam to as far as utrecht on one side and leyden on the other would be flooded. there are many who doubt whether the resolution to sanction the enormous attendant damage would be displayed. it is said that the national spirit does not beat so high as when the youthful william resorted to that measure in to baffle the french monarch, and then prepared his fleet, in the event of its failure, to convey the relics of dutch greatness and the fortunes of orange to a new home and country beyond the seas. on that occasion the waters did their work thoroughly well. but it is said that they might not accomplish what was expected of them on the next occasion, while the damage inflicted would remain. nothing can solve this question save the practical test, but there is no reason to believe that at heart the dutch race of to-day is less patriotic or resolute than formerly. at the same time a very important change has to be noted in the views of dutch strategists. formerly the whole system of national defence centred in amsterdam, and it must be added that the dykes have been mainly constructed with the idea of flooding the country round it. this was the old plan, sanctioned by antiquity and custom, of defending the capital at all costs, and making it the final refuge of the race. but latterly the opinion has been spreading among military men that rotterdam would make a far better place of final stand than amsterdam, because, the forts of the texel once forced, the capital might be menaced by a naval attack from the zuyder zee or by the northern canal. in old days amsterdam was safe from any naval descent, but the introduction of steam has laid it open to the attack at least of torpedo flotillas. the entrance to the meuse, it is represented, could be made impregnable with little difficulty, and the approaches to rotterdam from the land side are far more dependent on the proper restraining of the waters within their artificial or natural channels than those to amsterdam. there is another argument in support of rotterdam. it would be easier for holland's allies to send aid there than to amsterdam, while a strong position at rotterdam would senously menace any hostile army at utrecht, and contribute materially to the defence of amsterdam as well. but the dutch are a slow people to move. amsterdam is supposed to be ready to stand a siege at any time, whereas rotterdam's defences are mainly on paper. the garrison of rotterdam is only a few hundred men, and to convert it into a fortified position would, no doubt, entail the outlay of a good many million florins. still, the conviction is spreading that rotterdam has supplanted amsterdam as the real centre of dutch prosperity and national life. the schutterij is, singularly enough, not popular. the reason for this is not very clear, as the duties are quite nominal, and in no material clegree interfere with civil employment. the distaste to any form of military service is tolerably general, and the advanced radical party has adopted as one of its cries, "nobody wishes to be a soldier." probability points, however, not to the abolition of the schutterij, but to its being made more efficient, and consequently the conditions of service in it must become more rigorous. there is one portion of the duties of the schutterij which is far from unpopular with the men of the force. when a householder neglects to pay his taxes one or more militiamen are quartered on him, and he is obliged to supply his guests not merely with good food and lodging, but also with abundant supplies of tobacco and gin. apart from such incidents, which one may not doubt from the nature of the penalty are exceedingly rare, the schutterij seems to have rather a dull and monotonous time of it. there is one fact about the dutch army that deserves mention. it is extremely well behaved, and the men give their officers very little trouble. the discipline is lighter than in most armies. there is an unusually kindly feeling between officers and men for a continental force, and at the same time the public and the military are on excellent terms with each other. this is, no doubt, due to the very short period served with the colours, and to the fact that the last four years, with the exception of six weeks annually in a camp or fortress, are passed in civil life at home. the dutch navy, although small in comparison with its past achievements and with its present competitors, is admitted to be well organized, efficient in its condition, and manned by a fine _personnel_. it is generally said, perhaps unjustly, that the pick of the manhood of holland joins the navy in preference to the army. one fact shows that there is no difficulty in obtaining the required number of recruits to man the fleet, for while the nominal law is that of conscription for the navy as well as for the army, all the necessary contingent is obtained by voluntary enlistment. no doubt the large fishing and boating classes provide excellent material, and a comparatively short spell of service on board a man-of-war offers an agreeable break in their lives. the dutch being a nautical race by tradition as well as by the daily work of a large portion of them, there is nothing uncongenial in a naval career. no difficulty is experienced in obtaining the services of the seven thousand seamen and two thousand five hundred marine infantry who form the permanent staff of the dutch navy, and if the country's finances enabled it to build more ships, there would be no serious difficulty in providing the required number of men to furnish their crews. in some steps were taken in this direction, and a credit of five millions sterling for a ship-building programme was voted. its operations have not yet been brought to a conclusion, but a torpedo fleet has been created for the defence of the zuyder zee, supplementing the defences at helder and the texel. something has also been done in the same direction for the defence of batavia and the ports of java. the dutch navy might be correctly described as a good little one, quite equal to the everyday work required of it, but not of the size or standard to play an ambitious _rôle_. we should not, however, overlook the fact that its addition to the navy of another power would be as important an augmentation of strength as was the case when pichegru added the dutch fleet to that of france by capturing it with cavalry and horse artillery while ice-bound in the zuyder zee. nor can we always count on a duncan to end the story as at camperdown. the impression left on an observer of the military and naval classes in holland is that they are not animated by a very strong martial spirit. clothed in a military costume, they are still essentially men of peace, who would be sorry to commit an act of violence or do an injury to any one. the officers as a class are devoted to the technical part of their work, and are thoroughly well posted in the science of war. but whether it is due to the long peace, to the spread of prosperity among all classes of the community, or to the lymphatic character of the race, it is not easy to persuade one's self that the dutch army, taken as a whole, is a formidable instrument of war. this feeling must be corrected by a study of history, and by recognizing that there are no symptoms of deterioration in the sturdy qualities of the dutch people. physically and morally the netherlanders of to-day are the equals of their forefathers, but the conditions of their national life, the fortunate circumstances that have so long made them unacquainted with the terrible ordeals of war, have diverted their thoughts from a bellicose policy, and have confirmed them in their peaceful leanings. how far these tendencies have diminished their fighting-power, and rendered them unequal to accept or bear the sacrifices that would be entailed by any strenuous defence of their country against serious invasion by a great power, must remain a matter of opinion. perhaps their organization has become somewhat rusty. reforms are admitted to be necessary. the annual contingent is altogether too small for the needs of the age; a great and efficient national reserve should be created; and in good time the army ought to be raised to the numbers that would enable it to man and hold the numerous and excellent forts which have been constructed at all vital points. the dutch plans of defence are excellent, but to carry them all out a very considerable army would be necessary, and at the present moment holland possesses only the skeleton of an army. leaving the question of numbers and military organization aside, only praise can be given to the dutch soldier individually. he is clean, civil, good-tempered, and with a far closer resemblance to englishmen in what we regard as essentials than any other continental. the officers are in the truest sense gentlemen free from swagger, and not over-bearing towards their men and their civilian compatriots. they represent a genuine type of manhood, free from artificiality or falsehood. one feels instinctively that they say what they think, and that they will do rather more instead of less than they promise. chapter xxi holland over sea holland holds the second place among the successful colonizing nations, though powers like england, france, and germany surpass her in the actual area of their colonies and protectorates. besides her east indian possessions, which form by far the most important part of her colonial empire, she holds surinam, or dutch guiana, and six small islands, including curaçao, in the west indies, and her colonial subjects number in all more than thirty-six millions, being as many as the colonial subjects of france and at least seven times the population of the netherlands in europe. the east indian archipelago belonging to the netherlands consists of five large islands and a great number of smaller ones. it is not within the scope of a book like this to go into details of geographical division, but a glance at the map will show us that the three groups which make up this dependency are extended over a length of about three thousand miles, and inclucle java and sumatra, borneo, celebes, new guinea, the timor laut archipelago, and the moluccos. the northern part of borneo is a british possession, and the eastern half of new guinea is divided between england and germany, while half of the island of timor is portuguese; the rest of the archipelago forms the possession known as netherlands india, or the dutch east indies. the most important and the most densely populated of these islands are java and sumatra; at the last census, in , java alone had twenty-six millions of inhabitants, more than four times as many as in , but the richness of its soil is so great that it could support a much larger population, though the island is only about the same size as england. java was taken by the english in from the french flag, but was restored at the peace of vienna to the netherlands, together with some of the other dutch colonies. as dr. bright remarks in his 'history of england,' 'it has been believed that its value and wealth were not thoroughly known or appreciated by the ministry at the time.' it has now become by far the most important of the dutch dependencies, and the favourite colony for fortune-hunters. considering the great wealth of the dutch indies, it is a little surprising that so few young men are tempted to go out there to seek their fortunes. as is usually the case in the tropics, those parts of the coasts which are low and marshy are very unhealthy for europeans, who cannot stay in such places for any length of time without falling victims to malaria, though the malays do not seem to be affected by the climate; but higher up, from to feet above the sea, it is healthy enough, and up the hills, in the larger islands, the climate leaves little to be desired. the temperature generally varies between and degrees all the year round, though there is a certain amount of difference between one island and another. north of the equator the rainy monsoon lasts from october to april, and the dry season from april to october, while on the south side these seasons are reversed. on the line, however, the trade-winds and monsoons appear very irregularly, because there are four seasons instead of two--that is to say, two rainy and two dry--and the weather is also subject to frequent changes of a local character, especially in the neighbourhood of mountain-ranges and volcanoes. with the exception of borneo and the central part of celebes all these islands are volcanic. in the principal group, which stretches from sumatra and java to the timor laut archipelago, there are no less than thirty-three active volcanoes, of which twelve are in java, besides a number of so-called extinct ones which may at any moment burst into renewed life. some of the smaller islands are merely sunken volcanoes, such as gebeh, for instance, and the banda islands, where the 'goonong api' (fire-mountain) is a living proof. the best known of all these volcanoes is the terrible cracatao, one of the three which may be seen in the straits of sunda. readers may remember the great eruption of , when half the island of cracatao and part of the mountain, which was split clean in two, were swallowed up in the sea, and parts of the coasts of java and sumatra were overwhelmed by the tidal wave that accompanied the outburst, ships being lifted bodily on to the land and left perched among the hills. in one day and night , persons perished, and except a slight earthquake, which, as earthquakes are not uncommon in that part of the world, was naturally not regarded as serious, there was no warning of the impending disaster, for the crater had shown no signs of life for years. during the eruption a roar as of distant artillery could be heard in the middle of java, fully miles from the scene. the form of the islands prevents the existence of very large rivers; the largest are in borneo, the only non-volcanic island in the archipelago which can boast of three navigable rivers each about miles long. owing to the narrowness of java and sumatra, the rivers flowing towards the north-east coasts of these islands are very rapid, and as they are liable to be suddenly swollen by heavy rains, canals have been dug, and others are in course of construction, to ensure a regular outflow and protect the land from floods. in an undertaking of this kind the dutch are quite at home, for, as every one knows, they are past masters in the art of taming the waters; but they have not to push back the sea here, as they have done and are still doing in their native country; the rivers do that for them, by bringing down masses of gravel and mud, which form wide banks at their mouths and are soon overgrown with trees. the lighthouse at batavia, in java, was built about the middle of the seventeenth century at what was then the entrance to the harbour; now it is two and a half miles from the entrance, the shore having advanced that distance in years. before passing to the question of government, it may be well to notice the principal races with which the dutch have to deal. besides the native population, the dutch indies contained in about , chinese, , arabs, and , other asiatics, but only , europeans, including the soldiers, many of whom are germans. the greater part of all these are found in java. of the remaining millions the majority are malays, including malays proper and several kindred races, and to this last class belong the javanese, who live in java, madura, bally (or bali), and lombok. natives other than malays are the dyaks, in the interior of borneo; the battaks, in the interior of sumatra; and finally the papuans, who inhabit new guinea, or papua, and some of the small islands near. these papuans are said to be of the same race as the australian aborigines, and are the only black people in these islands, the other inhabitants being light brown or copper-coloured. in religion, most of the malays are mohammedans, but the people of bally and lombok are still brahmins, while the dyaks and battaks are of very primitive faiths. from remote times until brahminism and buddhism were the principal religions, but in that year the faith of islam began to supersede them. the ancient religions were responsible for a degree of civilization never arrived at by the mohammedans, traces of which are seen in the numerous ruins of cities and temples that must have been of great beauty and grandeur which are found in java, and also in the javanese literature, which is written in its own peculiar characters, and the 'wayangs,' or shadow-plays, which are performed on every festive occasion, and all of which refer to a history of conquest and wars waged in the times of brahminism. here the problem which confronts the dutch authorities is the old one of uniting under one government populations differing in blood and religion, a problem which always presents great difficulties and even a certain amount of danger. the system adopted resembles, to some extent, that applied to certain native states in british india, and the islands are governed by native kings and princes, under the paternal supervision of the netherlands india government, which consists of a governor-general, or viceroy, and a council of four councillors of state, of which the viceroy is president. under these there are three governors and thirty-four residents, all europeans, with several assistant-residents and 'controleurs,' each of whom has a district assigned to him, in which he has to maintain order and see that the land is kept in proper cultivation. the indian princes are made government officials by the fact of being paid by the dutch government, and bear the official titles of regent, 'demang,' etc., but they also keep their own grander-sounding titles, such as 'raden adipatti,' and so on, of which they are naturally very proud. it is the duty of a resident to advise the regent of his district and at the same time to keep a watch on him and see that he does not oppress his subjects. if a regent is proved to be guilty of oppression, or in case of sedition or the fostering of rebellion, he is deposed by the government, and a better man is appointed in his place, if possible one of his own relatives, so that the lower classes may be protected and the authority of the native nobility be upheld at the same time. in some 'up-country' districts, in borneo and celebes, however, the native rulers are practically independent, and the dutch government is not at present inclined to assert its authority by force of arms; while in the north-west of sumatra, though the atchinese pirates have at last been suppressed, the war party is not yet extinct. throughout these dependencies the aim of the government is to rule the inhabitants through men of their own race, not to substitute foreigners for natives; and if fault can be found with this policy it is that too little restraint is put upon the intermixture of the white and coloured races. the splendid fertility of the soil and the great quantity of land yet uncultivated naturally led the dutch to seek some means by which the natural advantages of their islands might be put to better use, and to this end they set to work to overcome the indolent habits of the natives, who were not inclined to do more than they considered necessary for their own subsistence, and to induce them to devote more of their time and energies to agriculture. in return for good roads and bridges and the protection afforded by the government, the natives were induced to give a certain amount of their time to the cultivation of coffee, sugar, indigo, and other crops. in this way they were taxed not in coin but in labour; and this system, known as the 'culture system,' has produced very good results, especially in java and madura. gradually, however, under the influence of the younger members of the governing nation, the cultivation of sugar and partly that of coffee also was dropped by the government, and left to private enterprise, but, supervision by the government being thereby abandoned, cases occurred of abuse of power by the _concessionnaires_; and though much has been done to prevent such abuse, it must be admitted that the condition of native workmen is not so good in the private concessions as it was under the direct authority of the government. meanwhile, the outlook is promising; the development of the natural resources of the islands goes steadily on, though the rate of progress may not be particularly rapid, and the inhabitants are generally peaceful and well-behaved, while their number increases at a rate which seems to indicate continued and growing prosperity. the schools, too, are doing good work, and more and more of the natives are learning the language of their rulers. when a malay has learned enough dutch to express himself fairly clearly in that language, he is very proud of the accomplishment, and seldom misses an opportunity of displaying his knowledge. one of the greatest drawbacks to the moral advance of the native is the bad example set by europeans, on which it will be needful to say more later. things are not nearly so bad in this respect as they formerly were, but still the unprincipled life which many of the white men are leading gives rise to doubt in the native mind as to the blessings of western civilization. that the native races are generally well-disposed towards the dutch is borne out by the number that take service under the government as police and as soldiers. every two or three miles along the government roads in java one may meet a 'gardoe,' or patrol of the country police, consisting of three bare-footed javanese constables, in uniform of a semi-european cut and armed with kreeses. as we have already seen, the army which the dutch maintain in their east indian colonies is quite distinct from the home army of holland. on their arrival the men are quartered in barracks, and the officers and married non-commissioned officers find houses at a moderate rent close by. the barracks consist not of single buildings but of many separate ones, so that the different races among the native troops may be kept distinct. malays, javanese, madurese, amboinese, bugis, macassarese, and the rest must all have separate buildings to themselves. formerly there were ashantees too, but the recruiting of these was stopped when the colony of st. george del mina, on the gold coast, was transferred to england on the surrender of british claims in the north of sumatra; very good soldiers they were, but cruel in war, giving no quarter, and very difficult to restrain in the heat of action. the native troops are officered by europeans, but the sergeants and corporals are always of the same race as the men under them. great care is taken to safeguard the health of the troops, not only in the arrangement of barracks and in the selection of positions for garrisons, which are chosen as much on hygienic as on strategic grounds, but also by the establishment of military hospitals. in most large towns, and in smaller places on the coast where forts have been built, there are military hospitals, and to these any european, whether soldier or civilian, who falls ill is immediately taken; in fact, no others exist, except some sanatoria recently founded in the hills. a naval officer who often visited these hospitals, as well as hospital ships in war time, describes them as 'models of neatness, cleanliness, order, and usefulness.' 'life in such a hospital,' he declares, 'is a luxury, not to be compared with anything of the kind in neighbouring colonies.' for many years a considerable force has been constantly employed in atchin, and a number of ships of war have been cruising along the coast to assist in the suppression of piracy. the colonial fleet is made up of some warships built in holland and others built in india, expressly for the indian service, including a number of small coasting-steamers and sailing-vessels, and a steamer or two specially detailed for hydrographical work. the necessity for these last arises from the shoals and coral-reefs which abound in the java and flores seas, in the straits of macassar, and among the moluccos, and from the fact that the creeks and river-mouths are very shallow, and full of convenient hiding-places for pirate proas; it is most important, therefore, that both men-of-war and merchantmen should be kept supplied with good charts. piracy is an evil which the colonial fleet is specially designed to check, and it used to be very bad at one time before the ballinese war of . in the year before this, a dutch merchantman, the _overyssel_, stranded on the coast of bally, and the crew were massacred, and ship and cargo looted by the ballinese. this led to three expeditions; one in , another, which was undertaken with an insufficient force and ended in disaster to the dutch, in , and the third and final one, successfully carried out by an army of , men and six warships, together with auxiliary troops from the island of lombok. but while piracy was thus put down to the east of java, the atchinese pirates grew bolder than ever in the west, and complaints from malay traders who were netherlands subjects became more and more frequent. numerous punitive expeditions were sent against the piratical rajas in the north-west of sumatra, but in most cases the real culprits escaped. at last, about , the government resolved to put an end to this state of things, and a force under general van swieten seized the kraton, or chief fortress. general van der heyden took over the command in , and soon captured and fortified kota raja, and two years later, though his troops suffered heavily from the climate, he had the whole country of atchin subdued. the home government, however, misled by the apparent submission of the enemy, did away with military rule before they had made certain that no treachery was meditated, and on the arrival of a civil governor all the advantages which had been won were again lost, and at last a state of war had to be proclaimed once more. from that time onward the atchinese war became a chronic disease, but since an aggressive policy was adopted in the war party in atchin has rapidly diminished, and it is now almost extinct. fighting of a guerilla kind is reported from time to time, but peace is so far restored that the general is able to send some of his men home, and the people can cultivate their rice-fields and pepper-gardens unmolested. they are for the most part well disposed towards the dutch, whose officers, in their proclamations, have always been careful to explain that the war was only against the murderers and robbers who made the coasts and country unsafe, and that no one would be harmed so long as he went peacefully about his business. piracy on the atchinese coast is now also a thing of the past, and will be so as long as the government remains firm. to turn to more peaceful subjects, netherlands india is favoured above most lands in the richness and variety of its products, its mineral wealth alone being sufficient to make it a most valuable possession from a commercial point of view. a part of the government revenue is derived from the sale of tin, which is found in several islands, and coal-fields exist in sumatra and laut, while gold is found on the west coast of borneo and also in sumatra, where the ophir district no doubt owes its name to the presence of the precious metal. another mineral product is petroleum, which has made the fortunes of several lucky colonists; it is found in many places, but the principal supply comes from sumatra. these are some of the chief products, but they by no means exhaust the list, nor is the wealth of the colonies confined to minerals; there are the pearl-fisheries, for example, amongst the little islands lying south-west of new guinea, and the moluccos contribute mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell, but the real wealth of the islands lies in the extraordinary fertility of the soil. most of the land is clay, coloured red by the iron ore which it contains, and will grow almost anything, besides being very suitable for making bricks. sugar, tea, coffee, indigo, and tobacco are grown in large quantities for export, and the principal crops cultivated by the natives are rice (in the marshy districts), maize, cotton, and many kinds of fruit which are also grown in british india. most of the inhabitants are tillers of the soil, but the maritime natives are naturally occupied chiefly in the fisheries, and it is a very pretty sight, at any little fishing village, to see the boats start out for the hoped-for haul. just before sunrise scores of little fishing-boats with bamboo masts and huge triangular mat-sails slip out of the creeks before the fresh land-wind, which lasts just long enough to carry them to the fishing-ground in the offing, and about four o'clock in the afternoon a sea-breeze springs up, and back they all come, generally laden with splendid fish. the evening breeze often attains such strength that the little boats would capsize if it were not for a balancing-board pushed out to windward, on which one or two, or sometimes three, men stand to act as a counterpoise, so that it may not be necessary to shorten sail. the malays excel in boat-building, and rank very high in the art of shaping vessels which offer the least possible resistance to the water, and their boats fly over the surface of the sea in the most wonderful manner. if we except the rude tree-trunks used here and there, the vessels made by the malays may serve, and have served, as models for swift sailing-craft all over the world. amongst the other industries for which the malays, and the javanese especially, are noted, the principal is the manufacture of textile fabrics; sometimes these are very skilfully dyed in ornamental patterns, and show considerable artistic taste. besides boat-building and weaving, the crafts of the blacksmith and carpenter should be mentioned, and also that of the gold and silver smith, for this indicates the source of many of the treasures with which wealthy dutch homes in the old country abound. now that the war in atchin is practically over it is not unlikely that the next few years may see greater advances in the commerce and industries of netherlands india, especially as the trade returns report that a great industrial awakening is taking place at the present time in holland, in which case there will be a rush of emigrants to the colonies. as has been said before, the climate out there is not unhealthy as a rule, but of course europeans have to adapt their life to their surroundings. profiting by the example of the natives, they have learned to make their houses very airy and cool. a large overhanging roof shades the entrances, front and rear, and the windows are without glass, except in the old cities, its place being taken by bamboo venetian blinds. verandahs run along the front and back of the house, which has generally one story only, and never more than two, and the rooms open either on these verandahs or on a central room which divides the house through the middle. the kitchen and store-rooms are in outbuildings at the back, and the garden all round the house is planted with cocoanut, banana, and mango trees, for the sake of their shade as well as for the fruit. on paying a visit to such a house you go up two or three steps on to the front verandah, where a servant-boy offers you a chair and a drink, and then goes to find his master, who presently joins you. you are never asked to 'come in;' if the front verandah is too hot, an adjournment is made to the back. sometimes, in the interior of the country, visitors are received in the garden, where they enjoy their cheroot indian fashion, reclining rather than sitting. but this _dolce far niente_ does not kill work, for merchants in the towns work pretty hard, and have to be at their offices during the heat of the day, from nine to five, and even on sunday, if it happens to be mail-day. other people take life rather easier, especially in the country, where the routine is as follows more or less: rise at six, bathe, breakfast at seven; then dress and go to work at nine; at twelve o'clock lunch, after which one lies down to sleep or read for a couple of hours; tea at four, and then a second bath. after five it is cool enough to dress and go for a walk or drive until dinner-time, and after dinner you may go for another drive or visit your neighbours. on sundays you go to church from eleven to twelve, and take things easy for the rest of the day. travelling, if for any distance, is done at night, both by europeans and natives, and if a native has to walk far he usually carries a mat, and when the day begins to get hot he unrolls his mat and lies down on it by the roadside. it does not surprise any one, therefore, to find seeming idlers asleep in the daytime along the roadside. naturally, the little wayside shops which are found at every corner are not shut up or removed at night, as most of their trade is done then, but if customers are few the shopkeeper will fall asleep among his wares. the government roads are well guarded by the native police, and at regular intervals there are stations where fresh horses can be procured if they are bespoken in time by letter or telegraph. the colonist's life does not seem to be a very hard one on the whole, though no doubt there are drawbacks, such as, for instance, the want of schools. at present many dutch children born in india are sent to holland to be educated, not, as in the case of anglo-indians, for the sake of their health, but because there is not a sufficient number of schools in these colonies. this want will be remedied in time, so that colonists may be spared the trouble and expense of sending their children to europe; but the only dutch schools in java that i know of are the 'gymnasium' at willem iii (batavia) and one high school for girls. native schools are more numerous, and are being multiplied not only by the government but by the missionaries. the attitude of the indian government towards missionary work has changed immensely for the better in the last forty years, and the labours of the missionaries are now appreciated very highly by both the indian and the home government, and deservedly so, for the task of the government has been very much lightened through the improvement in the attitude of the natives, owing largely to the work of the missions. as to the life and customs of the natives, it is not necessary to describe all the different races, but the malay villages deserve notice. in java and sumatra these are not arranged in streets, but the houses are grouped under large trees, and are separated from the road by a bamboo fence, on the top of which notice boards are fixed at intervals bearing the names of the villages; these are necessary, because it is often difficult to see where one village ends and the next begins. in the open spaces may be seen a few sacred 'waringin' trees, in which are hung wooden bells, used to sound an alarm or call the villagers together. before the house of a native regent is an open square, with a 'pandoppo,' or roof on pillars in the centre, and here meetings are held, proclamations read, and distinguished visitors received. the houses are built of bamboo and roofed with palm-leaves; and sometimes they have floors of split bamboo, but often the hard clay soil serves as a floor. there are usually two or more sleeping-places, called 'balé-balés,' also made of bamboo, split and plaited, and over these another floor, which forms a sort of loft or store-room. there is no fireplace, all the cooking being done outside. such a house can be bought for about five shillings! it takes a few men two or three weeks to build one, but to take it down and remove it to a new site is a matter of only a few hours. near the houses are the stables, where the buffaloes and carts are kept, and here and there is a well, over which hangs a balancing-pole with a bucket at one end and a stone at the other. the children play about naked until they are ten years old, when they dress like their elders, and consider themselves men and women. the costume of the malay women consists of the 'sarong,' a cloth about ½ yards long and ½ wide, which is wound round the body and held by a belt and then rolled up just above the feet; over this a wide coat called a 'kabaya' is worn, and over all a 'slendang,' which is very like a 'sarong,' but is worn hanging over one shoulder, and in this is slung anything too large to be easily carried in the hands--even the baby. the men wear either 'sarongs' or trousers, or both, and a cotton jacket, and are always armed either with kreeses or chopping-knives, carried in their belts; the weapons are for cutting down cocoanuts and bamboo, and for protection against snakes and tigers. both sexes wear their hair long, the men with head-cloths and the women with flowers and herbs, and all go bare-footed. the men are very good horsemen, and ride, like the zulus and other coloured men, with only their big toes in the stirrups. in bally and lombok the inhabitants are of the same race as the people of java and sumatra, but differ in religion and habits, having never been wholly subjected by the mohammedans. the difference is chiefly noticeable in the construction of their houses, which are of stone in many cases, and built in streets. each house has three compartments and a fireplace, or altar, which stands in the middle, opposite the door, the floors are sometimes paved, and the roofs are often covered with tiles instead of leaves, and supported by carved pillars. these brahmins have numerous temples, which are quite different from anything in the neighbouring islands, being built of brick and divided into sections by low walls, but without roofs; walls and gates are painted red, white, and blue, and inside stand a number of altars, on which offerings are laid. brahminism survives in some of the other islands, at some distance from the coast, and occasionally a religious festival ends in a riot between brahmins and mohammedans. the staple food of the malay races is rice, which is cooked very dry, with fried or dried fish or shrimps and vegetables, and flavoured with chilis, onions, and salt. dried beef and venison are also used, and wild pig and chickens and ducks are plentiful; other articles of food being maize, sweet potatoes, and many kinds of fruit, such as cocoa-nuts, bananas, mangoes, mangusteens, and so on. in the moluccos the staple crop is not rice, but sago, which is prepared from the sap of the sago-palm. to an inhabitant of java or sumatra the cocoa-nut tree is indispensable; when a child is born, a nut is planted, and later on, if the child asks how old he is, his mother shows him the young palm, and tells him that he is 'as old as that cocoa-nut tree.' the nuts are boiled for the oil, and the white flesh is eaten, cooked in various ways, generally with other food. all kinds of provisions and other goods, from butcher's meat to needles and thread, are sold at the 'passars,' or markets, which are attended by large crowds. mention has been made of the moral example set by some europeans to the natives. generally the relations between the white and coloured races are those of superiors and inferiors, but in the matter of matrimony there is a difference. many white men in netherlands india never dream of marrying; they take to themselves 'njais,' or house-keepers. the same thing is done in other colonies, at least in provinces far removed from european society, when native customs allow it. the ancient customs of the malays and javanese did not prescribe any religious ceremony for marriages; they had their 'adat,' or customs, which were as strictly adhered to as if they had been religious, but there was nothing consecrating the marriage tie. moreover, their notions of hospitality, which are similar to those of most primitive races, no doubt encouraged the above-mentioned free marriages, or at least they explain how it was that the malay women had no objection to becoming the 'njais' of europeans. where such a woman was the daughter of a prince or chief, the european who took her was invariably some high official, whose position brought him into contact with noble javanese families. these young women are remarkably graceful, even fascinating, and besides have received a good javanese education, and it is not surprising that such 'marriages' were sometimes happy and permanent. the sons were sent to europe to be educated, being entrusted to the care of a guardian, uncle, or friend, and on their return to india soon found employment in the service of the government; the girls stayed at home, and generally married well. such instances, however, are rare; more often the man regarded his 'njai' merely as a temporary helpmate, and if he saw a chance would marry some rich european girl, when the indian wife would be set aside--'sent into the bush,' as the phrase was. that such behaviour should have roused the wrath and hatred of the discarded wives and their relatives was but natural. often the european bride, sometimes the faithless husband too, fell by the hand of a murderer who could never be found, or was poisoned by a maidservant or cook who was bought over to assist in the work of vengeance. the cast-out children sometimes played a part in these tragedies; if not, they certainly retained a hatred of europeans generally, and rumours of mutiny were the consequence. how this state of things can be remedied is a question which has long occupied the attention of the government. gradually, however, the mixed population is becoming more educated, and can find employment in government and mercantile offices, as all excel in beautiful handwriting. a better feeling generally exists, and a keener sense of social duty is coming over the europeans, so that a good many have really married the mothers of their children, a thing which fifty years ago was never heard of. there now exists a mixed race of eurasians, children of the children of european fathers and indian mothers, which at one time threatened to become a source of danger and insurrection, but all fear of trouble in that quarter is past. of the 'inland children' many are now receiving a good education. in the government schools they can learn enough to hold their own in point of knowledge against a large proportion of the europeans in the colony, and they find employment in offices and shops, on the railway and post-office staffs, and on public works almost as quickly as pure whites. index administrative system amusements, national army, the art, modern canals and their population, the capital, life in the capital punishment characteristics, national christmas customs church, relation of state to churches, dutch clergymen, dutch colonies, the dutch costume, rural court, the customs, popular divorce, the law of dykes, the easter customs education, public farms and farmers freemasonry, dutch friendly societies funerals, customs at games, children's girls, freedom of dutch home life indies, the dutch justice, administration of 'kermis,' the labour, conditions of law court, description of a dutch literature and literary life marriage and marriage customs music national characteristics, types, navy, the newspapers, the 'palm paschen,' peasantry, the poets, modern dutch political life and parties press, the professional classes, the queen wilhelmina readers, the dutch as reading societies religions life renaissance, the literary 'rommelpot' rural customs schools, the sculpture in holland skaters, the dutch as social life society, dutch song, national love of state, relation of church to st. nicholas, festival of student life sunday in the country theatre, the thrift, dutch universities, the village life wages of labour wedding customs women, position of working classes, the the end [illustration: the duke of alva deposes margaret of parma] holland the history of the netherlands by thomas colley grattan with a supplementary chapter of recent events by julian hawthorne contents chapter i from the invasion of the netherlands by the romans to the invasion by the salian franks b.c. --a.d. extent of the kingdom--description of the people--ancient state of the low countries--of the high grounds--contrasted with the present aspect of the country--expedition of julius cæsar--the belgæ--the menapians--batavians--distinguished among the auxiliaries of rome--decrease of national feeling in part of the country-- steady patriotism of the frisons and menapians--commencement of civilization--early formation of the dikes--degeneracy of those who became united to the romans--invasion of the netherlands by the salian franks. chapter ii from the settlement of the franks to the subjugation of friesland by the french a.d. -- character of the franks--the saxon tribes--destruction of the salians by a saxon tribe--julian the apostate--victories of clovis in gaul--contrast between the low countries and the provinces of france--state of friesland--charles martell--friesland converted to christianity--finally subdued by france. chapter iii from the conquest of friesland to the formation of holland a.d. -- commencement of the feudal system in the highlands--flourishing state of the low countries--counts of the empire--formation of the gilden or trades--establishment of popular privileges in friesland--in what they consisted--growth of ecclesiastical power--baldwin of flanders--created count--appearance of the normans--they ravage the netherlands--their destruction, and final disappearance--division of the empire into higher and lower lorraine--establishment of the counts of lorraine and hainault--increasing power of the bishops of liege and utrecht--their jealousy of the counts; who resist their encroachments. chapter iv from the formation of holland to the death of louis de male a.d. -- origin of holland--its first count--aggrandizement of flanders--its growing commerce--fisheries--manufactures--formation of the county of guelders, and of brabant--state of friesland--state of the provinces--the crusades--their good effects on the state of the netherlands--decline of the feudal power, and growth of the influence of the towns--great prosperity of the country--the flemings take up arms against the french--drive them out of bruges, and defeat them in the battle of courtrai--popular success in brabant--its confederation with flanders--rebellion of bruges against the count, and of ghent under james d' artaveldt--his alliance with england--his power, and death--independence of flanders--battle of roosbeke--philip the bold, duke of burgundy, obtains the sovereignty of flanders. chapter v from the succession of philip the bold to the county of flanders to the death of philip the fair a.d. -- philip succeeds to the inheritance of brabant--makes war on england as a french prince, flanders remaining neuter--power of the houses of burgundy and bavaria, and decline of public liberty--union of holland, hainault, and brabant--jacqueline, countess of holland and hainault--flies from the tyranny of her husband, john of brabant, and takes refuge in england--murder of john the fearless, duke of burgundy--accession of his son, philip the good--his policy--espouses the cause of john of brabant against jacqueline--deprives her of hainault, holland, and zealand--continues his persecution, and despoils her of her last possession and titles--she marries a gentleman of zealand, and dies--peace or arras--dominions of the house of burgundy equal to the present extent of the kingdom of the netherlands--rebellion of ghent--affairs of holland and zealand--charles the rash--his conduct in holland--succeeds his father--effects of philip's reign on the manners of the people-- louis xi.--death of charles, and succession of mary--factions among her subjects--marries maximilian of austria--battle of guinegate--death of mary--maximilian unpopular--imprisoned by his subjects--released--invades the netherlands--succeeds to the imperial throne by the death of his father--philip the fair proclaimed duke and count--his wise administration--affairs of friesland--of guelders--charles of egmont--death of philip the fair. chapter vi from the government of margaret of austria to the abdication of the emperor charles v a.d. -- margaret of austria invested with the sovereignty--her character and government--charles, son of philip the fair, created duke of brabant and count of flanders and holland--the reformation--martin luther--persecution of the reformers--battle of pavia--cession of utrecht to charles v.--peace of cambray--the anabaptists' sedition at ghent--expedition against tunis and algiers--charles becomes possessed of friesland and guelders--his increasing severity against the protestants--his abdication and death--review--progress of civilization. chapter vii from the accession of philip ii. of spain to the establishment of the inquisition in the netherlands a.d. -- accession of philip ii.--his character and government--his wars with france, and with the pope--peace with the pope--battle of st. quentin--battle of gravelines--peace of câteau-cambresis--death of mary of england--philip's despotism--establishes a provisional government--convenes the states--general at ghent--his minister granvelle--goes to zealand--embarks for spain--prosperity revives-- effects of the provisional government--marguerite of palma-- character of granvelle--viglius de berlaimont--departure of the spanish troops--clergy--bishops--national discontent--granvelle appointed cardinal--edict against heresy--popular indignation-- reformation--state of brabant--confederacy against granvelle-- prince of orange--counts egmont and horn join the prince against granvelle--granvelle recalled--council of trent--its decrees received with reprobation--decrees against reformers--philip's bigotry--establishment of the inquisition--popular resistance. chapter viii commencement of the revolution a.d. commencement of the revolution--defence of the prince of orange--confederacy of the nobles--louis of nassau--de brederode--philip de st. aldegonde--assembly of the council of state--confederates enter brussels--take the title of _gueux_--quit brussels, and disperse in the provinces--measures of government-- growing power of the confederates--progress of the reformation-- field preaching--herman stricker--boldness of the protestants-- peter dathen--ambrose ville--situation of antwerp--the prince repairs to it, and saves it--meeting of the confederates at st. trond---the prince of orange and count egmont treat with them-- tyranny of philip and moderation of the spanish council--image breakers--destruction of the cathedral, of antwerp--terror of government--firmness of viglius--arbitration between the court and the people--concessions made by government--restoration of tranquillity. chapter ix to the administration of requesens a.d. -- philip's vindictiveness and hypocrisy--progress of protestantism--gradual dissolution of the conspiracy--artifices of philip and the court to disunite the protestants--firmness of the prince of orange--conference at termonde--egmont abandons the patriot cause--fatal effects of his conduct--commencement of hostilities--siege of valenciennes--protestant synod at antwerp--haughty conduct of the government--royalists repulsed at bois-le-duc--battle of osterweel, and defeat of the patriots--antwerp again saved by the firmness and prudence of the prince of orange--capitulation of valenciennes--success of the royalists--death of de brederode--new oath of allegiance; refused by the prince of orange and others--the prince resolves on voluntary banishment, and departs for germany--his example is followed by the lords--extensive emigration--arrival of the duke of orleans--egmont's humiliation--alva's powers--arrest of egmont and others---alva's first acts of tyranny--council of blood--recall of the government--alva's character--he summons the prince of orange, who is tried by contumacy--horrors committed by alva--desolate state of the country--trial and execution of egmont and horn--the prince of orange raises an army in germany, and opens his first campaign in the netherlands--battle of heiligerlee--death of adolphus of nassau--battle of jemminghem--success and skilful conduct of alva--dispersion of the prince of orange's army--growth of the naval power of the patriots--inundation in holland and friesland--alva reproached by philip--duke of medina-celi appointed governor--is attacked, and his fleet destroyed by the patriots--demands his recall--policy of the english queen, elizabeth--the dutch take brille--general revolt in holland and zealand--new expedition of the prince of orange--siege of mons--success of the prince--siege of haarlem--of alkmaer--removal of alva--don luis zanega y requesens appointed governor-general. chapter x to the pacification of ghent a.d. -- character of requesens--his conciliating conduct--renews the war against the states--siege of middleburg--generosity of the prince of orange--naval victory--state of flanders--count louis of nassau--battle of mookerheyde--counts louis and henry slain--mutiny of the spanish troops--siege of leyden--negotiations for peace at breda--the spaniards take zuriczee--requesens dies--the government devolves on the council of state--miserable state of the country, and despair of the patriots--spanish mutineers--the states-general are convoked, and the council arrested by the grand bailiff of brabant--the spanish mutineers sack and capture maestricht, and afterward antwerp--the states-general assemble at ghent and assume the government--the pacification of ghent. chapter xi to the renunciation of the sovereignty of spain and the declaration of independence a.d. -- don john of austria, governor-general, arrives in the netherlands--his character and conduct--the states send an envoy to elizabeth of england--she advances them a loan of money--the union of brussels--the treaty of marche-en-famenne, called the perpetual edict--the impetuous conduct of don john excites the public suspicion--he seizes on the citadel of namur--the prince of orange is named protector of brabant--the people destroy the citadels of antwerp and other towns--the duke of arschot is named governor of flanders--he invites the archduke mathias to accept the government of the netherlands--wise conduct of the prince of orange--ryhove and hembyse possess themselves of supreme power at ghent--the prince of orange goes there and establishes order--the archduke mathias is installed--the prince of parma arrives in the netherlands, and gains the battle of gemblours--confusion of the states-general--the duke of alencon comes to their assistance--dissensions among the patriot chiefs--death of don john of austria--suspicions of his having been poisoned by order of philip ii.--the prince of parma is declared governor-general--the union of utrecht--the prince of parma takes the field--the congress of cologne rendered fruitless by the obstinacy of philip--the states-general assemble at antwerp, and issue a declaration of national independence--the sovereignty of the netherlands granted to the duke of alencon. chapter xii to the murder of the prince of orange a.d. -- proscription of the prince of orange--his celebrated apology--philip proposes sending back the duchess of parma as stadtholderess--her son refuses to act jointly with her, and is left in the exercise of his power--the siege of cambray undertaken by the prince of parma, and gallantly defended by the princess of epinoi--the duke of alencon created duke of anjou--repairs to england, in hopes of marrying queen elizabeth--he returns to the netherlands unsuccessful, and is inaugurated at antwerp--the prince of orange desperately wounded by an assassin--details on john jaureguay and his accomplices--the people suspect the french of the crime-- rapid recovery of the prince, who soon resumes his accustomed activity--violent conduct of the duke of anjou, who treacherously attempts to seize on antwerp--he is defeated by the townspeople-- his disgrace and death--ungenerous suspicions of the people against the prince of orange, who leaves flanders in disgust--treachery of the prince of chimay and others--treason of hembyse--he is executed at ghent--the states resolve to confer the sovereignty on the prince of orange--he is murdered at delft--parallel between him and the admiral coligny--execution of balthazar gerard, his assassin--complicity of the prince of parma. chapter xiii to the death of alexander, prince of parma a.d. -- effects of william's death on the history of his country--firm conduct of the united provinces--they reject the overtures of the prince of parma--he reduces the whole of flanders--deplorable situation of the country--vigorous measures of the northern states--antwerp besieged--operations of the siege--immense exertions of the besiegers--the infernal machine--battle on the dike of couvestien--surrender of antwerp--extravagant joy of philip ii.--the united provinces solicit the aid of france and england--elizabeth sends them a supply of troops under the earl of leicester--he returns to england--treachery of some english and scotch officers--prince maurice commences his career--the spanish armada--justin of nassau blocks up the prince of parma in the flemish ports--ruin of the armada--philip's mock piety on hearing the news--leicester dies--exploits and death of martin schenck--breda surprised--the duke of parma leads his army into france--his famous retreat--his death and character. chapter xiv to the independence of belgium and the death of phillip ii. a.d. -- count mansfield named governor-general--state of flanders and brabant--the archduke ernest named governor-general--attempts against the life of prince maurice--he takes groningen--death of the archduke ernest--count fuentes named governor-general--he takes cambray and other towns--is soon replaced by the archduke albert of austria--his high reputation--he opens his first campaign in the netherlands--his successes--prince maurice gains the battle of turnhout--peace of vervins--philip yields the sovereignty of the netherlands to albert and isabella--a new plot against the life of prince maurice--albert sets out for spain, and receives the news of philip's death--albert arrives in spain, and solemnizes his marriage with the infanta isabella--review of the state of the netherlands. chapter xv to the campaign of prince maurice and spinola a.d. -- cardinal andrew of austria governor--francisco mendoza, admiral of aragon, invades the neutral states of germany--his atrocious conduct--prince maurice takes the field--his masterly movements--sybilla of cleves raises an army, which is, quickly destroyed--great exertions of the states-general--naval expedition under vander goes--its complete failure--critical situation of the united provinces--arrival of the archduke in brussels--success of prince maurice--his expedition into flanders--energy of the archduke--heroism of isabella--progress of albert's army--its first success--firmness of maurice--the battle of nieuport--total defeat of the royalists--consequences of the victory--prince maurice returns to holland--negotiations for peace--siege of ostend--death of elizabeth of england--united provinces send ambassadors to james i.--successful negotiations of barneveldt and the duke of sully in london--peace between england and spain--brilliant campaign between spinola and prince maurice--battle of roeroord--naval transactions--progress of dutch influence in india--establishment of the east india company. chapter xvi to the synod of dort and the execution of barneveldt a.d. -- spinola proposes to invade the united provinces--successfully opposed by prince maurice--the dutch defeated at sea--desperate conduct of admiral klagoon--great naval victory of the dutch, and death of their admiral heemskirk--overtures of the archdukes for peace--how received in holland--prudent conduct of barneveldt--negotiations opened at the hague--john de neyen, ambassador for the archdukes--armistice for eight months--neyen attempts to bribe d'aarsens, the greffier of the states-general--his conduct disclaimed by verreiken, counsellor to the archdukes--great prejudices in holland against king james i. and the english, and partiality toward france--rupture of the negotiations--they are renewed--truce for twelve years signed at antwerp--gives great satisfaction in the netherlands--important attitude of the united provinces--conduct of the belgian provinces--disputes relative to cleves and juviers--prince maurice and spinola remove their armies into the contested states--intestine troubles in the united provinces--assassination of henry iv. of france--his character--change in prince maurice's character and conduct--he is strenuously opposed by barneveldt--religious disputes--king james enters the lists of controversy--barneveldt and maurice take opposite sides--the cautionary towns released from the possession of england--consequences of this event--calumnies against barneveldt--ambitious designs of prince maurice--he is baffled by barneveldt--the republic assists its allies with money and ships--its great naval power--outrages of some dutch sailors in ireland--unresented by king james--his anger at the manufacturing prosperity of the united provinces--excesses of the gomarists--the magistrates call out the national militia--violent conduct of prince maurice--uncompromising steadiness of barneveldt--calumnies against him--maurice succeeds to the title of prince of orange, and acts with increasing violence--arrest of barneveldt and his friends--synod of dort--its consequences--trial, condemnation, and execution of barneveldt--grotius and hoogerbeets sentenced to perpetual imprisonmemt--ledenburg commits suicide. chapter xvii to the death of prince maurice a.d. -- the parties of arminianism quite subdued--emigrations--grotius resolves to attempt an escape from prison--succeeds in his attempt--he repairs to paris, and publishes his "apology"--expiration of the twelve years' truce--death of philip iii. and of the archduke albert--war in germany--campaign between prince maurice and spinola--conspiracy against the life of prince maurice--its failure--fifteen of the conspirators executed--great unpopularity of maurice--death of maurice. chapter xviii to the treaty of munster a.d. -- frederick henry succeeds his brother--charles i. king of england--war between france and england--victories of admiral hein--brilliant success of frederick henry--fruitless enterprise in flanders--death of the archduchess isabella--confederacy in brabant--its failure, and arrest of the nobles--ferdinand, prince-cardinal, governor-general--treaty between france and holland--battle of avein--naval affairs--battle of the downs--van tromp--negotiations for the marriage of prince william with the princess mary of england--death of the prince-cardinal--don francisco de mello governor-general--battle of rocroy--gallantry of prince william--death of cardinal richelieu and of louis xiii.--english politics--affairs of germany--negotiations for peace--financial embarrassment of the republic--the republic negotiates with spain--last exploits of frederick henry--his death, and character--william ii. stadtholder--peace of munster--resentment of louis xiii.--peace of westphalia--review of the progress of art, science, and manners--literature-- painting--engraving-- sculpture--architecture--finance--population--commercial companies--manners. chapter xix from the peace of munster to the peace of nimeguen a.d. -- state of the republic after the peace of munster--state of england--william ii. stadtholder--his ambitious designs and violent conduct--attempts to seize on amsterdam--his death--different sensations caused by his death--the prerogatives of the stadtholder assumed by the people--naval war with england--english act of navigation--irish hostilities--death of tromp--a peace with england--disturbed state of the republic--war with denmark--peace concluded--charles ii. restored to the english throne--declares war against holland--naval actions--charles endeavors to excite all europe against the dutch--his failure--renewed hostilities--de ruyter defeated--peace of breda--invasion of flanders by louis xiv.--he overruns brabant and flanders--triple league, --perfidious conduct of charles ii.--he declares war against holland, etc., as does louis xiv.--unprepared state of united provinces--william iii. prince of orange--appointed captain-general and high admiral--battle of solebay--the french invade the republic--the states-general implore peace--terms demanded by louis xiv. and by charles ii.--desperation of the dutch--the prince of orange proclaimed stadtholder--massacre of the de witts--fine conduct of the prince of orange--he takes the field--is reinforced by spain, the emperor, and brandenburg--louis xiv. forced to abandon his conquests--naval actions with the english--a peace, --military affairs--battle of senef--death of de ruyter--congress for peace at nimeguen--battle of mont cassel--marriage of the prince of orange--peace of nimeguen. chapter xx from the peace of nimeguen to the peace of utrecht a.d. -- state of europe subsequently to the peace of nimeguen--arrogant conduct of louis xiv.--truce for twenty years--death of charles ii. of england--league of augsburg--the conduct of william--he invades england--james ii. deposed--william iii. proclaimed king of england--king william puts himself at the head of the confederacy against louis xiv., and enters on the war--military operations--peace of ryswyk--death of charles ii. of spain--war of succession--death of william iii.--his character--duke of marlborough--prince eugene--successes of the earl of peterborough in spain and portugal--louis xiv. solicits peace--conferences for peace--peace of utrecht--treaty of the barrier. chapter xxi from the peace of utrecht to the incorporation of belgium with the french republic a.d. -- quadruple alliance--general peace of europe--wise conduct of the republic--great danger from the bad state of the dikes--death of the emperor charles vi.--maria theresa empress--her heroic conduct--battle of dettingen--louis xv. invades the netherlands--conferences for peace at breda--battle of fontenoy--william iv. stadtholder and captain-general--peace of aix-la-chapelle--death of the stadtholder, who is succeeded by his son william v.--war of seven years--state of the republic--william v. stadtholder--dismemberment of poland--joseph ii. emperor--his attempted reforms in religion--war with england--sea-fight on the doggerbank--peace with england, --progress of public opinion in europe, in belgium, and holland--violent opposition to the stadtholder--arrest of the princess of orange--invasion of holland by the prussian army--agitation in belgium--vander noot--prince albert of saxe-teschen and the archduchess maria theresa joint governors-general--succeeded by count murray--riots--meetings of the provisional states--general insurrection--vonckists--vander mersch--takes the command of the insurgents--his skilful conduct--he gains the battle of turnhout--takes possession of flanders--confederation of the belgian provinces--death of joseph ii.--leopold emperor--arrest of vander mersch--arrogance of the states-general of belgium--the austrians overrun the country--convention at the hague--death of leopold--battle of jemmappes--general dumouriez--conquest of belgium by the french--recovered by the austrians--the archduke charles governor-general--war in the netherlands--duke of york--the emperor francis--the battle of fleurus--incorporation of belgium with the french republic--peace of leoben--treaty of campo-formio. chapter xxii from the invasion of holland by the french to the return of the prince of orange a.d. -- pichegru invades holland--winter campaign--the duke of york vainly resists the french army--abdication of the stadtholder--batavian republic--war with england--unfortunate situation of holland--naval fight--english expedition to the helder--napoleon bonaparte--louis bonaparte named king of holland--his popular conduct--he abdicates the throne--annexation of holland to the french empire--ruinous to the prosperity of the republic--the people desire the return of the prince of orange--confederacy to effect this purpose--the allied armies advance toward holland--the nation rises to throw off the yoke of france--count styrum and his associates lead on that movement, and proclaim the prince of orange, who lands from england--his first proclamation--his second proclamation. chapter xxiii from the installation of william i. as prince-sovereign of the netherlands to the battle of waterloo a.d. -- rapid organization of holland--the constitution formed--accepted by the people--objections made to it by some individuals--inauguration of the prince-sovereign--belgium is occupied by the allies--treaty of paris--treaty of london--formation of the kingdom of the netherlands--basis of the government--relative character and situation of holland and belgium--the prince-sovereign of holland arrives in belgium as governor-general--the fundamental law--report of the commissioners by whom it was framed--public feeling in holland, and in belgium--the emperor napoleon invades france, and belgium--the prince of orange takes the field--the duke of wellington--prince blucher--battle of ligny--battle of quatre bras--battle of waterloo--anecdote of the prince of orange, who is wounded--inauguration of the king. supplementary chapter (a.d. -- ). list of illustrations holland the duke of alva deposes margaret of parma. storming the barricades at brussels during the revolution of . william the silent of orange. a holland beauty. chapter i from the invasion of the netherlands by the romans to the invasion by the salian franks b.c. --a.d. the netherlands form a kingdom of moderate extent, situated on the borders of the ocean, opposite to the southeast coast of england, and stretching from the frontiers of france to those of hanover. the country is principally composed of low and humid grounds, presenting a vast plain, irrigated by the waters from all those neighboring states which are traversed by the rhine, the meuse, and the scheldt. this plain, gradually rising toward its eastern and southern extremities, blends on the one hand with prussia, and on the other with france. having, therefore, no natural or strongly marked limits on those sides, the extent of the kingdom could only be determined by convention; and it must be at all times subject to the arbitrary and varying influence of european policy. its greatest length, from north to south, is about two hundred and twenty english miles; and its breadth, from east to west, is nearly one hundred and forty. two distinct kinds of men inhabit this kingdom. the one occupying the valleys of the meuse and the scheldt, and the high grounds bordering on france, speak a dialect of the language of that country, and evidently belong to the gallic race. they are called walloons, and are distinguished from the others by many peculiar qualities. their most prominent characteristic is a propensity for war, and their principal source of subsistence the working of their mines. they form nearly one-fourth of the population of the whole kingdom, or about one million three hundred thousand persons. all the rest of the nation speak low german, in its modifications of dutch and flemish; and they offer the distinctive characteristics of the saxon race--talents for agriculture, navigation, and commerce; perseverance rather than vivacity; and more courage than taste for the profession of arms. they are subdivided into flemings--those who were the last to submit to the house of austria; and dutch--those who formed the republic of the united provinces. but there is no difference between these two subdivisions, except such as has been produced by political and religious institutions. the physical aspect of the people is the same; and the soil, equally law and moist, is at once fertilized and menaced by the waters. the history of this last-mentioned portion of the nation is completely linked to that of the soil which they occupy. in remote times, when the inhabitants of this plain were few and uncivilized, the country formed but one immense morass, of which the chief part was incessantly inundated and made sterile by the waters of the sea. pliny the naturalist, who visited the northern coasts, has left us a picture of their state in his days. "there," says he, "the ocean pours in its flood twice every day, and produces a perpetual uncertainty whether the country may be considered as a part of the continent or of the sea. the wretched inhabitants take refuge on the sand-hills, or in little huts, which they construct on the summits of lofty stakes, whose elevation is conformable to that of the highest tides. when the sea rises, they appear like navigators; when it retires, they seem as though they had been shipwrecked. they subsist on the fish left by the refluent waters, and which they catch in nets formed of rushes or seaweed. neither tree nor shrub is visible on these shores. the drink of the people is rain-water, which they preserve with great care; their fuel, a sort of turf, which they gather and form with the hand. and yet these unfortunate beings dare to complain against their fate, when they fall under the power and are incorporated with the empire of rome!" the picture of poverty and suffering which this passage presents is heightened when joined to a description of the country. the coasts consisted only of sand-banks or slime, alternately overflowed or left imperfectly dry. a little further inland, trees were to be found, but on a soil so marshy that an inundation or a tempest threw down whole forests, such as are still at times discovered at either eight or ten feet depth below the surface. the sea had no limits; the rivers no beds nor banks; the earth no solidity; for according to an author of the third century of our era, there was not, in the whole of the immense plain, a spot of ground that did not yield under the footsteps of man.--eumenius. it was not the same in the southern parts, which form at present the walloon country. these high grounds suffered much less from the ravages of the waters. the ancient forest of the ardennes, extending from the rhine to the scheldt, sheltered a numerous though savage population, which in all things resembled the germans, from whom they derived their descent. the chase and the occupations of rude agriculture sufficed for the wants of a race less poor and less patient, but more unsteady and ambitious, than the fishermen of the low lands. thus it is that history presents us with a tribe of warriors and conquerors on the southern frontier of the country; while the scattered inhabitants of the remaining parts seemed to have fixed there without a contest, and to have traced out for themselves, by necessity and habit, an existence which any other people must have considered insupportable. this difference in the nature of the soil and in the fate of the inhabitants appears more striking when we consider the present situation of the country. the high grounds, formerly so preferable, are now the least valuable part of the kingdom, even as regards their agriculture; while the ancient marshes have been changed by human industry into rich and fertile tracts, the best parts of which are precisely those conquered from the grasp of the ocean. in order to form an idea of the solitude and desolation which once reigned where we now see the most richly cultivated fields, the most thriving villages, and the wealthiest towns of the continent, the imagination must go back to times which have not left one monument of antiquity and scarcely a vestige of fact. the history of the netherlands is, then, essentially that of a patient and industrious population struggling against every obstacle which nature could oppose to its well-being; and, in this contest, man triumphed most completely over the elements in those places where they offered the greatest resistance. this extraordinary result was due to the hardy stamp of character imprinted by suffering and danger on those who had the ocean for their foe; to the nature of their country, which presented no lure for conquest; and, finally, to the toleration, the justice, and the liberty nourished among men left to themselves, and who found resources in their social state which rendered change neither an object of their wants nor wishes. about half a century before the christian era, the obscurity which enveloped the north of europe began to disperse; and the expedition of julius cæsar gave to the civilized world the first notions of the netherlands, germany, and england. cæsar, after having subjugated the chief part of gaul, turned his arms against the warlike tribes of the ardennes, who refused to accept his alliance or implore his protection. they were called belgæ by the romans; and at once pronounced the least civilized and the bravest of the gauls. cæsar there found several ignorant and poor but intrepid clans of warriors, who marched fiercely to encounter him; and, notwithstanding their inferiority in numbers, in weapons, and in tactics, they nearly destroyed the disciplined armies of rome. they were, however, defeated, and their country ravaged by the invaders, who found less success when they attacked the natives of the low grounds. the menapians, a people who occupied the present provinces of flanders and antwerp, though less numerous than those whom the romans had last vanquished, arrested their progress both by open fight and by that petty and harassing contest--that warfare of the people rather than of the soldiery--so well adapted to the nature of the country. the roman legions retreated for the first time, and were contented to occupy the higher parts, which now form the walloon provinces. but the policy of cæsar made greater progress than his arms. he had rather defeated than subdued those who had dared the contest. he consolidated his victories without new battles; he offered peace to his enemies, in proposing to them alliance; and he required their aid, as friends, to carry on new wars in other lands. he thus attracted toward him, and ranged under his banners, not only those people situated to the west of the rhine and the meuse, but several other nations more to the north, whose territory he had never seen; and particularly the batavians--a valiant tribe, stated by various ancient authors, and particularly by tacitus, as a fraction of the catti, who occupied the space comprised between these rivers. the young men of these warlike people, dazzled by the splendor of the roman armies, felt proud and happy in being allowed to identify themselves with them. cæsar encouraged this disposition, and even went so far on some occasions as to deprive the roman cavalry of their horses, on which he mounted those new allies, who managed them better than their italian riders. he had no reason to repent these measures; almost all his subsequent victories, and particularly that of pharsalia, being decided by the valor of the auxiliaries he obtained from the low countries. these auxiliaries were chiefly drawn from hainault, luxemburg, and the country of the batavians, and they formed the best cavalry of the roman armies, as well as their choicest light infantry force. the batavians also signalized themselves on many occasions, by the skill with which they swam across several great rivers without breaking their squadrons ranks. they were amply rewarded for their military services and hazardous exploits, and were treated like stanch and valuable allies. but this unequal connection of a mighty empire with a few petty states must have been fatal to the liberty of the weaker party. its first effect was to destroy all feeling of nationality in a great portion of the population. the young adventurer of this part of the low countries, after twenty years of service under the imperial eagles, returned to his native wilds a roman. the generals of the empire pierced the forests of the ardennes with causeways, and founded towns in the heart of the country. the result of such innovations was a total amalgamation of the romans and their new allies; and little by little the national character of the latter became entirely obliterated. but to trace now the precise history of this gradual change would be as impossible as it will be one day to follow the progress of civilization in the woods of north america. but it must be remarked that this metamorphosis affected only the inhabitants of the high grounds, and the batavians (who were in their origin germans) properly so called. the scanty population of the rest of the country, endowed with that fidelity to their ancient customs which characterizes the saxon race, showed no tendency to mix with foreigner, rarely figured in their ranks, and seemed to revolt from the southern refinement which was so little in harmony with their manners and ways of life. it is astonishing, at the first view, that those beings, whose whole existence was a contest against famine or the waves, should show less inclination than their happier neighbors to receive from rome an abundant recompense for their services. but the greater their difficulty to find subsistence in their native land, the stronger seemed their attachment; like that of the switzer to his barren rocks, or of the mariner to the frail and hazardous home that bears him afloat on the ocean. this race of patriots was divided into two separate peoples. those to the north of the rhine were the frisons; those to the west of the meuse, the menapians, already mentioned. the frisons differed little from those early inhabitants of the coast, who, perched on their high-built huts, fed on fish and drank the water of the clouds. slow and successive improvements taught them to cultivate the beans which grew wild among the marshes, and to tend and feed a small and degenerate breed of horned cattle. but if these first steps toward civilization were slow, they were also sure; and they were made by a race of men who could never retrograde in a career once begun. the menapians, equally repugnant to foreign impressions, made, on their part, a more rapid progress. they were already a maritime people, and carried on a considerable commerce with england. it appears that they exported thither salt, the art of manufacturing which was well known to them; and they brought back in return marl, a most important commodity for the improvement of their land. they also understood the preparation of salting meat, with a perfection that made it in high repute even in italy; and, finally, we are told by ptolemy that they had established a colony on the eastern coast of ireland, not far from dublin. the two classes of what forms at present the population of the netherlands thus followed careers widely different, during the long period of the roman power in these parts of europe. while those of the high lands and the batavians distinguished themselves by a long-continued course of military service or servitude, those of the plains improved by degrees their social condition, and fitted themselves for a place in civilized europe. the former received from rome great marks of favor in exchange for their freedom. the latter, rejecting the honors and distinctions lavished on their neighbors, secured their national independence, by trusting to their industry alone for all the advantages they gradually acquired. were the means of protecting themselves and their country from the inundations of the sea known and practiced by these ancient inhabitants of the coast? or did they occupy only those elevated points of land which stood out like islands in the middle of the floods? these questions are among the most important presented by their history; since it was the victorious struggle of man against the ocean that fixed the extent and form of the country. it appears almost certain that in the time of cæsar they did not labor at the construction of dikes, but that they began to be raised during the obscurity of the following century; for the remains of ancient towns are even now discovered in places at present overflowed by the sea. these ruins often bring to light traces of roman construction, and latin inscriptions in honor of the menapian divinities. it is, then, certain that they had learned to imitate those who ruled in the neighboring countries: a result by no means surprising; for even england, the mart of their commerce, and the nation with which they had the most constant intercourse, was at that period occupied by the romans. but the nature of their country repulsed so effectually every attempt at foreign domination that the conquerors of the world left them unmolested, and established arsenals and formed communications with great britain only at boulogne and in the island of the batavians near leyden. this isolation formed in itself a powerful and perfect barrier between the inhabitants of the plain and those of the high grounds. the first held firm to their primitive customs and their ancient language; the second finished by speaking latin, and borrowing all the manners and usages of italy. the moral effect of this contrast was that the people, once so famous for their bravery, lost, with their liberty, their energy and their courage. one of the batavian chieftains, named civilis, formed an exception to this degeneracy, and, about the year of our era, bravely took up arms for the expulsion of the romans. he effected prodigies of valor and perseverance, and boldly met and defeated the enemy both by land and sea. reverses followed his first success, and he finally concluded an honorable treaty, by which his countrymen once more became the allies of rome. but after this expiring effort of valor, the batavians, even though chosen from all nations for the bodyguards of the roman emperors, became rapidly degenerate; and when tacitus wrote, ninety years after christ, they were already looked on as less brave than the frisons and the other peoples beyond the rhine. a century and a half later saw them confounded with the gauls; and the barbarian conquerors said that "they were not a nation, but merely a _prey_." reduced into a roman province, the southern portion of the netherlands was at this period called belgic gaul; and the name of belgium, preserved to our days, has until lately been applied to distinguish that part of the country situated to the south of the rhine and the meuse, or nearly that which formed the austrian netherlands. during the establishment of the roman power in the north of europe, observation was not much excited toward the rapid effects of this degeneracy, compared with the fast-growing vigor of the people of the low lands. the fact of the frisons having, on one occasion, near the year of our era, beaten a whole army of romans, had confirmed their character for intrepidity. but the long stagnation produced in these remote countries by the colossal weight of the empire was broken, about the year , by an irruption of germans or salian franks, who, passing the rhine and the meuse, established themselves in the vicinity of the menapians, near antwerp, breda and bois-le-duc. all the nations that had been subjugated by the roman power appear to have taken arms on this occasion and opposed the intruders. but the menapians united themselves with these newcomers, and aided them to meet the shock of the imperial armies. carausius, originally a menapian pilot, but promoted to the command of a roman fleet, made common cause with his fellow-citizens, and proclaimed himself emperor of great britain, where the naval superiority of the menapians left him no fear of a competitor. in recompense of the assistance given him by the franks, he crossed the sea again from his new empire, to aid them in their war with the batavians, the allies of rome; and having seized on their islands, and massacred nearly the whole of its inhabitants, he there established his faithful friends the salians. constantius and his son constantine the great vainly strove, even after the death of the brave carausius, to regain possession of the country; but they were forced to leave the new inhabitants in quiet possession of their conquest. chapter ii from the settlement of the franks to the subjugation of friesland a.d. -- from this epoch we must trace the progress of a totally new and distinct population in the netherlands. the batavians being annihilated, almost without resistance, the low countries contained only the free people of the german race. but these people did not completely sympathize together so as to form one consolidated nation. the salians, and the other petty tribes of franks, their allies, were essentially warlike, and appeared precisely the same as the original inhabitants of the high grounds. the menapians and the frisons, on the contrary, lost nothing of their spirit of commerce and industry. the result of this diversity was a separation between the franks and the menapians. while the latter, under the name of armoricans, joined themselves more closely with the people who bordered the channel, the frisons associated themselves with the tribes settled on the limits of the german ocean, and formed with them a connection celebrated under the title of the saxon league. thus was formed on all points a union between the maritime races against the inland inhabitants; and their mutual antipathy became more and more developed as the decline of the roman empire ended the former struggle between liberty and conquest. the netherlands now became the earliest theatre of an entirely new movement, the consequences of which were destined to affect the whole world. this country was occupied toward the sea by a people wholly maritime, excepting the narrow space between the rhine and the vahal, of which the salian franks had become possessed. the nature of this marshy soil, in comparison with the sands of westphalia, guelders, and north brabant, was not more strikingly contrasted than was the character of their population. the franks, who had been for a while under the roman sway, showed a compound of the violence of savage life and the corruption of civilized society. they were covetous and treacherous, but made excellent soldiers; and at this epoch, which intervened between the power of imperial rome and that of germany, the frank might be morally considered as a borderer on the frontiers of the middle ages. the saxon (and this name comprehends all the tribes of the coast from the rhine as far north as denmark), uniting in himself the distinctive qualities of german and navigator, was moderate and sincere, but implacable in his rage. neither of these two races of men was excelled in point of courage; but the number of franks who still entered into the service of the empire diminished the real force of this nation, and naturally tended to disunite it. therefore, in the subsequent shock of people against people, the saxons invariably gained the final advantage. they had no doubt often measured their strength in the most remote times, since the franks were but the descendants of the ancient tribes of sicambers and others, against whom the batavians had offered their assistance to cæsar. under augustus, the inhabitants of the coast had in the same way joined themselves with drusus, to oppose these their old enemies. it was also after having been expelled by the frisons from guelders that the salians had passed the rhine and the meuse; but, in the fourth century, the two peoples, recovering their strength, the struggle recommenced, never to terminate--at least between the direct descendants of each. it is believed that it was the varni, a race of saxons nearly connected with those of england (and coming, like them, from the coast of denmark), who on this occasion struck the decisive blow on the side of the saxons. embarking on board a numerous fleet, they made a descent in the ancient isle of the batavians, at that time inhabited by the salians, whom they completely destroyed. julian the apostate, who was then with a numerous army pursuing his career of early glory in these countries, interfered for the purpose of preventing the expulsion, or at least the utter destruction, of the vanquished; but his efforts were unavailing. the salians appear to have figured no more in this part of the low countries. the defeat of the salians by a saxon tribe is a fact on which no doubt rests. the name of the victors is, however, questionable. the varni having remained settled near the mouths of the rhine till near the year , there is strong probability that they were the people alluded to. but names and histories, which may on this point appear of such little importance, acquire considerable interest when we reflect that these salians, driven from their settlement, became the conquerors of france; that those saxons who forced them on their career of conquest were destined to become the masters of england; and that these two petty tribes, who battled so long for a corner of marshy earth, carried with them their reciprocal antipathy while involuntarily deciding the destiny of europe. the defeat of the franks was fatal to those peoples who had become incorporated with the romans; for it was from them that the exiled wanderers, still fierce in their ruin, and with arms in their hands, demanded lands and herds; all, in short, which they themselves had lost. from the middle of the fourth century to the end of the fifth, there was a succession of invasions in this spirit, which always ended by the subjugation of a part of the country; and which was completed about the year , by clovis making himself master of almost the whole of gaul. under this new empire not a vestige of the ancient nations of the ardennes was left. the civilized population either perished or was reduced to slavery, and all the high grounds were added to the previous conquests of the salians. but the maritime population, when once possessed of the whole coast, did not seek to make the slightest progress toward the interior. the element of their enterprise and the object of their ambition was the ocean; and when this hardy and intrepid race became too numerous for their narrow limits, expeditions and colonies beyond the sea carried off their redundant population. the saxon warriors established themselves near the mouths of the loire; others, conducted by hengist and horsa, settled in great britain. it will always remain problematical from what point of the coast these adventurers departed; but many circumstances tend to give weight to the opinion which pronounces those old saxons to have started from the netherlands. paganism not being yet banished from these countries, the obscurity which would have enveloped them is in some degree dispelled by the recitals of the monks who went among them to preach christianity. we see in those records, and by the text of some of their early laws, that this maritime people were more industrious, prosperous, and happy, than those of france. the men were handsome and richly clothed; and the land well cultivated, and abounding in fruits, milk, and honey. the saxon merchants carried their trade far into the southern countries. in the meantime, the parts of the netherlands which belonged to france resembled a desert. the monasteries which were there founded were established, according to the words of their charters, amid immense solitudes; and the french nobles only came into brabant for the sport of bear-hunting in its interminable forests. thus, while the inhabitants of the low lands, as far back as the light of history penetrates, appear in a continual state of improvement, those of the high grounds, after frequent vicissitudes, seem to sink into utter degeneracy and subjugation. the latter wished to denaturalize themselves, and become as though they were foreigners even on their native soil; the former remained firm and faithful to their country and to each other. but the growth of french power menaced utter ruin to this interesting race. clovis had succeeded about the year of our era, in destroying the last remnants of roman domination in gaul. the successors of these conquerors soon extended their empire from the pyrenees to the rhine. they had continual contests with the free population of the low countries, and their nearest neighbors. in the commencement of the seventh century, the french king, clotaire ii., exterminated the chief part of the saxons of hanover and westphalia; and the historians of those barbarous times unanimously relate that he caused to be beheaded every inhabitant of the vanquished tribes who exceeded the height of his sword. the saxon name was thus nearly extinguished in those countries; and the remnant of these various peoples adopted that of frisons (friesen), either because they became really incorporated with that nation, or merely that they recognized it for the most powerful of their tribes. friesland, to speak in the language of that age, extended then from the scheldt to the weser, and formed a considerable state. but the ascendency of france was every year becoming more marked; and king dagobert extended the limits of her power even as far as utrecht. the descendants of the menapians, known at that epoch by the different names of menapians, flemings, and toxandirans, fell one after another directly or indirectly under the empire of the merovingian princes; and the noblest family which existed among the french--that which subsequently took the name of carlovingians--comprised in its dominions nearly the whole of the southern and western parts of the netherlands. between this family, whose chief was called duke of the frontier marshes (_dux_brabantioe_), and the free tribes, united under the common name of frisons, the same struggle was maintained as that which formerly existed between the salians and the saxons. toward the year , the french monarchy was torn by anarchy, and, under "the lazy kings," lost much of its concentrated power; but every dukedom formed an independent sovereignty, and of all those that of brabant was the most redoubtable. nevertheless the frisons, under their king, radbod, assumed for a moment the superiority; and utrecht, where the french had established christianity, fell again into the power of the pagans. charles martell, at that time young, and but commencing his splendid career, was defeated by the hostile king in the forest of the ardennes; and though, in subsequent conquests, he took an ample revenge, radbod still remained a powerful opponent. it is related of this fierce monarch that he was converted by a christian missionary; but, at the moment in which he put his foot in the water for the ceremony of baptism, he suddenly asked the priest where all his old frison companions in arms had gone after their death? "to hell," replied the priest. "well, then," said radbod, drawing back his foot from the water, "i would rather go to hell with them, than to paradise with you and your fellow foreigners!" and he refused to receive the rite of baptism, and remained a pagan. after the death of radbod, in , charles martell, now become duke of the franks, mayor of the palace, or by whatever other of his several titles he may be distinguished, finally triumphed over the long-resisting frisons. he labored to establish christianity among them; but they did not understand the french language, and the lot of converting them was consequently reserved for the english. st. willebrod was the first missionary who met with any success, about the latter end of the seventh century; but it was not till toward the year that this great mission was finally accomplished by st. boniface, archbishop of mayence, and the apostle of germany. yet the progress of christianity, and the establishment of a foreign sway, still met the partial resistance which a conquered but not enervated people are always capable of opposing to their masters. st. boniface fell a victim to this stubborn spirit. he perished a martyr to his zeal, but perhaps a victim as well to the violent measures of his colleagues, in friesland, the very province which to this day preserves the name. the last avenger of friesland liberty and of the national idols was the illustrious witikind, to whom the chronicles of his country give the title of first azing, or judge. this intrepid chieftain is considered as a compatriot, not only by the historians of friesland, but by those of saxony; both, it would appear, having equal claims to the honor; for the union between the two peoples was constantly strengthened by intermarriages between the noblest families of each. as long as witikind remained a pagan and a freeman, some doubt existed as to the final fate of friesland; but when by his conversion he became only a noble of the court of charlemagne, the slavery of his country was consummated. chapter iii from the conquest of friesland to the formation of holland a.d. -- even at this advanced epoch of foreign domination, there remained as great a difference as ever between the people of the high grounds and the inhabitants of the plain. the latter were, like the rest, incorporated with the great monarchy; but they preserved the remembrance of former independence, and even retained their ancient names. in flanders, menapians and flemings were still found, and in the country of antwerp the toxandrians were not extinct. all the rest of the coast was still called friesland. but in the high grounds the names of the old inhabitants were lost. nations were designated by the names of their rivers, forests, or towns. they were classified as accessories to inanimate things; and having no monuments which reminded them of their origin, they became as it were without recollections or associations; and degenerated, as may be almost said, into a people without ancestry. the physical state of the country had greatly changed from the times of cæsar to those of charlemagne. many parts of the forest of the ardennes had been cut down or cleared away. civilization had only appeared for a while among these woods, to perish like a delicate plant in an ungenial clime; but it seemed to have sucked the very sap from the soil, and to have left the people no remains of the vigor of man in his savage state, nor of the desperate courage of the warriors of germany. a race of serfs now cultivated the domains of haughty lords and imperious priests. the clergy had immense possessions in this country; an act of the following century recognizes fourteen thousand families of vassals as belonging to the single abbey of nivelle. tournay and tongres, both episcopal cities, were by that title somewhat less oppressed than the other ancient towns founded by the romans; but they appear to have possessed only a poor and degraded population. the low lands, on the other hand, announced a striking commencement of improvement and prosperity. the marshes and fens, which had arrested and repulsed the progress of imperial rome, had disappeared in every part of the interior. the meuse and the scheldt no longer joined at their outlets, to desolate the neighboring lands; whether this change was produced by the labors of man, or merely by the accumulation of sand deposited by either stream and forming barriers to both. the towns of courtraig, bruges, ghent, antwerp, berg-op-zoom, and thiel, had already a flourishing trade. the last-mentioned town contained in the following century fifty-five churches; a fact from which, in the absence of other evidence, the extent of the population may be conjectured. the formation of dikes for the protection of lands formerly submerged was already well understood, and regulated by uniform custom. the plains thus reconquered from the waters were distributed in portions, according to their labor, by those who reclaimed them, except the parts reserved for the chieftain, the church, and the poor. this vital necessity for the construction of dikes had given to the frison and flemish population a particular habit of union, goodwill, and reciprocal justice, because it was necessary to make common cause in this great work for their mutual preservation. in all other points, the detail of the laws and manners of this united people presents a picture similar to that of the saxons of england, with the sole exception that the people of the netherlands were milder than the saxon race properly so called--their long habit of laborious industry exercising its happy influence on the martial spirit original to both. the manufacturing arts were also somewhat more advanced in this part of the continent than in great britain. the frisons, for example, were the only people who could succeed in making the costly mantles in use among the wealthy franks. the government of charlemagne admitted but one form, borrowed from that of the empire in the period of its decline--a mixture of the spiritual and temporal powers, exercised in the first place by the emperor, and at second-hand by the counts and bishops. the counts in those times were not the heads of noble families, as they afterward became, but officers of the government, removable at will, and possessing no hereditary rights. their incomes did not arise from salaries paid in money, but consisted of lands, of which they had the revenues during the continuance of their authority. these lands being situated in the limits of their administration, each regarded them as his property only for the time being, and considered himself as a tenant at will. how unfavorable such a system was to culture and improvement may be well imagined. the force of possession was, however, frequently opposed to the seigniorial rights of the crown; and thus, though all civil dignity and the revenues attached to it were but personal and reclaimable at will, still many dignitaries, taking advantage of the barbarous state of the country in which their isolated cantons were placed, sought by every possible means to render their power and prerogatives inalienable and real. the force of the monarchical government, which consists mainly in its centralization, was necessarily weakened by the intervention of local obstacles, before it could pass from the heart of the empire to its limits. thus it was only by perpetually interposing his personal efforts, and flying, as it were, from one end to the other of his dominions, that charlemagne succeeded in preserving his authority. as for the people, without any sort of guarantee against the despotism of the government, they were utterly at the mercy of the nobles or of the sovereign. but this state of servitude was quite incompatible with the union of social powers necessary to a population that had to struggle against the tyranny of the ocean. to repulse its attacks with successful vigor, a spirit of complete concert was absolutely required; and the nation being thus united, and consequently strong, the efforts of foreign tyrants were shattered by its resistance, as the waves of the sea that broke against the dikes by which it was defied. from the time of charlemagne, the people of the ancient menapia, now become a prosperous commonwealth, formed political associations to raise a barrier against the despotic violence of the franks. these associations were called gilden, and in the latin of the times gildonia. they comprised, besides their covenants for mutual protection, an obligation which bound every member to give succor to any other, in cases of illness, conflagration, or shipwreck. but the growing force of these social compacts alarmed the quick-sighted despotism of charlemagne, and they were, consequently, prohibited both by him and his successors. to give a notion of the importance of this prohibition to the whole of europe, it is only necessary to state that the most ancient corporations (all which had preceded and engendered the most valuable municipal rights) were nothing more than gilden. thus, to draw an example from great britain, the corporative charter of berwick still bears the title of charta gildoniæ. but the ban of the sovereigns was without efficacy, when opposed to the popular will. the gilden stood their ground, and within a century after the death of charlemagne, all flanders was covered with corporate towns. this popular opposition took, however, another form in the northern parts of the country, which still bore the common name of friesland; for there it was not merely local but national. the frisons succeeded in obtaining the sanction of the monarch to consecrate, as it were, those rights which were established under the ancient forms of government. the fact is undoubted; but the means which they employed are uncertain. it appears most probable that this great privilege was the price of their military services; for they held a high place in the victorious armies of charlemagne; and turpin, the old french romancer, alluding to the popular traditions of his time, represents the warriors of friesland as endowed with the most heroic valor. these rights, which the frisons secured, according to their own statements, from charlemagne, but most undoubtedly from some one or other of the earliest emperors, consisted, first, in the freedom of every order of citizens; secondly, in the right of property--a right which admitted no authority of the sovereign to violate by confiscation, except in cases of downright treason; thirdly, in the privilege of trial by none but native judges, and according to their national usages; fourthly, in a very narrow limitation of the military services which they owed to the king; fifthly, in the hereditary title to feudal property, in direct line, on payment of certain dues or rents. these five principal articles sufficed to render friesland, in its political aspect, totally different from the other portions of the monarchy. their privileges secured, their property inviolable, their duties limited, the frisons were altogether free from the servitude which weighed down france. it will soon be seen that these special advantages produced a government nearly analogous to that which magna charta was the means of founding at a later period in england. the successors of charlemagne chiefly signalized their authority by lavishing donations of all kinds on the church. by such means the ecclesiastical power became greater and greater, and, in those countries under the sway of france, was quite as arbitrary and enormous as that of the nobility. the bishops of utrecht, liege, and tournay, became, in the course of time, the chief personages on that line of the frontier. they had the great advantage over the counts, of not being subjected to capricious or tyrannical removals. they therefore, even in civil affairs, played a more considerable part than the latter; and began to render themselves more and more independent in their episcopal cities, which were soon to become so many principalities. the counts, on their parts, used their best exertions to wear out, if they had not the strength to break, the chains which bound them to the footstool of the monarch. they were not all now dependent on the same sovereign; for the empire of charlemagne was divided among his successors: france, properly so called, was bounded by the scheldt; the country to the eastward of that river, that is to say, nearly the whole of the netherlands, belonged to lorraine and germany. in the state of things, it happened that in the year , judith, daughter of charles the bald, king of france, having survived her husband ethelwolf, king of england, became attached to a powerful flemish chieftain called baldwin. it is not quite certain whether he was count, forester, marquis, or protector of the frontiers; but he certainly enjoyed, no matter under what title, considerable authority in the country; since the pope on one occasion wrote to charles the bald to beware of offending him, lest he should join the normans, and open to them an entrance into france. he carried off judith to his possessions in flanders. the king, her father, after many ineffectual threats, was forced to consent to their union; and confirmed to baldwin, with the title of count, the hereditary government of all the country between the scheldt and the somme, a river of picardy. this was the commencement of the celebrated county of flanders; and this baldwin is designated in history by the surname of bras-de-fer (iron-handed), to which his courage had justly entitled him. the belgian historians are also desirous of placing about this epoch the first counts of hainault, and even of holland. but though it may be true that the chief families of each canton sought then, as at all times, to shake off the yoke, the epoch of their independence can only be fixed at the later period at which they obtained or enforced the privilege of not being deprived of their titles and their feudal estates. the counts of the high grounds, and those of friesland, enjoyed at the utmost but a fortuitous privilege of continuance in their rank. several foreigners had gained a footing and an authority in the country; among others wickmand, from whom descended the chatelains of ghent; and the counts of holland, and heriold, a norman prince who had been banished from his own country. this name of normans, hardly known before the time of charlemagne, soon became too celebrated. it designated the pagan inhabitants of denmark, norway, and sweden, who, driven by rapacity and want, infested the neighboring seas. the asylum allowed in the dominions of the emperors to some of those exiled outlaws, and the imprudent provocations given by these latter to their adventurous countrymen, attracted various bands of norman pirates to the shores of guelders; and from desultory descents upon the coast, they soon came to inundate the interior of the country. flanders alone successfully resisted them during the life of baldwin bras-de-fer; but after the death of this brave chieftain there was not a province of the whole country that was not ravaged by these invaders. their multiplied expeditions threw back the netherlands at least two centuries, if, indeed, any calculation of the kind may be fairly formed respecting the relative state of population and improvement on the imperfect data that are left us. several cantons became deserted. the chief cities were reduced to heaps of ruins. the german emperors vainly interposed for the relief of their unfortunate vassals. finally, an agreement was entered into, in the year , with godfrey the king or leader of the normans, by which a peace was purchased on condition of paying him a large subsidy, and ceding to him the government of friesland. but, in about two years from this period, the fierce barbarian began to complain that the country he had thus gained did not produce grapes, and the present inspiration of his rapacity seemed to be the blooming vineyards of france. the emperor charles the fat, anticipating the consequence of a rupture with godfrey, enticed him to an interview, in which he caused him to be assassinated. his followers, attacked on all points by the people of friesland, perished almost to a man; and their destruction was completed, in , by arnoul the germanic. from that period, the scourge of norman depredation became gradually less felt. they now made but short and desultory attempts on the coast; and their last expedition appears to have taken place about the year , when they threatened, but did not succeed in seizing on, the city of utrecht. it is remarkable that, although for the space of one hundred and fifty years the netherlands were continually the scene of invasion and devastation by these northern barbarians, the political state of the country underwent no important changes. the emperors of germany were sovereigns of the whole country, with the exception of flanders. these portions of the empire were still called lorraine, as well as all which they possessed of what is now called france, and which was that part forming the appanage of lothaire and of the lotheringian kings. the great difficulty of maintaining subordination among the numerous chieftains of this country caused it, in , to be divided into two governments, which were called higher and lower lorraine. the latter portion comprised nearly the whole of the netherlands, which thus became governed by a lieutenant of the emperors. godfrey count of ardenne was the first who filled this place; and he soon felt all the perils of the situation. the other counts saw, with a jealous eye, their equal now promoted into a superior. two of the most powerful, lambert and reginald, were brothers. they made common cause against the new duke; and after a desperate struggle, which did not cease till the year , they gained a species of imperfect independence--lambert becoming the root from which sprang the counts of louvain, and reginald that of the counts of hainault. the emperor othon ii., who upheld the authority of his lieutenant, godfrey, became convinced that the imperial power was too weak to resist singly the opposition of the nobles of the country. he had therefore transferred, about the year , the title of duke to a young prince of the royal house of france; and we thus see the duchy of lower lorraine governed, in the name of the emperor, by the last two shoots of the branch of charlemagne, the dukes charles and othon of france, son and grandson of louis d'outremer. the first was a gallant prince: he may be looked on as the founder of the greatness of brussels, where he fixed his residence. after several years of tranquil government, the death of his brother called him to the throne of france; and from that time he bravely contended for the crown of his ancestors, against the usurpation of hugues capet, whom he frequently defeated in battle; but he was at length treacherously surprised and put to death in . othon, his son, did not signalize his name nor justify his descent by any memorable action; and in him ingloriously perished the name of the carlovingians. the death of othon set the emperor and the great vassals once more in opposition. the german monarch insisted on naming some creature of his own to the dignity of duke; but lambert ii., count of louvain, and robert, count of namur, having married the sisters of othon, respectively claimed the right of inheritance to his title. baldwin of the comely beard, count of flanders, joined himself to their league, hoping to extend his power to the eastward of the scheldt. and, in fact, the emperor, as the only means of disuniting his two powerful vassals, felt himself obliged to cede valenciennes and the islands of zealand to baldwin. the imperial power thus lost ground at every struggle. amid the confusion of these events, a power well calculated to rival or even supplant that of the fierce counts was growing up. many circumstances were combined to extend and consolidate the episcopal sway. it is true that the bishops of tournay had no temporal authority since the period of their city being ruined by the normans. but those of liege and utrecht, and more particularly the latter, had accumulated immense possessions; and their power being inalienable, they had nothing to fear from the caprices of sovereign favor, which so often ruined the families of the aristocracy. those bishops, who were warriors and huntsmen rather than ecclesiastics, possessed, however, in addition to the lance and the sword, the terrible artillery of excommunication and anathema, which they thundered forth without mercy against every laic opponent; and when they had, by conquest or treachery, acquired new dominions and additional store of wealth, they could not portion it among their children, like the nobles, but it devolved to their successors, who thus became more and more powerful, and gained by degrees an authority almost royal, like that of the ecclesiastical elector of germany. whenever the emperor warred against his lay vassals, he was sure of assistance from the bishops, because they were at all times jealous of the power of the counts, and had much less to gain from an alliance with them than with the imperial despots on whose donations they throve, and who repaid their efforts by new privileges and extended possessions. so that when the monarch, at length, lost the superiority in his contests with the counts, little was wanting to make his authority be merged altogether in the overgrown power of these churchmen. nevertheless, a first effort of the bishop of liege to seize on the rights of the count of louvain in met with a signal defeat, in a battle which took place at the little village of stongarde. and five years later, the count of the friesland marshes (_comes_frisonum_ _morsatenorum_) gave a still more severe lesson to the bishop of utrecht. this last merits a more particular mention from the nature of the quarrel and the importance of its results. chapter iv from the formation of holland to the death of louis de male a.d. -- the district in which dordrecht is situated, and the grounds in its environs which are at present submerged, formed in those times an island just raised above the waters, and which was called holland or holtland (which means _wooded_ land, or, according to some, _hollow_ land). the formation of this island, or rather its recovery from the waters, being only of recent date, the right to its possession was more disputable than that of long-established countries. all the bishops and abbots whose states bordered the rhine and the meuse had, being equally covetous and grasping, and mutually resolved to pounce on the prey, made it their common property. a certain count thierry, descended from the counts of ghent, governed about this period the western extremity of friesland--the country which now forms the province of holland; and with much difficulty maintained his power against the frisons, by whom his right was not acknowledged. beaten out of his own territories by these refractory insurgents, he sought refuge in the ecclesiastical island, where he intrenched himself, and founded a town which is believed to have been the origin of dordrecht. this count thierry, like all the feudal lords, took advantage of his position to establish and levy certain duties on all the vessels which sailed past his territory, dispossessing in the meantime some vassals of the church, and beating, as we have stated, the bishop of utrecht himself. complaints and appeals without number were laid at the foot of the imperial throne. godfrey of eenham, whom the emperor had created duke of lower lorraine, was commanded to call the whole country to arms. the bishop of liege, though actually dying, put himself at the head of the expedition, to revenge his brother prelate, and punish the audacious spoiler of the church property. but thierry and his fierce frisons took godfrey prisoner, and cut his army in pieces. the victor had the good sense and moderation to spare his prisoners, and set them free without ransom. he received in return an imperial amnesty; and from that period the count of holland and his posterity formed a barrier against which the ecclesiastical power and the remains of the imperial supremacy continually struggled, to be only shattered in each new assault. john egmont, an old chronicler, says that the counts of holland were "a sword in the flanks of the bishops of utrecht." as the partial independence of the great vassals became consolidated, the monarchs were proportionally anxious to prevent its perpetuation in the same families. in pursuance of this system, godfrey of eenham obtained the preference over the counts lambert and robert; and frederick of luxemburg was named duke of lower lorraine in , instead of a second godfrey, who was nephew and expectant heir to the first. but this godfrey, upheld by baldwin of flanders, forced the emperor to concede to him the inheritance of the dukedom. baldwin secured for his share the country of alost and waas, and the citadel of ghent; and he also succeeded in obtaining in marriage for his son the countess richilde, heiress of hainault and namur. thus was flanders incessantly gaining new aggrandizement, while the duchy of lorraine was crumbling away on every side. in the year this state of flanders, even then flourishing and powerful, furnished assistance, both in men and ships, to william the bastard of normandy, for the conquest of england. william was son-in-law to count baldwin, and recompensed the assistance of his wife's father by an annual payment of three hundred silver marks. it was mathilda, the flemish princess and wife of the conqueror, who worked with her own hands the celebrated tapestry of bayeux, on which is embroidered the whole history of the conquest, and which is the most curious monument of the state of the arts in that age. flanders acquired a positive and considerable superiority over all the other parts of the netherlands, from the first establishment of its counts or earls. the descendants of baldwin bras-de-fer, after having valiantly repulsed the normans toward the end of the ninth century, showed themselves worthy of ruling over an industrious and energetic people. they had built towns, cut down and cleared away forests, and reclaimed inundated lands: above all things, they had understood and guarded against the danger of parcelling out their states at every succeeding generation; and the county of flanders passed entire into the hands of the first-born of the family. the stability produced by this state of things had allowed the people to prosper. the normans now visited the coasts, not as enemies, but as merchants; and bruges became the mart of the booty acquired by these bold pirates in england and on the high seas. the fisheries had begun to acquire an importance sufficient to establish the herring as one of the chief aliments of the population. maritime commerce had made such strides that spain and portugal were well known to both sailors and traders, and the voyage from flanders to lisbon was estimated at fifteen days' sail. woollen stuffs formed the principal wealth of the country; but salt, corn, and jewelry were also important branches of traffic; while the youth of flanders were so famous for their excellence in all martial pursuits that foreign sovereigns were at all times desirous of obtaining bodies of troops from this nation. the greatest part of flanders was attached, as has been seen, to the king of france, and not to lorraine; but the dependence was little more than nominal. in the king of france attempted to exercise his authority over the country, by naming to the government the same countess richilde who had received hainault and namur for her dower, and who was left a widow, with sons still in their minority. the people assembled in the principal towns, and protested against this intervention of the french monarch. but we must remark that it was only the population of the low lands (whose sturdy ancestors had ever resisted foreign domination) that now took part in this opposition. the vassals which the counts of flanders possessed in the gallic provinces (the high grounds), and in general all the nobility, pronounced strongly for submission to france; for the principles of political freedom had not yet been fixed in the minds of the inhabitants of those parts of the country. but the lowlanders joined together under robert, surnamed the frison, brother of the deceased count; and they so completely defeated the french, the nobles and their unworthy associates of the high ground, that they despoiled the usurping countess richilde of even her hereditary possessions. in this war perished the celebrated norman, william fitz-osborn, who had flown to the succor of the defeated countess, of whom he was enamored. robert the frison, not satisfied with having beaten the king of france and the bishop of liege, reinstated in the grandson of thierry of holland in the possessions which had been forced from him by the duke of lower lorraine, in the name of the emperor and the bishop of utrecht; so that it was this valiant chieftain, who, above all others, is entitled to the praise of having successfully opposed the system of foreign domination on all the principal points of the country. four years later, othon of nassau was the first to unite in one county the various cantons of guelders. finally, in , henry of louvain, the direct descendant of lambert, joined to his title that of count of brabant; and from this period the country was partitioned pretty nearly as it was destined to remain for several centuries. in the midst of this gradual organization of the various counties, history for some time loses sight of those frisons, the maritime people of the north, who took little part in the civil wars of two centuries. but still there was no portion of europe which at that time offered a finer picture of social improvement than these damp and unhealthy coasts. the name of frisons extended from the weser to the westward of the zuyder zee, but not quite to the rhine; and it became usual to consider no longer as frisons the subjects of the counts of holland, whom we may now begin to distinguish as hollanders or dutch. the frison race alone refused to recognize the sovereign counts. they boasted of being self-governed; owning no allegiance but to the emperor, and regarding the counts of his nomination as so many officers charged to require obedience to the laws of the country, but themselves obliged in all things to respect them. but the counts of holland, the bishops of utrecht, and several german lords, dignified from time to time with the title of counts of friesland, insisted that it carried with it a personal authority superior to that of the sovereign they represented. the descendants of the count thierry, a race of men remarkably warlike, were the most violent in this assumption of power. defeat after defeat, however, punished their obstinacy; and numbers of those princes met death on the pikes of their frison opponents. the latter had no regular leaders; but at the approach of the enemy the inhabitants of each canton flew to arms, like the members of a single family; and all the feudal forces brought against them failed to subdue this popular militia. the frequent result of these collisions was the refusal of the frisons to recognize any authority whatever but that of the national judges. each canton was governed according to its own laws. if a difficulty arose, the deputies of the nation met together on the borders of the ems, in a place called "the trees of upstal" (_upstall-boomen_), where three old oaks stood in the middle of an immense plain. in this primitive council-place chieftains were chosen, who, on swearing to maintain the laws and oppose the common enemy, were invested with a limited and temporary authority. it does not appear that friesland possessed any large towns, with the exception of staveren. in this respect the frisons resembled those ancient germans who had a horror of shutting themselves up within walls. they lived in a way completely patriarchal; dwelling in isolated cabins, and with habits of the utmost frugality. we read in one of their old histories that a whole convent of benedictines was terrified at the voracity of a german sculptor who was repairing their chapel. they implored him to look elsewhere for his food; for that he and his sons consumed enough to exhaust the whole stock of the monastery. in no part of europe was the good sense of the people so effectively opposed to the unreasonable practices of catholicism in those days. the frisons successfully resisted the payment of tithes; and as a punishment (if the monks are to be believed) the sea inflicted upon them repeated inundations. they forced their priests to marry, saying that the man who had no wife necessarily sought for the wife of another. they acknowledged no ecclesiastical decree, if secular judges, double the number of the priests, did not bear a part in it. thus the spirit of liberty burst forth in all their proceedings, and they were justified in calling themselves _vri-vriesen_, free-frisons. no nation is more interested than england in the examination of all that concerns this remote corner of europe, so resolute in its opposition to both civil and religious tyranny; for it was there that those saxon institutions and principles were first developed without constraint, while the time of their establishment in england was still distant. restrained by our narrow limits, we can merely indicate this curious state of things; nor may we enter on many mysteries of social government which the most learned find a difficulty in solving. what were the rights of the nobles in their connection with these freemen? what ties of reciprocal interest bound the different cantons to each other? what were the privileges of the towns?--these are the minute but important points of detail which are overshadowed by the grand and imposing figure of the national independence. but in fact the emperors themselves, in these distant times, had little knowledge of this province, and spoke of it vaguely, and as it were at random, in their diplomas, the chief monuments of the history of the middle ages. the counts of holland and the apostolic nuncios addressed their acts and rescripts indiscriminately to the nobles, clergy, magistrates, judges, consuls, or commons of friesland. sometimes appeared in those documents the vague and imposing title of "the great frison," applied to some popular leader. all this confusion tends to prove, on the authority of the historians of the epoch, and the charters so carefully collected by the learned, that this question, now so impossible to solve, was even then not rightly understood--what were really those fierce and redoubtable frisons in their popular and political relations? the fact is, that liberty was a matter so difficult to be comprehended by the writers of those times that froissart gave as his opinion, about the year , that the frisons were a most unreasonable race, for not recognizing the authority and power of the great lords. the eleventh century had been for the netherlands (with the exception of friesland and flanders) an epoch of organization; and had nearly fixed the political existence of the provinces, which were so long confounded in the vast possessions of the empire. it is therefore important to ascertain under what influence and on what basis these provinces became consolidated at that period. holland and zealand, animated by the spirit which we may fairly distinguish under the mingled title of saxon and maritime, countries scarcely accessible, and with a vigorous population, possessed, in the descendants of thierry i., a race of national chieftains who did not attempt despotic rule over so unconquerable a people. in brabant, the maritime towns of berg-op-zoom and antwerp formed, in the flemish style, so many republics, small but not insignificant; while the southern parts of the province were under the sway of a nobility who crushed, trampled on, or sold their vassals at their pleasure or caprice. the bishopric of liege offered also the same contrast; the domains of the nobility being governed with the utmost harshness, while those prince-prelates lavished on their plebeian vassals privileges which might have been supposed the fruits of generosity, were it not clear that the object was to create an opposition in the lower orders against the turbulent aristocracy, whom they found it impossible to manage single-handed. the wars of these bishops against the petty nobles, who made their castles so many receptacles of robbers and plunder, were thus the foundation of public liberty. and it appears tolerably certain that the paladins of ariosto were in reality nothing more than those brigand chieftains of the ardennes, whose ruined residences preserve to this day the names which the poet borrowed from the old romance writers. but in all the rest of the netherlands, excepting the provinces already mentioned, no form of government existed, but that fierce feudality which reduced the people into serfs, and turned the social state of man into a cheerless waste of bondage. it was then that the crusades, with wild and stirring fanaticism, agitated, in the common impulse given to all europe, even those little states which seemed to slumber in their isolated independence. nowhere did the voice of peter the hermit find a more sympathizing echo than in these lands, still desolated by so many intestine struggles. godfrey of bouillon, duke of lower lorraine, took the lead in this chivalric and religious frenzy. with him set out the counts of hainault and flanders; the latter of whom received from the english crusaders the honorable appellation of fitz st. george. but although the valor of all these princes was conspicuous, from the foundation of the kingdom of jerusalem by godfrey of bouillon in , until that of the latin empire of constantinople by baldwin of flanders in , still the simple gentlemen and peasants of friesland did not less distinguish themselves. they were, on all occasions, the first to mount the breach or lead the charge; and the pope's nuncio found himself forced to prohibit the very women of friesland from embarking for the holy land--so anxious were they to share the perils and glory of their husbands and brothers in combating the saracens. the outlet given by the crusaders to the overboiling ardor of these warlike countries was a source of infinite advantage to their internal economy; under the rapid progress of civilization, the population increased and the fields were cultivated. the nobility, reduced to moderation by the enfeebling consequences of extensive foreign wars, became comparatively impotent in their attempted efforts against domestic freedom. those of flanders and brabant, also, were almost decimated in the terrible battle of bouvines, fought between the emperor othon and philip augustus, king of france. on no occasion, however, had this reduced but not degenerate nobility shown more heroic valor. the flemish knights, disdaining to mount their horses or form their ranks for the repulse of the french cavalry, composed of common persons, contemptuously received their shock on foot and in the disorder of individual resistance. the brave buridan of ypres led his comrades to the fight, with the chivalric war-cry, "let each now think of her he loves!" but the issue of this battle was ruinous to the belgians, in consequence of the bad generalship of the emperor, who had divided his army into small portions, which were defeated in detail. while the nobility thus declined, the towns began rapidly to develop the elements of popular force. in , a flemish knight who might descend so far as to marry a woman of the plebeian ranks incurred the penalty of degradation and servitude. in , scarcely a serf was to be found in all flanders. the countess jane had enfranchised all those belonging to her as early as . in , the chiefs of the gilden, or trades, were more powerful than the nobles. these dates and these facts must suffice to mark the epoch at which the great mass of the nation arose from the wretchedness in which it was plunged by the norman invasion, and acquired sufficient strength and freedom to form a real political force. but it is remarkable that the same results took place in all the counties or dukedoms of the lowlands precisely at the same period. in fact, if we start from the year on this interesting inquiry, we shall see the commons attacking, in the first place, the petty feudal lords, and next the counts and the dukes themselves, often as justice was denied them. in , the peasants of holland and the burghers of utrecht proclaimed freedom and equality, drove out the bishop and the nobles, and began a memorable struggle which lasted full two hundred years. in , the townspeople of flanders appealed to the king of france against the decrees of their count, who ended the quarrel by the loss of his county. in , mechlin and louvain, the chief towns of brabant, expelled the patrician families. a coincidence like this cannot be attributed to trifling or partial causes, such as the misconduct of a single count, or other local evil; but to a great general movement in the popular mind, the progress of agriculture and industry in the whole country, superinducing an increase of wealth and intelligence, which, when unrestrained by the influence of a corrupt government, must naturally lead to the liberty and the happiness of a people. the weaving of woollen and linen cloths was one of the chief sources of this growing prosperity. a prodigious quantity of cloth and linen was manufactured in all parts of the netherlands. the maritime prosperity acquired an equal increase by the carrying trade, both in imports and exports. whole fleets of dutch and flemish merchant ships repaired regularly to the coasts of spain and languedoc. flanders was already become the great market for england and all the north of europe. the great increase of population forced all parts of the country into cultivation; so much so, that lands were in those times sold at a high price, which are to-day left waste from imputed sterility. legislation naturally followed the movements of those positive and material interests. the earliest of the towns, after the invasion of the normans, were in some degree but places of refuge. it was soon however, established that the regular inhabitants of these bulwarks of the country should not be subjected to any servitude beyond their care and defence; but the citizen who might absent himself for a longer period than forty days was considered a deserter and deprived of his rights. it was about the year that the commons began to possess the privilege of regulating their internal affairs; they appointed their judges and magistrates, and attached to their authority the old custom of ordering all the citizens to assemble or march when the summons of the feudal lord sounded the signal for their assemblage or service. by this means each municipal magistracy had the disposal of a force far superior to those of the nobles, for the population of the towns exceeded both in number and discipline the vassals of the seigniorial lands. and these trained bands of the towns made war in a way very different from that hitherto practiced; for the chivalry of the country, making the trade of arms a profession for life, the feuds of the chieftains produced hereditary struggles, almost always slow, and mutually disastrous. but the townsmen, forced to tear themselves from every association of home and its manifold endearments, advanced boldly to the object of the contest; never shrinking from the dangers of war, from fear of that still greater to be found in a prolonged struggle. it is this that it may be remarked, during the memorable conflicts of the thirteenth century, that when even the bravest of the knights advised their counts or dukes to grant or demand a truce, the citizen militia never knew but one cry--"to the charge!" evidence was soon given of the importance of this new nation, when it became forced to take up arms against enemies still more redoubtable than the counts. in , the flemings, who had abandoned their own sovereign to attach themselves to philip the fair, king of france, began to repent of their newly-formed allegiance, and to be weary of the master they had chosen. two citizens of bruges, peter de koning, a draper, and john breydel, a butcher, put themselves at the head of their fellow-townsmen, and completely dislodged the french troops who garrisoned it. the following year the militia of bruges and the immediate neighborhood sustained alone, at the battle of courtrai, the shock of one of the finest armies that france ever sent into the field. victory soon declared for the gallant men of bruges; upward of three thousand of the french chivalry, besides common soldiers, were left dead on the field. in , after a long contested battle, the flemings forced the king of france to release their count, whom he had held prisoner. "i believe it rains flemings!" said philip, astonished to see them crowd on him from all sides of the field. but this multitude of warriors, always ready to meet the foe, were provided for the most part by the towns. in the seigniorial system a village hardly furnished more than four or five men, and these only on important occasions; but in that of the towns every citizen was enrolled as a soldier to defend the country at all times. the same system established in brabant forced the duke of that province to sanction and guarantee the popular privileges, and the superiority of the people over the nobility. such was the result of the famous contract concluded in at cortenbergh, by which the duke created a legislative and judicial assembly to meet every twenty-one days for the, provincial business; and to consist of fourteen deputies, of whom only four were to be nobles, and ten were chosen from the people. the duke was bound by this act to hold himself in obedience to the legislative decisions of the council, and renounced all right of levying arbitrary taxes or duties on the state. thus were the local privileges of the people by degrees secured and ratified; but the various towns, making common cause for general liberty, became strictly united together, and progressively extended their influence and power. the confederation between flanders and brabant was soon consolidated. the burghers of bruges, who had taken the lead in the grand national union, and had been the foremost to expel the foreign force, took umbrage in at an arbitrary measure of their count, louis (called of cressy by posthumous nomination, from his having been killed at that celebrated fight), by which he ceded to the count of namur, his great-uncle, the port of ecluse, and authorized him to levy duties there in the style of the feudal lords of the high country. it was but the affair of a day to the intrepid citizens to attack the fortress of ecluse, carry it by assault, and take prisoner the old count of namur. they destroyed in a short time almost all the strong castles of the nobles throughout the province; and having been joined by all the towns of western flanders, they finally made prisoners of count louis himself, with almost the whole of the nobility, who had taken refuge with him in the town of courtrai. but ghent, actuated by the jealousy which at all times existed between it and bruges, stood aloof at this crisis. the latter town was obliged to come to a compromise with the count, who soon afterward, on a new quarrel breaking out, and supported by the king of france, almost annihilated his sturdy opponents at the battle of cassel, where the flemish infantry, commanded by nicholas zannekin and others, were literally cut to pieces by the french knights and men-at-arms. this check proved the absolute necessity of union among the rival cities. ten years after the battle of cassel, ghent set the example of general opposition; this example was promptly followed, and the chief towns flew to arms. the celebrated james d'artaveldt, commonly called the brewer of ghent, put himself at the head of this formidable insurrection. he was a man of a distinguished family, who had himself enrolled among the guild of brewers, to entitle him to occupy a place in the corporation of ghent, which he soon succeeded in managing and leading at his pleasure. the tyranny of the count, and the french party which supported him, became so intolerable to artaveldt, that he resolved to assail them at all hazards, unappalled by the fate of his father-in-law, sohier de courtrai, who lost his head for a similar attempt, and notwithstanding the hitherto devoted fidelity of his native city to the count. one only object seemed insurmountable. the flemings had sworn allegiance to the crown of france; and they revolted at the idea of perjury, even from an extorted oath. but to overcome their scruples, artaveldt proposed to acknowledge the claim of edward iii. of england to the french crown. the flemings readily acceded to this arrangement; quickly overwhelmed count louis of cressy and his french partisans; and then joined, with an army of sixty thousand men, the english monarch, who had landed at antwerp. these numerous auxiliaries rendered edward's army irresistible; and soon afterward the french and english fleets, both of formidable power, but the latter of inferior force, met near sluys, and engaged in a battle meant to be decisive of the war: victory remained doubtful during an entire day of fighting, until a flemish squadron, hastening to the aid of the english, fixed the fate of the combat by the utter defeat of the enemy. a truce between the two kings did not deprive artaveldt of his well-earned authority. he was invested with the title of ruward, or conservator of the peace, of flanders, and governed the whole province with almost sovereign sway. it was said that king edward used familiarly to call him "his dear gossip"; and it is certain that there was not a feudal lord of the time whose power was not eclipsed by this leader of the people. one of the principal motives which cemented the attachment of the flemings to artaveldt was the advantage obtained through his influence with edward for facilitating the trade with england, whence they procured the chief supply of wool for their manufactories. edward promised them seventy thousand sacks as the reward of their alliance. but though greatly influenced by the stimulus of general interest, the flemings loved their domestic liberty better than english wool; and when they found that their ruward degenerated from a firm patriot into the partisan of a foreign prince, they became disgusted with him altogether; and he perished in , in a tumult raised against him by those by whom he had been so lately idolized. the flemings held firm, nevertheless, in their alliance with england, only regulating the connection by a steady principle of national independence. edward knew well how to conciliate and manage these faithful and important auxiliaries during all his continental wars. a flemish army covered the siege of calais in ; and, under the command of giles de rypergherste, a mere weaver of ghent, they beat the dauphin of france in a pitched battle. but calais once taken, and a truce concluded, the english king abandoned his allies. these, left wholly to their own resources, forced the french and the heir of their count, young louis de male, to recognize their right to self-government according to their ancient privileges, and of not being forced to give aid to france in any war against england. flanders may therefore be pronounced as forming, at this epoch, both in right and fact, a truly independent principality. but such struggles as these left a deep and immovable sentiment of hatred in the minds of the vanquished. louis de male longed for the re-establishment and extension of his authority; and had the art to gain over to his views not only all the nobles, but many of the most influential guilds or trades. ghent, which long resisted his attempts, was at length reduced by famine; and the count projected the ruin, or at least the total subjection, of this turbulent town. a son of artaveldt started forth at this juncture, when the popular cause seemed lost, and joining with his fellow-citizens, john lyons and peter du bois, he led seven thousand resolute burghers against forty thousand feudal vassals. he completely defeated the count, and took the town of bruges, where louis de male only obtained safety by hiding himself under the bed of an old woman who gave him shelter. thus once more feudality was defeated in a fresh struggle with civic freedom. the consequences of this event were immense. they reached to the very heart of france, where the people bore in great discontent the feudal yoke; and froissart declares that the success of the people of gheut had nearly overthrown the superiority of the nobility over the people in france. but the king, charles vi., excited by his uncle, philip the bold, duke of burgundy, took arms in support of the defeated count, and marched with a powerful army against the rebellious burghers. though defeated in four successive combats, in the latter of which, that of roosbeke, artaveldt was killed, the flemings would not submit to their imperious count, who used every persuasion with charles to continue his assistance for the punishment of these refractory subjects. but the duke of burgundy was aware that a too great perseverance would end, either in driving the people to despair and the possible defeat of the french, or the entire conquest of the country and its junction to the crown of france. he, being son-in-law to louis de male, and consequently aspiring to the inheritance of flanders, saw with a keen glance the advantage of a present compromise. on the death of louis, who is stated to have been murdered by philip's brother, the duke of berri, be concluded a peace with the rebel burghers, and entered at once upon the sovereignty of the country. chapter v from the succession of philip the bold to the county of flanders, to the death of philip the fair a.d. -- thus the house of burgundy, which soon after became so formidable and celebrated, obtained this vast accession to its power. the various changes which had taken place in the neighboring provinces during the continuance of these civil wars had altered the state of flanders altogether. john d'avesnes, count of hainault, having also succeeded in to the county of holland, the two provinces, though separated by flanders and brabant, remained from that time under the government of the same chief, who soon became more powerful than the bishops of utrecht, or even than their formidable rivals the frisons. during the wars which desolated these opposing territories, in consequence of the perpetual conflicts for superiority, the power of the various towns insensibly became at least as great as that of the nobles to whom they were constantly opposed. the commercial interests of holland, also, were considerably advanced by the influx of flemish merchants forced to seek refuge there from the convulsions which agitated their province. every day confirmed and increased the privileges of the people of brabant; while at liege the inhabitants gradually began to gain the upper hand, and to shake off the former subjection to their sovereign bishops. although philip of burgundy became count of flanders, by the death of his father-in-law, in the year , it was not till the following year that he concluded a peace with the people of ghent, and entered into quiet possession of the province. in the same year the duchess of brabant, the last descendant of the duke of that province, died, leaving no nearer relative than the duchess of burgundy; so that philip obtained in right of his wife this new and important accession to his dominions. but the consequent increase of the sovereign's power was not, as is often the case, injurious to the liberties or happiness of the people. philip continued to govern in the interest of the country, which he had the good sense to consider as identified with his own. he augmented the privileges of the towns, and negotiated for the return into flanders of those merchants who had emigrated to germany and holland during the continuance of the civil wars. he thus by degrees accustomed his new subjects, so proud of their rights, to submit to his authority; and his peaceable reign was only disturbed by the fatal issue of the expedition of his son, john the fearless, count of nevers, against the turks. this young prince, filled with ambition and temerity, was offered the command of the force sent by charles iii. of france to the assistance of sigismund of hungary in his war against bajazet. followed by a numerous body of nobles, he entered on the contest, and was defeated and taken prisoner by the turks at the battle of nicopolis. his army was totally destroyed, and himself only restored to liberty on the payment of an immense ransom. john the fearless succeeded in to the inheritance of all his father's dominions, with the exception of brabant, of which his younger brother, anthony of burgundy, became duke. john, whose ambitious and ferocious character became every day more strongly developed, now aspired to the government of france during the insanity of his cousin charles vi. he occupied himself little with the affairs of the netherlands, from which he only desired to draw supplies of men. but the flemings, taking no interest in his personal views or private projects, and equally indifferent to the rivalry of england and france, which now began so fearfully to affect the latter kingdom, forced their ambitious count to declare their province a neutral country; so that the english merchants were admitted as usual to trade in all the ports of flanders, and the flemings equally well received in england, while the duke made open war against great britain in his quality of a prince of france and sovereign of burgundy. this is probably the earliest well-established instance of such a distinction between the prince and the people. anthony, duke of brabant, the brother of philip, was not so closely restricted in his authority and wishes. he led all the nobles of the province to take part in the quarrels of france; and he suffered the penalty of his rashness in meeting his death in the battle of agincourt. but the duchy suffered nothing by this event, for the militia of the country had not followed their duke and his nobles to the war; and a national council was now established, consisting of eleven persons, two of whom were ecclesiastics, three barons, two knights, and four commoners. this council, formed on principles so fairly popular, conducted the public affairs with great wisdom during the minority of the young duke. each province seems thus to have governed itself upon principles of republican independence. the sovereigns could not at discretion, or by the want of it, play the bloody game of war for their mere amusement; and the emperor putting in his claim at this epoch to his ancient rights of sovereignty over brabant, as an imperial fief, the council and the people treated the demand with derision. the spirit of constitutional liberty and legal equality which now animated the various provinces is strongly marked in the history of the time by two striking and characteristic incidents. at the death of philip the bold, his widow deposited on his tomb her purse, and the keys which she carried at her girdle in token of marriage; and by this humiliating ceremony she renounced her rights to a succession overloaded with her husband's debts. in the same year ( ) the widow of albert, count of holland and hainault, finding herself in similar circumstances, required of the bailiff of holland and the judges of his court permission to make a like renunciation. the claim was granted; and, to fulfil the requisite ceremony, she walked at the head of the funeral procession, carrying in her hand a blade of straw, which she placed on the coffin. we thus find that in such cases the reigning families were held liable to follow the common usages of the country. from such instances there required but little progress in the principle of equality to reach the republican contempt for rank which made the citizens of bruges in the following century arrest their count for his private debts. the spirit of independence had reached the same point at liege. the families of the counts of holland and hainault, which were at this time distinguished by the name of bavaria, because they were only descended from the ancient counts of netherland extraction in the female line, had sufficient influence to obtain the nomination to the bishopric for a prince who was at the period in his infancy. john of bavaria--for so he was called, and to his name was afterward added the epithet of "the pitiless"--on reaching his majority, did not think it necessary to cause himself to be consecrated a priest, but governed as a lay sovereign. the indignant citizens of liege expelled him, and chose another bishop. but the houses of burgundy and bavaria, closely allied by intermarriages, made common cause in his quarrel; and john, duke of burgundy, and william iv., count of holland and hainault, brother of the bishop, replaced by force this cruel and unworthy prelate. this union of the government over all the provinces in two families so closely connected rendered the preponderance of the rulers too strong for that balance hitherto kept steady by the popular force. the former could on each new quarrel join together, and employ against any particular town their whole united resources; whereas the latter could only act by isolated efforts for the maintenance of their separate rights. such was the cause of a considerable decline in public liberty during the fifteenth century. it is true that john the fearless gave almost his whole attention to his french political intrigues, and to the fierce quarrels which he maintained with the house of orleans. but his nephew, john, duke of brabant, having married, in , his cousin jacqueline, daughter and heiress of william iv., count of holland and hainault, this branch of the house of burgundy seemed to get the start of the elder in its progressive influence over the provinces of the netherlands. the dukes of guelders, who had changed their title of counts for one of superior rank, acquired no accession of power proportioned to their new dignity. the bishops of utrecht became by degrees weaker; private dissensions enfeebled friesland; luxemburg was a poor, unimportant dukedom; but holland, hainault, and brabant formed the very heart of the netherlands; while the elder branch of the same family, under whom they were united, possessed flanders, artois, and the two burgundies. to complete the prosperity and power of this latter branch, it was soon destined to inherit the entire dominions of the other. a fact the consequences of which were so important for the entire of europe merits considerable attention; but it is most difficult to explain at once concisely and clearly the series of accidents, manoeuvres, tricks, and crimes by which it was accomplished. it must first be remarked that this john of brabant, become the husband of his cousin jacqueline, countess of holland and hainault, possessed neither the moral nor physical qualities suited to mate with the most lovely, intrepid, and talented woman of her times; nor the vigor and firmness required for the maintenance of an increased, and for those days a considerable, dominion. jacqueline thoroughly despised her insignificant husband; first in secret, and subsequently by those open avowals forced from her by his revolting combination of weakness, cowardice, and tyranny. he tamely allowed the province of holland to be invaded by the same ungrateful bishop of liege, john the pitiless, whom his wife's father and his own uncle had re-established in his justly forfeited authority. but john of brabant revenged himself for his wife's contempt by a series of domestic persecutions so odious that the states of brabant interfered for her protection. finding it, however, impossible to remain in a perpetual contest with a husband whom she hated and despised, she fled from brussels, where he held his ducal court, and took refuge in england, under the protection of henry v., at that time in the plenitude of his fame and power. england at this epoch enjoyed the proudest station in european affairs. john the fearless, after having caused the murder of his rival, the duke of orleans, was himself assassinated on the bridge of montereau by the followers of the dauphin of france, and in his presence. philip, duke of burgundy, the son and successor of john, had formed a close alliance with henry v., to revenge his father's murder; and soon after the death of the king he married his sister, and thus united himself still more nearly to the celebrated john, duke of bedford, brother of henry, and regent of france, in the name of his infant nephew, henry vi. but besides the share on which he reckoned in the spoils of france, philip also looked with a covetous eye on the inheritance of jacqueline, his cousin. as soon as he had learned that this princess, so well received in england, was taking measures for having her marriage annulled, to enable her to espouse the duke of gloucester, also the brother of henry v., and subsequently known by the appellation of "the good duke humphrey," he was tormented by a double anxiety. he, in the first place, dreaded that jacqueline might have children by her projected marriage with gloucester (a circumstance neither likely nor even possible, in the opinion of some historians, to result from her union with john of brabant: hume, vol. iii., p. ), and thus deprive him of his right of succession to her states; and in the next, he was jealous of the possible domination of england in the netherlands as well as in france. he therefore soon became self-absolved from all his vows of revenge in the cause of his murdered father, and labored solely for the object of his personal aggrandizement. to break his connection with bedford; to treat secretly with the dauphin, his father's assassin, or at least the witness and warrant for his assassination; and to shuffle from party to party as occasion required, were movements of no difficulty to philip, surnamed "the good." he openly espoused the cause of his infamous relative, john of brabant; sent a powerful army into hainault, which gloucester vainly strove to defend in right of his affianced wife; and next seized on holland and zealand, where he met with a long but ineffectual resistance on the part of the courageous woman he so mercilessly oppressed. jacqueline, deprived of the assistance of her stanch but ruined friends,[ ] and abandoned by gloucester (who, on the refusal of pope martin v. to sanction her divorce, had married another woman, and but feebly aided the efforts of the former to maintain her rights), was now left a widow by the death of john of brabant. but philip, without a shadow of justice, pursued his designs against her dominions, and finally despoiled her of her last possessions, and even of the title of countess, which she forfeited by her marriage with vrank van borselen, a gentleman of zealand, contrary to a compact to which philip's tyranny had forced her to consent. after a career the most checkered and romantic which is recorded in history, the beautiful and hitherto unfortunate jacqueline found repose and happiness in the tranquillity of private life, and her death in , at the age of thirty-six, removed all restraint from philip's thirst for aggrandizement, in the indulgence of which he drowned his remorse. as if fortune had conspired for the rapid consolidation of his greatness, the death of philip, count of st. pol, who had succeeded his brother john in the dukedom of brabant, gave him the sovereignty of that extensive province; and his dominions soon extended to the very limits of picardy, by the peace of arras, concluded with the dauphin, now become charles vii., and by his finally contracting a strict alliance with france. [footnote : we must not omit to notice the existence of two factions, which, for near two centuries, divided and agitated the whole population of holland and zealand. one bore the title of _hoeks_ (fishing-hooks); the other was called _kaabel-jauws_ (cod-fish). the origin of these burlesque denominations was a dispute between two parties at a feast, as to whether the cod-fish took the hook or the hook the cod-fish? this apparently frivolous dispute was made the pretext for a serious quarrel; and the partisans of the nobles and those of the towns ranged themselves at either side, and assumed different badges of distinction. the _hoeks_, partisans of the towns, wore red caps; the _kaabeljauws_ wore gray ones. in jacqueline's quarrel with philip of burgundy, she was supported by the former; and it was not till the year that the extinction of that popular and turbulent faction struck a final blow to the dissensions of both.] philip of burgundy, thus become sovereign of dominions at once so extensive and compact, had the precaution and address to obtain from the emperor a formal renunciation of his existing, though almost nominal, rights as lord paramount. he next purchased the title of the duchess of luxemburg to that duchy; and thus the states of the house of burgundy gained an extent about equal to that of the existing kingdom of the netherlands. for although on the north and east they did not include friesland, the bishopric of utrecht, guelders, or the province of liege, still on the south and west they comprised french flanders, the boulonnais, artois, and a part of picardy, besides burgundy. but it has been already seen how limited an authority was possessed by the rulers of the maritime provinces. flanders in particular, the most populous and wealthy, strictly preserved its republican institutions. ghent and bruges were the two great towns of the province, and each maintained its individual authority over its respective territory, with great indifference to the will or the wishes of the sovereign duke. philip, however, had the policy to divide most effectually these rival towns. after having fallen into the hands of the people of bruges, whom he made a vain attempt to surprise, and who massacred numbers of his followers before his eyes, he forced them to submission by the assistance of the citizens of ghent, who sanctioned the banishment of the chief men of the vanquished town. but some years later ghent was in its turn oppressed and punished for having resisted the payment of some new tax. it found no support from the rest of flanders. nevertheless this powerful city singly maintained the war for the space of two years; but the intrepid burghers finally yielded to the veterans of the duke, formed to victory in the french wars. the principal privileges of ghent were on this occasion revoked and annulled. during these transactions the province of holland, which enjoyed a degree of liberty almost equal to flanders, had declared war against the hanseatic towns on its own proper authority. supported by zealand, which formed a distinct country, but was strictly united to it by a common interest, holland equipped a fleet against the pirates which infested their coasts and assailed their commerce, and soon forced them to submission. philip in the meantime contrived to manage the conflicting elements of his power with great subtlety. notwithstanding his ambitious and despotic character, he conducted himself so cautiously that his people by common consent confirmed his title of "the good," which was somewhat inappropriately given to him at the very epoch when he appeared to deserve it least. age and exhaustion may be adduced among the causes of the toleration which signalized his latter years; and if he was the usurper of some parts of his dominions, he cannot be pronounced a tyrant over any. philip had an only son, born and reared in the midst of that ostentatious greatness which he looked on as his own by divine right; whereas his father remembered that it had chiefly become his by fortuitous acquirement, and much of it by means not likely to look well in the sight of heaven. this son was charles, count of charolois, afterward celebrated under the name of charles the rash. he gave, even in the lifetime of his father, a striking specimen of despotism to the people of holland. appointed stadtholder of that province in , he appropriated to himself several important successions; forced the inhabitants to labor in the formation of dikes for the security of the property thus acquired; and, in a word, conducted himself as an absolute master. soon afterward he broke out into open opposition to his father, who had complained of this undutiful and impetuous son to the states of the provinces, venting his grief in lamentations instead of punishing his people's wrongs. but his private rage burst forth one day in a manner as furious as his public expressions were tame. he went so far as to draw his sword on charles and pursue him through his palace; and a disgusting yet instructive spectacle it was, to see this father and son in mutual and disgraceful discord, like two birds of prey quarrelling in the same eyry; the old count outrageous to find he was no longer undisputed sovereign, and the young one in feeling that he had not yet become so. but philip was declining daily. yet even when dying he preserved his natural haughtiness and energy; and being provoked by the insubordination of the people of liege, he had himself carried to the scene of their punishment. the refractory town of dinant, on the meuse, was utterly destroyed by the two counts, and six hundred of the citizens drowned in the river, and in cold blood. the following year philip expired, leaving to charles his long-wished-for inheritance. the reign of philip had produced a revolution in belgian manners; for his example and the great increase of wealth had introduced habits of luxury hitherto quite unknown. he had also brought into fashion romantic notions of military honor, love, and chivalry; which, while they certainly softened the character of the nobility, contained nevertheless a certain mixture of frivolity and extravagance. the celebrated order of the golden fleece, which was introduced by philip, was less an institution based on grounds of rational magnificence than a puerile emblem of his passion for isabella of portugal, his third wife. the verses of a contemporary poet induced him to make a vow for the conquest of constantinople from the turks. he certainly never attempted to execute this senseless crusade; but he did not omit so fair an opportunity for levying new taxes on his people. and it is undoubted that the splendor of his court and the immorality of his example were no slight sources of corruption to the countries which he governed. in this respect, at least, a totally different kind of government was looked for on the part of his son and successor, who was by nature and habit a mere soldier. charles began his career by seizing on all the money and jewels left by his father; he next dismissed the crowd of useless functionaries who had fed upon, under the pretence of managing, the treasures of the state. but this salutary and sweeping reform was only effected to enable the sovereign to pursue uncontrolled the most fatal of all passions, that of war. nothing can better paint the true character of this haughty and impetuous prince than his crest (a branch of holly), and his motto, "who touches it, pricks himself." charles had conceived a furious and not ill-founded hatred for his base yet formidable neighbor and rival, louis xi. of france. the latter had succeeded in obtaining from philip the restitution of some towns in picardy; cause sufficient to excite the resentment of his inflammable successor, who, during his father's lifetime, took open part with some of the vassals of france in a temporary struggle against the throne. louis, who had been worsted in a combat where both he and charles bore a part, was not behindhand in his hatred. but inasmuch as one was haughty, audacious, and intemperate, the other was cunning, cool, and treacherous. charles was the proudest, most daring, and most unmanageable prince that ever made the sword the type and the guarantee of greatness; louis the most subtle, dissimulating, and treacherous king that ever wove in his closet a tissue of hollow diplomacy and bad faith in government. the struggle between these sovereigns was unequal only in respect to this difference of character; for france, subdivided as it still was, and exhausted by the wars with england, was not comparable, either as regarded men, money, or the other resources of the state, to the compact and prosperous dominions of burgundy. charles showed some symptoms of good sense and greatness of mind, soon after his accession to power, that gave a false coloring to his disposition, and encouraged illusory hopes as to his future career. scarcely was he proclaimed count of flanders at ghent, when the populace, surrounding his hotel, absolutely insisted on and extorted his consent to the restitution of their ancient privileges. furious as charles was at this bold proof of insubordination, he did not revenge it; and he treated with equal indulgence the city of mechlin, which had expelled its governor and razed the citadel. the people of liege, having revolted against their bishop, louis of bourbon, who was closely connected with the house of burgundy, were defeated by the duke in , but he treated them with clemency; and immediately after this event, in february, , he concluded with edward iv. of england an alliance, offensive and defensive, against france. the real motive of this alliance was rivalry and hatred against louis. the ostensible pretext was this monarch's having made war against the duke of brittany, charles's old ally in the short contest in which he, while yet but count, had measured his strength with his rival after he became king. the present union between england and burgundy was too powerful not to alarm louis; he demanded an explanatory conference with charles, and the town of peronne in picardy was fixed on for their meeting. louis, willing to imitate the boldness of his rival, who had formerly come to meet him in the very midst of his army, now came to the rendezvous almost alone. but he was severely mortified and near paying a greater penalty than fright for this hazardous conduct. the duke, having received intelligence of a new revolt at liege excited by some of the agents of france, instantly made louis prisoner, in defiance of every law of honor or fair dealing. the excess of his rage and hatred might have carried him to a more disgraceful extremity, had not louis, by force of bribery, gained over some of his most influential counsellors, who succeeded in appeasing his rage. he contented himself with humiliating, when he was disposed to punish. he forced his captive to accompany him to liege, and witness the ruin of this unfortunate town, which he delivered over to plunder; and having given this lesson to louis, he set him at liberty. from this period there was a marked and material change in the conduct of charles. he had been previously moved by sentiments of chivalry and notions of greatness. but sullied by his act of public treachery and violence toward the monarch who had, at least in seeming, manifested unlimited confidence in his honor, a secret sense of shame embittered his feelings and soured his temper. he became so insupportable to those around him that he was abandoned by several of his best officers, and even by his natural brother, baldwin of burgundy, who passed over to the side of louis. charles was at this time embarrassed by the expense of entertaining and maintaining edward iv. and numerous english exiles, who were forced to take refuge in the netherlands by the successes of the earl of warwick, who had replaced henry vi. on the throne. charles at the same time held out to several princes in europe hopes of bestowing on them in marriage his only daughter and heiress mary, while he privately assured his friends, if his courtiers and ministers may be so called, "that he never meant to have a son-in-law until he was disposed to make himself a monk." in a word, he was no longer guided by any principle but that of fierce and brutal selfishness. in this mood he soon became tired of the service of his nobles and of the national militia, who only maintained toward him a forced and modified obedience founded on the usages and rights of their several provinces; and he took into his pay all sorts of adventurers and vagabonds who were willing to submit to him as their absolute master. when the taxes necessary for the support and pay of these bands of mercenaries caused the people to murmur, charles laughed at their complaints, and severely punished some of the most refractory. he then entered france at the head of his army, to assist the duke of brittany; but at the moment when nothing seemed to oppose the most extensive views of his ambition he lost by his hot-brained caprice every advantage within his easy reach: he chose to sit down before beauvais; and thus made of this town, which lay in his road, a complete stumbling-block on his path of conquest. the time he lost before its walls caused the defeat and ruin of his unsupported, or as might be said his abandoned, ally, who made the best terms he could with louis; and thus charles's presumption and obstinacy paralyzed all the efforts of his courage and power. but he soon afterward acquired the duchy of guelders from the old duke arnoul, who had been temporarily despoiled of it by his son adolphus. it was almost a hereditary consequence in this family that the children should revolt and rebel against their parents. adolphus had the effrontery to found his justification on the argument that his father having reigned forty-four years, he was fully entitled to his share--a fine practical authority for greedy and expectant heirs. the old father replied to this reasoning by offering to meet his son in single combat. charles cut short the affair by making adolphus prisoner and seizing on the disputed territory; for which he, however, paid arnoul the sum of two hundred and twenty thousand florins. after this acquisition charles conceived and had much at heart the design of becoming king, the first time that the netherlands were considered sufficiently important and consolidated to entitle their possessor to that title. to lead to this object he offered to the emperor of germany the hand of his daughter mary for his son maximilian. the emperor acceded to this proposition, and repaired to the city of treves to meet charles and countenance his coronation. but the insolence and selfishness of the latter put an end to the project. he humiliated the emperor, who was of a niggardly and mean-spirited disposition, by appearing with a train so numerous and sumptuous as totally to eclipse the imperial retinue; and deeply offended him by wishing to postpone the marriage, from his jealousy of creating for himself a rival in a son-in-law who might embitter his old age as he had done that of his own father. the mortified emperor quitted the place in high dudgeon, and the projected kingdom was doomed to a delay of some centuries. charles, urged on by the double motive of thirst for aggrandizement and vexation at his late failure, attempted, under pretext of some internal dissensions, to gain possession of cologne and its territory, which belonged to the empire; and at the same time planned the invasion of france, in concert with his brother-in-law edward iv., who had recovered possession of england. but the town of nuys, in the archbishopric of cologne, occupied him a full year before its walls. the emperor, who came to its succor, actually besieged the besiegers in their camp; and the dispute was terminated by leaving it to the arbitration of the pope's legate, and placing the contested town in his keeping. this half triumph gained by charles saved louis wholly from destruction. edward, who had landed in france with a numerous force, seeing no appearance of his burgundian allies, made peace with louis; and charles, who arrived in all haste, but not till after the treaty was signed, upbraided and abused the english king, and turned a warm friend into an inveterate enemy. louis, whose crooked policy had so far succeeded on all occasions, now seemed to favor charles's plans of aggrandizement, and to recognize his pretended right to lorraine, which legitimately belonged to the empire, and the invasion of which by charles would be sure to set him at variance with the whole of germany. the infatuated duke, blind to the ruin to which he was thus hurrying, abandoned to louis, in return for this insidious support, the constable of st. pol; a nobleman who had long maintained his independence in picardy, where he had large possessions, and who was fitted to be a valuable friend or formidable enemy to either. charles now marched against, and soon overcame, lorraine. thence he turned his army against the swiss, who were allies to the conquered province, but who sent the most submissive dissuasions to the invader. they begged for peace, assuring charles that their romantic but sterile mountains were not altogether worth the bridles of his splendidly equipped cavalry. but the more they humbled themselves, the higher was his haughtiness raised. it appeared that he had at this period conceived the project of uniting in one common conquest the ancient dominions of lothaire i., who had possessed the whole of the countries traversed by the rhine, the rhone, and the po; and he even spoke of passing the alps, like hannibal, for the invasion of italy. switzerland was, by moral analogy as well as physical fact, the rock against which these extravagant projects were shattered. the army of charles, which engaged the hardy mountaineers in the gorges of the alps near the town of granson, were literally crushed to atoms by the stones and fragments of granite detached from the heights and hurled down upon their heads. charles, after this defeat, returned to the charge six weeks later, having rallied his army and drawn reinforcements from burgundy. but louis had despatched a body of cavalry to the swiss--a force in which they were before deficient; and thus augmented, their army amounted to thirty-four thousand men. they took up a position, skilfully chosen, on the borders of the lake of morat, where they were attacked by charles at the head of sixty thousand soldiers of all ranks. the result was the total defeat of the latter, with the loss of ten thousand killed, whose bones, gathered into an immense heap, and bleaching in the winds, remained for above three centuries; a terrible monument of rashness and injustice on the one hand, and of patriotism and valor on the other. charles was now plunged into a state of profound melancholy; but he soon burst from this gloomy mood into one of renewed fierceness and fatal desperation. nine months after the battle of morat he re-entered lorraine, at the head of an army, not composed of his faithful militia of the netherlands, but of those mercenaries in whom it was madness to place trust. the reinforcements meant to be despatched to him by those provinces were kept back by the artifices of the count of campo basso, an italian who commanded his cavalry, and who only gained his confidence basely to betray it. rene, duke of lorraine, at the head of the confederate forces, offered battle to charles under the walls of nancy; and the night before the combat campo basso went over to the enemy with the troops under his command. still charles had the way open for retreat. fresh troops from burgundy and flanders were on their march to join him; but he would not be dissuaded from his resolution to fight, and he resolved to try his fortune once more with his dispirited and shattered army. on this occasion the fate of charles was decided, and the fortune of louis triumphant. the rash and ill-fated duke lost both the battle and his life. his body, mutilated with wounds, was found the next day, and buried with great pomp in the town of nancy, by the orders of the generous victor, the duke of lorraine. thus perished the last prince of the powerful house of burgundy. charles left to his only daughter, then eighteen years of age, the inheritance of his extensive dominions, and with them that of the hatred and jealousy which he had so largely excited. external spoliation immediately commenced, and internal disunion quickly followed. louis xi. seized on burgundy and a part of artois, as fiefs devolving to the crown in default of male issue. several of the provinces refused to pay the new subsidies commanded in the name of mary; flanders alone showing a disposition to uphold the rights of the young princess. the states were assembled at ghent, and ambassadors sent to the king of france in the hopes of obtaining peace on reasonable terms. louis, true to his system of subtle perfidy, placed before one of those ambassadors, the burgomaster of ghent, a letter from the inexperienced princess, which proved her intention to govern by the counsel of her father's ancient ministers rather than by that of the deputies of the nation. this was enough to decide the indignant flemings to render themselves at once masters of the government and get rid of the ministers whom they hated. two burgundian nobles, hugonet and imbercourt, were arrested, accused of treason, and beheaded under the very eyes of their agonized and outraged mistress, who threw herself before the frenzied multitude, vainly imploring mercy for these innocent men. the people having thus completely gained the upper hand over the burgundian influence, mary was sovereign of the netherlands but in name. it would have now been easy for louis xi. to have obtained for the dauphin, his son, the hand of this hitherto unfortunate but interesting princess; but he thought himself sufficiently strong and cunning to gain possession of her states without such an alliance. mary, however, thus in some measure disdained, if not actually rejected, by louis, soon after married her first-intended husband, maximilian of austria, son of the emperor frederick iii.; a prince so absolutely destitute, in consequence of his father's parsimony, that she was obliged to borrow money from the towns of flanders to defray the expenses of his suite. nevertheless he seemed equally acceptable to his bride and to his new subjects. they not only supplied all his wants, but enabled him to maintain the war against louis xi., whom they defeated at the battle of guinegate in picardy, and forced to make peace on more favorable terms than they had hoped for. but these wealthy provinces were not more zealous for the national defence than bent on the maintenance of their local privileges, which maximilian little understood, and sympathized with less. he was bred in the school of absolute despotism; and his duchess having met with a too early death by a fall from her horse in the year , he could not even succeed in obtaining the nomination of guardian to his own children without passing through a year of civil war. his power being almost nominal in the northern provinces, he vainly attempted to suppress the violence of the factions of hoeks and kaabeljauws. in flanders his authority was openly resisted. the turbulent towns of that country, and particularly bruges, taking umbrage at a government half german, half burgundian, and altogether hateful to the people, rose up against maximilian, seized on his person, imprisoned him in a house which still exists, and put to death his most faithful followers. but the fury of ghent and other places becoming still more outrageous, maximilian asked as a favor from his rebel subjects of bruges to be guarded while a prisoner by them alone. he was then king of the romans, and all europe became interested in his fate. the pope addressed a brief to the town of bruges, demanding his deliverance. but the burghers were as inflexible as factious; and they at length released him, but not until they had concluded with him and the assembled states a treaty which most amply secured the enjoyment of their privileges and the pardon of their rebellion. but these kind of compacts were never observed by the princes of those days beyond the actual period of their capacity to violate them. the emperor having entered the netherlands at the head of forty thousand men, maximilian, so supported, soon showed his contempt for the obligations he had sworn to, and had recourse to force for the extension of his authority. the valor of the flemings and the military talents of their leader, philip of cleves, thwarted all his projects, and a new compromise was entered into. flanders paid a large subsidy, and held fast her rights. the german troops were sent into holland, and employed for the extinction of the hoeks; who, as they formed by far the weaker faction, were now soon destroyed. that province, which had been so long distracted by its intestine feuds, and which had consequently played but an insignificant part in the transactions of the netherlands, now resumed its place; and acquired thenceforth new honor, till it at length came to figure in all the importance of historical distinction. the situation of the netherlands was now extremely precarious and difficult to manage, during the unstable sway of a government so weak as maximilian's. but he having succeeded his father on the imperial throne in , and his son philip having been proclaimed the following year duke and count of the various provinces at the age of sixteen, a more pleasing prospect was offered to the people. philip, young, handsome, and descended by his mother from the ancient sovereigns of the country, was joyfully hailed by all the towns. he did not belie the hopes so enthusiastically expressed. he had the good sense to renounce all pretensions to friesland, the fertile source of many preceding quarrels and sacrifices. he re-established the ancient commercial relations with england, to which country maximilian had given mortal-offence by sustaining the imposture of perkin warbeck. philip also consulted the states-general on his projects of a double alliance between himself and his sister with the son and daughter of ferdinand, king of aragon, and isabella, queen of castile; and from this wise precaution the project soon became one of national partiality instead of private or personal interest. in this manner complete harmony was established between the young prince and the inhabitants of the netherlands. all the ills produced by civil war disappeared with immense rapidity in flanders and brabant, as soon as peace was thus consolidated. even holland, though it had particularly felt the scourge of these dissensions, and suffered severely from repeated inundations, began to recover. yet for all this, philip can be scarcely called a good prince: his merits were negative rather than real. but that sufficed for the nation; which found in the nullity of its sovereign no obstacle to the resumption of that prosperous career which had been checked by the despotism of the house of burgundy, and the attempts of maximilian to continue the same system. the reign of philip, unfortunately a short one was rendered remarkable by two intestine quarrels; one in friesland, the other in guelders. the frisons, who had been so isolated from the more important affairs of europe that they were in a manner lost sight of by history for several centuries, had nevertheless their full share of domestic disputes; too long, too multifarious, and too minute, to allow us to give more than this brief notice of their existence. but finally, about the period of philip's accession, eastern friesland had chosen for its count a gentleman of the country surnamed edzart, who fixed the headquarters of his military government at embden. the sight of such an elevation in an individual whose pretensions he thought far inferior to his own induced albert of saxony, who had well served maximilian against the refractory flemings, to demand as his reward the title of stadtholder or hereditary governor of friesland. but it was far easier for the emperor to accede to this request than for his favorite to put the grant into effect. the frisons, true to their old character, held firm to their privileges, and fought for their maintenance with heroic courage. albert, furious at this resistance, had the horrid barbarity to cause to be impaled the chief burghers of the town of leuwaarden, which he had taken by assault. but he himself died in the year , without succeeding in his projects of an ambition unjust in its principle and atrocious in its practice. the war of guelders was of a totally different nature. in this case it was not a question of popular resistance to a tyrannical nomination, but of patriotic fidelity to the reigning family. adolphus, the duke who had dethroned his father, had died in flanders, leaving a son who had been brought up almost a captive as long as maximilian governed the states of his inheritance. this young man, called charles of egmont, and who is honored in the history of his country under the title of the achilles of guelders, fell into the hands of the french during the combat in which he made his first essay in arms. the town of guelders unanimously joined to pay his ransom; and as soon as he was at liberty they one and all proclaimed him duke. the emperor philip and the germanic diet in vain protested against this measure, and declared charles a usurper. the spirit of justice and of liberty spoke more loudly than the thunders of their ban; and the people resolved to support to the last this scion of an ancient race, glorious in much of its conduct, though often criminal in many of its members. charles of egmont found faithful friends in his devoted subjects; and he maintained his rights, sometimes with, sometimes without, the assistance of france--making up for his want of numbers by energy and enterprise. we cannot follow this warlike prince in the long series of adventures which consolidated his power; nor stop to depict his daring adherents on land, who caused the whole of holland to tremble at their deeds; nor his pirates--the chief of whom, long peter, called himself king of the zuyder zee. but amid all the consequent troubles of such a struggle, it is marvellous to find charles of egmont upholding his country in a state of high prosperity, and leaving it at his death almost as rich as holland itself. the incapacity of philip the fair doubtless contributed to cause him the loss of this portion of his dominions. this prince, after his first acts of moderation and good sense, was remarkable only as being the father of charles v. the remainder of his life was worn out in undignified pleasures; and he died almost suddenly, in the year , at burgos in castile, whither he had repaired to pay a visit to his brother-in-law, the king of spain. chapter vi from the government of margaret of austria to the abdication of the emperor charles v. a.d. -- philip being dead, and his wife, joanna of spain, having become mad from grief at his loss, after nearly losing her senses from jealousy during his life, the regency of the netherlands reverted to maximilian, who immediately named his daughter margaret stadtholderess of the country. this princess, scarcely twenty-seven years of age, had been, like the celebrated jacqueline of bavaria, already three times married, and was now again a widow. her first husband, charles viii. of france, had broken from his contract of marriage before its consummation; her second, the infante of spain, died immediately after their union; and her third, the duke of savoy, left her again a widow after three years of wedded life. she was a woman of talent and courage; both proved by the couplet she composed for her own epitaph, at the very moment of a dangerous accident which happened during her journey into spain to join her second affianced spouse. "ci-git margot la genre demoiselle, qui eut deux maris, et si mourut pucelle." "here gentle margot quietly is laid, who had two husbands, and yet died a maid." she was received with the greatest joy by the people of the netherlands; and she governed them as peaceably as circumstances allowed. supported by england, she firmly maintained her authority against the threats of france; and she carried on in person all the negotiations between louis xii., maximilian, the pope julius ii., and ferdinand of aragon, for the famous league of venice. these negotiations took place in , at cambray; where margaret, if we are to credit an expression to that effect in one of her letters, was more than once on the point of having serious differences with the cardinal of amboise, minister of louis xii. but, besides her attention to the interests of her father on this important occasion, she also succeeded in repressing the rising pretensions of charles of egmont; and, assisted by the interference of the king of france, she obliged him to give up some places in holland which he illegally held. from this period the alliance between england and spain raised the commerce and manufactures of the southern provinces of the netherlands to a high degree of prosperity, while the northern parts of the country were still kept down by their various dissensions. holland was at war with the hanseatic towns. the frisons continued to struggle for freedom against the heirs of albert of saxony. utrecht was at variance with its bishop, and finally recognized charles of egmont as its protector. the consequence of all these causes was that the south took the start in a course of prosperity, which was, however, soon to become common to the whole nation. a new rupture with france, in , united maximilian, margaret, and henry viii. of england, in one common cause. an english and belgian army, in which maximilian figured as a spectator (taking care to be paid by england), marched for the destruction of therouenne, and defeated and dispersed the french at the battle of spurs. but louis xii. soon persuaded henry to make a separate peace; and the unconquerable duke of guelders made margaret and the emperor pay the penalty of their success against france. he pursued his victories in friesland, and forced the country to recognize him as stadtholder of groningen, its chief town; while the duke of saxony at length renounced to another his unjust claim on a territory which engulfed both his armies and his treasure. about the same epoch ( ), young charles, son of philip the fair, having just attained his fifteenth year, was inaugurated duke of brabant and count of flanders and holland, having purchased the presumed right of saxony to the sovereignty of friesland. in the following year he was recognized as prince of castile, in right of his mother, who associated him with herself in the royal power--a step which soon left her merely the title of queen. charles procured the nomination of bishop of utrecht for philip, bastard of burgundy, which made that province completely dependent on him. but this event was also one of general and lasting importance on another account. this philip of burgundy was deeply affected by the doctrines of the reformation, which had burst forth in germany. he held in abhorrence the superstitious observances of the romish church, and set his face against the celibacy of the clergy. his example soon influenced his whole diocese, and the new notions on points of religion became rapidly popular. it was chiefly, however, in friesland that the people embraced the opinions of luther, which were quite conformable to many of the local customs of which we have already spoken. the celebrated edzard, count of eastern friesland, openly adopted the reformation. while erasmus of rotterdam, without actually pronouncing himself a disciple of lutheranism, effected more than all its advocates to throw the abuses of catholicism into discredit. we may here remark that, during the government of the house of burgundy, the clergy of the netherlands had fallen into considerable disrepute. intrigue and court favor alone had the disposal of the benefices; while the career of commerce was open to the enterprise of every spirited and independent competitor. the reformation, therefore, in the first instance found but a slight obstacle in the opposition of a slavish and ignorant clergy, and its progress was all at once prodigious. the refusal of the dignity of emperor by frederick "the wise," duke of saxony, to whom it was offered by the electors, was also an event highly favorable to the new opinions; for francis i. of france, and charles, already king of spain and sovereign of the netherlands, both claiming the succession to the empire, a sort of interregnum deprived the disputed dominions of a chief who might lay the heavy hand of power on the new-springing doctrines of protestantism. at length the intrigues of charles, and his pretensions as grandson of maximilian, having caused him to be chosen emperor, a desperate rivalry resulted between him and the french king, which for a while absorbed his whole attention and occupied all his power. from the earliest appearance of the reformation, the young sovereign of so many states, having to establish his authority at the two extremities of europe, could not efficiently occupy himself in resisting the doctrines which, despite their dishonoring epithet of heresy, were doomed so soon to become orthodox for a great part of the continent. while charles vigorously put down the revolted spaniards, luther gained new proselytes in germany; so that the very greatness of the sovereignty was the cause of his impotency; and while charles's extent of dominion thus fostered the growing reformation, his sense of honor proved the safeguard of its apostle. the intrepid luther, boldly venturing to appear and plead its cause before the representative power of germany assembled at the diet of worms, was protected by the guarantee of the emperor; unlike the celebrated and unfortunate john huss; who fell a victim to his own confidence and the bad faith of sigismund, in the year . charles was nevertheless a zealous and rigid catholic; and in the low countries, where his authority was undisputed, he proscribed the heretics, and even violated the privileges of the country by appointing functionaries for the express purpose of their pursuit and punishment. this imprudent stretch of power fostered a rising spirit of opposition; for, though entertaining the best disposition to their young prince, the people deeply felt and loudly complained of the government; and thus the germs of a mighty revolution gradually began to be developed. charles v. and francis i. had been rivals for dignity and power, and they now became implacable personal enemies. young, ambitious, and sanguine, they could not, without reciprocal resentment, pursue in the same field objects essential to both. charles, by a short but timely visit to england in , had the address to gain over to his cause and secure for his purpose the powerful interest of cardinal wolsey, and to make a most favorable impression on henry viii.; and thus strengthened, he entered on the struggle against his less wily enemy with infinite advantage. war was declared on frivolous pretexts in . the french sustained it for some time with great valor; but francis being obstinately bent on the conquest of the milanais, his reverses secured the triumph of his rival, and he fell into the hands of the imperial troops at the battle of pavia in . charles's dominions in the netherlands suffered severely from the naval operations during the war; for the french cruisers having, on repeated occasions, taken, pillaged, and almost destroyed the principal resources of the herring fishery, holland and zealand felt considerable distress, which was still further augmented by the famine which desolated these provinces in . while such calamities afflicted the northern portion of the netherlands, flanders and brabant continued to flourish, in spite of temporary embarrassments. the bishop of utrecht having died, his successor found himself engaged in a hopeless quarrel with his new diocese, already more than half converted to protestantism; and to gain a triumph over these enemies, even by the sacrifice of his dignity, he ceded to the emperor in the whole of his temporal power. the duke of guelders, who then occupied the city of utrecht, redoubled his hostility at this intelligence; and after having ravaged the neighboring country, he did not lay down his arms till the subsequent year, having first procured an honorable and advantageous peace. one year more saw the term of this long-continued state of warfare by the peace of cambray, between charles and francis, which was signed on the th of august, . this peace once concluded, the industry and perseverance of the inhabitants of the netherlands repaired in a short time the evils caused by so many wars, excited by the ambition of princes, but in scarcely any instance for the interest of the country. little, however, was wanting to endanger this tranquillity, and to excite the people against each other on the score of religious dissension. the sect of anabaptists, whose wild opinions were subversive of all principles of social order and every sentiment of natural decency, had its birth in germany, and found many proselytes in the netherlands. john bokelszoon, a tailor of leyden, one of the number, caused himself to be proclaimed king of jerusalem; and making himself master of the town of munster, sent out his disciples to preach in the neighboring countries. mary, sister of charles v., and queen-dowager of hungary, the stadtholderess of the netherlands, proposed a crusade against this fanatic; which was, however, totally discountenanced by the states. encouraged by impunity, whole troops of these infuriate sectarians, from the very extremities of hainault, put themselves into motion for munster; and notwithstanding the colds of february, they marched along, quite naked, according to the system of their sect. the frenzy of these fanatics being increased by persecution, they projected attempts against several towns, and particularly against amsterdam. they were easily defeated, and massacred without mercy; and it was only by multiplied and horrible executions that their numbers were at length diminished. john bokelszoon held out at munster, which was besieged by the bishop and the neighboring princes. this profligate fanatic, who had married no less than seventeen women, had gained considerable influence over the insensate multitude; but he was at length taken and imprisoned in an iron cage--an event which undeceived the greater number of those whom he had persuaded of his superhuman powers. the prosperity of the southern provinces proceeded rapidly and uninterruptedly, in consequence of the great and valuable traffic of the merchants of flanders and brabant, who exchanged their goods of native manufacture for the riches drawn from america and india by the spaniards and portuguese. antwerp had succeeded to bruges as the general mart of commerce, and was the most opulent town of the north of europe. the expenses, estimated at one hundred and thirty thousand golden crowns, which this city voluntarily incurred, to do honor to the visit of philip, son of charles v., are cited as a proof of its wealth. the value of the wool annually imported for manufacture into the low countries from england and spain was calculated at four million pieces of gold. their herring fishery was unrivalled; for even the scotch, on whose coasts these fish were taken, did not attempt a competition with the zealanders. but the chief seat of prosperity was the south. flanders alone was taxed for one-third of the general burdens of the state. brabant paid only one-seventh less than flanders. so that these two rich provinces contributed thirteen out of twenty-one parts of the general contribution; and all the rest combined but eight. a search for further or minuter proofs of the comparative state of the various divisions of the country would be superfluous. the perpetual quarrels of charles v. with francis i. and charles of guelders led, as may be supposed, to a repeated state of exhaustion, which forced the princes to pause, till the people recovered strength and resources for each fresh encounter. charles rarely appeared in the netherlands; fixing his residence chiefly in spain, and leaving to his sister the regulation of those distant provinces. one of his occasional visits was for the purpose of inflicting a terrible example upon them. the people of ghent, suspecting an improper or improvident application of the funds they had furnished for a new campaign, offered themselves to march against the french, instead of being forced to pay their quota of some further subsidy. the government having rejected this proposal, a sedition was the result, at the moment when charles and francis already negotiated one of their temporary reconciliations. on this occasion, charles formed the daring resolution of crossing the kingdom of france, to promptly take into his own hands the settlement of this affair--trusting to the generosity of his scarcely reconciled enemy not to abuse the confidence with which he risked himself in his power. ghent, taken by surprise, did not dare to oppose the entrance of the emperor, when he appeared before the walls; and the city was punished with extreme severity. twenty-seven leaders of the sedition were beheaded; the principal privileges of the city were withdrawn, and a citadel built to hold it in check for the future. charles met with neither opposition nor complaint. the province had so prospered under his sway, and was so flattered by the greatness of the sovereign, who was born in the town he so severely punished, that his acts of despotic harshness were borne without a murmur. but in the north the people did not view his measures so complacently; and a wide separation in interests and opinions became manifest in the different divisions of the nation. yet the dutch and the zealanders signalized themselves beyond all his other subjects on the occasion of two expeditions which charles undertook against tunis and algiers. the two northern provinces furnished a greater number of ships than the united quotas of all the rest of his states. but though charles's gratitude did not lead him to do anything in return as peculiarly favorable to these provinces, he obtained for them, nevertheless, a great advantage in making himself master of friesland and guelders on the death of charles of egmont. his acquisition of the latter, which took place in , put an end to the domestic wars of the northern provinces. from that period they might fairly look for a futurity of union and peace; and thus the latter years of charles promised better for his country than his early ones, though he obtained less success in his new wars with france, which were not, however, signalized by any grand event on either side. toward the end of his career, charles redoubled his severities against the protestants, and even introduced a modified species of inquisition into the netherlands, but with little effect toward the suppression of the reformed doctrines. the misunderstandings between his only son philip and mary of england, whom he had induced him to marry, and the unamiable disposition of this young prince, tormented him almost as much as he was humiliated by the victories of henry ii. of france, the successor of francis i., and the successful dissimulation of maurice, elector of saxony, by whom he was completely outwitted, deceived, and defeated. impelled by these motives, and others, perhaps, which are and must ever remain unknown, charles at length decided on abdicating the whole of his immense possessions. he chose the city of brussels as the scene of the solemnity, and the day fixed for it was the th of october, . it took place accordingly, in the presence of the king of bohemia, the duke of savoy, the dowager queens of france and hungary, the duchess of lorraine, and an immense assemblage of nobility from various countries. charles resigned the empire to his brother ferdinand, already king of the romans; and all the rest of his dominions to his son. soon after the ceremony, charles embarked from zealand on his voyage to spain. he retired to the monastery of st. justus, near the town of placentia, in estremadura. he entered this retreat in february, , and died there on the st of september, , in the fifty-ninth year of his age. the last six months of his existence, contrasted with the daring vigor of his former life, formed a melancholy picture of timidity and superstition. the whole of the provinces of the netherlands being now for the first time united under one sovereign, such a junction marks the limits of a second epoch in their history. it would be a presumptuous and vain attempt to trace, in a compass so confined as ours, the various changes in manners and customs which arose in these countries during a period of one thousand years. the extended and profound remarks of many celebrated writers on the state of europe from the decline of the roman power to the epoch at which we are now arrived must be referred to, to judge of the gradual progress of civilization through the gloom of the dark ages, till the dawn of enlightenment which led to the grand system of european politics commenced during the reign of charles v. the amazing increase of commerce was, above all other considerations, the cause of the growth of liberty in the netherlands. the reformation opened the minds of men to that intellectual freedom without which political enfranchisement is a worthless privilege. the invention of printing opened a thousand channels to the flow of erudition and talent, and sent them out from the reservoirs of individual possession to fertilize the whole domain of human nature. war, which seems to be an instinct of man, and which particular instances of heroism often raise to the dignity of a passion, was reduced to a science, and made subservient to those great principles of policy in which society began to perceive its only chance of durable good. manufactures attained a state of high perfection, and went on progressively with the growth of wealth and luxury. the opulence of the towns of brabant and flanders was without any previous example in the state of europe. a merchant of bruges took upon himself alone the security for the ransom of john the fearless, taken at the battle of nicopolis, amounting to two hundred thousand ducats. a provost of valenciennes repaired to paris at one of the great fairs periodically held there, and purchased on his own account every article that was for sale. at a repast given by one of the counts of flanders to the flemish magistrates the seats they occupied were unfurnished with cushions. those proud burghers folded their sumptuous cloaks and sat on them. after the feast they were retiring without retaining these important and costly articles of dress; and on a courtier reminding them of their apparent neglect, the burgomaster of bruges replied, "we flemings are not in the habit of carrying away the cushions after dinner!" the meetings of the different towns for the sports of archery were signalized by the most splendid display of dress and decoration. the archers were habited in silk, damask, and the finest linen, and carried chains of gold of great weight and value. luxury was at its height among women. the queen of philip the fair of france, on a visit to bruges, exclaimed, with astonishment not unmixed with envy, "i thought myself the only queen here; but i see six hundred others who appear more so than i." the court of phillip the good seemed to carry magnificence and splendor to their greatest possible height. the dresses of both men and women at this chivalric epoch were of almost incredible expense. velvet, satin, gold, and precious stones seemed the ordinary materials for the dress of either sex; while the very housings of the horses sparkled with brilliants and cost immense sums. this absurd extravagance was carried so far that charles v. found himself forced at length to proclaim sumptuary laws for its repression. the style of the banquets given on grand occasions was regulated on a scale of almost puerile splendor. the banquet of vows given at lille, in the year , and so called from the obligations entered into by some of the nobles to accompany philip in a new crusade against the infidels, showed a succession of costly fooleries, most amusing in the detail given by an eye-witness (olivier de la marche), the minutest of the chroniclers, but unluckily too long to find a place in our pages. such excessive luxury naturally led to great corruption of manners and the commission of terrible crimes. during the reign of philip de male, there were committed in the city of ghent and its outskirts, in less than a year, above fourteen hundred murders in gambling-houses and other resorts of debauchery. as early as the tenth century, the petty sovereigns established on the ruins of the empire of charlemagne began the independent coining of money; and the various provinces were during the rest of this epoch inundated with a most embarrassing variety of gold, silver, and copper. even in ages of comparative darkness, literature made feeble efforts to burst through the entangled weeds of superstition, ignorance, and war. in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, history was greatly cultivated; and froissart, monstrelet, olivier de la marche, and philip de comines, gave to their chronicles and memoirs a charm of style since their days almost unrivalled. poetry began to be followed with success in the netherlands, in the dutch, flemish, and french languages; and even before the institution of the floral games in france, belgium possessed its chambers of rhetoric (_rederykkamers_) which labored to keep alive the sacred flame of poetry with more zeal than success. in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, these societies were established in almost every burgh of flanders and brabant; the principal towns possessing several at once. the arts in their several branches made considerable progress in the netherlands during this epoch. architecture was greatly cultivated in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; most of the cathedrals and town houses being constructed in that age. their vastness, solidity, and beauty of design and execution, make them still speaking monuments of the stern magnificence and finished taste of the times. the patronage of philip the good, charles the rash, and margaret of austria, brought music into fashion, and led to its cultivation in a remarkable degree. the first musicians of france were drawn from flanders; and other professors from that country acquired great celebrity in italy for their scientific improvements in their delightful art. painting, which had languished before the fifteenth century, sprung at once into a new existence from the invention of john van eyck, known better by the name of john of bruges. his accidental discovery of the art of painting in oil quickly spread over europe, and served to perpetuate to all time the records of the genius which has bequeathed its vivid impressions to the world. painting on glass, polishing diamonds, the carillon, lace, and tapestry, were among the inventions which owed their birth to the netherlands in these ages, when the faculties of mankind sought so many new channels for mechanical development. the discovery of a new world by columbus and other eminent navigators gave a fresh and powerful impulse to european talent, by affording an immense reservoir for its reward. the town of antwerp was, during the reign of charles v., the outlet for the industry of europe, and the receptacle for the productions of all the nations of the earth. its port was so often crowded with vessels that each successive fleet was obliged to wait long in the scheldt before it could obtain admission for the discharge of its cargoes. the university of louvain, that great nursery of science, was founded in , and served greatly to the spread of knowledge, although it degenerated into the hotbed of those fierce disputes which stamped on theology the degradation of bigotry, and drew down odium on a study that, if purely practiced, ought only to inspire veneration. charles v. was the first to establish a solid plan of government, instead of the constant fluctuations in the management of justice, police, and finance. he caused the edicts of the various sovereigns, and the municipal usages, to be embodied into a system of laws; and thus gave stability and method to the enjoyment of the prosperity in which he left his dominions. chapter vii from the accession of philip ii. of spain to the establishment of the inquisition in the netherlands a.d. -- it has been shown that the netherlands were never in a more flourishing state than at the accession of philip ii. the external relations of the country presented an aspect of prosperity and peace. england was closely allied to it by queen mary's marriage with philip; france, fatigued with war, had just concluded with it a five years truce; germany, paralyzed by religious dissensions, exhausted itself in domestic quarrels; the other states were too distant or too weak to inspire any uneasiness; and nothing appeared wanting for the public weal. nevertheless there was something dangerous and alarming in the situation of the low countries; but the danger consisted wholly in the connection between the monarch and the people, and the alarm was not sounded till the mischief was beyond remedy. from the time that charles v. was called to reign over spain, he may be said to have been virtually lost to the country of his birth. he was no longer a mere duke of brabant or limberg, a count of flanders or holland; he was also king of castile, aragon, leon, and navarre, of naples, and of sicily. these various kingdoms had interests evidently opposed to those of the low countries, and forms of government far different. it was scarcely to be doubted that the absolute monarch of so many peoples would look with a jealous eye on the institutions of those provinces which placed limits to his power; and the natural consequence was that he who was a legitimate king in the south soon degenerated into a usurping master in the north. but during the reign of charles the danger was in some measure lessened, or at least concealed from public view, by the apparent facility with which he submitted to and observed the laws and customs of his native country. with philip, the case was far different, and the results too obvious. uninformed on the belgian character, despising the state of manners, and ignorant of the language, no sympathy attached him to the people. he brought with him to the throne all the hostile prejudices of a foreigner, without one of the kindly or considerate feelings of a compatriot. spain, where this young prince had hitherto passed his life, was in some degree excluded from european civilization. a contest of seven centuries between the mohammedan tribes and the descendants of the visigoths, cruel, like all civil wars, and, like all those of religion, not merely a contest of rulers, but essentially of the people, had given to the manners and feelings of this unhappy country a deep stamp of barbarity. the ferocity of military chieftains had become the basis of the government and laws. the christian kings had adopted the perfidious and bloody system of the despotic sultans they replaced. magnificence and tyranny, power and cruelty, wisdom and dissimulation, respect and fear, were inseparably associated in the minds of a people so governed. they comprehended nothing in religion but a god armed with omnipotence and vengeance, or in politics but a king as terrible as the deity he represented. philip, bred in this school of slavish superstition, taught that he was the despot for whom it was formed, familiar with the degrading tactics of eastern tyranny, was at once the most contemptible and unfortunate of men. isolated from his kind, and wishing to appear superior to those beyond whom his station had placed him, he was insensible to the affections which soften and ennoble human nature. he was perpetually filled with one idea--that of his greatness; he had but one ambition--that of command; but one enjoyment--that of exciting fear. victim to this revolting selfishness, his heart was never free from care; and the bitter melancholy of his character seemed to nourish a desire of evil-doing, which irritated suffering often produces in man. deceit and blood were his greatest, if not his only, delights. the religious zeal which he affected, or felt, showed itself but in acts of cruelty; and the fanatic bigotry which inspired him formed the strongest contrast to the divine spirit of christianity. nature had endowed this ferocious being with wonderful penetration and unusual self-command; the first revealing to him the views of others, and the latter giving him the surest means of counteracting them, by enabling him to control himself. although ignorant, he had a prodigious instinct of cunning. he wanted courage, but its place was supplied by the harsh obstinacy of wounded pride. all the corruptions of intrigue were familiar to him; yet he often failed in his most deep-laid designs, at the very moment of their apparent success, by the recoil of the bad faith and treachery with which his plans were overcharged. such was the man who now began that terrible reign which menaced utter ruin to the national prosperity of the netherlands. his father had already sapped its foundations, by encouraging foreign manners and ideas among the nobility, and dazzling them with the hope of the honors and wealth which he had at his disposal abroad. his severe edicts against heresy had also begun to accustom the nation to religious discords and hatred. philip soon enlarged on what charles had commenced, and he unmercifully sacrificed the well-being of a people to the worst objects of his selfish ambition. philip had only once visited the netherlands before his accession to sovereign power. being at that time twenty-two years of age, his opinions were formed and his prejudices deeply rooted. everything that he observed on this visit was calculated to revolt both. the frank cordiality of the people appeared too familiar. the expression of popular rights sounded like the voice of rebellion. even the magnificence displayed in his honor offended his jealous vanity. from that moment he seems to have conceived an implacable aversion to the country, in which alone, of all his vast possessions, he could not display the power or inspire the terror of despotism. the sovereign's dislike was fully equalled by the disgust of his subjects. his haughty severity and vexatious etiquette revolted their pride as well as their plain dealing; and the moral qualities of their new sovereign were considered with loathing. the commercial and political connection between the netherlands and spain had given the two people ample opportunities for mutual acquaintance. the dark, vindictive dispositions of the latter inspired a deep antipathy in those whom civilization had softened and liberty rendered frank and generous; and the new sovereign seemed to embody all that was repulsive and odious in the nation of which he was the type. yet philip did not at first act in a way to make himself more particularly hated. he rather, by an apparent consideration for a few points of political interest and individual privilege, and particularly by the revocation of some of the edicts against heretics, removed the suspicions his earlier conduct had excited; and his intended victims did not perceive that the despot sought to lull them to sleep, in the hopes of making them an easier prey. philip knew well that force alone was insufficient to reduce such a people to slavery. he succeeded in persuading the states to grant him considerable subsidies, some of which were to be paid by instalments during a period of nine years. that was gaining a great step toward his designs, as it superseded the necessity of a yearly application to the three orders, the guardians of the public liberty. at the same time he sent secret agents to rome, to obtain the approbation of the pope to his insidious but most effective plan for placing the whole of the clergy in dependence upon the crown. he also kept up the army of spaniards and germans which his father had formed on the frontiers of france; and although he did not remove from their employments the functionaries already in place, he took care to make no new appointments to office among the natives of the netherlands. in the midst of these cunning preparations for tyranny, philip was suddenly attacked in two quarters at once; by henry ii. of france, and by pope paul iv. a prince less obstinate than philip would in such circumstances have renounced, or at least postponed, his designs against the liberties of so important a part of his dominions, as those to which he was obliged to have recourse for aid in support of this double war. but he seemed to make every foreign consideration subservient to the object of domestic aggression which he had so much at heart. he, however, promptly met the threatened dangers from abroad. he turned his first attention toward his contest with the pope; and he extricated himself from it with an adroitness that proved the whole force and cunning of his character. having first publicly obtained the opinion of several doctors of theology, that he was justified in taking arms against the pontiff (a point on which there was really no doubt), he prosecuted the war with the utmost vigor, by the means of the afterward notorious duke of alva, at that time viceroy of his italian dominions. paul soon yielded to superior skill and force, and demanded terms of peace, which were granted with a readiness and seeming liberality that astonished no one more than the defeated pontiff. but philip's moderation to his enemy was far outdone by his perfidy to his allies. he confirmed alva's consent to the confiscation of the domains of the noble romans who had espoused his cause; and thus gained a stanch and powerful supporter to all his future projects in the religious authority of the successor of st. peter. his conduct in the conclusion of the war with france was not less base. his army, under the command of philibert emmanuel, duke of savoy, consisting of belgians, germans, and spaniards, with a considerable body of english, sent by mary to the assistance of her husband, penetrated into picardy, and gained a complete victory over the french forces. the honor of this brilliant affair, which took place near st. quintin, was almost wholly due to the count d'egmont, a belgian noble, who commanded the light cavalry; but the king, unwilling to let anyone man enjoy the glory of the day, piously pretended that he owed the entire obligation to st. lawrence, on whose festival the battle was fought. his gratitude or hypocrisy found a fitting monument in the celebrated convent and palace of the escurial, which he absurdly caused to be built in the form of a gridiron, the instrument of the saint's martyrdom. when the news of the victory reached charles v. in his retreat, the old warrior inquired if philip was in paris? but the cautious victor had no notion of such prompt manoeuvring; nor would he risk against foreign enemies the exhaustion of forces destined for the enslavement of his people. the french in some measure retrieved their late disgrace by the capture of calais, the only town remaining to england of all its french conquests, and which, consequently, had deeply interested the national glory of each people. in the early part of the year , one of the generals of henry ii. made an irruption into western flanders; but the gallant count of egmont once more proved his valor and skill by attacking and totally defeating the invaders near the town of gravelines. a general peace was concluded in april, , which bore the name of câteau-cambresis, from that of the place where it was negotiated. philip secured for himself various advantages in the treaty; but he sacrificed the interests of england, by consenting to the retention of calais by the french king--a cession deeply humiliating to the national pride of his allies; and, if general opinion be correct, a proximate cause of his consort's death. the alliance of france and the support of rome, the important results of the two wars now brought to a close, were counterbalanced by the well-known hostility of elizabeth, who had succeeded to the throne of england; and this latter consideration was an additional motive with philip to push forward the design of consolidating his despotism in the low countries. to lead his already deceived subjects the more surely into the snare, he announced his intended departure on a short visit to spain; and created for the period of his absence a provisional government, chiefly composed of the leading men among the belgian nobility. he flattered himself that the states, dazzled by the illustrious illusion thus prepared, would cheerfully grant to this provisional government the right of levying taxes during the temporary absence of the sovereign. he also reckoned on the influence of the clergy in the national assembly, to procure the revival of the edicts against heresy, which he had gained the merit of suspending. these, with many minor details of profound duplicity, formed the principal features of a plan, which, if successful, would have reduced the netherlands to the wretched state of colonial dependence by which naples and sicily were held in the tenure of spain. as soon as the states had consented to place the whole powers of government in the hands of the new administration for the period of the king's absence, the royal hypocrite believed his scheme secure, and flattered himself he had established an instrument of durable despotism. the composition of this new government was a masterpiece of political machinery. it consisted of several councils, in which the most distinguished citizens were entitled to a place, in sufficient numbers to deceive the people with a show of representation, but not enough to command a majority, which was sure on any important question to rest with the titled creatures of the court. the edicts against heresy, soon adopted, gave to the clergy an almost unlimited power over the lives and fortunes of the people. but almost all the dignitaries of the church being men of great respectability and moderation, chosen by the body of the inferior clergy, these extraordinary powers excited little alarm. philip's project was suddenly to replace these virtuous ecclesiastics by others of his own choice, as soon as the states broke up from their annual meeting; and for this intention he had procured the secret consent and authority of the court of rome. in support of these combinations, the belgian troops were completely broken up and scattered in small bodies over the country. the whole of this force, so redoubtable to the fears of despotism, consisted of only three thousand cavalry. it was now divided into fourteen companies (or squadrons in the modern phraseology), under the command of as many independent chiefs, so as to leave little chance of any principle of union reigning among them. but the german and spanish troops in philip's pay were cantoned on the frontiers, ready to stifle any incipient effort in opposition to his plans. in addition to these imposing means for their execution, he had secured a still more secret and more powerful support: a secret article in the treaty of câteau-cambresis obliged the king of france to assist him with the whole armies of france against his belgian subjects, should they prove refractory. thus the late war, of which the netherlands had borne all the weight, and earned all the glory, only brought about the junction of the defeated enemy with their own king for the extinction of their national independence. to complete the execution of this system of perfidy, philip convened an assembly of all the states at ghent, in the month of july, . this meeting of the representatives of the three orders of the state offered no apparent obstacle to philip's views. the clergy, alarmed at the progress of the new doctrines, gathered more closely round the government of which they required the support. the nobles had lost much of their ancient attachment to liberty; and had become, in various ways, dependent on the royal favor. many of the first families were then represented by men possessed rather of courage and candor than of foresight and sagacity. that of nassau, the most distinguished of all, seemed the least interested in the national cause. a great part of its possessions were in germany and france, where it had recently acquired the sovereign principality of orange. it was only from the third order--that of the commons--that philip had to expect any opposition. already, during the war, it had shown some discontent, and had insisted on the nomination of commissioners to control the accounts and the disbursements of the subsidies. but it seemed improbable that among this class of men any would be found capable of penetrating the manifold combinations of the king, and disconcerting his designs. anthony perrenotte de granvelle, bishop of arras, who was considered as philip's favorite counsellor, but who was in reality no more than his docile agent, was commissioned to address the assembly in the name of his master, who spoke only spanish. his oration was one of cautious deception, and contained the most flattering assurances of philip's attachment to the people of the netherlands. it excused the king for not having nominated his only son, don carlos, to reign over them in his name; alleging, as a proof of his royal affection, that he preferred giving them as stadtholderess a belgian princess, madame marguerite, duchess of parma, the natural daughter of charles v. by a young lady, a native of audenarde. fair promises and fine words were thus lavished in profusion to gain the confidence of the deputies. but notwithstanding all the talent, the caution, and the mystery of philip and his minister, there was among the nobles one man who saw through all. this individual, endowed with many of the highest attributes of political genius, and pre-eminently with judgment, the most important of all, entered fearlessly into the contest against tyranny--despising every personal sacrifice for the country's good. without making himself suspiciously prominent, he privately warned some members of the states of the coming danger. those in whom he confided did not betray the trust. they spread among the other deputies the alarm, and pointed out the danger to which they had been so judiciously awakened. the consequence was a reply to philip's demand; in vague and general terms, without binding the nation by any pledge; and a unanimous entreaty that he would diminish the taxes, withdraw the foreign troops, and intrust no official employments to any but natives of the country. the object of this last request was the removal of granvelle, who was born in franche-comte. philip was utterly astounded at all this. in the first moment of his vexation he imprudently cried out, "would ye, then, also bereave _me_ of my place; i, who am a spaniard?" but he soon recovered his self-command, and resumed his usual mask; expressed his regret at not having sooner learned the wishes of the states; promised to remove the foreign troops within three months; and set off for zealand, with assumed composure, but filled with the fury of a discovered traitor and a humiliated despot. a fleet under the command of count horn, the admiral of the united provinces, waited at flessingue to form his escort to spain. at the very moment of his departure, william of nassau, prince of orange and governor of zealand, waited on him to pay his official respects. the king, taking him apart from the other attendant nobles, recommended him to hasten the execution of several gentlemen and wealthy citizens attached to the newly introduced religious opinions. then, quite suddenly, whether in the random impulse of suppressed rage, or that his piercing glance discovered william's secret feelings in his countenance, he accused him with having been the means of thwarting his designs. "sire," replied nassau, "it was the work of the national states."--"no!" cried philip, grasping him furiously by the arm; "it was not done by the states, but by you, and you alone!"--schiller. the words of philip were: "_no,_no_los_estados_; _ma_vos,_vos,_vos!_" vos thus used in spanish is a term of contempt, equivalent to _toi_ in french. this glorious accusation was not repelled. he who had saved his country in unmasking the designs of its tyrant admitted by his silence his title to the hatred of the one and the gratitude of the other. on the th of august, philip embarked and set sail; turning his back forever on the country which offered the first check to his despotism; and, after a perilous voyage, he arrived in that which permitted a free indulgence to his ferocious and sanguinary career. for some time after philip's departure, the netherlands continued to enjoy considerable prosperity. from the period of the peace of câteau-cambresis, commerce and navigation had acquired new and increasing activity. the fisheries, but particularly that of herrings, became daily more important; that one alone occupying two thousand boats. while holland, zealand and friesland made this progress in their peculiar branches of industry, the southern provinces were not less active or successful. spain and the colonies offered such a mart for the objects of their manufacture that in a single year they received from flanders fifty large ships filled with articles of household furniture and utensils. the exportation of woollen goods amounted to enormous sums. bruges alone sold annually to the amount of four million florins of stuffs of spanish, and as much of english, wool; and the least value of the florin then was quadruple its present worth. the commerce with england, though less important than that with spain, was calculated yearly at twenty-four million florins, which was chiefly clear profit to the netherlands, as their exportations consisted almost entirely of objects of their own manufacture. their commercial relations with france, germany, italy, portugal, and the levant, were daily increasing. antwerp was the centre of this prodigious trade. several sovereigns, among others elizabeth of england, had recognized agents in that city, equivalent to consuls of the present times; and loans of immense amount were frequently negotiated by them with wealthy merchants, who furnished them, not in negotiable bills or for unredeemable debentures, but in solid gold, and on a simple acknowledgment. flanders and brabant were still the richest and most flourishing portions of the state. some municipal fêtes given about this time afford a notion of their opulence. on one of these occasions the town of mechlin sent a deputation to antwerp, consisting of three hundred and twenty-six horsemen dressed in velvet and satin with gold and silver ornaments; while those of brussels consisted of three hundred and forty, as splendidly equipped, and accompanied by seven huge triumphal chariots and seventy-eight carriages of various constructions--a prodigious number for those days. but the splendor and prosperity which thus sprung out of the national industry and independence, and which a wise or a generous sovereign would have promoted, or at least have established on a permanent basis, was destined speedily to sink beneath the bigoted fury of philip ii. the new government which he had established was most ingeniously adapted to produce every imaginable evil to the state. the king, hundreds of leagues distant, could not himself issue an order but with a lapse of time ruinous to any object of pressing importance. the stadtholderess, who represented him, having but a nominal authority, was forced to follow her instructions, and liable to have all her acts reversed; besides which, she had the king's orders to consult her private council on all affairs whatever, and the council of state on any matter of paramount importance. these two councils, however, contained the elements of a serious opposition to the royal projects, in the persons of the patriot nobles sprinkled among philip's devoted creatures. thus the influence of the crown was often thwarted, if not actually balanced; and the proposals which emanated from it frequently opposed by the stadtholderess herself. she, although a woman of masculine appearance and habits,[ ] was possessed of no strength of mind. her prevailing sentiment seemed to be dread of the king; yet she was at times influenced by a sense of justice, and by the remonstrances of the well-judging members of her councils. but these were not all the difficulties that clogged the machinery of the state. after the king, the government, and the councils, had deliberated on any measure, its execution rested with the provincial governors or stadtholders, or the magistrates of the towns. almost everyone of these, being strongly attached to the laws and customs of the nation, hesitated, or refused to obey the orders conveyed to them, when those orders appeared illegal. some, however, yielded to the authority of the government; so it often happened that an edict, which in one district was carried into full effect, was in others deferred, rejected, or violated, in a way productive of great confusion in the public affairs. [footnote : strada.] philip was conscious that he had himself to blame for the consequent disorder. in nominating the members of the two councils, he had overreached himself in his plan for silently sapping the liberty that was so obnoxious to his designs. but to neutralize the influence of the restive members, he had left granvelle the first place in the administration. this man, an immoral ecclesiastic, an eloquent orator, a supple courtier, and a profound politician, bloated with pride, envy, insolence, and vanity, was the real head of the government.[ ] next to him among the royalist party was viglius, president of the privy council, an erudite schoolman, attached less to the broad principles of justice than to the letter of the laws, and thus carrying pedantry into the very councils of the state. next in order came the count de berlaimont, head of the financial department--a stern and intolerant satellite of the court, and a furious enemy to those national institutions which operated as checks upon fraud. these three individuals formed the stadtholderess's privy council. the remaining creatures of the king were mere subaltern agents. [footnote : strada, a royalist, a jesuit, and therefore a fair witness on this point, uses the following words in portraying the character of this odious minister: _animum_avidum_invidumque,_ac_ _simultates_inter_principem_et_populos_occulti_foventum_.] a government so composed could scarcely fail to excite discontent and create danger to the public weal. the first proof of incapacity was elicited by the measures required for the departure of the spanish troops. the period fixed by the king had already expired, and these obnoxious foreigners were still in the country, living in part on pillage, and each day committing some new excess. complaints were carried in successive gradation from the government to the council, and from the council to the king. the spaniards were removed to zealand; but instead of being embarked at any of its ports, they were detained there on various pretexts. money, ships, or, on necessity, a wind, was professed to be still wanting for their final removal, by those who found excuses for delay in every element of nature or subterfuge of art. in the meantime those ferocious soldiers ravaged a part of the country. the simple natives at length declared they would open the sluices of their dikes; preferring to be swallowed by the waters rather than remain exposed to the cruelty and rapacity of those spaniards. still the embarkation was postponed; until the king, requiring his troops in spain for some domestic project, they took their long-desired departure in the beginning of the year . the public discontent at this just cause was soon, however, overwhelmed by one infinitely more important and lasting. the belgian clergy had hitherto formed a free and powerful order in the state, governed and represented by four bishops, chosen by the chapters of the towns or elected by the monks of the principal abbeys. these bishops, possessing an independent territorial revenue, and not directly subject to the influence of the crown, had interests and feelings in common with the nation. but philip had prepared, and the pope had sanctioned, the new system of ecclesiastical organization before alluded to, and the provisional government now put it into execution. instead of four bishops, it was intended to appoint eighteen, their nomination being vested in the king. by a wily system of trickery, the subserviency of the abbeys was also aimed at. the new prelates, on a pretended principle of economy, were endowed with the title of abbots of the chief monasteries of their respective dioceses. thus not only would they enjoy the immense wealth of these establishments, but the political rights of the abbots whom they were to succeed; and the whole of the ecclesiastical order become gradually represented (after the death of the then living abbots) by the creatures of the crown. the consequences of this vital blow to the integrity of the national institutions were evident; and the indignation of both clergy and laity was universal. every legal means of opposition was resorted to, but the people were without leaders; the states were not in session. while the authority of the pope and the king combined, the reverence excited by the very name of religion, and the address and perseverance of the government, formed too powerful a combination, and triumphed over the national discontents which had not yet been formed into resistance. the new bishops were appointed; granvelle securing for himself the archiepiscopal see of mechlin, with the title of primate of the low countries. at the same time paul iv. put the crowning point to the capital of his ambition, by presenting him with a cardinal's hat. the new bishops were to a man most violent, intolerant, and it may be conscientious, opponents to the wide-spreading doctrines of reform. the execution of the edicts against heresy was confided to them. the provincial governors and inferior magistrates were commanded to aid them with a strong arm; and the most unjust and frightful persecution immediately commenced. but still some of these governors and magistrates, considering themselves not only the officers of the prince, but the protectors of the people, and the defenders of the laws rather than of the faith, did not blindly conform to those harsh and illegal commands. the prince of orange, stadtholder of holland, zealand, and utrecht, and the count of egmont, governor of flanders and artois, permitted no persecutions in those five provinces. but in various places the very people, even when influenced by their superiors, openly opposed it. catholics as well as protestants were indignant at the atrocious spectacles of cruelty presented on all sides. the public peace was endangered by isolated acts of resistance, and fears of a general insurrection soon became universal. the apparent temporizing or seeming uncertainty of the champions of the new doctrines formed the great obstacle to the reformation, and tended to prolong the dreadful struggle which was now only commencing in the low countries. it was a matter of great difficulty to convince the people that popery was absurd, and at the same time to set limits to the absurdity. had the change been from blind belief to total infidelity, it would (as in a modern instance) have been much easier, though less lasting. men might, in a time of such excitement, have been persuaded that _all_ religion productive of abuses such as then abounded was a farce, and that common sense called for its abolition. but when the boundaries of belief became a question; when the world was told it ought to reject some doctrines, and retain others which seemed as difficult of comprehension; when one tenet was pronounced idolatry, and to doubt another declared damnation--the world either exploded or recoiled: it went too far or it shrank back; plunged into atheism, or relapsed into popery. it was thus the reformation was checked in the first instance. its supporters were the strong-minded and intelligent; and they never, and least of all in those days, formed the mass. superstition and bigotry had enervated the intellects of the majority; and the high resolve of those with whom the great work commenced was mixed with a severity that materially retarded its progress. for though personal interests, as with henry viii. of england, and rigid enthusiasm, as with calvin, strengthened the infant reformation; the first led to violence which irritated many, the second to austerity which disgusted them; and it was soon discovered that the change was almost confined to forms of practice, and that the essentials of abuse were likely to be carefully preserved. all these, and other arguments, artfully modified to distract the people, were urged by the new bishops in the netherlands, and by those whom they employed to arrest the progress of reform. among the various causes of the general confusion, the situation of brabant gave to that province a peculiar share of suffering. brussels, its capital, being the seat of government, had no particular chief magistrate, like the other provinces. the executive power was therefore wholly confided to the municipal authorities and the territorial proprietors. but these, though generally patriotic in their views, were divided into a multiplicity of different opinions. rivalry and resentment produced a total want of union, ended in anarchy, and prepared the way for civil war. william of nassau penetrated the cause, and proposed the remedy in moving for the appointment of a provincial governor. this proposition terrified granvelle, who saw, as clearly as did his sagacious opponent in the council, that the nomination of a special protector between the people and the government would have paralyzed all his efforts for hurrying on the discord and resistance which were meant to be the plausible excuses for the introduction of arbitrary power. he therefore energetically dissented from the proposed measure, and william immediately desisted from his demand. but he at the same time claimed, in the name of the whole country, the convocation of the states-general. this assembly alone was competent to decide what was just, legal, and obligatory for each province and every town. governors, magistrates, and simple citizens, would thus have some rule for their common conduct; and the government would be at least endowed with the dignity of uniformity and steadiness. the ministers endeavored to evade a demand which they were at first unwilling openly to refuse. but the firm demeanor and persuasive eloquence of the prince of orange carried before them all who were not actually bought by the crown; and granvelle found himself at length forced to avow that an express order from the king forbade the convocation of the states, on any pretext, during his absence. the veil was thus rent asunder which had in some measure concealed the deformity of philip's despotism. the result was a powerful confederacy, among all who held it odious, for the overthrow of granvelle, to whom they chose to attribute the king's conduct; thus bringing into practical result the sound principle of ministerial responsibility, without which, except in some peculiar case of local urgency or political crisis, the name of constitutional government is but a mockery. many of the royalist nobles united for the national cause; and even the stadtholderess joined her efforts to theirs, for an object which would relieve her from the tyranny which none felt more than she did. those who composed this confederacy against the minister were actuated by a great variety of motives. the duchess of parma hated him, as a domestic spy robbing her of all real authority; the royalist nobles, as an insolent upstart at every instant mortifying their pride. the counts egmont and horn, with nobler sentiments, opposed him as the author of their country's growing misfortunes. but it is doubtful if any of the confederates except the prince of orange clearly saw that they were putting themselves in direct and personal opposition to the king himself. william alone, clear-sighted in politics and profound in his views, knew, in thus devoting himself to the public cause, the adversary with whom he entered the lists. this great man, for whom the national traditions still preserve the sacred title of "father" (vader-willem), and who was in truth not merely the parent but the political creator of the country, was at this period in his thirtieth year. he already joined the vigor of manhood to the wisdom of age. brought up under the eye of charles v., whose sagacity soon discovered his precocious talents, he was admitted to the councils of the emperor at a time of life which was little advanced beyond mere boyhood. he alone was chosen by this powerful sovereign to be present at the audiences which he gave to foreign ambassadors, which proves that in early youth he well deserved by his discretion the surname of "the taciturn." it was on the arm of william, then twenty years of age, and already named by him to the command of the belgian troops, that this powerful monarch leaned for support on the memorable day of his abdication; and he immediately afterward employed him on the important mission of bearing the imperial crown to his brother ferdinand, in whose favor he had resigned it. william's grateful attachment to charles did not blind him to the demerits of philip. he repaired to france, as one of the hostages on the part of the latter monarch for the fulfilment of the peace of câteau-cambresis; and he then learned from the lips of henry ii., who soon conceived a high esteem for him, the measures reciprocally agreed on by the two sovereigns for the oppression of their subjects. from that moment his mind was made up on the character of philip, and on the part which he had himself to perform; and he never felt a doubt on the first point, nor swerved from the latter. but even before his patriotism was openly displayed, philip had taken a dislike to one in whom his shrewdness quickly discovered an intellect of which he was jealous. he could not actually remove william from all interference with public affairs; but he refused him the government of flanders, and opposed, in secret, his projected marriage with a princess of the house of lorraine, which was calculated to bring him a considerable accession of fortune, and consequently of influence. it may be therefore said that william, in his subsequent conduct, was urged by motives of personal enmity against philip. be it so. we do not seek to raise him above the common feelings of humanity; and we should risk the sinking him below them, if we supposed him insensible to the natural effects of just resentment. the secret impulses of conduct can never be known beyond the individual's own breast; but actions must, however questionable, be taken as the tests of motives. in all those of william's illustrious career we can detect none that might be supposed to spring from vulgar or base feelings. if his hostility to philip was indeed increased by private dislike, he has at least set an example of unparalleled dignity in his method of revenge; but in calmly considering and weighing, without deciding on the question, we see nothing that should deprive william of an unsullied title to pure and perfect patriotism. the injuries done to him by philip at this period were not of a nature to excite any violent hatred. enough of public wrong was inflicted to arouse the patriot, but not of private ill to inflame the man. neither was william of a vindictive disposition. he was never known to turn the knife of an assassin against his royal rival, even when the blade hired by the latter glanced from him reeking with his blood. and though william's enmity may have been kept alive or strengthened by the provocations he received, it is certain that, if a foe to the king, he was, as long as it was possible, the faithful counsellor of the crown. he spared no pains to impress on the monarch who hated him the real means for preventing the coming evils; and had not a revolution been absolutely inevitable, it is he who would have prevented it. such was the chief of the patriot party, chosen by the silent election of general opinion, and by that involuntary homage to genius which leads individuals in the train of those master-minds who take the lead in public affairs. counts egmont and horn, and some others, largely shared with him the popular favor. the multitude could not for some time distinguish the uncertain and capricious opposition of an offended courtier from the determined resistance of a great man. william was still comparatively young; he had lived long out of the country; and it was little by little that his eminent public virtues were developed and understood. the great object of immediate good was the removal of cardinal granvelle. william boldly put himself at the head of the confederacy. he wrote to the king, conjointly with counts egmont and horn, faithfully portraying the state of affairs. the duchess of parma backed this remonstrance with a strenuous request for granvelle's dismission. philip's reply to the three noblemen was a mere tissue of duplicity to obtain delay, accompanied by an invitation to count egmont to repair to madrid, to hear his sentiments at large by word of mouth. his only answer to the stadtholderess was a positive recommendation to use every possible means to disunite and breed ill-will among the three confederate lords. it was difficult to deprive william of the confidence of his friends, and impossible to deceive him. he saw the trap prepared by the royal intrigues, restrained egmont for a while from the fatal step he was but too well inclined to take, and persuaded him and horn to renew with him their firm but respectful representations; at the same time begging permission to resign their various employments, and simultaneously ceasing to appear at the court of the stadtholderess. in the meantime every possible indignity was offered to the cardinal by private pique and public satire. several lords, following count egmont's example, had a kind of capuchon or fool's-cap embroidered on the liveries of their varlets; and it was generally known that this was meant as a practical parody on the cardinal's hat. the crowd laughed heartily at this stupid pleasantry; and the coarse satire of the times may be judged by a caricature, which was forwarded to the cardinal's own hands, representing him in the act of hatching a nest full of eggs, from which a crowd of bishops escaped, while overhead was the devil _in_propriâ_ _personâ_, with the following scroll: "this is my well-beloved son--listen to him!" philip, thus driven before the popular voice, found himself forced to the choice of throwing off the mask at once, or of sacrificing granvelle. an invincible inclination for manoeuvring and deceit decided him on the latter measure; and the cardinal, recalled but not disgraced, quitted the netherlands on the th of march, . the secret instructions to the stadtholderess remained unrevoked; the president viglius succeeded to the post which granvelle had occupied; and it was clear that the projects of the king had suffered no change. nevertheless some good resulted from the departure of the unpopular minister. the public fermentation subsided; the patriot lords reappeared at court; and the prince of orange acquired an increasing influence in the council and over the stadtholderess, who by his advice adopted a conciliatory line of conduct--a fallacious but still a temporary hope for the nation. but the calm was of short duration. scarcely was this moderation evinced by the government, when philip, obstinate in his designs, and outrageous in his resentment, sent an order to have the edicts against heresy put into most rigorous execution, and to proclaim throughout the seventeen provinces the furious decree of the council of trent. the revolting cruelty and illegality of the first edicts were already admitted. as to the decrees of this memorable council, they were only adapted for countries in submission to an absolute despotism. they were received in the netherlands with general reprobation. even the new bishops loudly denounced them as unjust innovations; and thus philip found zealous opponents in those on whom he had reckoned as his most servile tools. the stadtholderess was not the less urged to implicit obedience to the orders of the king by viglius and de berlaimont, who took upon themselves an almost menacing tone. the duchess assembled a council of state, and asked its advice as to her proceedings. the prince of orange at once boldly proposed disobedience to measures fraught with danger to the monarchy and ruin to the nation. the council could not resist his appeal to their best feelings. his proposal that fresh remonstrances should be addressed to the king met with almost general support. the president viglius, who had spoken in the opening of the council in favor of the king's orders, was overwhelmed by william's reasoning, and demanded time to prepare his reply. his agitation during the debate, and his despair of carrying the measures against the patriot party, brought on in the night an attack of apoplexy. it was resolved to despatch a special envoy to spain, to explain to philip the views of the council, and to lay before him a plan proposed by the prince of orange for forming a junction between the two councils and that of finance, and forming them into one body. the object of this measure was at once to give greater union and power to the provisional government, to create a central administration in the netherlands, and to remove from some obscure and avaricious financiers the exclusive management of the national resources. the count of egmont, chosen by the council for this important mission, set out for madrid in the month of february, . philip received him with profound hypocrisy; loaded him with the most flattering promises; sent him back in the utmost elation: and when the credulous count returned to brussels, he found that the written orders, of which he was the bearer, were in direct variance with every word which the king had uttered. these orders were chiefly concerning the reiterated subject of the persecution to be inflexibly pursued against the religious reformers. not satisfied with the hitherto established forms of punishment, philip now expressly commanded that the more revolting means decreed by his father in the rigor of his early zeal, such as burning, living burial, and the like, should be adopted; and he somewhat more obscurely directed that the victims should be no longer publicly immolated, but secretly destroyed. he endeavored, by this vague phraseology, to avoid the actual utterance of the word "inquisition"; but he thus virtually established that atrocious tribunal, with attributes still more terrific than even in spain; for there the condemned had at least the consolation of dying in open day, and of displaying the fortitude which is rarely proof against the horror of a private execution. philip had thus consummated his treason against the principles of justice and the practices of jurisprudence, which had heretofore characterized the country; and against the most vital of those privileges which he had solemnly sworn to maintain. his design of establishing this horrible tribunal, so impiously named "holy" by its founders, had been long suspected by the people of the netherlands. the expression of those fears had reached him more than once. he as often replied by assurances that he had formed no such project, and particularly to count d'egmont during his recent visit to madrid. but at that very time he assembled a conclave of his creatures, doctors of theology, of whom he formally demanded an opinion as to whether he could conscientiously tolerate two sorts of religion in the netherlands. the doctors, hoping to please him, replied, that "he might, for the avoidance of a greater evil." philip trembled with rage, and exclaimed, with a threatening tone, "i ask not if i _can_, but if i _ought_." the theologians read in this question the nature of the expected reply; and it was amply conformable to his wish. he immediately threw himself on his knees before a crucifix, and raising his hands toward heaven, put up a prayer for strength in his resolution to pursue as deadly enemies all who viewed that effigy with feelings different from his own. if this were not really a sacrilegious farce, it must be that the blaspheming bigot believed the deity to be a monster of cruelty like himself. even viglius was terrified by the nature of philip's commands; and the patriot lords once more withdrew from all share in the government, leaving to the duchess of parma and her ministers the whole responsibility of the new measures. they were at length put into actual and vigorous execution in the beginning of the year . the inquisitors of the faith, with their familiars, stalked abroad boldly in the devoted provinces, carrying persecution and death in their train. numerous but partial insurrections opposed these odious intruders. every district and town became the scene of frightful executions or tumultuous resistance. the converts to the new doctrines multiplied, as usual, under the effects of persecution. "there was nowhere to be seen," says a contemporary author, "the meanest mechanic who did not find a weapon to strike down the murderers of his compatriots." holland, zealand and utrecht alone escaped from those fast accumulating horrors. william of nassau was there. chapter viii commencement of the revolution a.d. the stadtholderess and her ministers now began to tremble. philip's favorite counsellors advised him to yield to the popular despair; but nothing could change his determination to pursue his bloody game to the last chance. he had foreseen the impossibility of reducing the country to slavery as long as it maintained its tranquillity, and that union which forms in itself the elements and the cement of strength. it was from deep calculation that he had excited the troubles, and now kept them alive. he knew that the structure of illegal power could only be raised on the ruins of public rights and national happiness; and the materials of desolation found sympathy in his congenial mind. and now in reality began the awful revolution of the netherlands against their tyrant. in a few years this so lately flourishing and happy nation presented a frightful picture; and in the midst of european peace, prosperity, and civilization, the wickedness of one prince drew down on the country he misgoverned more evils than it had suffered for centuries from the worst effects of its foreign foes. william of nassau has been accused of having at length urged on the stadtholderess to promulgate the final edicts and the resolutions of the council of trent, and then retiring from the council of state. this line of conduct may be safely admitted and fairly defended by his admirers. he had seen the uselessness of remonstrance against the intentions of the king. every possible means had been tried, without effect, to soften his pitiless heart to the sufferings of the country. at length the moment came when the people had reached that pitch of despair which is the great force of the oppressed, and william felt that their strength was now equal to the contest he had long foreseen. it is therefore absurd to accuse him of artifice in the exercise of that wisdom which rarely failed him on any important crisis. a change of circumstances gives a new name to actions and motives; and it would be hard to blame william of nassau for the only point in which he bore the least resemblance to philip of spain--that depth of penetration, which the latter turned to every base and the former to every noble purpose. up to the present moment the prince of orange and the counts egmont and horn, with their partisans and friends, had sincerely desired the public peace, and acted in the common interest of the king and the people. but all the nobles had not acted with the same constitutional moderation. many of those, disappointed on personal accounts, others professing the new doctrines, and the rest variously affected by manifold motives, formed a body of violent and sometimes of imprudent malcontents. the marriage of alexander, prince of parma, son of the stadtholderess, which was at this time celebrated at brussels, brought together an immense number of these dissatisfied nobles, who became thus drawn into closer connection, and whose national candor was more than usually brought out in the confidential intercourse of society. politics and patriotism were the common subjects of conversation in the various convivial meetings that took place. two german nobles, counts holle and schwarzemberg, at that period in the netherlands, loudly proclaimed the favorable disposition of the princes of the empire toward the belgians. it was supposed even thus early that negotiations had been opened with several of those sovereigns. in short, nothing seemed wanting but a leader, to give consistency and weight to the confederacy which was as yet but in embryo. this was doubly furnished in the persons of louis of nassau and henry de brederode. the former, brother of the prince of orange, was possessed of many of those brilliant qualities which mark men as worthy of distinction in times of peril. educated at geneva, he was passionately attached to the reformed religion, and identified in his hatred the catholic church and the tyranny of spain. brave and impetuous, he was, to his elder brother, but as an adventurous partisan compared with a sagacious general. he loved william as well as he did their common cause, and his life was devoted to both. henry de brederode, lord of vienen and marquis of utrecht, was descended from the ancient counts of holland. this illustrious origin, which in his own eyes formed a high claim to distinction, had not procured him any of those employments or dignities which he considered his due. he was presumptuous and rash, and rather a fluent speaker than an eloquent orator. louis of nassau was thoroughly inspired by the justice of the cause he espoused; de brederode espoused it for the glory of becoming its champion. the first only wished for action; the latter longed for distinction. but neither the enthusiasm of nassau, nor the vanity of de brederode, was allied with those superior attributes required to form a hero. the confederation acquired its perfect organization in the month of february, , on the tenth of which month its celebrated manifesto was signed by its numerous adherents. the first name affixed to this document was that of philip de marnix, lord of st. aldegonde, from whose pen it emanated; a man of great talents both as soldier and writer. numbers of the nobility followed him on this muster-roll of patriotism, and many of the most zealous royalists were among them. this remarkable proclamation of general feeling consisted chiefly in a powerful reprehension of the illegal establishment of the inquisition in the low countries, and a solemn obligation on the members of the confederacy to unite in the common cause against this detested nuisance. men of all ranks and classes offered their signatures, and several catholic priests among the rest. the prince of orange, and the counts egmont, horn, and meghem, declined becoming actual parties to this bold measure; and when the question was debated as to the most appropriate way of presenting an address to the stadtholderess these noblemen advised the mildest and most respectful demeanor on the part of the purposed deputation. at the first intelligence of these proceedings, the duchess of parma, absorbed by terror, had no resource but to assemble hastily such members of the council of state as were at brussels; and she entreated, by the most pressing letters, the prince of orange and count horn to resume their places at this council. but three courses of conduct seemed applicable to the emergency: to take up arms; to grant the demands of the confederates; or to temporize and to amuse them with a feint of moderation, until the orders of the king might be obtained from spain. it was not, however, till after a lapse of four months that the council finally met to deliberate on these important questions; and during this long interval at such a crisis the confederates gained constant accessions to their numbers, and completely consolidated their plans. the opinions in the council were greatly divided as to the mode of treatment toward those whom one party considered as patriots acting in their constitutional rights, and the other as rebels in open revolt against the king. the prince of orange and de berlaimont were the principal leaders and chief speakers on either side. but the reasonings of the former, backed by the urgency of events, carried the majority of the suffrages; and a promised redress of grievances was agreed on beforehand as the anticipated answer to the coming demands. even while the council of state held its sittings, the report was spread through brussels that the confederates were approaching. and at length they did enter the city, to the amount of some hundreds of the representatives of the first families in the country. on the following day, the th of april, , they walked in solemn procession to the palace. their demeanor was highly imposing, from their mingled air of forbearance and determination. all brussels thronged out to gaze and sympathize with this extraordinary spectacle of men whose resolute step showed they were no common suppliants, but whose modest bearing had none of the seditious air of faction. the stadtholderess received the distinguished petitioners with courtesy, listened to their detail of grievances, and returned a moderate, conciliatory, but evasive answer. the confederation, which owed its birth to, and was cradled in social enjoyments, was consolidated in the midst of a feast. the day following this first deputation to the stadtholderess, de brederode gave a grand repast to his associates in the hotel de culembourg. three hundred guests were present. inflamed by joy and hope, their spirits rose high under the influence of wine, and temperance gave way to temerity. in the midst of their carousing, some of the members remarked that when the stadtholderess received the written petition, count berlaimont observed to her that "she had nothing to fear from such a band of beggars" (_tas_de_gueux_). the fact was that many of the confederates were, from individual extravagance and mismanagement, reduced to such a state of poverty as to justify in some sort the sarcasm. the chiefs of the company being at that very moment debating on the name which they should choose for this patriotic league, the title of gueux was instantly proposed, and adopted with acclamation. the reproach it was originally intended to convey became neutralized, as its general application to men of all ranks and fortunes concealed its effect as a stigma on many to whom it might be seriously applied. neither were examples wanting of the most absurd and apparently dishonoring nicknames being elsewhere adopted by powerful political parties. "long live the gueux!" was the toast given and tumultuously drunk by this mad-brained company; and brederode, setting no bounds to the boisterous excitement which followed, procured immediately, and slung across his shoulders, a wallet such as was worn by pilgrims and beggars; drank to the health of all present, in a wooden cup or porringer; and loudly swore that he was ready to sacrifice his fortune and life for the common cause. each man passed round the bowl, which he first put to his lips, repeated the oath, and thus pledged himself to the compact. the wallet next went the rounds of the whole assembly, and was finally hung upon a nail driven into the wall for the purpose; and gazed on with such enthusiasm as the emblems of political or religious faith, however worthless or absurd, never fail to inspire in the minds of enthusiasts. the tumult caused by this ceremony, so ridiculous in itself, but so sublime in its results, attracted to the spot the prince of orange and counts egmont and horn, whose presence is universally attributed by the historians to accident, but which was probably that kind of chance that leads medical practitioners in our days to the field where a duel is fought. they entered; and brederode, who did the honors of the mansion, forced them to be seated, and to join in the festivity. the following was egmont's account of their conduct: "we drank a single glass of wine each, to shouts of 'long live the king! long live the gueux!' it was the first time i had heard the confederacy so named, and i avow that it displeased me; but the times were so critical that people were obliged to tolerate many things contrary to their inclinations, and i believed myself on this occasion to act with perfect innocence." the appearance of three such distinguished personages heightened the general excitement; and the most important assemblage that had for centuries met together in the netherlands mingled the discussion of affairs of state with all the burlesque extravagance of a debauch. but this frantic scene did not finish the affair. what they resolved on while drunk, they prepared to perform when sober. rallying signs and watchwords were adopted and soon displayed. it was thought that nothing better suited the occasion than the immediate adoption of the costume as well as the title of beggary. in a very few days the city streets were filled with men in gray cloaks, fashioned on the model of those used by mendicants and pilgrims. each confederate caused this uniform to be worn by every member of his family, and replaced with it the livery of his servants. several fastened to their girdles or their sword-hilts small wooden drinking-cups, clasp-knives, and other symbols of the begging fraternity; while all soon wore on their breasts a medal of gold or silver, representing on one side the effigy of philip, with the words, "faithful to the king"; and on the reverse, two hands clasped, with the motto, "jusqu' à la besace" (even to the wallet). from this origin arose the application of the word gueux, in its political sense, as common to all the inhabitants of the netherlands who embraced the cause of the reformation and took up arms against their tyrant. having presented two subsequent remonstrances to the stadtholderess, and obtained some consoling promises of moderation, the chief confederates quitted brussels, leaving several directors to sustain their cause in the capital; while they themselves spread into the various provinces, exciting the people to join the legal and constitutional resistance with which they were resolved to oppose the march of bigotry and despotism. a new form of edict was now decided on by the stadtholderess and her council; and after various insidious and illegal but successful tricks, the consent of several of the provinces was obtained to the adoption of measures that, under a guise of comparative moderation, were little less abominable than those commanded by the king. these were formally signed by the council, and despatched to spain to receive philip's sanction, and thus acquire the force of law. the embassy to madrid was confided to the marquis of bergen and the baron de montigny; the latter of whom was brother to count horn, and had formerly been employed on a like mission. montigny appears to have had some qualms of apprehension in undertaking this new office. his good genius seemed for a while to stand between him and the fate which awaited him. an accident which happened to his colleague allowed an excuse for retarding his journey. but the stadtholderess urged him away: he set out, and reached his destination; not to defend the cause of his country at the foot of the throne, but to perish a victim to his patriotism. the situation of the patriot lords was at this crisis peculiarly embarrassing. the conduct of the confederates was so essentially tantamount to open rebellion, that the prince of orange and his friends found it almost impossible to preserve a neutrality between the court and the people. all their wishes urged them to join at once in the public cause; but they were restrained by a lingering sense of loyalty to the king, whose employments they still held, and whose confidence they were, therefore, nominally supposed to share. they seemed reduced to the necessity of coming to an explanation, and, perhaps, a premature rupture with the government; of joining in the harsh measures it was likely to adopt against those with whose proceedings they sympathized; or, as a last alternative, to withdraw, as they had done before, wholly from all interference in public affairs. still their presence in the council of state was, even though their influence had greatly decreased, of vast service to the patriots, in checking the hostility of the court; and the confederates, on the other hand, were restrained from acts of open violence, by fear of the disapprobation of these their best and most powerful friends. be their individual motives of reasoning what they might, they at length adopted the alternative above alluded to, and resigned their places. count horn retired to his estates; count egmont repaired to aix-la-chapelle, under the pretext of being ordered thither by his physicians; the prince of orange remained for a while at brussels. in the meanwhile, the confederation gained ground every day. its measures had totally changed the face of affairs in all parts of the nation. the general discontent now acquired stability, and consequent importance. the chief merchants of many of the towns enrolled themselves in the patriot band. many active and ardent minds, hitherto withheld by the doubtful construction of the association, now freely entered into it when it took the form of union and respectability. energy, if not excess, seemed legitimatized. the vanity of the leaders was flattered by the consequence they acquired; and weak minds gladly embraced an occasion of mixing with those whose importance gave both protection and concealment to their insignificance. an occasion so favorable for the rapid promulgation of the new doctrines was promptly taken advantage of by the french huguenots and their protestant brethren of germany. the disciples of reform poured from all quarters into the low countries, and made prodigious progress, with all the energy of proselytes, and too often with the fury of fanatics. the three principal sects into which the reformers were divided, were those of the anabaptists, the calvinists, and the lutherans. the first and least numerous were chiefly established in friesland. the second were spread over the eastern provinces. their doctrines being already admitted into some kingdoms of the north, they were protected by the most powerful princes of the empire. the third, and by far the most numerous and wealthy, abounded in the southern provinces, and particularly in flanders. they were supported by the zealous efforts of french, swiss, and german ministers; and their dogmas were nearly the same with those of the established religion of england. the city of antwerp was the central point of union for the three sects; but the only principle they held in common was their hatred against popery, the inquisition, and spain. the stadtholderess had now issued orders to the chief magistrates to proceed with moderation against the heretics; orders which were obeyed in their most ample latitude by those to whose sympathies they were so congenial. until then, the protestants were satisfied to meet by stealth at night; but under this negative protection of the authorities they now boldly assembled in public. field-preachings commenced in flanders; and the minister who first set this example was herman stricker, a converted monk, a native of overyssel, a powerful speaker, and a bold enthusiast. he soon drew together an audience of seven thousand persons. a furious magistrate rushed among this crowd, and hoped to disperse them sword in hand; but he was soon struck down, mortally wounded, with a shower of stones. irritated and emboldened by this rash attempt, the protestants assembled in still greater numbers near alost; but on this occasion they appeared with poniards, guns, and halberds. they intrenched themselves under the protection of wagons and all sorts of obstacles to a sudden attack; placed outposts and videttes; and thus took the field in the doubly dangerous aspect of fanaticism and war. similar assemblies soon spread over the whole of flanders, inflamed by the exhortations of stricker and another preacher, called peter dathen, of poperingue. it was calculated that fifteen thousand men attended at some of these preachings; while a third apostle of calvinism, ambrose ville, a frenchman, successfully excited the inhabitants of tournay, valenciennes, and antwerp, to form a common league for the promulgation of their faith. the sudden appearance of de brederode at the latter place decided their plan, and gave the courage to fix on a day for its execution. an immense assemblage simultaneously quitted the three cities at a pre-concerted time; and when they united their forces at the appointed rendezvous, the preachings, exhortations, and psalm-singing commenced, under the auspices of several huguenot and german ministers, and continued for several days in all the zealous extravagance which may be well imagined to characterize such a scene. the citizens of antwerp were terrified for the safety of the place, and courier after courier was despatched to the stadtholderess at brussels to implore her presence. the duchess, not daring to take such a step without the authority of the king, sent count meghem as her representative, with proposals to the magistrates to call out the garrison. the populace soon understood the object of this messenger; and assailing him with a violent outcry, forced him to fly from the city. then the calvinists petitioned the magistrates for permission to openly exercise their religion, and for the grant of a temple in which to celebrate its rites. the magistrates in this conjuncture renewed their application to the stadtholderess, and entreated her to send the prince of orange, as the only person capable of saving the city from destruction. the duchess was forced to adopt this bitter alternative; and the prince, after repeated refusals to mix again in public affairs, yielded, at length, less to the supplications of the stadtholderess than to his own wishes to do another service to the cause of his country. at half a league from the city he was met by de brederode, with an immense concourse of people of all sects and opinions, who hailed him as a protector from the tyranny of the king, and a savior from the dangers of their own excess. nothing could exceed the wisdom, the firmness, and the benevolence, with which he managed all conflicting interests, and preserved tranquillity amid a chaos of opposing prejudices and passions. from the first establishment of the field-preachings the stadtholderess had implored the confederate lords to aid her for the re-establishment of order. de brederode seized this excuse for convoking a general meeting of the associates which consequently took place at the town of st. trond, in the district of liege. full two thousand of the members appeared on the summons. the language held in this assembly was much stronger and less equivocal than that formerly used. the delay in the arrival of the king's answer presaged ill as to his intentions; while the rapid growth of the public power seemed to mark the present as the time for successfully demanding all that the people required. several of the catholic members, still royalists at heart, were shocked to hear a total liberty of conscience spoken of as one of the privileges sought for. the young count of mansfield, among others, withdrew immediately from the confederation; and thus the first stone seemed to be removed from this imperfectly constructed edifice. the prince of orange and count egmont were applied to, and appointed by the stadtholderess, with full powers to treat with the confederates. twelve of the latter, among whom were louis of nassau, de brederode, and de culembourg, met them by appointment at duffle, a village not far from mechlin. the result of the conference was a respectful but firm address to the stadtholderess, repelling her accusations of having entered into foreign treaties; declaring their readiness to march against the french troops should they set foot in the country; and claiming, with the utmost force of reasoning, the convocation of the states-general. this was replied to by an entreaty that they would still wait patiently for twenty-four days, in hopes of an answer from the king; and she sent the marquess of bergen in all speed to madrid, to support montigny in his efforts to obtain some prompt decision from philip. the king, who was then at segovia, assembled his council, consisting of the duke of alva and eight other grandees. the two deputies from the netherlands attended at the deliberations, which were held for several successive days; but the king was never present. the whole state of affairs being debated with what appears a calm and dispassionate view, considering the hostile prejudices of this council, it was decided to advise the king to adopt generally a more moderate line of conduct in the netherlands, and to abolish the inquisition; at the same time prohibiting under the most awful threats all confederation assemblage, or public preachings, under any pretext whatever. the king's first care on, receiving this advice was to order, in all the principal towns of spain and the netherlands, prayer and processions to implore the divine approbation on the resolutions which he had formed. he appeared then in person at the council of state, and issued a decree, by which he refused his consent to the convocation of the states-general, and bound himself to take several german regiments into his pay. he ordered the duchess of parma, by a private letter, to immediately cause to be raised three thousand cavalry and ten thousand foot, and he remitted to her for this purpose three hundred thousand florins in gold. he next wrote with his own hand to several of his partisans in the various towns, encouraging them in their fidelity to his purpose, and promising them his support. he rejected the adoption of the moderation recommended to him; but he consented to the abolition of the inquisition in its most odious sense, re-establishing that modified species of ecclesiastical tyranny which had been introduced into the netherlands by charles v. the people of that devoted country were thus successful in obtaining one important concession from the king, and in meeting unexpected consideration from this spanish council. whether these measures had been calculated with a view to their failure, it is not now easy to determine; at all events they came too late. when philip's letters reached brussels, the iconoclasts or image-breakers were abroad. it requires no profound research to comprehend the impulse which leads a horde of fanatics to the most monstrous excesses. that the deeds of the iconoclasts arose from the spontaneous outburst of mere vulgar fury, admits of no doubt. the aspersion which would trace those deeds to the meeting of st. trond, and fix the infamy on the body of nobility there assembled, is scarcely worthy of refutation. the very lowest of the people were the actors as well as the authors of the outrages, which were at once shocking to every friend of liberty, and injurious to that sacred cause. artois and western flanders were the scenes of the first exploits of the iconoclasts. a band of peasants, intermixed with beggars and various other vagabonds, to the amount of about three hundred, urged by fanaticism and those baser passions which animate every lawless body of men, armed with hatchets, clubs, and hammers, forced open the doors of some of the village churches in the neighborhood of st. omer, and tore down and destroyed not only the images and relics of saints, but those very ornaments which christians of all sects hold sacred, and essential to the most simple rites of religion. the cities of ypres, lille, and other places of importance, were soon subject to similar visitations; and the whole of flanders was in a few days ravaged by furious multitudes, whose frantic energy spread terror and destruction on their route. antwerp was protected for a while by the presence of the prince of orange; but an order from the stadtholderess having obliged him to repair to brussels, a few nights after his departure the celebrated cathedral shared the fate of many a minor temple, and was utterly pillaged. the blind fury of the spoilers was not confined to the mere effigies which they considered the types of idolatry, nor even to the pictures, the vases, the sixty-six altars, and their richly wrought accessories; but it was equally fatal to the splendid organ, which was considered the finest at that time in existence. the rapidity and the order with which this torch-light scene was acted, without a single accident among the numerous doers, has excited the wonder of almost all its early historians. one of them does not hesitate to ascribe the "miracle" to the absolute agency of demons. for three days and nights these revolting scenes were acted, and every church in the city shared the fate of the cathedral, which next to st. peter's at rome was the most magnificent in christendom. ghent, tournay, valenciennes, mechlin, and other cities, were next the theatres of similar excesses; and in an incredibly short space of time above four hundred churches were pillaged in flanders and brabant. zealand, utrecht, and others of the northern provinces, suffered more or less; friesland, guelders, and holland alone escaped, and even the latter but in partial instances. these terrible scenes extinguished every hope of reconciliation with the king. an inveterate and interminable hatred was now established between him and the people; for the whole nation was identified with deeds which were in reality only shared by the most base, and were loathsome to all who were enlightened. it was in vain that the patriot nobles might hope or strive to exclupate themselves; they were sure to be held criminal either in fact or by implication. no show of loyalty, no efforts to restore order, no personal sacrifice, could save them from the hatred or screen them from the vengeance of philip. the affright of the stadtholderess during the short reign of anarchy and terror was without bounds. she strove to make her escape from brussels, and was restrained from so doing only by the joint solicitations of viglius and the various knights of the order of the golden fleece, consisting of the first among the nobles of all parties. but, in fact, a species of violence was used to restrain her from this most fatal step; for viglius gave orders that the gates of the city should be shut, and egress refused to anyone belonging to the court. the somewhat less terrified duchess now named count mansfield governor of the town, reinforced the garrison, ordered arms to be distributed to all her adherents, and then called a council to deliberate on the measures to be adopted. a compromise with the confederates and the reformers was unanimously agreed to. the prince of orange and counts egmont and horn were once more appointed to this arduous arbitration between the court and the people. necessity now extorted almost every concession which had been so long denied to justice and prudence. the confederates were declared absolved from all responsibility relative to their proceedings. the suppression of the inquisition, the abolition of the edicts against heresy, and a permission for the preachings, were simultaneously published. the confederates on their side undertook to remain faithful to the service of the king, to do their best for the establishment of order, and to punish the iconoclasts. a regular treaty to this effect was drawn up and executed by the respective plenipotentiaries, and formally approved by the stadtholderess, who affixed her sign-manual to the instrument. she only consented to this measure after a long struggle, and with tears in her eyes; and it was with a trembling hand that she wrote an account of these transactions to the king. soon after this the several governors repaired to their respective provinces, and their efforts for the re-establishment of tranquillity were attended with various degrees of success. several of the ringleaders in the late excesses were executed; and this severity was not confined to the partisans of the catholic church. the prince of orange and count egmont, with others of the patriot lords, set the example of this just severity. john casambrot, lord of beckerzeel, egmont's secretary, and a leading member of the confederation, put himself at the head of some others of the associated gentlemen, fell upon a refractory band of iconoclasts near gramont, in flanders, and took thirty prisoners, of whom he ordered twenty-eight to be hanged on the spot. chapter ix to the administration of requesens a.d. -- all the services just related in the common cause of the country and the king produced no effect on the vindictive spirit of the latter. neither the lapse of time, the proofs of repentance, nor the fulfilment of their duty, could efface the hatred excited by a conscientious opposition to even one design of despotism. philip was ill at segovia when he received accounts of the excesses of the image-breakers, and of the convention concluded with the heretics. despatches from the stadtholderess, with private advice from viglius, egmont, mansfield, meghem, de berlaimont, and others, gave him ample information as to the real state of things, and they thus strove to palliate their having acceded to the convention. the emperor even wrote to his royal nephew, imploring him to treat his wayward subjects with moderation, and offered his mediation between them. philip, though severely suffering, gave great attention to the details of this correspondence, which he minutely examined, and laid before his council of state, with notes and observations taken by himself. but he took special care to send to them only such parts as he chose them to be well informed upon; his natural distrust not suffering him to have any confidential communication with men. again the spanish council appears to have interfered between the people of the netherlands and the enmity of the monarch; and the offered mediation of the emperor was recommended to his acceptance, to avoid the appearance of a forced concession to the popular will. philip was also strongly urged to repair to the scene of the disturbances; and a main question of debate was, whether he should march at the head of an army or confide himself to the loyalty and good faith of his belgian subjects. but the indolence or the pride of philip was too strong to admit of his taking so vigorous a measure; and all these consultations ended in two letters to the stadtholderess. in the first he declared his firm intention to visit the netherlands in person; refused to convoke the states-general; passed in silence the treaties concluded with the protestants and the confederates; and finished by a declaration that he would throw himself wholly on the fidelity of the country. in his second letter, meant for the stadtholderess alone, he authorized her to assemble the states-general if public opinion became too powerful for resistance, but on no account to let it transpire that he had under any circumstances given his consent. during these deliberations in spain, the protestants in the netherlands amply availed themselves of the privileges they had gained. they erected numerous wooden churches with incredible activity. young and old, noble and plebeian, of these energetic men, assisted in the manual labors of these occupations; and the women freely applied the produce of their ornaments and jewels to forward the pious work. but the furious outrages of the iconoclasts had done infinite mischief to both political and religious freedom; many of the catholics, and particularly the priests, gradually withdrew themselves from the confederacy, which thus lost some of its most firm supporters. and, on the other hand, the severity with which some of its members pursued the guilty offended and alarmed the body of the people, who could not distinguish the shades of difference between the love of liberty and the practice of licentiousness. the stadtholderess and her satellites adroitly took advantage of this state of things to sow dissension among the patriots. autograph letters from philip to the principal lords were distributed among them with such artful and mysterious precautions as to throw the rest into perplexity, and give each suspicions of the other's fidelity. the report of the immediate arrival of philip had also considerable effect over the less resolute or more selfish; and the confederation was dissolving rapidly under the operations of intrigue, self-interest, and fear. even the count of egmont was not proof against the subtle seductions of the wily monarch, whose severe yet flattering letters half frightened and half soothed him into a relapse of royalism. but with the prince of orange philip had no chance of success. it is unquestionable that, be his means of acquiring information what they might, he did succeed in procuring minute intelligence of all that was going on in the king's most secret council. he had from time to time procured copies of the stadtholderess's despatches; but the document which threw the most important light upon the real intentions of philip was a confidential epistle to the stadtholderess from d'alava, the spanish minister at paris, in which he spoke in terms too clear to admit any doubt as to the terrible example which the king was resolved to make among the patriot lords. bergen and montigny confirmed this by the accounts they sent home from madrid of the alteration in the manner with which they were treated by philip and his courtiers; and the prince of orange was more firmly decided in his opinions of the coming vengeance of the tyrant. william summoned his brother louis, the counts egmont, horn, and hoogstraeten, to a secret conference at termonde; and he there submitted to them this letter of alava's, with others which he had received from spain, confirmatory of his worst fears. louis of nassau voted for open and instant rebellion; william recommended a cautious observance of the projects of government, not doubting but a fair pretext would be soon given to justify the most vigorous overt acts of revolt; but egmont at once struck a death-blow to the energetic project of one brother, and the cautious amendment of the other, by declaring his present resolution to devote himself wholly to the service of the king, and on no inducement whatever to risk the perils of rebellion. he expressed his perfect reliance on the justice and the goodness of philip when once he should see the determined loyalty of those whom he had hitherto had so much reason to suspect; and he extorted the others to follow his example. the two brothers and count horn implored him in their turn to abandon this blind reliance on the tyrant; but in vain. his new and unlooked-for profession of faith completely paralyzed their plans. he possessed too largely the confidence of both the soldiery and the people to make it possible to attempt any serious measure of resistance in which he would not take a part. the meeting broke up without coming to any decision. all those who bore a part in it were expected at brussels to attend the council of state; egmont alone repaired thither. the stadtholderess questioned him on the object of the conference at termonde: he only replied by an indignant glance, at the same time presenting a copy of alava's letter. the stadtholderess now applied her whole efforts to destroy the union among the patriot lords. she, in the meantime, ordered levies of troops to the amount of some thousands, the command of which was given to the nobles on whose attachment she could reckon. the most vigorous measures were adopted. noircarmes, governor of hainault, appeared before valenciennes, which, being in the power of the calvinists, had assumed a most determined attitude of resistance. he vainly summoned the place to submission, and to admit a royalist garrison; and on receiving an obstinate refusal, he commenced the siege in form. an undisciplined rabble of between three thousand and four thousand gueux, under the direction of john de soreas, gathered together in the neighborhood of lille and tournay, with a show of attacking these places. but the governor of the former town dispersed one party of them; and noircarmes surprised and almost destroyed the main body--their leader falling in the action. these were the first encounters of the civil war, which raged without cessation for upward of forty years in these devoted countries, and which is universally allowed to be the most remarkable that ever desolated any isolated portion of europe. the space which we have already given to the causes which produced this memorable revolution, now actually commenced, will not allow us to do more than rapidly sketch the fierce events that succeeded each other with frightful rapidity. while valenciennes prepared for a vigorous resistance, a general synod of the protestants was held at antwerp, and de brederode undertook an attempt to see the stadtholderess, and lay before her the complaints of this body; but she refused to admit him into the capital. he then addressed to her a remonstrance in writing, in which he reproached her with her violation of the treaties; on the faith of which the confederates had dispersed, and the majority of the protestants laid down their arms. he implored her to revoke the new proclamations, by which she prohibited them from the free exercise of their religion; and, above all things, he insisted on the abandonment of the siege of valenciennes, and the disbanding of the new levies. the stadtholderess's reply was one of haughty reproach and defiance. the gauntlet was now thrown down; no possible hope of reconciliation remained; and the whole country flew to arms. a sudden attempt on the part of the royalists, under count meghem, against bois-le-duc, was repulsed by eight hundred men, commanded by an officer named bomberg, in the immediate service of de brederode, who had fortified himself in his garrison town of vienen. the prince of orange maintained at antwerp an attitude of extreme firmness and caution. his time for action had not yet arrived; but his advice and protection were of infinite importance on many occasions. john de marnix, lord of toulouse, brother of philip de st. aldegonde, took possession of osterweel on the scheldt, a quarter of a league from antwerp, and fortified himself in a strong position. but he was impetuously attacked by the count de lannoy with a considerable force, and perished, after a desperate defence, with full one thousand of his followers. three hundred who laid down their arms were immediately after the action butchered in cold blood. antwerp was on this occasion saved from the excesses of its divided and furious citizens, and preserved from the horrors of pillage, by the calmness and intrepidity of the prince of orange. valenciennes at length capitulated to the royalists, disheartened by the defeat and death of de marnix, and terrified by a bombardment of thirty-six hours. the governor, two preachers, and about forty of the citizens were hanged by the victors, and the reformed religion prohibited. noircarmes promptly followed up his success. maestricht, turnhout, and bois-le-duc submitted at his approach; and the insurgents were soon driven from all the provinces, holland alone excepted. brederode fled to germany, where he died the following year. the stadtholderess showed, in her success, no small proofs of decision. she and her counsellors, acting under orders from the king, were resolved on embarrassing to the utmost the patriot lords; and a new oath of allegiance, to be proposed to every functionary of the state, was considered as a certain means for attaining this object without the violence of an unmerited dismissal. the terms of this oath were strongly opposed to every principle of patriotism and toleration. count mansfield was the first of the nobles who took it. the duke of arschot, counts meghem, berlaimont, and egmont followed his example. the counts of horn, hoogstraeten, de brederode, and others, refused on various pretexts. every artifice and persuasion was tried to induce the prince of orange to subscribe to this new test; but his resolution had been for some time formed. he saw that every chance of constitutional resistance to tyranny was for the present at an end. the time for petitioning was gone by. the confederation was dissolved. a royalist army was in the field; the duke of alva was notoriously approaching at the head of another, more numerous. it was worse than useless to conclude a hollow convention with the stadtholderess of mock loyalty on his part and mock confidence on hers. many other important considerations convinced william that his only honorable, safe, and wise course was to exile himself from the netherlands altogether, until more propitious circumstances allowed of his acting openly, boldly, and with effect. before he put this plan of voluntary banishment into execution, he and egmont had a parting interview at the village of willebroek, between antwerp and brussels. count mansfield, and berti, secretary to the stadtholderess, were present at this memorable meeting. the details of what passed were reported to the confederates by one of their party, who contrived to conceal himself in the chimney of the chamber. nothing could exceed the energetic warmth with which the two illustrious friends reciprocally endeavored to turn each other from their respective line of conduct; but in vain. egmont's fatal confidence in the king was not to be shaken; nor was nassau's penetrating mind to be deceived by the romantic delusion which led away his friend. they separated with most affectionate expressions; and nassau was even moved to tears. his parting words were to the following effect: "confide, then, since it must be so, in the gratitude of the king; but a painful presentiment (god grant it may prove a false one!) tells me that you will serve the spaniards as the bridge by which they will enter the country, and which they will destroy as soon as they have passed over it!" on the th of april, a few days after this conference, the prince of orange set out for germany, with his three brothers and his whole family, with the exception of his eldest son philip william, count de beuren, whom he left behind a student in the university of louvain. he believed that the privileges of the college and the franchises of brabant would prove a sufficient protection to the youth; and this appears the only instance in which william's vigilant prudence was deceived. the departure of the prince seemed to remove all hope of protection or support from the unfortunate protestants, now left the prey of their implacable tyrant. the confederation of the nobles was completely broken up. the counts of hoogstraeten, bergen, and culembourg followed the example of the prince of orange, and escaped to germany; and, the greater number of those who remained behind took the new oath of allegiance, and became reconciled to the government. this total dispersion of the confederacy brought all the towns of holland into obedience to the king. but the emigration which immediately commenced threatened the country with ruin. england and germany swarmed with dutch and belgian refugees; and all the efforts of the stadtholderess could not restrain the thousands that took to flight. she was not more successful in her attempts to influence the measures of the king. she implored him, in repeated letters, to abandon his design of sending a foreign army into the country, which she represented as being now quite reduced to submission and tranquillity. she added that the mere report of this royal invasion (so to call it) had already deprived the netherlands of many thousands of its best inhabitants; and that the appearance of the troops would change it into a desert. these arguments, meant to dissuade, were the very means of encouraging philip in his design. he conceived his project to be now ripe for the complete suppression of freedom; and alva soon began his march. on the th of may, , this celebrated captain, whose reputation was so quickly destined to sink into the notoriety of an executioner, began his memorable march; and on the d of august he, with his two natural sons, and his veteran army consisting of about fifteen thousand men, arrived at the walls of brussels. the discipline observed on this march was a terrible forewarning to the people of the netherlands of the influence of the general and the obedience of the troops. they had little chance of resistance against such soldiers so commanded. several of the belgian nobility went forward to meet alva, to render him the accustomed honors, and endeavor thus early to gain his good graces. among them was the infatuated egmont, who made a present to alva of two superb horses, which the latter received with a disdainful air of condescension. alva's first care was the distribution of his troops--several thousands of whom were placed in antwerp, ghent, and other important towns, and the remainder reserved under his own immediate orders at brussels. his approach was celebrated by universal terror; and his arrival was thoroughly humiliating to the duchess of parma. he immediately produced his commission as commander-in-chief of the royal armies in the netherlands; but he next showed her another, which confided to him powers infinitely more extended than any marguerite herself had enjoyed, and which proved to her that the almost sovereign power over the country was virtually vested in him. alva first turned his attention to the seizure of those patriot lords whose pertinacious infatuation left them within his reach. he summoned a meeting of all the members of the council of state and the knights of the order of the golden fleece, to deliberate on matters of great importance. counts egmont and horn attended, among many others; and at the conclusion of the council they were both arrested (some historians assert by the hands of alva and his eldest son), as was also van straeten, burgomaster of antwerp, and casambrot, egmont's secretary. the young count of mansfield appeared for a moment at this meeting; but, warned by his father of the fate intended him, as an original member of the confederation, he had time to fly. the count of hoogstraeten was happily detained by illness, and thus escaped the fate of his friends. egmont and horn were transferred to the citadel of ghent, under an escort of three thousand spanish soldiers. several other persons of the first families were arrested; and those who had originally been taken in arms were executed without delay. [illustration: storming the barricades at brussels during the revolution of .] the next measures of the new governor were the reestablishment of the inquisition, the promulgation of the decrees of the council of trent, the revocation of the duchess of parma's edicts, and the royal refusal to recognize the terms of her treaties with the protestants. he immediately established a special tribunal, composed of twelve members, with full powers to inquire into and pronounce judgment on every circumstance connected with the late troubles. he named himself president of this council, and appointed a spaniard, named vargas, as vice-president--a wretch of the most diabolical cruelty. several others of the judges were also spaniards, in direct infraction of the fundamental laws of the country. this council, immortalized by its infamy, was named by the new governor (for so alva was in fact, though not yet in name), the council of troubles. by the people it was soon designed the council of blood. in its atrocious proceedings no respect was paid to titles, contracts, or privileges, however sacred. its judgments were without appeal. every subject of the state was amenable to its summons; clergy and laity, the first individuals of the country, as well as the most wretched outcasts of society. its decrees were passed with disgusting rapidity and contempt of form. contumacy was punished with exile and confiscation. those who, strong in innocence, dared to brave a trial were lost without resource. the accused were forced to its bar without previous warning. many a wealthy citizen was dragged to trial four leagues' distance, tied to a horse's tail. the number of victims was appalling. on one occasion, the town of valenciennes alone saw fifty-five of its citizens fall by the hands of the executioner. hanging, beheading, quartering and burning were the every-day spectacles. the enormous confiscations only added to the thirst for gold and blood by which alva and his satellites were parched. history offers no example of parallel horrors; for while party vengeance on other occasions has led to scenes of fury and terror, they arose, in this instance, from the vilest cupidity and the most cold-blooded cruelty. after three months of such atrocity, alva, fatigued rather than satiated with butchery, resigned his hateful functions wholly into the hands of vargas, who was chiefly aided by the members delrio and dela torre. even at this remote period we cannot repress the indignation excited by the mention of those monsters, and it is impossible not to feel satisfaction in fixing upon their names the brand of historic execration. one of these wretches, called hesselts, used at length to sleep during the mock trials of the already doomed victims; and as often as he was roused up by his colleagues, he used to cry out mechanically, "to the gibbet! to the gibbet!" so familiar was his tongue with the sounds of condemnation. the despair of the people may be imagined from the fact that, until the end of the year , their only consolation was the prospect of the king's arrival! he never dreamed of coming. even the delight of feasting in horrors like these could not conquer his indolence. the good duchess of parma--for so she was in comparison with her successor--was not long left to oppose the feeble barrier of her prayers between alva and his victims. she demanded her dismissal from the nominal dignity, which was now but a title of disgrace. philip granted it readily, accompanied by a hypocritical letter, a present of thirty thousand crowns, and the promise of an annual pension of twenty thousand more. she left brussels in the month of april, , raised to a high place in the esteem and gratitude of the people, less by any actual claims from her own conduct than by its fortuitous contrast with the infamy of her successor. she retired to italy, and died at naples in the month of february, . ferdinand alvarez de toledo, duke of alva, was of a distinguished family in spain, and even boasted of his descent from one of the moorish monarchs who had reigned in the insignificant kingdom of toledo. when he assumed the chief command in the netherlands, he was sixty years of age; having grown old and obdurate in pride, ferocity, and avarice. his deeds must stand instead of a more detailed portrait, which, to be thoroughly striking, should be traced with a pen dipped in blood. he was a fierce and clever soldier, brought up in the school of charles v., and trained to his profession in the wars of that monarch in germany, and subsequently in that of philip ii. against france. in addition to the horrors acted by the council of blood, alva committed many deeds of collateral but minor tyranny; among others, he issued a decree forbidding, under severe penalties, any inhabitant of the country to marry without his express permission. his furious edicts against emigration were attempted to be enforced in vain. elizabeth of england opened all the ports of her kingdom to the flemish refugees, who carried with them those abundant stores of manufacturing knowledge which she wisely knew to be the elements of national wealth. alva soon summoned the prince of orange, his brothers, and all the confederate lords, to appear before the council and answer to the charge of high treason. the prince gave a prompt and contemptuous answer, denying the authority of alva and his council, and acknowledging for his judges only the emperor, whose vassal he was, or the king of spain in person, as president of the order of the golden fleece. the other lords made replies nearly similar. the trials of each were, therefore, proceeded on, by contumacy; confiscation of property being an object almost as dear to the tyrant viceroy as the death of his victims. judgments were promptly pronounced against those present or absent, alive or dead. witness the case of the unfortunate marquess of bergues, who had previously expired at madrid, as was universally believed, by poison; and his equally ill-fated colleague in the embassy, the baron montigny, was for a while imprisoned at segovia, where he was soon after secretly beheaded, on the base pretext of former disaffection. the departure of the duchess of parma having left alva undisputed as well as unlimited authority, he proceeded rapidly in his terrible career. the count of beuren was seized at louvain, and sent prisoner to madrid; and wherever it was possible to lay hands on a suspected patriot, the occasion was not neglected. it would be a revolting task to enter into a minute detail of all the horrors committed, and impossible to record the names of the victims who so quickly fell before alva's insatiate cruelty. the people were driven to frenzy. bands of wretches fled to the woods and marshes; whence, half famished and perishing for want, they revenged themselves with pillage and murder. pirates infested and ravaged the coast; and thus, from both sea and land, the whole extent of the netherlands was devoted to carnage and ruin. the chronicles of brabant and holland, chiefly written in flemish by contemporary authors, abound in thrilling details of the horrors of this general desolation, with long lists of those who perished. suffice it to say, that, on the recorded boast of alva himself, he caused eighteen thousand inhabitants of the low countries to perish by the hands of the executioner, during his less than six years' sovereignty in the netherlands. the most important of these tragical scenes was now soon to be acted. the counts egmont and horn, having submitted to some previous interrogatories by vargas and others, were removed from ghent to brussels, on the d of june, under a strong escort. the following day they passed through the mockery of a trial before the council of blood; and on the th they were both beheaded in the great square of brussels, in the presence of alva, who gloated on the spectacle from a balcony that commanded the execution. the same day van straeten, and casambrot shared the fate of their illustrious friends, in the castle of vilvorde; with many others whose names only find a place in the local chronicles of the times. egmont and horn met their fate with the firmness expected from their well-proved courage. these judicial murders excited in the netherlands an agitation without bounds. it was no longer hatred or aversion that filled men's minds, but fury and despair. the outbursting of a general revolt was hourly watched for. the foreign powers, without exception, expressed their disapproval of these executions. the emperor maximilian ii., and all the catholic princes, condemned them. the former sent his brother expressly to the king of spain, to warn him that without a cessation of his cruelties he could not restrain a general declaration from the members of the empire, which would, in all likelihood, deprive him of every acre of land in the netherlands. the princes of the protestant states held no terms in the expression of their disgust and resentment; and everything seemed now ripe, both at home and abroad, to favor the enterprise on which the prince of orange was determined to risk his fortune and his life. but his principal resources were to be found in his genius and courage, and in the heroic devotion partaken by his whole family in the cause of their country. his brother, count john, advanced him a considerable sum of money; the flemings and hollanders, in england and elsewhere, subscribed largely; the prince himself, after raising loans in every possible way on his private means, sold his jewels, his plate, and even the furniture of his houses, and threw the amount into the common fund. two remarkable events took place this year in spain, and added to the general odium entertained against philip's character throughout europe. the first was the death of his son don carlos, whose sad story is too well known in connection with the annals of his country to require a place here; the other was the death of the queen. universal opinion assigned poison as the cause; and charles ix. of france, her brother, who loved her with great tenderness, seems to have joined in this belief. astonishment and horror filled all minds on the double denouement of this romantic tragedy; and the enemies of the tyrant reaped all the advantages it was so well adapted to produce them. the prince of orange, having raised a considerable force in germany, now entered on the war with all the well-directed energy by which he was characterized. the queen of england, the french huguenots, and the protestant princes of germany, all lent him their aid in money or in men; and he opened his first campaign with great advantage. he formed his army into four several corps, intending to enter the country on as many different points, and by a sudden irruption on that most vulnerable to rouse at once the hopes and the co-operation of the people. his brothers louis and adolphus, at the head of one of these divisions, penetrated into friesland, and there commenced the contest. the count of aremberg, governor of this province, assisted by the spanish troops under gonsalvo de bracamonte, quickly opposed the invaders. they met on the th of may near the abbey of heiligerlee, which gave its name to the battle; and after a short contest the royalists were defeated with great loss. the count of aremberg and adolphus of nassau encountered in single combat, and fell by each other's hands. the victory was dearly purchased by the loss of this gallant prince, the first of his illustrious family who have on so many occasions, down to these very days, freely shed their blood for the freedom and happiness of the country which may be so emphatically called their own. alva immediately hastened to the scene of this first action, and soon forced count louis to another at a place called jemminghem, near the town of embden, on the st of july. their forces were nearly equal, about fourteen thousand on either side; but all the advantage of discipline and skill was in favor of alva; and the consequence was, the total rout of the patriots with a considerable loss in killed and the whole of the cannon and baggage. the entire province of friesland was thus again reduced to obedience, and alva hastened back to brabant to make head against the prince of orange. the latter had now under his command an army of twenty-eight thousand men--an imposing force in point of numbers, being double that which his rival was able to muster. he soon made himself master of the towns of tongres and st. trond, and the whole province of liege was in his power. he advanced boldly against alva, and for several months did all that manoeuvring could do to force him to a battle. but the wily veteran knew his trade too well; he felt sure that in time the prince's force would disperse for want of pay and supplies; and he managed his resources so ably that with little risk and scarcely any loss he finally succeeded in his object. in the month of october the prince found himself forced to disband his large but undisciplined force; and he retired into france to recruit his funds and consider on the best measures for some future enterprise. the insolent triumph of alva knew no bounds. the rest of the year was consumed in new executions. the hotel of culembourg, the early cradle of de brederode's confederacy, was razed to the ground, and a pillar erected on the spot commemorative of the deed; while alva, resolved to erect a monument of his success as well as of his hate, had his own statue in brass, formed of the cannons taken at jemminghem, set up in the citadel of antwerp, with various symbols of power and an inscription of inflated pride. the following year was ushered in by a demand of unwonted and extravagant rapacity; the establishment of two taxes on property, personal and real, to the amount of the hundredth penny (or denier) on each kind; and at every transfer or sale ten per cent on personal and five per cent for real property. the states-general, of whom this demand was made, were unanimous in their opposition, as well as the ministers; but particularly de berlaimont and viglius. alva was so irritated that he even menaced the venerable president of the council, but could not succeed in intimidating him. he obstinately persisted in his design for a considerable period; resisting arguments and prayers, and even the more likely means tried for softening his cupidity, by furnishing him with sums from other sources equivalent to those which the new taxes were calculated to produce. to his repeated threats against viglius the latter replied, that "he was convinced the king would not condemn him unheard; but that at any rate his gray hairs saved him from any ignoble fear of death." a deputation was sent from the states-general to philip explaining the impossibility of persevering in the attempted taxes, which were incompatible with every principle of commercial liberty. but alva would not abandon his design till he had forced every province into resistance, and the king himself commanded him to desist. the events of this and the following year, , may be shortly summed up; none of any striking interest or eventual importance having occurred. the sufferings of the country were increasing from day to day under the intolerable tyranny which bore it down. the patriots attempted nothing on land; but their naval force began from this time to acquire that consistency and power which was so soon to render it the chief means of resistance and the great source of wealth. the privateers or corsairs, which began to swarm from every port in holland and zealand, and which found refuge in all those of england, sullied many gallant exploits by instances of culpable excess; so much so that the prince of orange was forced to withdraw the command which he had delegated to the lord of dolhain, and to replace him by gislain de fiennes: for already several of the exiled nobles and ruined merchants of antwerp and amsterdam had joined these bold adventurers; and purchased or built, with the remnant of their fortunes, many vessels, in which they carried on a most productive warfare against spanish commerce through the whole extent of the english channel, from the mouth of the embs to the harbor of la rochelle. one of those frightful inundations to which the northern provinces were so constantly exposed occurred this year, carrying away the dikes, and destroying lives and properly to a considerable amount. in friesland alone twenty thousand men were victims to this calamity. but no suffering could affect the inflexible sternness of the duke of alva; and to such excess did he carry his persecution that philip himself began to be discontented, and thought his representative was overstepping the bounds of delegated tyranny. he even reproached him sharply in some of his despatches. the governor replied in the same strain; and such was the effect of this correspondence that philip resolved to remove him from his command. but the king's marriage with anne of austria, daughter of the emperor maximilian, obliged him to defer his intentions for a while; and he at length named john de la cerda, duke of medina-celi, for alva's successor. upward of a year, however, elapsed before this new governor was finally appointed; and he made his appearance on the coast of flanders with a considerable fleet, on the th of may, . he was afforded on this very day a specimen of the sort of people he came to contend with; for his fleet was suddenly attacked by that of the patriots, and many of his vessels burned and taken before his eyes, with their rich cargoes and considerable treasures intended for the service of the state. the duke of medina-celi proceeded rapidly to brussels, where he was ceremoniously received by alva, who, however, refused to resign the government, under the pretext that the term of his appointment had not expired, and that he was resolved first to completely suppress all symptoms of revolt in the northern provinces. he succeeded in effectually disgusting la cerda, who almost immediately demanded and obtained his own recall to spain. alva, left once more in undisputed possession of his power, turned it with increased vigor into new channels of oppression. he was soon again employed in efforts to effect the levying of his favorite taxes; and such was the resolution of the tradesmen of brussels, that, sooner than submit, they almost universally closed their shops altogether. alva, furious at this measure, caused sixty of the citizens to be seized, and ordered them to be hanged opposite their own doors. the gibbets were actually erected, when, on the very morning of the day fixed for the executions, he received despatches that wholly disconcerted him and stopped their completion. to avoid an open rupture with spain, the queen of england had just at this time interdicted the dutch and flemish privateers from taking shelter in her ports. william de la marck, count of lunoy, had now the chief command of this adventurous force. he was distinguished by an inveterate hatred against the spaniards, and had made a wild and romantic vow never to cut his hair or beard till he had avenged the murders of egmont and horn. he was impetuous and terrible in all his actions, and bore the surname of "the wild boar of the ardennes." driven out of the harbors of england, he resolved on some desperate enterprise; and on the st of april he succeeded in surprising the little town of brille, in the island of voorn, situate between zealand and holland. this insignificant place acquired great celebrity from this event, which may be considered the first successful step toward the establishment of liberty and the republic. alva was confounded by the news of this exploit, but with his usual activity he immediately turned his whole attention toward the point of greatest danger. his embarrassment, however, became every day more considerable. lunoy's success was the signal of a general revolt. in a few days every town in holland and zealand declared for liberty, with the exception of amsterdam and middleburg, where the spanish garrisons were too strong for the people to attempt their expulsion. the prince of orange, who had been ou the watch for a favorable moment, now entered brabant at the head of twenty thousand men, composed of french, german, and english, and made himself master of several important places; while his indefatigable brother louis, with a minor force, suddenly appeared in hainault, and, joined by a large body of french huguenots under de genlis, he seized on mons, the capital of the province, on the th of may. alva turned first toward the recovery of this important place, and gave the command of the siege to his son frederic of toledo, who was assisted by the counsels of noircarmes and vitelli; but louis of nassau held out for upward of three months, and only surrendered on an honorable capitulation in the month of september; his french allies having been first entirely defeated, and their brave leader de genlis taken prisoner. the prince of orange had in the meantime secured possession of louvain, ruremonde, mechlin, and other towns, carried termonde and oudenarde by assault, and made demonstrations which seemed to court alva once more to try the fortune of the campaign in a pitched battle. but such were not william's real intentions, nor did the cautious tactics of his able opponent allow him to provoke such a risk. he, however, ordered his son frederic to march with all his force into holland, and he soon undertook the siege of haerlem. by the time that mons fell again into the power of the spaniards, sixty-five towns and their territories, chiefly in the northern provinces, had thrown off the yoke. the single port of flessingue contained one hundred and fifty patriot vessels, well armed and equipped; and from that epoch may be dated the rapid growth of the first naval power in europe, with the single exception of great britain. it is here worthy of remark, that all the horrors of which the people of flanders were the victims, and in their full proportion, had not the effect of exciting them to revolt; but they rose up with fury against the payment of the new taxes. they sacrificed everything sooner than pay these unjust exactions--_omnia_dabant_, _ne_decimam_darant_. the next important event in these wars was the siege of haerlem, before which place the spaniards were arrested in their progress for seven months, and which they at length succeeded in taking with a loss of ten thousand men. the details of this memorable siege are calculated to arouse every feeling of pity for the heroic defenders, and of execration against the cruel assailants. a widow, named kenau hasselaer, gained a niche in history by her remarkable valor at the head of a battalion of three hundred of her townswomen, who bore a part in all the labors and perils of the siege. after the surrender, and in pursuance of alva's common system, his ferocious son caused the governor and the other chief officers to be beheaded; and upward of two thousand of the worn-out garrison and burghers were either put to the sword, or tied two and two and drowned in the lake which gives its name to the town. tergoes in south beveland, mechlin, naerden, and other towns, were about the same period the scenes of gallant actions, and of subsequent cruelties of the most revolting nature as soon as they fell into the power of the spaniards. strada, with all his bigotry to the spanish cause, admits that these excesses were atrocious crimes rather than just punishments: _non_poena,_sed_flagitium_. horrors like these were sure to force reprisals on the part of the maddened patriots. de la marck carried on his daring exploits with a cruelty which excited the indignation of the prince of orange, by whom he was removed from his command. the contest was for a while prosecuted with a decrease of vigor proportioned to the serious losses on both sides; money and the munitions of war began to fail; and though the spaniards succeeded in taking the hague, they were repulsed before alkmaer with great loss, and their fleet was almost entirely destroyed in a naval combat on the zuyder zee. the count bossu, their admiral, was taken in this fight, with about three hundred of his best sailors. holland was now from one end to the other the theatre of the most shocking events. while the people performed deeds of the greatest heroism, the perfidy and cruelty of the spaniards had no bounds. the patriots saw more danger in submission than in resistance; each town, which was in succession subdued, endured the last extremities of suffering before it yielded, and victory was frequently the consequence of despair. this unlooked-for turn in affairs decided the king to remove alva, whose barbarous and rapacious conduct was now objected to even by philip, when it produced results disastrous to his cause. don luis zanega y requesens, commander of the order of malta, was named to the government of the netherlands. he arrived at brussels on the th of november, ; and on the th of that following month, the monster whom he succeeded set out for spain, loaded with the booty to which he had waded through oceans of blood, and with the curses of the country, which, however, owed its subsequent freedom to the impulse given by his intolerable cruelty. he repaired to spain; and after various fluctuations of favor and disgrace at the hands of his congenial master, he died in his bed, at lisbon, in , at the advanced age of seventy-four years. chapter x to the pacification of ghent a.d. -- the character of requesens was not more opposed to that of his predecessor, than were the instructions given to him for his government. he was an honest, well-meaning, and moderate man, and the king of spain hoped that by his influence and a total change of measures he might succeed in recalling the netherlands to obedience. but, happily for the country, this change was adopted too late for success; and the weakness of the new government completed the glorious results which the ferocity of the former had prepared. requesens performed all that depended on him, to gain the confidence of the people. he caused alva's statue to be removed; and hoped to efface the memory of the tyrant by dissolving the council of blood and abandoning the obnoxious taxes which their inventor had suspended rather than abolished. a general amnesty was also promulgated against the revolted provinces; they received it with contempt and defiance. nothing then was left to requesens but to renew the war; and this he found to be a matter of no easy execution. the finances were in a state of the greatest confusion; and the spanish troops were in many places seditious, in some openly mutinous, alva having left large arrears of pay due to almost all, notwithstanding the immense amount of his pillage and extortion. middleburg, which had long sustained a siege against all the efforts of the patriots, was now nearly reduced by famine, notwithstanding the gallant efforts of its governor, mondragon. requesens turned his immediate attention to the relief of this important place; and he soon assembled, at antwerp and berg-op-zoom, a fleet of sixty vessels for that purpose. but louis boisot, admiral of zealand, promptly repaired to attack this force; and after a severe action he totally defeated it, and killed de glimes, one of its admirals, under the eyes of requesens himself, who, accompanied by his suite, stood during the whole affair on the dike of schakerloo. this action took place the th of january, ; and, on the th of february following, middleburg surrendered, after a resistance of two years. the prince of orange granted such conditions as were due to the bravery of the governor; and thus set an example of generosity and honor which greatly changed the complexion of the war. all zealand was now free; and the intrepid admiral boisot gained another victory on the th of may--destroying several of the spanish vessels, and taking some others, with their admiral von haemstede. frequent naval enterprises were also undertaken against the frontiers of flanders; and while the naval forces thus harassed the enemy on every vulnerable point, the unfortunate provinces of the interior were ravaged by the mutinous and revolted spaniards, and by the native brigands, who pillaged both royalists and patriots with atrocious impartiality. to these manifold evils was now added one more terrible, in the appearance of the plague, which broke out at ghent in the month of october, and devastated a great part of the netherlands; not, however, with that violence with which it rages in more southern climates. requesens, overwhelmed by difficulties, yet exerted himself to the utmost to put the best face on the affairs of government. his chief care was to appease the mutinous soldiery: he even caused his plate to be melted, and freely gave the produce toward the payment of their arrears. the patriots, well informed of this state of things, labored to turn it to their best advantage. they opened the campaign in the province of guelders, where louis of nassau, with his younger brother henry, and the prince palatine, son of the elector frederick iii., appeared at the head of eleven thousand men; the prince of orange prepared to join him with an equal number; but requesens promptly despatched sanchez d'avila to prevent this junction. the spanish commander quickly passed the meuse near nimeguen; and on the th of april he forced count louis to a battle, on the great plain called mookerheyde, close to the village of mook. the royalists attacked with their usual valor; and, after two hours of hard fighting, the confederates were totally defeated. the three gallant princes were among the slain, and their bodies were never afterward discovered. it has been stated, on doubtful authority, that louis of nassau, after having lain some time among the heaps of dead, dragged himself to the side of the river meuse, and while washing his wounds was inhumanly murdered by some straggling peasants, to whom he was unknown. the unfortunate fate of this enterprising prince was a severe blow to the patriot cause, and a cruel affliction to the prince of orange. he had now already lost three brothers in the war; and remained alone, to revenge their fate and sustain the cause for which they had perished. d'avila soon found his victory to be as fruitless as it was brilliant. the ruffian troops, by whom it was gained, became immediately self-disbanded; threw off all authority; hastened to possess themselves of antwerp; and threatened to proceed to the most horrible extremities if their pay was longer withheld. the citizens succeeded with difficulty in appeasing them, by the sacrifice of some money in part payment of their claims. requesens took advantage of their temporary calm, and despatched them promptly to take part in the siege of leyden. this siege formed another of those numerous instances which became so memorable from the mixture of heroism and horror. jean vanderdoes, known in literature by the name of dousa, and celebrated for his latin poems, commanded the place. valdez, who conducted the siege, urged dousa to surrender; when the latter replied, in the name of the inhabitants, "that when provisions failed them, they would devour their left hands, reserving the right to defend their liberty." a party of the inhabitants, driven to disobedience and revolt by the excess of misery to which they were shortly reduced, attempted to force the burgomaster, vanderwerf, to supply them with bread, or yield up the place. but he sternly made the celebrated answer, which, cannot be remembered without shuddering--"bread i have none; but if my death can afford you relief, tear my body in pieces, and let those who are most hungry devour it!" but in this extremity relief at last was afforded by the decisive measures of the prince of orange, who ordered all the neighboring dikes to be opened and the sluices raised, thus sweeping away the besiegers on the waves of the ocean: the inhabitants of leyden were apprised of this intention by means of letters intrusted to the safe carriage of pigeons trained for the purpose. the inundation was no sooner effected than hundreds of flat-bottomed boats brought abundance of supplies to the half-famished town; while a violent storm carried the sea across the country for twenty leagues around, and destroyed the spanish camp, with above one thousand soldiers, who were overtaken by the flood. this deliverance took place on the d of october, on which day it is still annually celebrated by the descendants of the grateful citizens. it was now for the first time that spain would consent to listen to advice or mediation, which had for its object the termination of this frightful war. the emperor maximilian ii. renewed at this epoch his efforts with philip; and under such favorable auspices conferences commenced at breda, where the counts swartzenberg and hohenloe, brothers-in-law of the prince of orange, met, on the part of the emperor, the deputies from the king of spain and the patriots; and hopes of a complete pacification were generally entertained. but three months of deliberation proved their fallacy. the patriots demanded toleration for the reformed religion. the king's deputies obstinately refused it. the congress was therefore broken up; and both oppressors and oppressed resumed their arms with increased vigor and tenfold desperation. requesens had long fixed his eyes on zealand as the scene of an expedition by which he hoped to repair the failure before leyden; and he caused an attempt to be made on the town of zuriczee, in the island of scauwen, which merits record as one of the boldest and most original enterprises of the war. the little islands of zealand are separated from each other by narrow branches of the sea, which are fordable at low water; and it was by such a passage, two leagues in breadth, and till then untried, that the spanish detachment of one thousand seven hundred and fifty men, under ulloa and other veteran captains, advanced to their exploit in the midst of dangers greatly increased by a night of total darkness. each man carried round his neck two pounds of gunpowder, with a sufficient supply of biscuit for two days; and holding their swords and muskets high over their heads, they boldly waded forward, three abreast, in some places up to their shoulders in water. the alarm was soon given; and a shower of balls was poured upon the gallant band, from upward of forty boats which the zealanders sent rapidly toward the spot. the only light afforded to either party was from the flashes of their guns; and while the adventurers advanced with undaunted firmness, their equally daring assailants, jumping from their boats into the water, attacked them with oars and hooked handspikes, by which many of the spaniards were destroyed. the rearguard, in this extremity, cut off from their companions, was obliged to retreat; but the rest, after a considerable loss, at length reached the land, and thus gained possession of the island, on the night of the th of september, . requesens quickly afterward repaired to the scene of this gallant exploit, and commenced the siege of zuriczee, which he did not live to see completed. after having passed the winter months in preparation for the success of this object which he had so much at heart, he was recalled to brussels by accounts of new mutinies in the spanish cavalry; and the very evening before he reached the city he was attacked by a violent fever, which carried him off five days afterward, on the th of march, . the suddenness of requesen's illness had not allowed time for even the nomination of a successor, to which he was authorized by letters patent from the king. it is believed that his intention was to appoint count mansfield to the command of the army, and de berlaimont to the administration of civil affairs. the government, however, now devolved entirely into the hands of the council of state, which was at that period composed of nine members. the principal of these was philip de croi, duke of arschot; the other leading members were viglius, counts mansfield and berlaimont; and the council was degraded by numbering, among the rest, debris and de roda, two of the notorious spaniards who had formed part of the council of blood. the king resolved to leave the authority in the hands of this incongruous mixture, until the arrival of don john of austria, his natural brother, whom he had already named to the office of governor-general. but in the interval the government assumed an aspect of unprecedented disorder; and widespread anarchy embraced the whole country. the royal troops openly revolted, and fought against each other like deadly enemies. the nobles, divided in their views, arrogated to themselves in different places the titles and powers of command. public faith and private probity seemed alike destroyed. pillage, violence and ferocity were the commonplace characteristics of the times. circumstances like these may be well supposed to have revived the hopes of the prince of orange, who quickly saw amid this chaos the elements of order, strength, and liberty. such had been his previous affliction at the harrowing events which he witnessed and despaired of being able to relieve, that he had proposed to the patriots of holland and zealand to destroy the dikes, submerge the whole country, and abandon to the waves the soil which refused security to freedom. but providence destined him to be the savior, instead of the destroyer, of his country. the chief motive of this excessive desperation had been the apparent desertion by queen elizabeth of the cause which she had hitherto so mainly assisted. offended at the capture of some english ships by the dutch, who asserted that they carried supplies for the spaniards, she withdrew from them her protection; but by timely submission they appeased her wrath; and it is thought by some historians that even thus early the prince of orange proposed to place the revolted provinces wholly under her protection. this, however, she for the time refused; but she strongly solicited philip's mercy for these unfortunate countries, through the spanish ambassador at her court. in the meantime the council of state at brussels seemed disposed to follow up as far as possible the plans of requesens. the siege of zuriczee was continued; but speedy dissensions among the members of the government rendered their authority contemptible, if not utterly extinct, in the eyes of the people. the exhaustion of the treasury deprived them of all power to put an end to the mutinous excesses of the spanish troops, and the latter carried their licentiousness to the utmost bounds. zuriczee, admitted to a surrender, and saved from pillage by the payment of a large sum, was lost to the royalists within three months, from the want of discipline in its garrison; and the towns and burghs of brabant suffered as much from the excesses of their nominal protectors as could have been inflicted by the enemy. the mutineers at length, to the number of some thousands, attacked and carried by force the town of alost, at equal distances between brussels, ghent, and antwerp, imprisoned the chief citizens, and levied contributions on all the country round. it was then that the council of state found itself forced to proclaim them rebels, traitors, and enemies to the king and the country, and called on all loyal subjects to pursue and exterminate them wherever they were found in arms. this proscription of the spanish mutineers was followed by the convocation of the states-general, and the government thus hoped to maintain some show of union and some chance of authority. but a new scene of intestine violence completed the picture of executive inefficiency. on the th of september, the grand bailiff of brabant, as lieutenant of the baron de hesse, governor of brussels, entered the council chamber by force, and arrested all the members present, on suspicion of treacherously maintaining intelligence with the spaniards. counts mansfield and berlaimont were imprisoned, with some others. viglius escaped this indignity by being absent froth indisposition. this bold measure was hailed by the people with unusual joy, as the signal for that total change in the government which they reckoned on as the prelude to complete freedom. the states-general were all at this time assembled, with the exception of those of flanders, who joined the others with but little delay. the general reprobation against the spaniards procured a second decree of proscription; and their desperate conduct justified the utmost violence with which they might be pursued. they still held the citadels of ghent and antwerp, as well as maestricht, which they had seized on, sacked, and pillaged with all the fury which a barbarous enemy inflicts on a town carried by assault. on the d of november, the other body of mutineers, in possession of alost, marched to the support of their fellow brigands in the citadel of antwerp; and both, simultaneously attacking this magnificent city, became masters of it in all points, in spite of a vigorous resistance on the part of the citizens. they then began a scene of rapine and destruction unequalled in the annals of these desperate wars. more than five hundred private mansions and the splendid town-house were delivered to the flames: seven thousand citizens perished by the sword or in the waters of the scheldt. for three days the carnage and the pillage went on with unheard-of fury; and the most opulent town in europe was thus reduced to ruin and desolation by a few thousand frantic ruffians. the loss was valued at above two million golden crowns. vargas and romero were the principal leaders of this infernal exploit; and de roda gained a new title to his immortality of shame by standing forth as its apologist. the states-general, assembled at ghent, were solemnly opened on the th of september. being apprehensive of a sudden attack from the spanish troops in the citadel, they proposed a negotiation, and demanded a protecting force from the prince of orange, who immediately entered into a treaty with their envoy, and sent to their assistance eight companies of infantry and seventeen pieces of cannon, under the command of the english colonel, temple. in the midst of this turmoil and apparent insecurity, the states-general proceeded in their great work, and assumed the reins of government in the name of the king. they allowed the council of state still nominally to exist, but they restricted its powers far within those it had hitherto exercised; and the government, thus absolutely assuming the form of a republic, issued manifestoes in justification of its conduct, and demanded succor from all the foreign powers. to complete the union between the various provinces, it was resolved to resume the negotiations commenced the preceding year at breda; and the th of october was fixed for this new congress to be held in the town-house of ghent. on the day appointed, the congress opened its sittings; and rapidly arriving at the termination of its important object, the celebrated treaty known by the title of "the pacification of ghent" was published on the th of november, to the sound of bells and trumpets; while the ceremony was rendered still more imposing by the thunder of the artillery which battered the walls of the besieged citadel. it was even intended to have delivered a general assault against the place at the moment of the proclamation; but the mutineers demanded a capitulation and finally surrendered three days afterward. it was the wife of the famous mondragon who commanded the place in her husband's absence; and by her heroism gave a new proof of the capability of the sex to surpass the limits which nature seems to have fixed for their conduct. the pacification contained twenty-five articles. among others, it was agreed: that a full amnesty should be passed for all offences whatsoever. that the estates of brabant, flanders, hainault, artois, and others, on the one part; the prince of orange, and the states of holland and zealand and their associates, on the other; promised to maintain good faith, peace, and friendship, firm and inviolable; to mutually assist each other, at all times, in council and action; and to employ life and fortune, above all things, to expel from the country the spanish soldiers and other foreigners. that no one should be allowed to injure or insult, by word or deed, the exercise of the catholic religion, on pain of being treated as a disturber of the public peace. that the edicts against heresy and the proclamations of the duke of alva should be suspended. that all confiscations, sentences, and judgments rendered since should be annulled. that the inscriptions, monuments, and trophies erected by the duke of alva should be demolished. such were the general conditions of the treaty; the remaining articles chiefly concerned individual interests. the promulgation of this great charter of union, which was considered as the fundamental law of the country, was hailed in all parts of the netherlands with extravagant demonstrations of joy. chapter xi to the renunciation of the sovereignty of spain and the declaration of independence a.d. -- on the very day of the sack of antwerp, don john of austria arrived at luxemburg. this ominous commencement of his viceregal reign was not belied by the events which followed; and the hero of lepanto, the victor of the turks, the idol of christendom, was destined to have his reputation and well-won laurels tarnished in the service of the insidious despotism to which he now became an instrument. don john was a natural son of charles v., and to fine talents and a good disposition united the advantages of hereditary courage and a liberal education. he was born at ratisbon on the th of february, . his reputed mother was a young lady of that place named barbara blomberg; but one historian states that the real parent was of a condition too elevated to have her rank betrayed; and that, to conceal the mystery, barbara blomberg had voluntarily assumed the distinction, or the dishonor, according to the different constructions put upon the case. the prince, having passed through france, disguised, for greater secrecy or in a youthful frolic, as a negro valet to prince octavo gonzaga, entered on the limits of his new government, and immediately wrote to the council of state in the most condescending terms to announce his arrival. nothing could present a less promising aspect to the prince than the country at the head of which he was now placed. he found all its provinces, with the sole exception of luxemburg, in the anarchy attendant on a ten years' civil war, and apparently resolved on a total breach of their allegiance to spain. he found his best, indeed his only, course to be that of moderation and management; and it is most probable that at the outset his intentions were really honorable and candid. the states-general were not less embarrassed than the prince. his sudden arrival threw them into great perplexity, which was increased by the conciliatory tone of his letter. they had now removed from ghent to brussels; and first sending deputies to pay the honors of a ceremonious welcome to don john, they wrote to the prince of orange, then in holland, for his advice in this difficult conjuncture. the prince replied by a memorial of considerable length, dated middleburg, the th of november, in which he gave them the most wise and prudent advice; the substance of which was to receive any propositions coming from the wily and perfidious philip with the utmost suspicion, and to refuse all negotiation with his deputy, if the immediate withdrawal of the foreign troops was not at once conceded, and the acceptance of the pacification guaranteed in its most ample extent. this advice was implicitly followed; the states in the meantime taking the precaution of assembling a large body of troops at wavre, between brussels and namur, the command of which was given to the count of lalain. a still more important measure was the despatch of an envoy to england, to implore the assistance of elizabeth. she acted on this occasion with frankness and intrepidity; giving a distinguished reception to the envoy, de sweveghem, and advancing a loan of one hundred thousand pounds sterling, on condition that the states made no treaty without her knowledge or participation. to secure still more closely the federal union that now bound the different provinces, a new compact was concluded by the deputies on the th of january, , known by the title of the union of brussels, and signed by the prelates, ecclesiastics, lords, gentlemen, magistrates, and others, representing the estates of the netherlands. a copy of this act of union was transmitted to don john, to enable him thoroughly to understand the present state of feeling among those with whom he was now about to negotiate. he maintained a general tone of great moderation throughout the conference which immediately took place; and after some months of cautious parleying, in the latter part of which the candor of the prince seemed doubtful, and which the native historians do not hesitate to stigmatize as merely assumed, a treaty was signed at marche-en-famenne, a place between namur and luxemburg, in which every point insisted on by the states was, to the surprise and delight of the nation, fully consented to and guaranteed. this important document is called the perpetual edict, bears date the th of february, , and contains nineteen articles. they were all based on the acceptance of the pacification; but one expressly stipulated that the count of beuren should be set at liberty as soon as the prince of orange, his father, had on his part ratified the treaty. don john made his solemn entry into brussels on the st of may, and assumed the functions of his limited authority. the conditions of the treaty were promptly and regularly fulfilled. the citadels occupied by the spanish soldiers were given up to the flemish and walloon troops; and the departure of these ferocious foreigners took place at once. the large sums required to facilitate this measure made it necessary to submit for a while to the presence of the german mercenaries. but don john's conduct soon destroyed the temporary delusion which had deceived the country. whether his projects were hitherto only concealed, or that they were now for the first time excited by the disappointment of those hopes of authority held out to him by philip, and which his predecessors had shared, it is certain that he very early displayed his ambition, and very imprudently attempted to put it in force. he at once demanded from the council of state the command of the troops and the disposal of the revenues. the answer was a simple reference to the pacification of ghent; and the prince's rejoinder was an apparent submission, and the immediate despatch of letters in cipher to the king, demanding a supply of troops sufficient to restore his ruined authority. these letters were intercepted by the king of navarre, afterward henry iv. of france, who immediately transmitted them to the prince of orange, his old friend and fellow-soldier. public opinion, to the suspicions of which don john had been from the first obnoxious, was now unanimous in attributing to design all that was unconstitutional and unfair. his impetuous character could no longer submit to the restraint of dissimulation, and he resolved to take some bold and decided measure. a very favorable opportunity was presented in the arrival of the queen of navarre, marguerite of valois, at namur, on her way to spa. the prince, numerously attended, hastened to the former town under pretence of paying his respects to the queen. as soon as she left the place, he repaired to the glacis of the town, as if for the mere enjoyment of a walk, admired the external appearance of the citadel, and expressed a desire to be admitted inside. the young count of berlaimont, in the absence of his father, the governor of the place, and an accomplice in the plot with don john, freely admitted him. the prince immediately drew forth a pistol, and exclaimed that "that was the first moment of his government"; took possession of the place with his immediate guard, and instantly formed them into a devoted garrison. the prince of orange immediately made public the intercepted letters; and, at the solicitation of the states-general, repaired to brussels; into which city he made a truly triumphant entry on the d of september, and was immediately nominated governor, protector or _ruward_ of brabant--a dignity which had fallen into disuse, but was revived on this occasion, and which was little inferior in power to that of the dictators of rome. his authority, now almost unlimited, extended over every province of the netherlands, except namur and luxemburg, both of which acknowledged don john. the first care of the liberated nation was to demolish the various citadels rendered celebrated and odious by the excesses of the spaniards. this was done with an enthusiastic industry in which every age and sex bore a part, and which promised well for liberty. among the ruins of that of antwerp the statue of the duke of alva was discovered; dragged through the filthiest streets of the town; and, with all the indignity so well merited by the original, it was finally broken into a thousand pieces. the country, in conferring such extensive powers on the prince of orange, had certainly gone too far, not for his desert, but for its own tranquillity. it was impossible that such an elevation should not excite the discontent and awaken the enmity of the haughty aristocracy of flanders and brabant; and particularly of the house of croi, the ancient rivals of that of nassau. the then representative of that family seemed the person most suited to counterbalance william's excessive power. the duke of arschot was therefore named governor of flanders; and he immediately put himself at the head of a confederacy of the catholic party, which quickly decided to offer the chief government of the country, still in the name of philip, to the archduke mathias, brother of the emperor rodolf ii., and cousin-german to philip of spain, a youth but nineteen years of age. a flemish gentleman named maelsted was intrusted with the proposal. mathias joyously consented; and, quitting vienna with the greatest secrecy, he arrived at maestricht, without any previous announcement, and expected only by the party that had invited him, at the end of october, . the prince of orange, instead of showing the least symptom of dissatisfaction at this underhand proceeding aimed at his personal authority, announced his perfect approval of the nomination, and was the foremost in recommending measures for the honor of the archduke and the security of the country. he drew up the basis of a treaty for mathias's acceptance, on terms which guaranteed to the council of state and the states-general the virtual sovereignty, and left to the young prince little beyond the fine title which had dazzled his boyish vanity. the prince of orange was appointed his lieutenant, in all the branches of the administration, civil, military, or financial; and the duke of arschot, who had hoped to obtain an entire domination over the puppet he had brought upon the stage, saw himself totally foiled in his project, and left without a chance or a pretext for the least increase to his influence. but a still greater disappointment attended this ambitious nobleman in the very stronghold of his power. the flemings, driven by persecution to a state of fury almost unnatural, had, in their antipathy to spain, adopted a hatred against catholicism, which had its source only in political frenzy, while the converts imagined it to arise from reason and conviction. two men had taken advantage of this state of the public mind and gained over it an unbounded ascendency. they were francis de kethulle, lord of ryhove, and john hembyse, who each seemed formed to realize the beau-ideal of a factious demagogue. they had acquired supreme power over the people of ghent, and had at their command a body of twenty thousand resolute and well-armed supporters. the duke of arschot vainly attempted to oppose his authority to that of these men; and he on one occasion imprudently exclaimed that "he would have them hanged, even though they were protected by the prince of orange himself." the same night ryhove summoned the leaders of his bands; and quickly assembling a considerable force, they repaired to the duke's hotel, made him prisoner, and, without allowing him time to dress, carried him away in triumph. at the same time the bishops of bruges and ypres, the high bailiffs of ghent and courtrai, the governor of oudenarde, and other important magistrates, were arrested--accused of complicity with the duke, but of what particular offence the lawless demagogues did not deign to specify. the two tribunes immediately divided the whole honors and authority of administration; ryhove as military, and hembyse as civil, chief. the latter of these legislators completely changed the forms of the government; he revived the ancient privileges destroyed by charles v., and took all preliminary measures for forcing the various provinces to join with the city of ghent in forming a federative republic. the states-general and the prince of orange were alarmed, lest these troubles might lead to a renewal of the anarchy from the effects of which the country had but just obtained breathing-time. ryhove consented, at the remonstrance of the prince of orange, to release the duke of arschot; but william was obliged to repair to ghent in person, in the hope of establishing order. he arrived on the th of december, and entered on a strict inquiry with his usual calmness and decision. he could not succeed in obtaining the liberty of the other prisoners, though he pleaded for them strongly. having severely reprimanded the factious leaders, and pointed out the dangers of their illegal course, he returned to brussels, leaving the factious city in a temporary tranquillity which his firmness and discretion could alone have obtained. the archduke mathias, having visited antwerp, and acceded to all the conditions required of him, made his public entry into brussels on the th of january, , and was installed in his dignity of governor-general amid the usual fetes and rejoicings. don john of austria was at the same time declared an enemy to the country, with a public order to quit it without delay; and a prohibition was issued against any inhabitant acknowledging his forfeited authority. war was now once more openly declared; some fruitless negotiations having afforded a fair pretext for hostilities. the rapid appearance of a numerous army under the orders of don john gave strength to the suspicions of his former dissimulation. it was currently believed that large bodies of the spanish troops had remained concealed in the forests of luxemburg and lorraine; while several regiments, which had remained in france in the service of the league, immediately re-entered the netherlands. alexander farnese, prince of parma, son of the former stadtholderess, came to the aid of his uncle, don john, at the head of a large force of italians; and these several reinforcements, with the german auxiliaries still in the country, composed an army of twenty thousand men. the army of the states-general was still larger; but far inferior in point of discipline. it was commanded by antoine de goignies, a gentleman of hainault, and an old soldier of the school of charles v. after a sharp affair at the village of riminants, in which the royalists had the worst, the two armies met at gemblours, on the st of january, ; and the prince of parma gained a complete victory, almost with his cavalry only, taking de goignies prisoner, with the whole of his artillery and baggage. the account of his victory is almost miraculous. the royalists, if we are to credit their most minute but not impartial historian, had only one thousand two hundred men engaged; by whom six thousand were put to the sword, with the loss of but twelve men and little more than an hour's labor. the news of this battle threw the states into the utmost consternation. brussels being considered insecure, the archduke mathias and his council retired to antwerp; but the victors did not feel their forces sufficient to justify an attack upon the capital. they, however, took louvain, tirlemont, and several other towns; but these conquests were of little import in comparison with the loss of amsterdam, which declared openly and unanimously for the patriot cause. the states-general recovered their courage, and prepared for a new contest. they sent deputies to the diet of worms, to ask succor from the princes of the empire. the count palatine john casimir repaired to their assistance with a considerable force of germans and english, all equipped and paid by queen elizabeth. the duke of alençon, brother of henry iii. of france, hovered on the frontiers of hainault with a respectable army; and the cause of liberty seemed not quite desperate. but all the various chiefs had separate interests and opposite views; while the fanatic violence of the people of ghent sapped the foundations of the pacification to which the town had given its name. the walloon provinces, deep-rooted in their attachment to religious bigotry, which they loved still better than political freedom, gradually withdrew from the common cause; and without yet openly becoming reconciled with spain, they adopted a neutrality which was tantamount to it. don john was, however, deprived of all chance of reaping any advantage from these unfortunate dissensions. he was suddenly taken ill in his camp at bougy; and died, after a fortnight's suffering, on the st of october, , in the thirty-third year of his age. this unlooked-for close to a career which had been so brilliant, and to a life from which so much was yet to be expected, makes us pause to consider for a moment the different opinions of his times and of history on the fate of a personage so remarkable. the contemporary flemish memoirs say that he died of the plague; those of spain call his disorder the purple fever. the examination of his corpse caused an almost general belief that he was poisoned. "he lost his life," says one author, "with great suspicion of poison." "acabo su vida, con gran sospecho de veneno."--herrera. another speaks of the suspicious state of his intestines, but without any direct opinion. an english historian states the fact of his being poisoned, without any reserve. flemish writers do not hesitate to attribute his murder to the jealousy of philip ii., who, they assert, had discovered a secret treaty of marriage about to be concluded between don john and elizabeth of england, securing them the joint sovereignty of the netherlands. an italian historian of credit asserts that this ambitious design was attributed to the prince; and admits that his death was not considered as having arisen from natural causes. "e quindi nacque l'opinione dispersa allora, ch'egli mancasse di morte aiutata più tosto che naturale."--bentivoglio. it was also believed that escovedo, his confidential secretary, being immediately called back to spain, was secretly assassinated by antonio perez, philip's celebrated minister, and by the special orders of the king. time has, however, covered the affair with impenetrable mystery; and the death of don john was of little importance to the affairs of the country he governed so briefly and so ingloriously, if it be not that it added another motive to the natural hatred for his assumed murderer. the prince of parma, who now succeeded, by virtue of don john's testament, to the post of governor-general in the name of the king, remained intrenched in his camp. he expected much from the disunion of his various opponents; and what he foresaw very quickly happened. the duke of alençon disbanded his troops and retired to france; and the prince palatine, following his example, withdrew to germany, having first made an unsuccessful attempt to engage the queen of england as a principal in the confederacy. in this perplexity, the prince of orange saw that the real hope for safety was in uniting still more closely the northern provinces of the union; for he discovered the fallacy of reckoning on the cordial and persevering fidelity of the walloons. he therefore convoked a new assembly at utrecht; and the deputies of holland, guelders, zealand, utrecht, and groningen, signed, on the th of january, , the famous act called the union of utrecht, the real basis or fundamental pact of the republic of the united provinces. it makes no formal renunciation of allegiance to spain, but this is virtually done by the omission of the king's name. the twenty-six articles of this act consolidate the indissoluble connection of the united provinces; each preserving its separate franchises, and following its own good pleasure on the subject of religion. the towns of ghent, antwerp, bruges, and ypres, soon after acceded to and joined the union. the prince of parma now assumed the offensive, and marched against maestricht with his whole army. he took the place in the month of june, , after a gallant resistance, and delivered it to sack and massacre for three entire days. about the same time mechlin and bois-le-duc returned to their obedience to the king. hembyse having renewed his attempts against the public peace at ghent, the prince of orange repaired to that place, re-established order, frightened the inveterate demagogue into secret flight, and flanders was once more restored to tranquillity. an attempt was made this year at a reconciliation between the king and the states. the emperor rodolf ii. and pope gregory xiii. offered their mediation; and on the th of april a congress assembled at cologne, where a number of the most celebrated diplomatists in europe were collected. but it was early seen that no settlement would result from the apparently reciprocal wish for peace. one point--that of religion, the main, and indeed the only one in debate--was now maintained by philip's ambassador in the same unchristian spirit as if torrents of blood and millions of treasure had never been sacrificed in the cause. philip was inflexible in his resolution never to concede the exercise of the reformed worship; and after nearly a year of fruitless consultation, and the expenditure of immense sums of money, the congress separated on the th of november, without having effected anything. there were several other articles intended for discussion, had the main one been adjusted, on which philip was fully as determined to make no concession; but his obstinacy was not put to these new tests. the time had now arrived for the execution of the great and decisive step for independence, the means of effecting which had been so long the object of exertion and calculation on the part of the prince of orange. he now resolved to assemble the states of the united provinces, solemnly abjure the dominion of spain, and depose king philip from the sovereignty he had so justly forfeited. much has been written both for and against this measure, which involved every argument of natural rights and municipal privilege. the natural rights of man may seem to comprise only those which he enjoys in a state of nature; but he carries several of those with him into society, which is based upon the very principle of their preservation. the great precedent which so many subsequent revolutions have acknowledged and confirmed is that which we now record. the states-general assembled at antwerp early in the year ; and, in spite of all the opposition of the catholic deputies, the authority of spain was revoked forever, and the united provinces declared a free and independent state. at the same time was debated the important question as to whether the protection of the new state should be offered to england or to france. opinions were divided on this point; but that of the prince of orange being in favor of the latter country, from many motives of sound policy, it was decided to offer the sovereignty to the duke of alençon. the archduke mathias, who was present at the deliberations, was treated with little ceremony; but he obtained the promise of a pension when the finances were in a situation to afford it. the definite proposal to be made to the duke of alençon was not agreed upon for some months afterward; and it was in the month of august following that st. aldegonde and other deputies waited on the duke at the chateau of plessis-le-tours, when he accepted the offered sovereignty on the proposed conditions, which set narrow bounds to his authority, and gave ample security to the united provinces. the articles were formally signed on the th day of september; and the duke not only promised quickly to lead a numerous army to the netherlands, but he obtained a letter from his brother, henry iii., dated december th, by which the king pledged himself to give further aid, as soon as he might succeed in quieting his own disturbed and unfortunate country. the states-general, assembled at delft, ratified the treaty on the th of december; and the year which was about to open seemed to promise the consolidation of freedom and internal peace. chapter xii to the murder of the prince of orange a.d. -- philip might be well excused the utmost violence of resentment on this occasion, had it been bounded by fair and honorable efforts for the maintenance of his authority. but every general principle seemed lost in the base inveteracy of private hatred. the ruin of the prince of orange was his main object, and his industry and ingenuity were taxed to the utmost to procure his murder. existing documents prove that he first wished to accomplish this in such a way as that the responsibility and odium of the act might rest on the prince of parma; but the mind of the prince was at that period too magnanimous to allow of a participation in the crime. the correspondence on the subject is preserved in the archives, and the date of philip's first letter ( th of november, ) proves that even before the final disavowal of his authority by the united provinces he had harbored his diabolical design. the prince remonstrated, but with no effect. it even appears that philip's anxiety would not admit of the delay necessary for the prince's reply. the infamous edict of proscription against william bears date the th of march; and the most pressing letters commanded the prince of parma to make it public. it was not, however, till the th of june that he sent forth the fatal ban. this edict, under philip's own signature, is a tissue of invective and virulence. the illustrious object of its abuse is accused of having engaged the heretics to profane the churches and break the images; of having persecuted and massacred the catholic priests; of hypocrisy, tyranny, and perjury; and, as the height of atrocity, of having introduced liberty of conscience into his country! for these causes, and many others, the king declares him "proscribed and banished as a public pest"; and it is permitted to all persons to assail him "in his fortune, person, and life, as an enemy to human nature." philip also, "for the recompense of virtue and the punishment of crime," promises to whoever will deliver up william of nassau, dead or alive, "in lands or money, at his choice, the sum of twenty-five thousand golden crowns; to grant a free pardon to such person for all former offences of what kind soever, and to invest him with letters patent of nobility." in reply to this brutal document of human depravity, william published all over europe his famous "apology," of which it is enough to say that language could not produce a more splendid refutation of every charge or a more terrible recrimination against the guilty tyrant. it was attributed to the pen of peter de villiers, a protestant minister. it is universally pronounced one of the noblest monuments of history. william, from the hour of his proscription, became at once the equal in worldly station, as he had ever been the superior in moral worth, of his royal calumniator. he took his place as a prince of an imperial family, not less ancient or illustrious than that of the house of austria; and he stood forward at the supreme tribunal of public feeling and opinion as the accuser of a king who disgraced his lineage and his throne. by a separate article in the treaty with the states, the duke of alençon secured to william the sovereignty of holland and zealand, as well as the lordship of friesland, with his title of stadtholder, retaining to the duke his claim on the prince's faith and homage. the exact nature of william's authority was finally ratified on the th of july, ; on which day he took the prescribed oath, and entered on the exercise of his well-earned rights. philip now formed the design of sending back the duchess of parma to resume her former situation as stadtholderess, and exercise the authority conjointly with her son. but the latter positively declined this proposal of divided power; and he, consequently, was left alone to its entire exercise. military affairs made but slow progress this year. the most remarkable event was the capture of la noue, a native of bretagne, one of the bravest, and certainly the cleverest, officers in the service of the states, into which he had passed after having given important aid to the huguenots of france. he was considered so important a prize that philip refused all proposals for his exchange, and detained him in the castle of limburg for five years. the siege of cambray was now undertaken by the prince of parma in person; while the duke of alençon, at the head of a large army and the flower of the french nobility, advanced to its relief, and soon forced his rival to raise the siege. the new sovereign of the netherlands entered the town, and was received with tumultuous joy by the half-starved citizens and garrison. the prince of parma sought an equivalent for this check in the attack of tournay, which he immediately afterward invested. the town was but feebly garrisoned; but the protestant inhabitants prepared for a desperate defence, under the exciting example of the princess of epinoi, wife of the governor, who was himself absent. this remarkable woman furnishes another proof of the female heroism which abounded in these wars. though wounded in the arm, she fought in the breach sword in hand, braving peril and death. and when at length it was impossible to hold out longer, she obtained an honorable capitulation, and marched out, on the th of november, on horseback, at the head of the garrison, with an air of triumph rather than of defeat. the duke of alençon, now created duke of anjou, by which title we shall hereafter distinguish him, had repaired to england, in hopes of completing his project of marriage with elizabeth. after three months of almost confident expectation, the virgin queen, at this time fifty years of age, with a caprice not quite justifiable, broke all her former engagements; and, happily for herself and her country, declined the marriage. anjou burst out into all the violence of his turbulent temper, and set sail for the netherlands. elizabeth made all the reparation in her power, by the honors paid him on his dismissal. she accompanied him as far as canterbury, and sent him away under the convoy of the earl of leicester, her chief favorite; and with a brilliant suite and a fleet of fifteen sail. anjou was received at antwerp with equal distinction; and was inaugurated there on the th of february as duke of brabant, lothier, limburg, and guelders, with many other titles, of which he soon proved himself unworthy. when the prince of orange, at the ceremony, placed the ducal mantle on his shoulders, anjou said to him, "fasten it so well, prince, that they cannot take it off again!" during the rejoicings which followed this inauspicious ceremony, philip's proscription against the prince of orange put forth its first fruits. the latter gave a grand dinner in the chateau of antwerp, which he occupied, on the th of march, the birthday of the duke of anjou; and, as he was quitting the dining-room, on his way to his private chamber, a young man stepped forward and offered a pretended petition, william being at all times of easy access for such an object. while he read the paper, the treacherous suppliant discharged a pistol at his head: the ball struck him under the left ear, and passed out at the right cheek. as he tottered and fell, the assassin drew a poniard to add suicide to the crime, but he was instantly put to death by the attendant guards. the young count maurice, william's second son, examined the murderer's body; and the papers found on him, and subsequent inquiries, told fully who and what he was. his name was john jaureguay, his age twenty-three years; he was a native of biscay, and clerk to a spanish merchant of antwerp, called gaspar anastro. this man had instigated him to the crime; having received a promise signed by king philip, engaging to give him twenty-eight thousand ducats and other advantages, if he would undertake to assassinate the prince of orange. the inducements held out by anastro to his simple dupe, were backed strongly by the persuasions of antony timmerman, a dominican monk; and by venero, anastro's cashier, who had from fear declined becoming himself the murderer. jaureguay had duly heard mass, and received the sacrament, before executing his attempt; and in his pockets were found a catechism of the jesuits, with tablets filled with prayers in the spanish language; one in particular being addressed to the angel gabriel, imploring his intercession with god and the virgin, to aid him in the consummation of his object. other accompanying absurdities seem to pronounce this miserable wretch to be as much an instrument in the hands of others as the weapon of his crime was in his own. timmerman and venero made a full avowal of their criminality, and suffered death in the usual barbarous manner of the times. the jesuits, some years afterward, solemnly gathered the remains of these three pretended martyrs, and exposed them as holy relics for public veneration. anastro effected his escape. the alarm and indignation of the people of antwerp knew no bounds. their suspicions at first fell on the duke of anjou and the french party; but the truth was soon discovered; and the rapid recovery of the prince of orange from his desperate wound set everything once more to rights. but a premature report of his death flew rapidly abroad; and he had anticipated proofs of his importance in the eyes of all europe, in the frantic delight of the base, and the deep affliction of the good. within three months, william was able to accompany the duke of anjou in his visits to ghent, bruges, and the other chief towns of flanders; in each of which the ceremony of inauguration was repeated. several military exploits now took place, and various towns fell into the hands of the opposing parties; changing masters with a rapidity, as well as a previous endurance of suffering, that must have carried confusion and change on the contending principles of allegiance into the hearts and heads of the harassed inhabitants. the duke of anjou, intemperate, inconstant, and unprincipled, saw that his authority was but the shadow of power, compared to the deep-fixed practices of despotism which governed the other nations of europe. the french officers, who formed his suite and possessed all his confidence, had no difficulty in raising his discontent into treason against the people with whom he had made a solemn compact. the result of their councils was a deep-laid plot against flemish liberty; and its execution was ere-long attempted. he sent secret orders to the governors of dunkirk, bruges, termonde, and other towns, to seize on and hold them in his name; reserving for himself the infamy of the enterprise against antwerp. to prepare for its execution, he caused his numerous army of french and swiss to approach the city; and they were encamped in the neighborhood, at a place called borgerhout. on the th of january, , the duke dined somewhat earlier than usual, under the pretext of proceeding afterward to review his army in their camp. he set out at noon, accompanied by his guard of two hundred horse; and when he reached the second drawbridge, one of his officers gave the preconcerted signal for an attack on the flemish guard, by pretending that he had fallen and broken his leg. the duke called out to his followers, "courage, courage! the town is ours!" the guard at the gate was all soon despatched; and the french troops, which waited outside to the number of three thousand, rushed quickly in, furiously shouting the war-cry, "town taken! town taken! kill! kill!" the astonished but intrepid citizens, recovering from their confusion, instantly flew to arms. all differences in religion or politics were forgotten in the common danger to their freedom. catholics and protestants, men and women, rushed alike to the conflict. the ancient spirit of flanders seemed to animate all. workmen, armed with the instruments of their various trades, started from their shops and flung themselves upon the enemy. a baker sprang from the cellar where he was kneading his dough, and with his oven shovel struck a french dragoon to the ground. those who had firearms, after expending their bullets, took from their pouches and pockets pieces of money, which they bent between their teeth, and used for charging their arquebuses. the french were driven successively from the streets and ramparts, and the cannons planted on the latter were immediately turned against the reinforcements which attempted to enter the town. the french were everywhere beaten; the duke of anjou saved himself by flight, and reached termonde, after the perilous necessity of passing through a large tract of inundated country. his loss in this base enterprise amounted to one thousand five hundred; while that of the citizens did not exceed eighty men. the attempts simultaneously made on the other towns succeeded at dunkirk and termonde; but all the others failed. the character of the prince of orange never appeared so thoroughly great as at this crisis. with wisdom and magnanimity rarely equalled and never surpassed, he threw himself and his authority between the indignation of the country and the guilt of anjou; saving the former from excess, and the latter from execration. the disgraced and discomfited duke proffered to the states excuses as mean as they were hypocritical; and his brother, the king of france, sent a special envoy to intercede for him. but it was the influence of william that screened the culprit from public reprobation and ruin, and regained for him the place and power which he might easily have secured for himself, had he not prized the welfare of his country far above all objects of private advantage. a new treaty was negotiated, confirming anjou in his former station, with renewed security against any future treachery on his part. he in the meantime retired to france, to let the public indignation subside; but before he could assume sufficient confidence again to face the country he had so basely injured his worthless existence was suddenly terminated, some thought by poison--the common solution of all such doubtful questions in those days--in the month of june in the following year. he expired in his twenty-ninth year. a disgusting proof of public ingratitude and want of judgment was previously furnished by the conduct of the people of antwerp against him who had been so often their deliverer from such various dangers. unable to comprehend the greatness of his mind, they openly accused the prince of orange of having joined with the french for their subjugation, and of having concealed a body of that detested nation in the citadel. the populace rushed to the place, and having minutely examined it, were convinced of their own absurdity and the prince's innocence. he scorned to demand their punishment for such an outrageous calumny; but he was not the less afflicted at it. he took the resolution of quitting flanders, as it turned out, forever; and he retired into zealand, where he was better known and consequently better trusted. in the midst of the consequent confusion in the former of these provinces, the prince of parma, with indefatigable vigor, made himself master of town after town; and turned his particular attention to the creation of a naval force, which was greatly favored by the possession of dunkirk, nieuport, and gravelines. native treachery was not idle in this time of tumult and confusion. the count of renneberg, governor of friesland and groningen, had set the basest example, and gone over to the spaniards. the prince of chimay, son of the duke of arschot, and governor of bruges, yielded to the persuasions of his father, and gave up the place to the prince of parma. hembyse also, amply confirming the bad opinion in which the prince of orange always held him, returned to ghent, where he regained a great portion of his former influence, and immediately commenced a correspondence with the prince of parma, offering to deliver up both ghent and termonde. an attempt was consequently made by the spaniards to surprise the former town; but the citizens were prepared for this, having intercepted some of the letters of hembyse; and the traitor was seized, tried, condemned, and executed on the th of august, . he was upward of seventy years of age. ryhove, his celebrated colleague, died in holland some years later. but the fate of so insignificant a person as hembyse passed almost unnoticed, in the agitation caused by an event which shortly preceded his death. from the moment of their abandonment by the duke of anjou, the united provinces considered themselves independent; and although they consented to renew his authority over the country at large, at the solicitation of the prince of orange, they were resolved to confirm the influence of the latter over their particular interests, which they were now sensible could acquire stability only by that means. the death of anjou left them without a sovereign; and they did not hesitate in the choice which they were now called upon to make. on whom, indeed, could they fix but william of nassau, without the utmost injustice to him, and the deepest injury to themselves? to whom could they turn, in preference to him who had given consistency to the early explosion of their despair; to him who first gave the country political existence, then nursed it into freedom, and now beheld it in the vigor and prime of independence? he had seen the necessity, but certainly overrated the value, of foreign support, to enable the new state to cope with the tremendous tyranny from which it had broken. he had tried successively germany, england and france. from the first and the last of these powers he had received two governors, to whom he cheerfully resigned the title. the incapacity of both, and the treachery of the latter, proved to the states that their only chance for safety was in the consolidation of william's authority; and they contemplated the noblest reward which a grateful nation could bestow on a glorious liberator. and is it to be believed that he who for twenty years had sacrificed his repose, lavished his fortune, and risked his life, for the public cause, now aimed at absolute dominion, or coveted a despotism which all his actions prove him to have abhorred? defeated bigotry has put forward such vapid accusations. he has been also held responsible for the early cruelties which, it is notorious, he used every means to avert, and frequently punished. but while these revolting acts can only be viewed in the light of reprisals against the bloodiest persecution that ever existed, by exasperated men driven to vengeance by a bad example, not one single act of cruelty or bad faith has ever been made good against william, who may be safely pronounced one of the wisest and best men that history has held up as examples to the species. the authority of one author has been produced to prove that, during the lifetime of his brother louis, offers were made to him by france of the sovereignty of the northern provinces, on condition of the southern being joined to the french crown. that he ever accepted those offers is without proof; that he never acted on them is certain. but he might have been justified in purchasing freedom for those states which had so well earned it, at the price even of a qualified independence under another power, to the exclusion of those which had never heartily struggled against spain. the best evidence, however, of william's real views is to be found in the capitulation, as it is called; that is to say, the act which was on the point of being executed between him and the states, when a base fanatic, instigated by a bloody tyrant, put a period to his splendid career. this capitulation exists at full length, but was never formally executed. its conditions are founded on the same principles, and conceived in nearly the same terms, as those accepted by the duke of anjou; and the whole compact is one of the most thoroughly liberal that history has on record. the prince repaired to delft for the ceremony of his inauguration, the price of his long labors; but there, instead of anticipated dignity, he met the sudden stroke of death. on the th of july, as he left his dining-room, and while he placed his foot on the first step of the great stair leading to the upper apartments of his house, a man named balthazar gerard (who, like the former assassin, waited for him at the moment of convivial relaxation), discharged a pistol at his body. three balls entered it. he fell into the arms of an attendant, and cried out faintly, in the french language, "god pity me! i am sadly wounded--god have mercy on my soul, and on this unfortunate nation!" his sister, the countess of swartzenberg, who now hastened to his side, asked him in german if he did not recommend his soul to god? he answered, "yes," in the same language, but with a feeble voice. he was carried into the dining-room, where he immediately expired. his sister closed his eyes; his wife, too, was on the spot--louisa, daughter of the illustrious coligny, and widow of the gallant count of teligny, both of whom were also murdered almost in her sight, in the frightful massacre of st. bartholomew. we may not enter on a description of the afflicting scene which followed; but the mind is pleased in picturing the bold solemnity with which prince maurice, then eighteen years of age, swore--not vengeance or hatred against his father's murderers--but that he would faithfully and religiously follow the glorious example he had given him. whoever would really enjoy the spirit of historical details should never omit an opportunity of seeing places rendered memorable by associations connected with the deeds, and especially with the death, of great men; the spot, for instance, where william was assassinated at delft; the old staircase he was just on the point of ascending; the narrow pass between that and the dining-hall whence he came out, of scarcely sufficient extent for the murderer to held forth his arm and his pistol, two and a half feet long. this weapon, and its fellow, are both preserved in the museum of the hague, together with two of the fatal bullets, and the very clothes which the victim wore. the leathern doublet, pierced by the balls and burned by the powder, lies beside the other parts of the dress, the simple gravity of which, in fashion and color, irresistibly brings the wise, great man before us, and adds a hundred-fold to the interest excited by a recital of his murder. there is but one important feature in the character of william which we have hitherto left untouched, but which the circumstances of his death seemed to sanctify, and point out for record in the same page with it. we mean his religious opinions; and we shall despatch a subject which is, in regard to all men, so delicate, indeed so sacred, in a few words. he was born a lutheran. when he arrived, a boy, at the court of charles v., he was initiated into the catholic creed, in which he was thenceforward brought up. afterward, when he could think for himself and choose his profession of faith, he embraced the doctrine of calvin. his whole public conduct seems to prove that he viewed sectarian principles chiefly in the light of political instruments; and that, himself a conscientious christian, in the broad sense of the term, he was deeply imbued with the spirit of universal toleration, and considered the various shades of belief as subservient to the one grand principle of civil and religious liberty, for which he had long devoted and at length laid down his life. his assassin was taken alive, and four days afterward executed with terrible circumstances of cruelty, which he bore as a martyr might have borne them. he was a native of burgundy, and had for some months lingered near his victim, and insinuated himself into his confidence by a feigned attachment to liberty, and an apparent zeal for the reformed faith. he was nevertheless a bigoted catholic and, by his own confession, he had communicated his design to, and received encouragement to its execution from, more than one minister of the sect to which he belonged. but his avowal criminated a more important accomplice, and one whose character stands so high in history that it behooves us to examine thoroughly the truth of the accusation, and the nature of the collateral proofs by which it is supported. most writers on this question have leaned to the side which all would wish to adopt, for the honor of human nature and the integrity of a celebrated name. but an original letter exists in the archives of brussels, from the prince of parma himself to philip of spain, in which he admits that balthazar gerard had communicated to him his intention of murdering the prince of orange some months before the deed was done; and he mixes phrases of compassion for "the poor man" (the murderer) and of praise for the act; which, if the document be really authentic, sinks alexander of parma as low as the wretch with whom he sympathized. chapter xiii to the death of alexander, prince of parma a.d. -- the death of william of nassau not only closes the scene of his individual career, but throws a deep gloom over the history of a revolution that was sealed by so great a sacrifice. the animation of the story seems suspended. its events lose for a time their excitement. the last act of the political drama is performed. the great hero of the tragedy is no more. the other most memorable actors have one by one passed away. a whole generation has fallen in the contest; and it is with exhausted interest, and feelings less intense, that we resume the details of war and blood, which seem no longer sanctified by the grander movements of heroism. the stirring impulse of slavery breaking its chains yields to the colder inspiration of independence maintaining its rights. the men we have now to depict were born free; and the deeds they did were those of stern resolve rather than of frantic despair. the present picture may be as instructive as the last, but it is less thrilling. passion gives place to reason; and that which wore the air of fierce romance is superseded by what bears the stamp of calm reality. the consternation caused by the news of william's death soon yielded to the firmness natural to a people inured to suffering and calamity. the united provinces rejected at once the overtures made by the prince of parma to induce them to obedience. they seemed proud to show that their fate did not depend on that of one man. he therefore turned his attention to the most effective means of obtaining results by force which he found it impossible to secure by persuasion. he proceeded vigorously to the reduction of the chief towns of flanders, the conquest of which would give him possession of the entire province, no army now remaining to oppose him in the field. he soon obliged ypres and termonde to surrender; and ghent, forced by famine, at length yielded on reasonable terms. the most severe was the utter abolition of the reformed religion; by which a large portion of the population was driven to the alternative of exile; and they passed over in crowds to holland and zealand, not half of the inhabitants remaining behind. mechlin, and finally brussels, worn out by a fruitless resistance, followed the example of the rest; and thus, within a year after the death of william of nassau, the power of spain was again established in the whole province of flanders, and the others which comprise what is in modern days generally denominated belgium. but these domestic victories of the prince of parma were barren in any of those results which humanity would love to see in the train of conquest. the reconciled provinces presented the most deplorable spectacle. the chief towns were almost depopulated. the inhabitants had in a great measure fallen victims to war, pestilence and famine. little inducement existed to replace by marriage the ravages caused by death, for few men wished to propagate a race which divine wrath seemed to have marked for persecution. the thousands of villages which had covered the face of the country were absolutely abandoned to the wolves, which had so rapidly increased that they attacked not merely cattle and children, but grown-up persons. the dogs, driven abroad by hunger, had become as ferocious as other beasts of prey, and joined in large packs to hunt down brutes and men. neither fields, nor woods, nor roads, were now to be distinguished by any visible limits. all was an entangled mass of trees, weeds, and grass. the prices of the necessaries of life were so high that people of rank, after selling everything to buy bread, were obliged to have recourse to open beggary in the streets of the great towns. from this frightful picture, and the numerous details which imagination may readily supply, we gladly turn to the contrast afforded by the northern states. those we have just described have a feeble hold upon our sympathies; we cannot pronounce their sufferings to be unmerited. the want of firmness or enlightenment, which preferred such an existence to the risk of entire destruction, only heightens the glory of the people whose unyielding energy and courage gained them so proud a place among the independent nations of europe. the murder of william seemed to carry to the united provinces conviction of the weakness as well as the atrocity of spain; and the indecent joy excited among the royalists added to their courage. an immediate council was created, composed of eighteen members, at the head of which was unanimously placed prince maurice of nassau (who even then gave striking indications of talent and prudence); his elder brother, the count of beuren, now prince of orange, being still kept captive in spain. count hohenloe was appointed lieutenant-general; and several other measures were promptly adopted to consolidate the power of the infant republic. the whole of its forces amounted but to five thousand five hundred men. the prince of parma had eighty thousand at his command. with such means of carrying on his conquests, he sat down regularly before antwerp, and commenced the operations of one of the most celebrated among the many memorable sieges of those times. he completely surrounded the city with troops; placing a large portion of his army on the left bank of the scheldt, the other on the right; and causing to be attacked at the same time the two strong forts of liefkinshoek and lillo. repulsed on the latter important point, his only hope of gaining the command of the navigation of the river, on which the success of the siege depended, was by throwing a bridge across the stream. neither its great rapidity, nor its immense width, nor the want of wood and workmen, could deter him from this vast undertaking. he was assisted, if not guided, in all his projects on the occasion, by barroccio, a celebrated italian engineer sent to him by philip; and the merit of all that was done ought fairly to be, at least, divided between the general and the engineer. if enterprise and perseverance belonged to the first, science and skill were the portion of the latter. they first caused two strong forts to be erected at opposite sides of the river; and adding to their resources by every possible means, they threw forward a pier on each side of, and far into, the stream. the stakes, driven firmly into the bed of the river and cemented with masses of earth and stones, were at a proper height covered with planks and defended by parapets. these estoccades, as they were called, reduced the river to half its original breadth; and the cannon with which they were mounted rendered the passage extremely dangerous to hostile vessels. but to fill up this strait a considerable number of boats were fastened together by chain-hooks and anchors; and being manned and armed with cannon, they were moored in the interval between the estoccades. during these operations, a canal was cut between the moer and calloo; by which means a communication was formed with ghent, which insured a supply of ammunition and provisions. the works of the bridge, which was two thousand four hundred feet in length, were constructed with such strength and solidity that they braved the winds, the floods, and the ice of the whole winter. the people of antwerp at first laughed to scorn the whole of these stupendous preparations; but when they found that the bridge resisted the natural elements, by which they doubted not it would have been destroyed, they began to tremble in the anticipation of famine; yet they vigorously prepared for their defence, and rejected the overtures made by the prince of parma even at this advanced stage of his proceedings. ninety-seven pieces of cannon now defended the bridge; besides which thirty large barges at each side of the river guarded its extremities; and forty ships of war formed a fleet of protection, constantly ready to meet any attack from the besieged. they, seeing the scheldt thus really closed up, and all communication with zealand impossible, felt their whole safety to depend on the destruction of the bridge. the states of zealand now sent forward an expedition, which, joined with some ships from lillo, gave new courage to the besieged; and everything was prepared for their great attempt. an italian engineer named giambelli was at this time in antwerp, and by his talents had long protracted the defence. he has the chief merit of being the inventor of those terrible fire-ships which gained the title of "infernal machines"; and with some of these formidable instruments and the zealand fleet, the long-projected attack was at length made. early on the night of the th of april, the prince of parma and his army were amazed by the spectacle of three huge masses of flame floating down the river, accompanied by numerous lesser appearances of a similar kind, and bearing directly against the prodigious barrier, which had cost months of labor to him and his troops, and immense sums of money to the state. the whole surface of the scheldt presented one sheet of fire; the country all round was as visible as at noon; the flags, the arms of the soldiers, and every object on the bridge, in the fleet, or the forts, stood out clearly to view; and the pitchy darkness of the sky gave increased effect to the marked distinctness of all. astonishment was soon succeeded by consternation, when one of the three machines burst with a terrific noise before they reached their intended mark, but time enough to offer a sample of their nature. the prince of parma, with numerous officers and soldiers rushed to the bridge, to witness the effects of this explosion; and just then a second and still larger fire-ship, having burst through the flying bridge of boats, struck against one of the estoccades. alexander, unmindful of danger, used every exertion of his authority to stimulate the sailors in their attempts to clear away the monstrous machine which threatened destruction to all within its reach. happily for him, an ensign who was near, forgetting in his general's peril all rules of discipline and forms of ceremony, actually forced him from the estoccade. he had not put his foot on the river bank when the machine blew up. the effects were such as really baffle description. the bridge was burst through; the estoccade was shattered almost to atoms, and, with all that it supported--men, cannon, and the huge machinery employed in the various works--dispersed in the air. the cruel marquis of roubais, many other officers, and eight hundred soldiers, perished in all varieties of death--by flood, or flame, or the horrid wounds from the missiles with which the terrible machine was overcharged. fragments of bodies and limbs were flung far and wide; and many gallant soldiers were destroyed, without a vestige of the human form being left to prove that they had ever existed. the river, forced from its bed at either side, rushed into the forts and drowned numbers of their garrisons; while the ground far beyond shook as in an earthquake. the prince was struck down by a beam, and lay for some time senseless, together with two generals, delvasto and gajitani, both more seriously wounded than he; and many of the soldiers were burned and mutilated in the most frightful manner. alexander soon recovered; and by his presence of mind, humanity, and resolution, he endeavored with incredible quickness to repair the mischief, and raised the confidence of his army as high as ever. had the zealand fleet come in time to the spot, the whole plan might have been crowned with success; but by some want of concert, or accidental delay, it did not appear; and consequently the beleaguered town received no relief. one last resource was left to the besieged; that which had formerly been resorted to at leyden, and by which the place was saved. to enable them to inundate the immense plain which stretched between lillo and strabrock up to the walls of antwerp, it was necessary to cut through the dike which defended it against the irruptions of the eastern scheldt. this plain was traversed by a high and wide counter-dike, called the dike of couvestien; and alexander, knowing its importance, had early taken possession of and strongly defended it by several forts. two attacks were made by the garrison of antwerp on this important construction; the latter of which led to one of the most desperate encounters of the war. the prince, seeing that on the results of this day depended the whole consequences of his labors, fought with a valor that even he had never before displayed, and he was finally victorious. the confederates were forced to abandon the attack, leaving three thousand dead upon the dike or at its base; and the spaniards lost full eight hundred men. one more fruitless attempt was made to destroy the bridge and raise the siege, by means of an enormous vessel bearing the presumptuous title of the end of the war. but this floating citadel ran aground, without producing any effect; and the gallant governor of antwerp, the celebrated philip de saint aldegonde, was forced to capitulate on the th of august, after a siege of fourteen months. the reduction of antwerp was considered a miracle of perseverance and courage. the prince of parma was elevated by his success to the highest pinnacle of renown; and philip, on receiving the news, displayed a burst of joy such as rarely varied his cold and gloomy reserve. even while the fate of antwerp was undecided, the united provinces, seeing that they were still too weak to resist alone the undivided force of the spanish monarchy, had opened negotiations with france and england at once, in the hope of gaining one or the other for an ally and protector. henry iii. gave a most honorable reception to the ambassadors sent to his court, and was evidently disposed to accept their offers, had not the distracted state of his own country, still torn by civil war, quite disabled him from any effective co-operation. the deputies sent to england were also well received. elizabeth listened to the proposals of the states, sent them an ambassador in return, and held out the most flattering hopes of succor. but her cautious policy would not suffer her to accept the sovereignty; and she declared that she would in nowise interfere with the negotiations, which might end in its being accepted by the king of france. she gave prompt evidence of her sincerity by an advance of considerable sums of money, and by sending to holland a body of six thousand troops, under the command of her favorite, robert dudley, earl of leicester; and as security for the repayment of her loan, the towns of flushing and brille, and the castle of rammekins, were given up to her. the earl of leicester was accompanied by a splendid retinue of noblemen, and a select troop of five hundred followers. he was received at flushing by the governor, sir philip sidney, his nephew, the model of manners and conduct for the young men of his day. but leicester possessed neither courage nor capacity equal to the trust reposed in him; and his arbitrary and indolent conduct soon disgusted the people whom he was sent to assist. they had, in the first impulse of their gratitude, given him the title of governor and captain-general of the provinces, in the hope of flattering elizabeth. but this had a far contrary effect: she was equally displeased with the states and with leicester; and it was with difficulty that, after many humble submissions, they were able to appease her. to form a counterpoise to the power so lavishly conferred on leicester, prince maurice was, according to the wise advice of olden barnevelt, raised to the dignity of stadtholder, captain-general, and admiral of holland and zealand. this is the first instance of these states taking on themselves the nomination to the dignity of stadtholder, for even william has held his commission from philip, or in his name; but friesland, groningen, and guelders had already appointed their local governors, under the same title, by the authority of the states-general, the archduke mathias, or even of the provincial states. holland had now also at the head of its civil government a citizen full of talent and probity, who was thus able to contend with the insidious designs of leicester against the liberty he nominally came to protect. this was barnevelt, who was promoted from his office of pensionary of rotterdam to that of holland, and who accepted the dignity only on condition of being free to resign it if any accommodation of differences should take place with spain. alexander of parma had, by the death of his mother, in february, , exchanged his title of prince for the superior one of duke of parma, and soon resumed his enterprises with his usual energy and success; various operations took place, in which the english on every opportunity distinguished themselves; particularly in an action near the town of grave, in brabant; and in the taking of axel by escalade, under the orders of sir philip sidney. a more important affair occurred near zutphen, at a place called warnsfeld, both of which towns have given names to the action. on this occasion the veteran spaniards, under the marquis of guasto, were warmly attacked and completely defeated by the english; but the victory was dearly purchased by the death of sir philip sidney, who was mortally wounded in the thigh, and expired a few days afterward, at the early age of thirty-two years. in addition to the valor, talent, and conduct, which had united to establish his fame, he displayed, on this last opportunity of his short career, an instance of humanity that sheds a new lustre on even a character like his. stretched on the battlefield, in all the agony of his wound, and parched with thirst, his afflicted followers brought him some water, procured with difficulty at a distance, and during the heat of the fight. but sidney, seeing a soldier lying near, mangled like himself, and apparently expiring, refused the water, saying, "give it to that poor man; his sufferings are greater than mine." leicester's conduct was now become quite intolerable to the states. his incapacity and presumption were every day more evident and more revolting. he seemed to consider himself in a province wholly reduced to english authority, and paid no sort of attention to the very opposite character of the people. an eminent dutch author accounts for this, in terms which may make an englishman of this age not a little proud of the contrast which his character presents to what it was then considered. "the englishman," says grotius, "obeys like a slave, and governs like a tyrant; while the belgian knows how to serve and to command with equal moderation." the dislike between leicester and those he insulted and misgoverned soon became mutual. he retired to the town of utrecht; and pushed his injurious conduct to such an extent that he became an object of utter hatred to the provinces. all the friendly feelings toward england were gradually changed into suspicion and dislike. conferences took place at the hague between leicester and the states, in which barnevelt overwhelmed his contemptible shuffling by the force of irresistible eloquence and well-deserved reproaches; and after new acts of treachery, still more odious than his former, this unworthy favorite at last set out for england, to lay an account of his government at the feet of the queen. the growing hatred against england was fomented by the true patriots, who aimed at the liberty of their country; and may be excused, from the various instances of treachery displayed, not only by the commander-in-chief, but by several of his inferiors in command. a strong fort, near zutphen, under the government of roland york, the town of deventer, under that of william starily, and subsequently guelders, under a scotchman named pallot, were delivered up to the spaniards by these men; and about the same time the english cavalry committed some excesses in guelders and holland, which added to the prevalent prejudice against the nation in general. this enmity was no longer to be concealed. the partisans of leicester were, one by one, under plausible pretexts, removed from the council of state; and elizabeth having required from holland the exportation into england of a large quantity of rye, it was firmly but respectfully refused, as inconsistent with the wants of the provinces. prince maurice, from the caprice and jealousy of leicester, now united in himself the whole power of command, and commenced that brilliant course of conduct which consolidated the independence of his country and elevated him to the first rank of military glory. his early efforts were turned to the suppression of the partiality which in some places existed for english domination; and he never allowed himself to be deceived by the hopes of peace held out by the emperor and the kings of denmark and poland. without refusing their mediation, he labored incessantly to organize every possible means for maintaining the war. his efforts were considerably favored by the measures of philip for the support of the league formed by the house of guise against henry iii. and henry iv. of france; but still more by the formidable enterprise which the spanish monarch was now preparing against england. irritated and mortified by the assistance which elizabeth had given to the revolted provinces, philip resolved to employ his whole power in attempting the conquest of england itself; hoping afterward to effect with ease the subjugation of the netherlands. he caused to be built, in almost every port of spain and portugal, galleons, carricks, and other ships of war of the largest dimensions; and at the same time gave orders to the duke of parma to assemble in the harbors of flanders as many vessels as he could collect together. the spanish fleet, consisting of more than one hundred and forty ships of the line, and manned by twenty thousand sailors, assembled at lisbon under the orders of the duke of medina sidonia; while the duke of parma, uniting his forces, held himself ready on the coast of flanders, with an army of thirty thousand men and four hundred transports. this prodigious force obtained, in spain, the ostentatious title of the invincible armada. its destination was for a while attempted to be concealed, under pretext that it was meant for india, or for the annihilation of the united provinces; but the mystery was soon discovered. at the end of may, the principal fleet sailed from the port of lisbon; and being reinforced off corunna by a considerable squadron, the whole armament steered its course, for the shores of england. the details of the progress and the failure of this celebrated attempt are so thoroughly the province of english history that they would be in this place superfluous. but it must not be forgotten that the glory of the proud result was amply shared by the new republic, whose existence depended on it. while howard and drake held the british fleet in readiness to oppose the spanish armada, that of holland, consisting of but twenty-five ships, under the command of justin of nassau, prepared to take a part in the conflict. this gallant though illegitimate scion of the illustrious house, whose name he upheld on many occasions, proved himself on the present worthy of such a father as william, and such a brother as maurice. while the duke of medina sidonia, ascending the channel as far as dunkirk, there expected the junction of the duke of parma with his important reinforcement, justin of nassau, by a constant activity, and a display of intrepid talent, contrived to block up the whole expected force in the ports of flanders from lillo to dunkirk. the duke of parma found it impossible to force a passage on any one point; and was doomed to the mortification of knowing that the attempt was frustrated, and the whole force of spain frittered away, discomfited, and disgraced, from the want of a co-operation, which he could not, however, reproach himself for having withheld. the issue of the memorable expedition, which cost spain years of preparation, thousands of men, and millions or treasure, was received in the country which sent it forth with consternation and rage. philip alone possessed or affected an apathy which he covered with a veil of mock devotion that few were deceived by. at the news of the disaster, he fell on his knees, and rendering thanks for that gracious dispensation of providence, expressed his joy that the calamity was not greater. the people, the priests, and the commanders of the expedition were not so easily appeased, or so clever as their hypocritical master in concealing their mortification. the priests accounted for this triumph of heresy as a punishment on spain for suffering the existence of the infidel moors in some parts of the country. the defeated admirals threw the whole blame on the duke of parma. he, on his part, sent an ample remonstrance to the king; and philip declared that he was satisfied with the conduct of his nephew. leicester died four days after the final defeat and dispersion of the armada. the war in the netherlands had been necessarily suffered to languish, while every eye was fixed on the progress of the armada, from formation to defeat. but new efforts were soon made by the duke of parma to repair the time he had lost, and soothe, by his successes, the disappointed pride of spain. several officers now came into notice, remarkable for deeds of great gallantry and skill. none among those was so distinguished as martin schenck, a soldier of fortune, a man of ferocious activity, who began his career in the service of tyranny, and ended it by chance in that of independence. he changed sides several times, but, no matter who he fought for, he did his duty well, from that unconquerable principle of pugnacity which seemed to make his sword a part of himself. schenck had lately, for the last time, gone over to the side of the states, and had caused a fort to be built in the isle of betewe--that possessed of old by the batavians--which was called by his name, and was considered the key to the passage of the rhine. from this stronghold he constantly harassed the archbishop of cologne, and had as his latest exploit surprised and taken the strong town of bonn. while the duke of parma took prompt measures for the relief of the prelate, making himself master in the meantime of some places of strength, the indefatigable schenck resolved to make an attempt on the important town of nimeguen. he with great caution embarked a chosen body of troops on the wahal, and arrived under the walls of nimeguen at sunrise on the morning chosen for the attack. his enterprise seemed almost crowned with success; when the inhabitants, recovering from their fright, precipitated themselves from the town; forced the assailants to retreat to their boats; and, carrying the combat into those overcharged and fragile vessels, upset several, and among others that which contained schenck himself, who, covered with wounds, and fighting to the last gasp, was drowned with the greater part of his followers. his body, when recovered, was treated with the utmost indignity, quartered, and hung in portions over the different gates of the city. the following year was distinguished by another daring attempt on the part of the hollanders, but followed by a different result. a captain named haranguer concerted with one adrien vandenberg a plan for the surprise of breda, on the possession of which prince maurice had set a great value. the associates contrived to conceal in a boat laden with turf (which formed the principal fuel of the inhabitants of that part of the country), and of which vandenberg was master, eighty determined soldiers, and succeeded in arriving close to the city without any suspicion being excited. one of the soldiers, named matthew helt, being suddenly afflicted with a violent cough, implored his comrades to put him to death, to avoid the risk of a discovery. but a corporal of the city guard having inspected the cargo with unsuspecting carelessness, the immolation of the brave soldier became unnecessary, and the boat was dragged into the basin by the assistance of some of the very garrison who were so soon to fall victims to the stratagem. at midnight the concealed soldiers quitted their hiding-places, leaped on shore, killed the sentinels, and easily became masters of the citadel. prince maurice, following close with his army, soon forced the town to submit, and put it into so good a state of defence that count mansfield, who was sent to retake it, was obliged to retreat after useless efforts to fulfil his mission. the duke of parma, whose constitution was severely injured by the constant fatigues of war and the anxieties attending on the late transactions, had snatched a short interval for the purpose of recruiting his health at the waters of spa. while at that place he received urgent orders from philip to abandon for a while all his proceedings in the netherlands, and to hasten into france with his whole disposable force, to assist the army of the league. the battle of yvri (in which the son of the unfortunate count egmont met his death while fighting in the service of his father's royal murderer) had raised the prospects and hopes of henry iv. to a high pitch; and paris, which he closely besieged, was on the point of yielding to his arms. the duke of parma received his uncle's orders with great repugnance; and lamented the necessity of leaving the field of his former exploits open to the enterprise and talents of prince maurice. he nevertheless obeyed; and leaving count mansfield at the head of the government, he conducted his troops against the royal opponent, who alone seemed fully worthy of coping with him. the attention of all europe was now fixed on the exciting spectacle of a contest between these two greatest captains of the age. the glory of success, the fruit of consummate skill, was gained by alexander; who, by an admirable manoeuvre, got possession of the town of lagny-sur-seine, under the very eyes of henry and his whole army, and thus acquired the means of providing paris with everything requisite for its defence. the french monarch saw all his projects baffled, and his hopes frustrated; while his antagonist, having fully completed his object, drew off his army through champagne, and made a fine retreat through an enemy's country, harassed at every step, but with scarcely any loss. but while this expedition added greatly to the renown of the general, it considerably injured the cause of spain in the low countries. prince maurice, taking prompt advantage of the absence of his great rival, had made himself master of several fortresses; and some spanish regiments having mutinied against the commanders left behind by the duke of parma, others, encouraged by the impunity they enjoyed, were ready on the slightest pretext to follow their example. maurice did not lose a single opportunity of profiting by circumstances so favorable; and even after the return of alexander he seized on zutphen, deventer, and nimeguen, despite all the efforts of the spanish army. the duke of parma, daily breaking down under the progress of disease, and agitated by these reverses, repaired again to spa, taking at once every possible means for the recruitment of his army and the recovery of his health, on which its discipline and the chances of success now so evidently depended. but all his plans were again frustrated by a renewal of philip's peremptory orders to march once more into france, to uphold the failing cause of the league against the intrepidity and talent of henry iv. at this juncture the emperor rodolf again offered his mediation between spain and the united provinces. but it was not likely that the confederated states, at the very moment when their cause began to triumph, and their commerce was every day becoming more and more flourishing, would consent to make any compromise with the tyranny they were at length in a fair way of crushing. the duke of parma again appeared in france in the beginning of the year ; and, having formed his communications with the army of the league, marched to the relief of the city of rouen, at that period pressed to the last extremity by the huguenot forces. after some sharp skirmishes--and one in particular, in which henry iv. suffered his valor to lead him into a too rash exposure of his own and his army's safety--a series of manoeuvres took place, which displayed the talents of the rival generals in the most brilliant aspect. alexander at length succeeded in raising the siege of rouen, and made himself master of condebec, which commanded the navigation of the seine. henry, taking advantage of what appeared an irreparable fault on the part of the duke, invested his army in the hazardous position he had chosen; but while believing that he had the whole of his enemies in his power, he found that alexander had passed the seine with his entire force--raising his military renown to the utmost possible height by a retreat which it was deemed utterly impossible to effect. on his return to the netherlands, the duke found himself again under the necessity of repairing to spa, in search of some relief from the suffering which was considerably increased by the effects of a wound received in this last campaign. in spite of his shattered constitution, he maintained to the latest moment the most active endeavors for the reorganization of his army; and he was preparing for a new expedition into france, when, fortunately for the good cause in both countries, he was surprised by death on the d of december, , at the abbey of st. vaast, near arras, at the age of forty-seven years. as it was hard to imagine that philip would suffer anyone who had excited his jealousy to die a natural death, that of the duke of parma was attributed to slow poison. alexander of parma was certainly one of the most remarkable, and, it may be added, one of the greatest, characters of his day. most historians have upheld him even higher perhaps than he should be placed on the scale; asserting that he can be reproached with very few of the vices of the age in which he lived. others consider this judgment too favorable, and accuse him of participation in all the crimes of philip, whom he served so zealously. his having excited the jealousy of the tyrant, or even had he been put to death by his orders, would little influence the question; for philip was quite capable of ingratitude or murder, to either an accomplice or an opponent of his baseness. but even allowing that alexander's fine qualities were sullied by his complicity in these odious measures, we must still in justice admit that they were too much in the spirit of the times, and particularly of the school in which he was trained; and while we lament that his political or private faults place him on so low a level, we must rank him as one of the very first masters in the art of war in his own or any other age. chapter xiv to the independence of belgium and the death of philip ii. a.d. -- the duke of parma had chosen the count of mansfield for his successor, and the nomination was approved by the king. he entered on his government under most disheartening circumstances. the rapid conquests of prince maurice in brabant and flanders were scarcely less mortifying than the total disorganization into which those two provinces had fallen. they were ravaged by bands of robbers called picaroons, whose audacity reached such a height that they opposed in large bodies the forces sent for their suppression by the government. they on one occasion killed the provost of flanders, and burned his lieutenant in a hollow tree; and on another they mutilated a whole troop of the national militia, and their commander, with circumstances of most revolting cruelty. the authority of governor-general, though not the title, was now fully shared by the count of fuentes, who was sent to brussels by the king of spain; and the ill effects of this double viceroyalty was soon seen, in the brilliant progress of prince maurice, and the continual reverses sustained by the royalist armies. the king, still bent on projects of bigotry, sacrificed without scruple men and treasure for the overthrow of henry iv. and the success of the league. the affairs of the netherlands seemed now a secondary object; and he drew largely on his forces in that country for reinforcements to the ranks of his tottering allies. a final blow was, however, struck against the hopes of intolerance in france, and to the existence of the league, by the conversion of henry iv. to the catholic religion; he deeming theological disputes, which put the happiness of a whole kingdom in jeopardy, as quite subordinate to the public good. such was the prosperity of the united provinces, that they had been enabled to send a large supply, both of money and men, to the aid of henry, their constant and generous ally. and notwithstanding this, their armies and fleets, so far from suffering diminution, were augmented day by day. philip, resolved to summon up all his energy for the revival of the war against the republic, now appointed the archduke ernest, brother of the emperor rodolf, to the post which the disunion of mansfield and fuentes rendered as embarrassing as it had become inglorious. this prince, of a gentle and conciliatory character, was received at brussels with great magnificence and general joy; his presence reviving the deep-felt hopes of peace entertained by the suffering people. such were also the cordial wishes of the prince; but more than one design, formed at this period against the life of prince maurice, frustrated every expectation of the kind. a priest of the province of namur, named michael renichon, disguised as a soldier, was the new instrument meant to strike another blow at the greatness of the house of nassau, in the person of its gallant representative, prince maurice; as also in that of his brother, frederic henry, then ten years of age. on the confession of the intended assassin, he was employed by count berlaimont to murder the two princes. renichon happily mismanaged the affair, and betrayed his intention. he was arrested at breda, conducted to the hague, and there tried and executed on the d of june, . this miserable wretch accused the archduke ernest of having countenanced his attempt; but nothing whatever tends to criminate, while every probability acquits, that prince of such a participation. in this same year a soldier named peter dufour embarked in a like atrocious plot. he, too, was seized and executed before he could carry it into effect; and to his dying hour persisted in accusing the archduke of being his instigator. but neither the judges who tried, nor the best historians who record, his intended crime, gave any belief to this accusation. the mild and honorable disposition of the prince held a sufficient guarantee against its likelihood; and it is not less pleasing to be able fully to join in the prevalent opinion, than to mark a spirit of candor and impartiality break forth through the mass of bad and violent passions which crowd the records of that age. but all the esteem inspired by the personal character of ernest could not overcome the repugnance of the united provinces to trust to the apparent sincerity of the tyrant in whose name he made his overtures for peace. they were all respectfully and firmly rejected; and prince maurice, in the meantime, with his usual activity, passed the meuse and the rhine, and invested and quickly took the town of groningen, by which he consummated the establishment of the republic, and secured its rank among the principal powers of europe. the archduke ernest, finding all his efforts for peace frustrated, and all hopes of gaining his object by hostility to be vain, became a prey to disappointment and regret, and died, from the effects of a slow fever, on the st of february, ; leaving to the count of fuentes the honors and anxieties of the government, subject to the ratification of the king. this nobleman began the exercise of his temporary functions by an irruption into france, at the head of a small army; war having been declared against spain by henry iv., who, on his side, had despatched the admiral de villars to attack philip's possessions in hainault and artois. this gallant officer lost a battle and his life in the contest; and fuentes, encouraged by the victory, took some frontier towns, and laid siege to cambray, the great object of his plans. the citizens, who detested their governor, the marquis of bologni, who had for some time assumed an independent tyranny over them, gave up the place to the besiegers; and the citadel surrendered some days later. after this exploit fuentes returned to brussels, where, notwithstanding his success, he was extremely unpopular. he had placed a part of his forces under the command of mondragon, one of the oldest and cleverest officers in the service of spain. some trifling affairs took place in brabant; but the arrival of the archduke albert, whom the king had appointed to succeed his brother ernest in the office of governor-general, deprived fuentes of any further opportunity of signalizing his talents for supreme command. albert arrived at brussels on the th of february, , accompanied by the prince of orange, who, when count of beuren, had been carried off from the university of louvain, twenty-eight years previously, and held captive in spain during the whole of that period. the archduke albert, fifth son of the emperor maximilian ii., and brother of rodolf, stood high in the opinion of philip, his uncle, and merited his reputation for talents, bravery, and prudence. he had been early made archbishop of toledo, and afterward cardinal; but his profession was not that of these nominal dignities. he was a warrior and politician of considerable capacity; and had for some years faithfully served the king, as viceroy of portugal. but philip meant him for the more independent situation of sovereign of the netherlands, and at the same time destined him to be the husband of his daughter isabella. he now sent him, in the capacity of governor-general, to prepare the way for the important change; at once to gain the good graces of the people, and soothe, by this removal from philip's too close neighborhood, the jealousy of his son, the hereditary prince of spain. albert brought with him to brussels a small reinforcement for the army, with a large supply of money, more wanting at this conjuncture than men. he highly praised the conduct of fuentes in the operations just finished; and resolved to continue the war on the same plan, but with forces much superior. he opened his first campaign early; and, by a display of clever manoeuvring, which threatened an attempt to force the french to raise the siege of la fere, in the heart of picardy, he concealed his real design--the capture of calais; and he succeeded in its completion almost before it was suspected. the spanish and walloon troops, led on by rone, a distinguished officer, carried the first defences: after nine days of siege the place was forced to surrender; and in a few more the citadel followed the example. the archduke soon after took the towns of ardres and hulst; and by prudently avoiding a battle, to which he was constantly provoked by henry iv., who commanded the french army in person, he established his character for military talent of no ordinary degree. he at the same time made overtures of reconciliation to the united provinces, and hoped that the return of the prince of orange would be a means of effecting so desirable a purpose. but the dutch were not to be deceived by the apparent sincerity of spanish negotiation. they even doubted the sentiments of the prince of orange, whose attachments and principles bad been formed in so hated a school; and nothing passed between them and him but mutual civilities. they clearly evinced their disapprobation of his intended visit to holland; and he consequently fixed his residence in brussels, passing his life in an inglorious neutrality. a naval expedition formed in this year by the english and dutch against cadiz, commanded by the earl of essex, and counts louis and william of nassau, cousins of prince maurice, was crowned with brilliant success, and somewhat consoled the provinces for the contemporary exploits of the archduke. but the following year opened with an affair which at once proved his unceasing activity, and added largely to the reputation of his rival, prince maurice. the former had detached the count of varas, with about six thousand men, for the purpose of invading the province of holland; but maurice, with equal energy and superior talent, followed big movements, came up with him near turnhout, on the th of january, ; and after a sharp action, of which the dutch cavalry bore the whole brunt, varas was killed, and his troops defeated with considerable loss. this action may be taken as a fair sample of the difficulty with which any estimate can be formed of the relative losses on such occasions. the dutch historians state the loss of the royalists, in killed, at upward of two thousand. meteren, a good authority, says the peasants buried two thousand two hundred and fifty; while bentivoglio, an italian writer in the interest of spain, makes the number exactly half that amount. grotius says that the loss of the dutch was four men killed. bentivoglio states it at one hundred. but, at either computation, it is clear that the affair was a brilliant one on the part of prince maurice. this was in its consequences a most disastrous affair to the archduke. his army was disorganized, and his finances exhausted; while the confidence of the states in their troops and their general was considerably raised. but the taking of amiens by portocarrero, one of the most enterprising of the spanish captains, gave a new turn to the failing fortunes of albert. this gallant officer, whose greatness of mind, according to some historians, was much disproportioned to the smallness of his person, gained possession of that important town by a well-conducted stratagem, and maintained his conquest valiantly till he was killed in its defence. henry iv. made prodigious efforts to recover the place, the chief bulwark on that side of france; and having forced montenegro, the worthy successor of portocarrero, to capitulate, granted him and his garrison most honorable conditions. henry, having secured amiens against any new attack, returned to paris and made a triumphal entry into the city. during this year prince maurice took a number of towns in rapid succession; and the states, according to their custom, caused various medals, in gold, silver, and copper, to be struck, to commemorate the victories which had signalized their arms. philip ii., feeling himself approaching the termination of his long and agitating career, now wholly occupied himself in negotiations for peace with france. henry iv. desired it as anxiously. the pope, clement viii., encouraged by his exhortations this mutual inclination. the king of poland sent ambassadors to the hague and to london, to induce the states and queen elizabeth to become parties in a general pacification. these overtures led to no conclusion; but the conferences between france and spain went on with apparent cordiality and great promptitude, and a peace was concluded between these powers at vervins, on the d of may, . shortly after the publication of this treaty, another important act was made known to the world, by which philip ceded to albert and isabella, on their being formally affianced--a ceremony which now took place--the sovereignty of burgundy and the netherlands. this act bears date the th of may, and was proclaimed with all the solemnity due to so important a transaction. it contained thirteen articles; and was based on the misfortunes which the absence of the sovereign had hitherto caused to the low countries. the catholic religion was declared that of the state, in its full integrity. the provinces were guaranteed against dismemberment. the archdukes, by which title the joint sovereigns were designated without any distinction of sex, were secured in the possession, with right of succession to their children; and a provision was added, that in default of posterity their possessions should revert to the spanish crown. the infanta isabella soon sent her procuration to the archduke, her affianced husband, giving him full power and authority to take possession of the ceded dominions in her name as in his own; and albert was inaugurated with great pomp at brussels, on the d of august. having put everything in order for the regulation of the government during his absence, he set out for spain for the purpose of accomplishing his spousals, and bringing back his bride to the chief seat of their joint power. but before his departure he wrote to the various states of the republic, and to prince maurice himself, strongly recommending submission and reconciliation. these letters received no answer; a new plot against the life of prince maurice, by a wretched individual named peter pann, having aroused the indignation of the country, and determined it to treat with suspicion and contempt every insidious proposition from the tyranny it defied. albert placed his uncle, the cardinal andrew of austria, at the head of the temporary government, and set out on his journey; taking the little town of halle in his route, and placing at the altar of the virgin, who is there held in particular honor, his cardinal's hat as a token of his veneration. he had not made much progress when he received accounts of the demise of philip ii., who died, after long suffering, and with great resignation, on the th of september, , at the age of seventy-two. albert was several months on his journey through germany; and the ceremonials of his union with the infanta did not take place till the th of april, , when it was finally solemnized in the city of valencia in spain. this transaction, by which the netherlands were positively erected into a separate sovereignty, seems naturally to make the limits of another epoch in their history. it completely decided the division between the northern and southern provinces, which, although it had virtually taken place long previous to this period, could scarcely be considered as formally consummated until now. here then we shall pause anew, and take a rapid review of the social state of the netherlands during the last half century, which was beyond all doubt the most important period of their history, from the earliest times till the present. it has been seen that when charles v. resigned his throne and the possession of his vast dominions to his son, arts, commerce, and manufactures had risen to a state of considerable perfection throughout the netherlands. the revolution, of which we have traced the rise and progress, naturally produced to those provinces which relapsed into slavery a most lamentable change in every branch of industry, and struck a blow at the general prosperity, the effects of which are felt to this very day. arts, science, and literature were sure to be checked and withered in the blaze of civil war; and we have now to mark the retrograde movements of most of those charms and advantages of civilized life, in which flanders and the other southern states were so rich. the rapid spread of enlightenment on religious subjects soon converted the manufactories and workshops of flanders into so many conventicles of reform; and the clear-sighted artisans fled in thousands from the tyranny of alva into england, germany, and holland--those happier countries, where the government adopted and went hand in hand with the progress of rational belief. commerce followed the fate of manufactures. the foreign merchants one by one abandoned the theatre of bigotry and persecution; and even antwerp, which had succeeded bruges as the great mart of european traffic, was ruined by the horrible excesses of the spanish soldiery, and never recovered from the shock. its trade, its wealth, and its prosperity, were gradually transferred to amsterdam, rotterdam, and the towns of holland and zealand; and the growth of dutch commerce attained its proud maturity in the establishment of the india company in , the effects of which we shall have hereafter more particularly to dwell on. the exciting and romantic enterprises of the portuguese and spanish navigators in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries roused all the ardor of other nations for those distant adventures; and the people of the netherlands were early influenced by the general spirit of europe. if they were not the discoverers of new worlds, they were certainly the first to make the name of european respected and venerated by the natives. animated by the ardor which springs from the spirit of freedom and the enthusiasm of success, the united provinces labored for the discovery of new outlets for their commerce and navigation. the government encouraged the speculations of individuals, which promised fresh and fertile sources of revenue, so necessary for the maintenance of the war. until the year the merchants of holland and zealand were satisfied to find the productions of india at lisbon, which was the mart of that branch of trade ever since the portuguese discovered the passage by the cape of good hope. but philip ii., having conquered portugal, excluded the united provinces from the ports of that country; and their enterprising mariners were from that period driven to those efforts which rapidly led to private fortune and general prosperity. the english had opened the way in this career; and the states-general having offered a large reward for the discovery of a northwest passage, frequent and most adventurous voyages took place. houtman, le maire, heemskirk, ryp, and others, became celebrated for their enterprise, and some for their perilous and interesting adventures. the united provinces were soon without any rival on the seas. in europe alone they had one thousand two hundred merchant ships in activity, and upward of seventy thousand sailors constantly employed. they built annually two thousand vessels. in the year , eighty ships sailed from their ports for the indies or america. they carried on, besides, an extensive trade on the coast of guinea, whence they brought large quantities of gold-dust; and found, in short, in all quarters of the globe the reward of their skill, industry, and courage. the spirit of conquest soon became grafted on the habits of trade. expedition succeeded to expedition. failure taught wisdom to those who did not want bravery. the random efforts of individuals were succeeded by organized plans, under associations well constituted and wealthy; and these soon gave birth to those eastern and western companies before alluded to. the disputes between the english and the hanseatic towns were carefully observed by the dutch, and turned to their own advantage. the english manufacturers, who quickly began to flourish, from the influx of flemish workmen under the encouragement of elizabeth, formed companies in the netherlands, and sent their cloths into those very towns of germany which formerly possessed the exclusive privilege of their manufacture. these towns naturally felt dissatisfied, and their complaints were encouraged by the king of spain. the english adventurers received orders to quit the empire; and, invited by the states-general, many of them fixed their residence in middleburg, which became the most celebrated woollen market in europe. the establishment of the jews in the towns of the republic forms a remarkable epoch in the annals of trade. this people, so outraged by the loathsome bigotry which christians have not blushed to call religion, so far from being depressed by the general persecution, seemed to find it a fresh stimulus to the exertion of their industry. to escape death in spain and portugal they took refuge in holland, where toleration encouraged and just principles of state maintained them. they were at first taken for catholics, and subjected to suspicion; but when their real faith was understood they were no longer molested. astronomy and geography, two sciences so closely allied with and so essential to navigation, flourished now throughout europe. ortilius of antwerp, and gerard mercator of rupelmonde, were two of the greatest geographers of the sixteenth century; and the reform in the calendar at the end of that period gave stability to the calculations of time, which had previously suffered all the inconvenient fluctuations attendant on the old style. literature had assumed during the revolution in the netherlands the almost exclusive and repulsive aspect of controversial learning. the university of douay, installed in as a new screen against the piercing light of reform, quickly became the stronghold of intolerance. that of leyden, established by the efforts of the prince of orange, soon after the famous siege of that town in , was on a less exclusive plan--its professors being in the first instance drawn from germany. many flemish historians succeeded in this century to the ancient and uncultivated chroniclers of preceding times; the civil wars drawing forth many writers, who recorded what they witnessed, but often in a spirit of partisanship and want of candor, which seriously embarrasses him who desires to learn the truth on both sides of an important question. poetry declined and drooped in the times of tumult and suffering; and the chambers of rhetoric, to which its cultivation had been chiefly due, gradually lost their influence, and finally ceased to exist. in fixing our attention on the republic of the united provinces during the epoch now completed, we feel the desire, and lament the impossibility, of entering on the details of government in that most remarkable state. for these we must refer to what appears to us the best authority for clear and ample information on the prerogative of the stadtholder, the constitution of the states-general, the privileges of the tribunals and local assemblies, and other points of moment concerning the principles of the belgic confederation.[ ] [footnote : see cerisier, hist. gen. des prov. unies.] chapter xv to the campaign of prince maurice and spinola a.d. -- previous to his departure for spain, the archduke albert had placed the government of the provinces which acknowledged his domination in the hands of his uncle, the cardinal andrew of austria, leaving in command of the army francisco mendoza, admiral of aragon. the troops at his disposal amounted to twenty-two thousand fighting men--a formidable force, and enough to justify the serious apprehensions of the republic. albert, whose finances were exhausted by payments made to the numerous spanish and italian mutineers, had left orders with mendoza to secure some place on the rhine, which might open a passage for free quarters in the enemy's country. but this unprincipled officer forced his way into the neutral districts of cleves and westphalia; and with a body of executioners ready to hang up all who might resist, and of priests to prepare them for death, he carried such terror on his march that no opposition was ventured. the atrocious cruelties of mendoza and his troops baffle all description: on one occasion they murdered, in cold blood, the count of walkenstein, who surrendered his castle on the express condition of his freedom; and they committed every possible excess that may be imagined of ferocious soldiery encouraged by a base commander. prince maurice soon put into motion, to oppose this army of brigands, his small disposable force of about seven thousand men. with these, however, and a succession of masterly manoeuvres, he contrived to preserve the republic from invasion, and to paralyze and almost destroy an army three times superior in numbers to his own. the horrors committed by the spaniards, in the midst of peace, and without the slightest provocation, could not fail to excite the utmost indignation in a nation so fond of liberty and so proud as germany. the duchy of cleves felt particularly aggrieved; and sybilla, the sister of the duke, a real heroine in a glorious cause, so worked on the excited passions of the people by her eloquence and her tears that she persuaded all the orders of the state to unite against the odious enemy. some troops were suddenly raised; and a league was formed between several princes of the empire to revenge the common cause. the count de la lippe was chosen general of their united forces; and the choice could not have fallen on one more certainly incapable or more probably treacherous. the german army, with their usual want of activity, did not open the campaign till the month of june. it consisted of fourteen thousand men; and never was an army so badly conducted. without money, artillery, provisions, or discipline, it was at any moment ready to break up and abandon its incompetent general; and on the very first encounter with the enemy, and after a loss of a couple of hundred men, it became self-disbanded; and, flying in every direction, not a single man could be rallied to clear away this disgrace. the states-general, cruelly disappointed at this result of measures from which they had looked for so important a diversion in their favor, now resolved on a vigorous exertion of their own energies, and determined to undertake a naval expedition of a magnitude greater than any they had hitherto attempted. the force of public opinion was at this period more powerful than it had ever yet been in the united provinces; for a great number of the inhabitants, who, during the life of philip ii., conscientiously believed that they could not lawfully abjure the authority once recognized and sworn to, became now liberated from those respectable, although absurd, scruples; and the death of one unfeeling despot gave thousands of new citizens to the state. a fleet of seventy-three vessels, carrying eight thousand men, was soon equipped, under the order of admiral vander goes; and, after a series of attempts on the coasts of spain, portugal, africa, and the canary isles, this expedition, from which the most splendid results were expected, was shattered, dispersed, and reduced to nothing by a succession of unheard-of mishaps. to these disappointments were now added domestic dissensions in the republic, in consequence of the new taxes absolutely necessary for the exigencies of the state. the conduct of queen elizabeth greatly added to the general embarrassment: she called for the payment of her former loans; insisted on the recall of the english troops, and declared her resolution to make peace with spain. several german princes promised aid in men and money, but never furnished either; and in this most critical juncture, henry iv. was the only foreign sovereign who did not abandon the republic. he sent them one thousand swiss troops, whom he had in his pay; allowed them to levy three thousand more in france; and gave them a loan of two hundred thousand crowns--a very convenient supply in their exhausted state. the archdukes albert and isabella arrived in the netherlands in september, and made their entrance into brussels with unexampled magnificence. they soon found themselves in a situation quite as critical as was that of the united provinces, and both parties displayed immense energy to remedy their mutual embarrassments. the winter was extremely rigorous; so much so as to allow of military operations being undertaken on the ice. prince maurice soon commenced a christmas campaign by taking the town of wachtendenck; and he followed up his success by obtaining possession of the important forts of crevecoeur and st. andrew, in the island of bommel. a most dangerous mutiny at the same time broke out in the army of the archdukes; and albert seemed left without troops or money at the very beginning of his sovereignty. but these successes of prince maurice were only the prelude to an expedition of infinitely more moment, arranged with the utmost secrecy, and executed with an energy scarcely to be looked for from the situation of the states. this was nothing less than an invasion poured into the very heart of flanders, thus putting the archdukes on the defence of their own most vital possessions, and changing completely the whole character of the war. the whole disposable troops of the republic, amounting to about seventeen thousand men, were secretly assembled in the island of walcheren, in the month of june; and setting sail for flanders, they disembarked near ghent, and arrived on the th of that month under the walls of bruges. some previous negotiations with that town had led the prince to expect that it would have opened its gates at his approach. in this he was, however, disappointed; and after taking possession of some forts in the neighborhood, he continued his march to nieuport, which place he invested on the st of july. at the news of this invasion the archdukes, though taken by surprise, displayed a promptness and decision that proved them worthy of the sovereignty which seemed at stake. with incredible activity they mustered, in a few days, an army of twelve thousand men, which they passed in review near ghent. on this occasion isabella, proving her title to a place among those heroic women with whom the age abounded, rode through the royalist ranks, and harangued them in a style of inspiring eloquence that inflamed their courage and secured their fidelity. albert, seizing the moment of this excitement, put himself at their head, and marched to seek the enemy, leaving his intrepid wife at bruges, the nearest town to the scene of the action he was resolved on. he gained possession of all the forts taken and garrisoned by maurice a few days before; and pushing forward with his apparently irresistible troops, he came up on the morning of the d of july with a large body of those of the states, consisting of about three thousand men, sent forward under the command of count ernest of nassau to reconnoitre and judge of the extent of this most unexpected movement: for prince maurice was, in his turn, completely surprised; and not merely by one of those manoeuvres of war by which the best generals are sometimes deceived, but by an exertion of political vigor and capacity of which history offers few more striking examples. such a circumstance, however, served only to draw forth a fresh display of those uncommon talents which in so many various accidents of war had placed maurice on the highest rank for military talent. the detachment under count ernest of nassau was chiefly composed of scottish infantry; and this small force stood firmly opposed to the impetuous attack of the whole royalist army--thus giving time to the main body under the prince to take up a position, and form in order of battle. count ernest was at length driven back, with the loss of eight hundred men killed, almost all scottish; and being cut off from the rest of the army, was forced to take refuge in ostend, which town was in possession of the troops of the states. the army of albert now marched on, flushed with this first success and confident of final victory. prince maurice received them with the courage of a gallant soldier and the precaution of a consummate general. he had caused the fleet of ships of war and transports, which had sailed along the coast from zealand, and landed supplies of ammunition and provisions, to retire far from the share, so as to leave to his army no chance of escape but in victory. the commissioners from the states, who always accompanied the prince as a council of observation rather than of war, had retired to ostend in great consternation, to wait the issue of the battle which now seemed inevitable. a scene of deep feeling and heroism was the next episode of this memorable day, and throws the charm of natural affection over those circumstances in which glory too seldom leaves a place for the softer emotions of the heart. when the patriot army was in its position, and firmly waiting the advance of the foe, prince maurice turned to his brother, frederick henry, then sixteen years of age, and several young noblemen, english, french, and german, who like him attended on the great captain to learn the art of war: he pointed out in a few words the perilous situation in which he was placed; declared his resolution to conquer or perish on the battlefield, and recommended the boyish band to retire to ostend, and wait for some less desperate occasion to share his renown or revenge his fall. frederick henry spurned the affectionate suggestion, and swore to stand by his brother to the last; and all his young companions adopted the same generous resolution. the army of the states was placed in order of battle, about a league in front of nieuport, in the sand hills with which the neighborhood abounds, its left wing resting on the seashore. its losses of the morning, and of the garrisons left in the forts near bruges, reduced it to an almost exact equality with that of the archduke. each of these armies was composed of that variety of troops which made them respectively an epitome of the various nations of europe. the patriot force contained dutch, english, french, german, and swiss, under the orders of count louis of nassau, sir francis and sir horace vere, brothers and english officers of great celebrity, with other distinguished captains. the archduke mustered spaniards, italians, walloons, and irish in his ranks, led on by mendoza, la berlotta, and their fellow-veterans. both armies were in the highest state of discipline, trained to war by long service, and enthusiastic in the several causes which they served; the two highest principles of enthusiasm urging them on--religious fanaticism on the one hand, and the love of freedom on the other. the rival generals rode along their respective lines, addressed a few brief sentences of encouragement to their men, and presently the bloody contest began. it was three o'clock in the afternoon when the archduke commenced the attack. his advanced guard, commanded by mendoza and composed of those former mutineers who now resolved to atone for their misconduct, marched across the sand-hills with desperate resolution. they soon came into contact with the english contingent under francis vere, who was desperately wounded in the shock. the assault was almost irresistible. the english, borne down by numbers, were forced to give way; but the main body pressed on to their support. horace vere stepped forward to supply his brother's place. not an inch of ground more was gained or lost; the firing ceased, and pikes and swords crossed each other in the resolute conflict of man to man. the action became general along the whole line. the two commanders-in-chief were at all points. nothing could exceed their mutual display of skill and courage. at length the spanish cavalry, broken by the well-directed fire of the patriot artillery, fell back on their infantry and threw it into confusion. the archduke at the same instant was wounded by a lance in the cheek, unhorsed, and forced to quit the field. the report of his death, and the sight of his war-steed galloping alone across the field, spread alarm through the royalist ranks. prince maurice saw and seized on the critical moment. he who had so patiently maintained his position for three hours of desperate conflict now knew the crisis for a prompt and general advance. he gave the word and led on to the charge, and the victory was at once his own. the defeat of the royalist army was complete. the whole of the artillery, baggage, standards, and ammunition, fell into the possession of the conquerors. night coming on saved those who fled, and the nature of the ground prevented the cavalry from consummating the destruction of the whole. as far as the conflicting accounts of the various historians may be compared and calculated on, the royalists had three thousand killed, and among them several officers of rank; while the patriot army, including those who fell in the morning action, lost something more than half the number. the archduke, furnished with a fresh horse, gained bruges in safety; but he only waited there long enough to join his heroic wife, with whom he proceeded rapidly to ghent, and thence to brussels. mendoza was wounded and taken prisoner, and with difficulty saved by prince maurice from the fury of the german auxiliaries. the moral effect produced by this victory on the vanquishers and vanquished, and on the state of public opinion throughout europe, was immense; but its immediate consequences were incredibly trifling. not one result in a military point of view followed an event which appeared almost decisive of the war. nieuport was again invested three days after the battle; but a strong reinforcement entering the place saved it from all danger, and maurice found himself forced for want of supplies to abandon the scene of his greatest exploit. he returned to holland, welcomed by the acclamations of his grateful country, and exciting the jealousy and hatred of all who envied his glory or feared his power. among the sincere and conscientious republicans who saw danger to the public liberty in the growing influence of a successful soldier, placed at the head of affairs and endeared to the people by every hereditary and personal claim, was olden barneveldt, the pensionary; and from this period may be traced the growth of the mutual antipathy which led to the sacrifice of the most virtuous statesman of holland, and the eternal disgrace of its hitherto heroic chief. the states of the catholic provinces assembled at brussels now gave the archdukes to understand that nothing but peace could satisfy their wishes or save the country from exhaustion and ruin. albert saw the reasonableness of their remonstrances, and attempted to carry the great object into effect. the states-general listened to his proposals. commissioners were appointed on both sides to treat of terms. they met at berg-op-zoom; but their conferences were broken up almost as soon as commenced. the spanish deputies insisted on the submission of the republic to its ancient masters. such a proposal was worse than insulting; it proved the inveterate insincerity of those with whom it originated, and who knew it could not be entertained for a moment. preparations for hostilities were therefore commenced on both sides, and the whole of the winter was thus employed. early in the spring prince maurice opened the campaign at the head of sixteen thousand men, chiefly composed of english and french, who seemed throughout the contest to forget their national animosities, and to know no rivalry but that of emulation in the cause of liberty. the town of rhinberg soon fell into the hands of the prince. his next attempt was against bois-le-duc; and the siege of this place was signalized by an event that flavored of the chivalric contests now going out of fashion. a norman gentleman of the name of breaute, in the service of prince maurice, challenged the royalist garrison to meet him and twenty of his comrades in arms under the walls of the place. the cartel was accepted by a fleming named abramzoom, but better known by the epithet leckerbeetje (savory bit), who, with twenty more, met breaute and his friends. the combat was desperate. the flemish champion was killed at the first shock by his norman challenger; but the latter falling into the hands of the enemy, they treacherously and cruelly put him to death, in violation of the strict conditions of the fight. prince maurice was forced to raise the siege of bois-le-duc, and turn his attention in another direction. the archduke albert had now resolved to invest ostend, a place of great importance to the united provinces, but little worth to either party in comparison with the dreadful waste of treasure and human life which was the consequence of its memorable siege. sir francis vere commanded in the place at the period of its final investment; but governors, garrisons, and besieging forces, were renewed and replaced with a rapidity which gives one of the most frightful instances of the ravages of war. the siege of ostend lasted upward of three years. it became a school for the young nobility of all europe, who repaired to either one or the other party to learn the principles and the practice of attack and defence. everything that the art of strategy could devise was resorted to on either side. the slaughter in the various assaults, sorties, and bombardments was enormous. squadrons at sea gave a double interest to the land operations; and the celebrated brothers frederick and ambrose spinola founded their reputation on these opposing elements. frederick was killed in one of the naval combats with the dutch galleys, and the fame of reducing ostend was reserved for ambrose. this afterward celebrated general had undertaken the command at the earnest entreaties of the archduke and the king of spain, and by the firmness and vigor of his measures he revived the courage of the worn-out assailants of the place. redoubled attacks and multiplied mines at length reduced the town to a mere mass of ruin, and scarcely left its still undaunted garrison sufficient footing on which to prolong their desperate defence. ostend at length surrendered, on the d of september, , and the victors marched in over its crumbled walls and shattered batteries. scarcely a vestige of the place remained beyond those terrible evidences of destruction. its ditches, filled up with the rubbish of ramparts, bastions, and redoubts, left no distinct line of separation between the operations of its attack and its defence. it resembled rather a vast sepulchre than a ruined town, a mountain of earth and rubbish, without a single house in which the wretched remnant of the inhabitants could hide their heads--a monument of desolation on which victory might have sat and wept. during the progress of this memorable siege queen elizabeth of england had died, after a long and, it must be pronounced, a glorious reign; though the glory belongs rather to the nation than to the monarch, whose memory is marked with indelible stains of private cruelty, as in the cases of essex and mary queen of scots, and of public wrongs, as in that of her whole system of tyranny in ireland. with respect to the united provinces she was a harsh protectress and a capricious ally. she in turns advised them to remain faithful to the old impurities of religion and to their intolerable king; refused to incorporate them with her own states; and then used her best efforts for subjecting them to her sway. she seemed to take pleasure in the uncertainty to which she reduced them, by constant demands for payment of her loans, and threats of making peace with spain. thus the states-general were not much affected by the news of her death; and so rejoiced were they at the accession of james i. to the throne of england that all the bells of holland rang out merry peals; bonfires were set blazing all over the country; a letter of congratulation was despatched to the new monarch; and it was speedily followed by a solemn embassy composed of prince frederick henry, the grand pensionary de barneveldt, and others of the first dignitaries of the republic. these ambassadors were grievously disappointed at the reception given to them by james, who treated them as little better than rebels to their lawful king. but this first disposition to contempt and insult was soon overcome by the united talents of barneveldt and the great duke of sully, who were at the same period ambassadors from france at the english court. the result of the negotiations was an agreement between those two powers to take the republic under their protection, and use their best efforts for obtaining the recognition of its independence by spain. the states-general considered themselves amply recompensed for the loss of ostend by the taking of ecluse, rhinberg, and grave, all of which had in the interval surrendered to prince maurice; but they were seriously alarmed on finding themselves abandoned by king james, who concluded a separate peace with philip iii. of spain in the month of august this year. this event gives rise to a question very important to the honor of james, and consequently to england itself, as the acts of the absolute monarchs of those days must be considered as those of the nations which submitted to such a form of government. historians of great authority have asserted that it appeared that, by a secret agreement, the king had expressly reserved the power of sending assistance to holland. others deny the existence of this secret article; and lean heavily on the reputation of james for his conduct in the transaction. it must be considered a very doubtful point, and is to be judged rather by subsequent events than by any direct testimony. the two monarchs stipulated in the treaty that "neither was to give support of any kind to the revolted subjects of the other." it is nevertheless true that james did not withdraw his troops from the service of the states; but he authorized the spaniards to levy soldiers in england. the united provinces were at once afflicted and indignant at this equivocal conduct. their first impulse was to deprive the english of the liberty of navigating the scheldt. they even arrested the progress of several of their merchant-ships. but soon after, gratified at finding that james received their deputy with the title of ambassador, they resolved to dissimulate their resentment. prince maurice and spinola now took the field with their respective armies; and a rapid series of operations placing them in direct contact, displayed their talents in the most striking points of view. the first steps on the part of the prince were a new invasion of flanders, and an attempt on antwerp, which he hoped to carry before the spanish army could arrive to its succor. but the promptitude and sagacity of spinola defeated this plan, which maurice was obliged to abandon after some loss; while the royalist general resolved to signalize himself by some important movement, and, ere his design was suspected, he had penetrated into the province of overyssel, and thus retorted his rival's favorite measure of carrying the war into the enemy's country. several towns were rapidly reduced; but maurice flew toward the threatened provinces, and by his active measures forced spinola to fall back on the rhine and take up a position near roeroord, where he was impetuously attacked by the dutch army. but the cavalry having followed up too slowly the orders of maurice, his hope of surprising the royalists was frustrated; and the spanish forces, gaining time by this hesitation, soon changed the fortune of the day. the dutch cavalry shamefully took to flight, despite the gallant endeavors of both maurice and his brother frederick henry; and at this juncture a large reinforcement of spaniards arrived under the command of velasco. maurice now brought forward some companies of english and french infantry under horatio vere and d'omerville, also a distinguished officer. the battle was again fiercely renewed; and the spaniards now gave way, and had been completely defeated, had not spinola put in practice an old and generally successful stratagem. he caused almost all the drums of his army to beat in one direction, so as to give the impression that a still larger reinforcement was approaching. maurice, apprehensive that the former panic might find a parallel in a fresh one, prudently ordered a retreat, which he was able to effect in good order, in preference to risking the total disorganization of his troops. the loss on each side was nearly the same; but the glory of this hard-fought day remained on the side of spinola, who proved himself a worthy successor of the great duke of parma, and an antagonist with whom maurice might contend without dishonor. the naval transactions of this year restored the balance which spinola's successes had begun to turn in favor of the royalist cause. a squadron of ships, commanded by hautain, admiral of zealand, attacked a superior force of spanish vessels close to dover, and defeated them with considerable loss. but the victory was sullied by an act of great barbarity. all the soldiers found on board the captured ships were tied two and two and mercilessly flung into the sea. some contrived to extricate themselves, and gained the shore by swimming; others were picked up by the english boats, whose crews witnessed the scene and hastened to their relief. the generous british seamen could not remain neuter in such a moment, nor repress their indignation against those whom they had hitherto so long considered as friends. the dutch vessels pursuing those of spain which fled into dover harbor, were fired on by the cannon of the castle and forced to give up the chase. the english loudly complained that the dutch had on this occasion violated their territory; and this transaction laid the foundation of the quarrel which subsequently broke out between england and the republic, and which the jealousies of rival merchants in either state unceasingly fomented. in this year also the dutch succeeded in capturing the chief of the dunkirk privateers, which had so long annoyed their trade; and they cruelly ordered sixty of the prisoners to be put to death. but the people, more humane than the authorities, rescued them from the executioners and set them free. but these domestic instances of success and inhumanity were trifling in comparison with the splendid train of distant events, accompanied by a course of wholesale benevolence, that redeemed the traits of petty guilt. the maritime enterprises of holland, forced by the imprudent policy of spain to seek a wider career than in the narrow seas of europe, were day by day extended in the indies. to ruin if possible their increasing trade, philip iii. sent out the admiral hurtado, with a fleet of eight galleons and thirty-two galleys. the dutch squadron of five vessels, commanded by wolfert hermanszoon, attacked them off the coast of malabar, and his temerity was crowned with great success. he took two of their vessels, and completely drove the remainder from the indian seas. he then concluded a treaty with the natives of the isle of banda, by which he promised to support them against the spaniards and portuguese, on condition that they were to give his fellow-countrymen the exclusive privilege of purchasing the spices of the island. this treaty was the foundation of the influence which the dutch so soon succeeded in forming in the east indies; and they established it by a candid, mild, and tolerant conduct, strongly contrasted with the pride and bigotry which had signalized every act of the portuguese and spaniards. the prodigious success of the indian trade occasioned numerous societies to be formed all through the republic. but by their great number they became at length injurious to each other. the spirit of speculation was pushed too far; and the merchants, who paid enormous prices for india goods, found themselves forced to sell in europe at a loss. many of those societies were too weak, in military force as well as in capital, to resist the armed competition of the spaniards, and to support themselves in their disputes with the native princes. at length the states-general resolved to unite the whole of these scattered partnerships into one grand company, which was soon organized on a solid basis that led ere long to incredible wealth at home and a rapid succession of conquests in the east. chapter xvi to the synod at dort and the execution of barneveldt a.d. -- the states-general now resolved to confine their military operations to a war merely defensive. spinola had, by his conduct during the late campaign, completely revived the spirits of the spanish troops, and excited at least the caution of the dutch. he now threatened the united provinces with invasion; and he exerted his utmost efforts to raise the supplies necessary for the execution of his plan. he not only exhausted the resources of the king of spain and the archduke, but obtained money on his private account from all those usurers who were tempted by his confident anticipations of conquest. he soon equipped two armies of about twelve thousand men each. at the head of one of those he took the field; the other, commanded by the count of bucquoi, was destined to join him in the neighborhood of utrecht; and he was then resolved to push forward with the whole united force into the very heart of the republic. prince maurice in the meantime concentrated his army, amounting to twelve thousand men, and prepared to make head against his formidable opponents. by a succession of the most prudent manoeuvres he contrived to keep spinola in check, disconcerted all his projects, and forced him to content himself with the capture of two or three towns--a comparatively insignificant conquest. desiring to wipe away the disgrace of this discomfiture, and to risk everything for the accomplishment of his grand design, spinola used every method to provoke the prince to a battle, even though a serious mutiny among his troops, and the impossibility of forming a junction with bucquoi, had reduced his force below that of maurice; but the latter, to the surprise of all who expected a decisive blow, retreated from before the italian general--abandoning the town of groll, which immediately fell into spinola's power, and giving rise to manifold conjectures and infinite discontent at conduct so little in unison with his wonted enterprise and skill. even henry iv. acknowledged it did not answer the expectation he had formed from maurice's splendid talents for war. the fact seems to be that the prince, much as he valued victory, dreaded peace more; and that he was resolved to avoid a decisive blow, which, in putting an end to the contest, would at the same time have decreased the individual influence in the state which his ambition now urged him to augment by every possible means. the dutch naval expeditions this year were not more brilliant than those on land. admiral hautain, with twenty ships, was surprised off cape st. vincent by the spanish fleet. the formidable appearance of their galleons inspired on this occasion a perfect panic among the dutch sailors. they hoisted their sails and fled, with the exception of one ship, commanded by vice-admiral klaazoon, whose desperate conduct saved the national honor. having held out until his vessel was quite unmanageable, and almost his whole crew killed or wounded, he prevailed on the rest to agree to the resolution he had formed, knelt down on the deck, and putting up a brief prayer for pardon for the act, thrust a light into the powder-magazine, and was instantly blown up with his companions. only two men were snatched from the sea by the spaniards; and even these, dreadfully burned and mangled, died in the utterance of curses on the enemy. this disastrous occurrence was soon, however, forgotten in the rejoicings for a brilliant victory gained the following year by heemskirk, so celebrated for his voyage to nova zembla, and by his conduct in the east. he set sail from the ports of holland in the month of march, determined to signalize himself by some great exploit, now necessary to redeem the disgrace which had begun to sully the reputation of the dutch navy. he soon got intelligence that the spanish fleet lay at anchor in the bay of gibraltar, and he speedily prepared to offer them battle. before the combat began he held a council of war, and addressed the officers in an energetic speech, in which he displayed the imperative call on their valor to conquer or die in the approaching conflict. he led on to the action in his own ship; and, to the astonishment of both fleets, he bore right down against the enormous galleon in which the flag of the spanish admiral-in-chief was hoisted. d'avila could scarcely believe the evidence of his eyes at this audacity: he at first burst into laughter at the notion; but as heemskirk approached, he cut his cables and attempted to escape under the shelter of the town. the heroic dutchman pursued him through the whole of the spanish fleet, and soon forced him to action. at the second broadside heemskirk had his left leg carried off by a cannon-ball, and he almost instantly died, exhorting his crew to seek for consolation in the defeat of the enemy. verhoef, the captain of the ship, concealed the admiral's death; and the whole fleet continued the action with a valor worthy the spirit in which it was commenced. the victory was soon decided: four of the spanish galleons were sunk or burned, the remainder fled; and the citizens of cadiz trembled with the apprehension of sack and pillage. but the death of heemskirk, when made known to the surviving victors, seemed completely to paralyze them. they attempted nothing further; but sailing back to holland with the body of their lamented chief, thus paid a greater tribute to his importance than was to be found in the mausoleum erected to his memory in the city of amsterdam. [illustration: william the silent of orange.] the news of this battle reaching brussels before it was known in holland, contributed not a little to quicken the anxiety of the archdukes for peace. the king of spain, worn out by the war which drained his treasury, had for some time ardently desired it. the portuguese made loud complaints of the ruin that threatened their trade and their east indian colonies. the spanish ministers were fatigued with the apparently interminable contest which baffled all their calculations. spinola, even, in the midst of his brilliant career, found himself so overwhelmed with debts and so oppressed by the reproaches of the numerous creditors who were ruined by his default of payment, that he joined in the general demand for repose. in the month of may, , proposals were made by the archdukes, in compliance with the general desire; and their two plenipotentiaries, van wittenhorst and gevaerts, repaired to the hague. public opinion in the united provinces was divided on this important question. an instinctive hatred against the spaniards, and long habits of warfare, influenced the great mass of the people to consider any overture for peace as some wily artifice aimed at their religion and liberty. war seemed to open inexhaustible sources of wealth; while peace seemed to threaten the extinction of the courage which was now as much a habit as war appeared to be a want. this reasoning was particularly convincing to prince maurice, whose fame, with a large portion of his authority and revenues, depended on the continuance of hostilities: it was also strongly relished and supported in zealand generally, and in the chief towns, which dreaded the rivalry of antwerp. but those who bore the burden of the war saw the subject under a different aspect. they feared that the present state of things would lead to their conquest by the enemy, or to the ruin of their liberty by the growing power of maurice. they hoped that peace would consolidate the republic and cause the reduction of the debt, which now amounted to twenty-six million florins. at the head of the party who so reasoned was de barneveldt; and his name is a guarantee with posterity for the wisdom of the opinion. to allow the violent opposition to subside, and to prevent any explosion of party feuds, the prudent barneveldt suggested a mere suspension of arms, during which the permanent interests of both states might be calmly discussed. he even undertook to obtain maurice's consent to the armistice. the prince listened to his arguments, and was apparently convinced by them. he, at any rate, sanctioned the proposal; but he afterward complained that barneveldt had deceived him, in representing the negotiation as a feint for the purpose of persuading the kings of france and england to give greater aid to the republic. it is more than likely that maurice reckoned on the improbability of spain's consenting to the terms of the proposed treaty; and, on that chance, withdrew an opposition which could scarcely be ascribed to any but motives of personal ambition. it is, however, certain that his discontent at this transaction, either with himself or barneveldt, laid the foundation of that bitter enmity which proved fatal to the life of the latter, and covered his own name, otherwise glorious, with undying reproach. the united provinces positively refused to admit even the commencement of a negotiation without the absolute recognition of their independence by the archdukes. a new ambassador was accordingly chosen on the part of these sovereigns, and empowered to concede this important admission. this person attracted considerable attention, from his well-known qualities as an able diplomatist. he was a monk of the order of st. francis, named john de neyen, a native of antwerp, and a person as well versed in court intrigue as in the studies of the cloister. he, in the first instance, repaired secretly to the hague; and had several private interviews with prince maurice and barneveldt, before he was regularly introduced to the states-general in his official character. two different journeys were undertaken by this agent between the hague and brussels, before he could succeed in obtaining a perfect understanding as to the specific views of the archdukes. the suspicions of the states-general seem fully justified by the dubious tone of the various communications, which avoided the direct admission of the required preliminary as to the independence of the united provinces. it was at length concluded in explicit terms; and a suspension of arms for eight months was the immediate consequence. but the negotiation for peace was on the point of being completely broken, in consequence of the conduct of neyen, who justified every doubt of his sincerity by an attempt to corrupt aarsens the greffier of the states-general, or at least to influence his conduct in the progress of the treaty. neyen presented him, in the name of the archdukes, and as a token of his esteem, with a diamond of great value and a bond for fifty thousand crowns. aarsens accepted these presents with the approbation of prince maurice, to whom he had confided the circumstance, and who was no doubt delighted at what promised a rupture to the negotiations. verreiken, a councillor of state, who assisted neyen in his diplomatic labors, was formally summoned before the assembled states-general, and there barneveldt handed to him the diamond and the bond; and at the same time read him a lecture of true republican severity on the subject. verreiken was overwhelmed by the violent attack: he denied the authority of neyen for the measure he had taken; and remarked, "that it was not surprising that monks, naturally interested and avaricious, judged others by themselves." this repudiation of neyen's suspicious conduct seems to have satisfied the stern resentment of barneveldt; and the party which so earnestly labored for peace. in spite of all the opposition of maurice and his partisans, the negotiation went on. in the month of january, , the various ambassadors were assembled at the hague. spinola was the chief of the plenipotentiaries appointed by the king of spain; and jeannin, president of the parliament of dijon, a man of rare endowments, represented france. prince maurice, accompanied by his brother frederick henry, the various counts of nassau his cousins, and a numerous escort, advanced some distance to meet spinola, conveyed him to the hague in his own carriage, and lavished on him all the attentions reciprocally due between two such renowned captains during the suspension of their rivalry. the president richardst was, with neyen and verreiken, ambassador from the archdukes; but barneveldt and jeannin appear to have played the chief parts in the important transaction which now filled all europe with anxiety. every state was more or less concerned in the result; and the three great monarchies of england, france, and spain, had all a vital interest at stake. the conferences were therefore frequent; and the debates assumed a great variety of aspects, which long kept the civilized world in suspense. king james was extremely jealous of the more prominent part taken by the french ambassadors, and of the sub-altern consideration held by his own envoys, winwood and spencer, in consequence of the disfavor in which he himself was held by the dutch people. it appears evident that, whether deservedly or the contrary, england was at this period unpopular in the united provinces, while france was looked up to with the greatest enthusiasm. this is not surprising, when we compare the characters of henry iv. and james i., bearing in mind how much of national reputation at the time depended on the personal conduct of kings; and how political situations influence, if they do not create, the virtues and vices of a people. independent of the suspicions of his being altogether unfavorable to the declaration required by the united provinces from spain, to which james's conduct had given rise, he had established some exactions which greatly embarrassed their fishing expeditions on the coasts of england. the main points for discussion, and on which depended the decision for peace or war, were those which concerned religion; and the demand, on the part of spain, that the united provinces should renounce all claims to the navigation of the indian seas. philip required for the catholics of the united provinces the free exercise of their religion; this was opposed by the states-general: and the archduke albert, seeing the impossibility of carrying that point, despatched his confessor, fra inigo de briznella, to spain. this dominican was furnished with the written opinion of several theologians, that the king might conscientiously slur over the article of religion; and he was the more successful with philip, as the duke of lerma, his prime minister, was resolved to accomplish the peace at any price. the conferences at the hague were therefore not interrupted on this question; but they went on slowly, months being consumed in discussions on articles of trifling importance. they were, however, resumed in the month of august with greater vigor. it was announced that the king of spain abandoned the question respecting religion; but that it was in the certainty that his moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions on that of the indian trade, on which he was inexorable. this article became the rock on which the whole negotiation eventually split. the court of spain on the one hand, and the states-general on the other, inflexibly maintained their opposing claims. it was in vain that the ambassadors turned and twisted the subject with all the subtleties of diplomacy. every possible expedient was used to shake the determination of the dutch. but the influence of the east india company, the islands of zealand, and the city of amsterdam, prevailed over all. reports of the avowal on the part of the king of spain, that he would never renounce his title to the sovereignty of the united provinces, unless they abandoned the indian navigation and granted the free exercise of religion, threw the whole diplomatic corps into confusion; and, on the th of august, the states-general announced to the marquis of spinola and the other ambassadors that the congress was dissolved, and that all hopes of peace were abandoned. nothing seemed now likely to prevent the immediate renewal of hostilities, when the ambassadors of france and england proposed the mediation of their respective masters for the conclusion of a truce for several years. the king of spain and the archdukes were well satisfied to obtain even this temporary cessation of the war; but prince maurice and a portion of the provinces strenuously opposed the proposition. the french and english ambassadors, however, in concert with barneveldt, who steadily maintained his influence, labored incessantly to overcome those difficulties; and finally succeeded in overpowering all opposition to the truce. a new congress was agreed on, to assemble at antwerp for the consideration of the conditions; and the states-general agreed to remove from the hague to berg-or-zoom, to be more within reach, and ready to co-operate in the negotiation. but, before matters assumed this favorable turn, discussions and disputes had intervened on several occasions to render fruitless every effort of those who so incessantly labored for the great causes of humanity and the general good. on one occasion, barneveldt, disgusted with the opposition of prince maurice and his partisans, had actually resigned his employments; but brought back by the solicitations of the states-general, and reconciled to maurice by the intervention of jeannin, the negotiations for the truce were resumed; and, under the auspices of the ambassadors, they were happily terminated. after two years' delay, this long-wished-for truce was concluded, and signed on the th of april, , to continue for the space of twelve years. this celebrated treaty contained thirty-two articles; and its fulfilment on either side was guaranteed by the kings of france and england. notwithstanding the time taken up in previous discussions, the treaty is one of the most vague and unspecific state papers that exists. the archdukes, in their own names and in that of the king of spain, declared the united provinces to be free and independent states, on which they renounced all claim whatever. by the third article each party was to hold respectively the places which they possessed at the commencement of the armistice. the fourth and fifth articles grant to the republic, but in a phraseology obscure and even doubtful, the right of navigation and free trade to the indies. the eighth contains all that regards the exercise of religion; and the remaining clauses are wholly relative to points of internal trade, custom-house regulations, and matters of private interest. ephemeral and temporary as this peace appeared, it was received with almost universal demonstrations of joy by the population of the netherlands in their two grand divisions. everyone seemed to turn toward the enjoyment of tranquillity with the animated composure of tired laborers looking forward to a day of rest and sunshine. this truce brought a calm of comparative happiness upon the country, which an almost unremitting tempest had desolated for nearly half a century; and, after so long a series of calamity, all the national advantages of social life seemed about to settle on the land. the attitude which the united provinces assumed at this period was indeed a proud one. they were not now compelled to look abroad and solicit other states to become their masters. they had forced their old tyrants to acknowledge their independence; to come and ask for peace on their own ground; and to treat with them on terms of no doubtful equality. they had already become so flourishing, so powerful, and so envied, that they who had so lately excited but compassion from the neighboring states were now regarded with such jealousy as rivals, unequivocally equal, may justly inspire in each other. the ten southern provinces, now confirmed under the sovereignty of the house of austria, and from this period generally distinguished by the name of belgium, immediately began, like the northern division of the country, to labor for the great object of repairing the dreadful sufferings caused by their long and cruel war. their success was considerable. albert and isabella, their sovereigns, joined, to considerable probity of character and talents for government, a fund of humanity which led them to unceasing acts of benevolence. the whole of their dominions quickly began to recover from the ravages of war. agriculture and the minor operations of trade resumed all their wonted activity. but the manufactures of flanders were no more; and the grander exercise of commerce seemed finally removed to amsterdam and the other chief towns of holland. this tranquil course of prosperity in the belgian provinces was only once interrupted during the whole continuance of the twelve years' truce, and that was in the year following its commencement. the death of the duke of cleves and juliers, in this year, gave rise to serious disputes for the succession to his states, which was claimed by several of the princes of germany. the elector of brandenburg and the duke of neuburg were seconded both by france and the united provinces; and a joint army of both nations, commanded by prince maurice and the marshal de la chatre, was marched into the county of cleves. after taking possession of the town of juliers, the allies retired, leaving the two princes above mentioned in a partnership possession of the disputed states. but this joint sovereignty did not satisfy the ambition of either, and serious divisions arose between them, each endeavoring to strengthen himself by foreign alliances. the archdukes albert and isabella were drawn into the quarrel; and they despatched spinola at the head of twenty thousand men to support the duke of neuburg, whose pretensions they countenanced. prince maurice, with a dutch army, advanced on the other hand to uphold the claims of the elector of brandenburg. both generals took possession of several towns; and this double expedition offered the singular spectacle of two opposing armies, acting in different interests, making conquests, and dividing an important inheritance, without the occurrence of one act of hostility to each other. but the interference of the court of madrid had nearly been the cause of a new rupture. the greatest alarm was excited in the belgic provinces; and nothing but the prudence of the archdukes and the forbearance of the states-general could have succeeded in averting the threatened evil. with the exception of this bloodless mimicry of war, the united provinces presented for the space of twelve years a long-continued picture of peace, as the term is generally received; but a peace so disfigured by intestine troubles, and so stained by actions of despotic cruelty, that the period which should have been that of its greatest happiness becomes but an example of its worst disgrace. the assassination of henry iv., in the year , was a new instance of the bigoted atrocity which reigned paramount in europe at the time; and while robbing france of one of its best monarchs, it deprived the united provinces of their truest and most powerful friend. henry has, from his own days to the present, found a ready eulogy in all who value kings in proportion as they are distinguished by heroism, without ceasing to evince the feelings of humanity. henry seems to have gone as far as man can go, to combine wisdom, dignity and courage with all those endearing qualities of private life which alone give men a prominent hold upon the sympathies of their kind. we acknowledge his errors, his faults, his follies, only to love him the better. we admire his valor and generosity, without being shocked by cruelty or disgusted by profusion. we look on his greatness without envy; and in tracing his whole career we seem to walk hand in hand beside a dear companion, rather than to follow the footsteps of a mighty monarch. but the death of this powerful supporter of their efforts for freedom, and the chief guarantee for its continuance, was a trifling calamity to the united provinces, in comparison with the rapid fall from the true point of glory so painfully exhibited in the conduct of their own domestic champion. it had been well for prince maurice of nassau that the last shot fired by the defeated spaniards in the battle of nieuport had struck him dead in the moment of his greatest victory and on the summit of his fame. from that celebrated day he had performed no deed of war that could raise his reputation as a soldier, and all his acts as stadtholder were calculated to sink him below the level of civil virtue and just government. his two campaigns against spinola had redounded more to the credit of his rival than to his own; and his whole conduct during the negotiation for the truce too plainly betrayed the unworthy nature of his ambition, founded on despotic principles. it was his misfortune to have been completely thrown out of the career for which he had been designed by nature and education. war was his element. by his genius, he improved it as a science: by his valor, he was one of those who raised it from the degradation of a trade to the dignity of a passion. but when removed from the camp to the council room, he became all at once a common man. his frankness degenerated into roughness; his decision into despotism; his courage into cruelty. he gave a new proof of the melancholy fact that circumstances may transform the most apparent qualities of virtue into those opposite vices between which human wisdom is baffled when it attempts to draw a decided and invariable line. opposed to maurice in almost every one of his acts, was, as we have already seen, barneveldt, one of the truest patriots of any time or country; and, with the exception of william the great, prince of orange, the most eminent citizen to whom the affairs of the netherlands have given celebrity. a hundred pens have labored to do honor to this truly virtuous man. his greatness has found a record in every act of his life; and his death, like that of william, though differently accomplished, was equally a martyrdom for the liberties of his country. we cannot enter minutely into the train of circumstances which for several years brought maurice and barneveldt into perpetual concussion with each other. long after the completion of the truce, which the latter so mainly aided in accomplishing, every minor point in the domestic affairs of the republic seemed merged in the conflict between the stadtholder and the pensionary. without attempting to specify these, we may say, generally, that almost every one redounded to the disgrace of the prince and the honor of the patriot. but the main question of agitation was the fierce dispute which soon broke out between two professors of theology of the university of leyden, francis gomar and james arminius. we do not regret on this occasion that our confined limits spare us the task of recording in detail controversies on points of speculative doctrine far beyond the reach of the human understanding, and therefore presumptuous, and the decision of which cannot be regarded as of vital importance by those who justly estimate the grand principles of christianity. the whole strength of the intellects which had long been engaged in the conflict for national and religious liberty, was now directed to metaphysical theology, and wasted upon interminable disputes about predestination and grace. barneveldt enrolled himself among the partisans of arminius; maurice became a gomarist. it was, however, scarcely to be wondered at that a country so recently delivered from slavery both in church and state should run into wild excesses of intolerance, before sectarian principles were thoroughly understood and definitively fixed. persecutions of various kinds were indulged in against papists, anabaptists, socinians, and all the shades of doctrine into which christianity had split. every minister who, in the milder spirit of lutheranism, strove to moderate the rage of calvinistic enthusiasm, was openly denounced by its partisans; and one, named gaspard koolhaas, was actually excommunicated by a synod, and denounced in plain terms to the devil. arminius had been appointed professor at leyden in , for the mildness of his doctrines, which were joined to most affable manners, a happy temper, and a purity of conduct which no calumny could successfully traduce. his colleague gomar, a native of bruges, learned, violent, and rigid in sectarian points, soon became jealous of the more popular professor's influence. a furious attack on the latter was answered by recrimination; and the whole battery of theological authorities was reciprocally discharged by one or other of the disputants. the states-general interfered between them: they were summoned to appear before the council of state; and grave politicians listened for hours to the dispute. arminius obtained the advantage, by the apparent reasonableness of his creed, and the gentleness and moderation of his conduct. he was meek, while gomar was furious; and many of the listeners declared that they would rather die with the charity of the former than in the faith of the latter. a second hearing was allowed them before the states of holland. again arminius took the lead; and the controversy went on unceasingly, till this amiable man, worn out by his exertions and the presentiment of the evil which these disputes were engendering for his country, expired in his forty-ninth year, piously persisting in his opinions. the gomarists now loudly called for a national synod, to regulate the points of faith. the arminians remonstrated on various grounds, and thus acquired the name of remonstrants, by which they were soon generally distinguished. the most deplorable contests ensued. serious riots occurred in several of the towns of holland; and james i. of england could not resist the temptation of entering the polemical lists, as a champion of orthodoxy and a decided gomarist. his hostility was chiefly directed against vorstius, the successor and disciple of arminius. he pretty strongly recommended to the states-general to have him burned for heresy. his inveterate intolerance knew no bounds; and it completed the melancholy picture of absurdity which the whole affair presents to reasonable minds. in this dispute, which occupied and agitated all, it was impossible that barneveldt should not choose the congenial temperance and toleration of arminius. maurice, with probably no distinct conviction or much interest in the abstract differences on either side, joined the gomarists. his motives were purely temporal; for the party he espoused was now decidedly as much political as religious. king james rewarded him by conferring on him the ribbon of the order of the garter, vacant by the death of henry iv. of france. the ceremony of investment was performed with great pomp by the english ambassador at the hague; and james and maurice entered from that time into a closer and more uninterrupted correspondence than before. during the long continuance of the theological disputes, the united provinces had nevertheless made rapid strides toward commercial greatness; and the year witnessed the completion of an affair which was considered the consolidation of their independence. this important matter was the recovery of the towns of brille and flessingue, and the fort of rammekins, which had been placed in the hands of the english as security for the loan granted to the republic by queen elizabeth. the whole merit of the transaction was due to the perseverance and address, of barneveldt acting on the weakness and the embarrassments of king james. religious contention did not so fully occupy barneveldt but that he kept a constant eye on political concerns. he was well informed on all that passed in the english court; he knew the wants of james, and was aware of his efforts to bring about the marriage of his son with the infanta of spain. the danger of such an alliance was evident to the penetrating barneveldt, who saw in perspective the probability of the wily spaniards obtaining from the english monarch possession of the strong places in question. he therefore resolved on obtaining their recovery; and his great care was to get them back with a considerable abatement of the enormous debt for which they stood pledged, and which now amounted to eight million florins. barneveldt commenced his operations by sounding the needy monarch through the medium of noel caron, the ambassador from the states-general; and he next managed so as that james himself should offer to give up the towns, thereby allowing a fair pretext to the states for claiming a diminution of the debt. the english garrisons were unpaid and their complaints brought down a strong remonstrance from james, and excuses from the states, founded on the poverty of their financial resources. the negotiation rapidly went on, in the same spirit of avidity on the part of the king, and of good management on that of his debtors. it was finally agreed that the states should pay in full of the demand two million seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand florins (about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling), being about one-third of the debt. prince maurice repaired to the cautionary towns in the month of june, and received them at the hands of the english governors; the garrisons at the same time entering into the service of the republic. the accomplishment of this measure afforded the highest satisfaction to the united provinces. it caused infinite discontent in england; and james, with the common injustice of men who make a bad bargain (even though its conditions be of their own seeking and suited to their own convenience), turned his own self-dissatisfaction into bitter hatred against him whose watchful integrity had successfully labored for his country's good. barneveldt's leaning toward france and the arminians filled the measure of james's unworthy enmity. its effects were soon apparent, on the arrival at the hague of carleton, who succeeded winwood as james's ambassador. the haughty pretensions of this diplomatist, whose attention seemed turned to theological disputes rather than politics, gave great disgust; and he contributed not a little to the persecution which led to the tragical end of barneveldt's valuable life. while this indefatigable patriot was busy in relieving his country from its dependence on england, his enemies accused him of the wish to reduce it once more to spanish tyranny. francis aarsens, son to him who proved himself so incorruptible when attempted to be bribed by neyen, was one of the foremost of the faction who now labored for the downfall of the pensionary. he was a man of infinite dissimulation; versed in all the intrigues of courts; and so deep in all their tortuous tactics that cardinal richelieu, well qualified to prize that species of talent, declared that he knew only three great political geniuses, of whom francis aarsens was one. prince maurice now almost openly avowed his pretensions to absolute sovereignty: he knew that his success wholly depended on the consent of barneveldt. to seduce him to favor his designs he had recourse to the dowager princess of orange, his mother-in-law, whose gentle character and exemplary conduct had procured her universal esteem and the influence naturally attendant on it. maurice took care to make her understand that her interest in his object was not trifling. long time attached to gertrude van mechlen, his favorite mistress, who had borne him several children, he now announced his positive resolution to remain unmarried; so that his brother frederick henry, the dowager's only son, would be sure to succeed to the sovereignty he aimed at. the princess, not insensible to this appeal, followed the instructions of maurice, and broached the affair to barneveldt; but he was inexorable. he clearly explained to her the perilous career on which the prince proposed to enter; he showed how great, how independent, how almost absolute, he might continue, without shocking the principles of republicanism by grasping at an empty dignity, which could not virtually increase his authority, and would most probably convulse the state to its foundation and lead to his own ruin. the princess, convinced by his reasoning, repaired to maurice; but instead of finding him as ready a convert as she herself had been, she received as cold an answer as was compatible with a passionate temper, wounded pride, and disappointed ambition. the princess and barneveldt recounted the whole affair to maurier, the french ambassador; and his son has transmitted it to posterity. we cannot follow the misguided prince in all the winding ways of intrigue and subterfuge through which he labored to reach his object. religion, the holiest of sentiments, and christianity, the most sacred of its forms, were perpetually degraded by being made the pretexts for that unworthy object. he was for a while diverted from its direct pursuit by the preparation made to afford assistance to some of the allies of the republic. fifty thousand florins a month were granted to the duke of savoy, who was at war with spain; and seven thousand men, with nearly forty ships, were despatched to the aid of the republic of venice, in its contest with ferdinand, archduke of gratz, who was afterward elected emperor. the honorary empire of the seas seems at this time to have been successfully claimed by the united provinces. they paid back with interest the haughty conduct with which they had been long treated by the english; and they refused to pay the fishery duties to which the inhabitants of great britain were subject. the dutch sailors had even the temerity, under pretext of pursuing pirates, to violate the british territory. they set fire to the town of crookhaven, in ireland, and massacred several of the inhabitants. king james, immersed in theological studies, appears to have passed slightly over this outrage. more was to have been expected from his usual attention to the affairs of ireland; his management of which ill-fated country is the best feature of his political character, and ought, to irish feelings at least, to be considered to redeem its many errors. but he took fire at the news that the states had prohibited the importation of cloth dyed and dressed in england. it required the best exertion of barneveldt's talents to pacify him; and it was not easy to effect this through the jaundiced medium of the ambassador carleton. but it was unanswerably argued by the pensionary that the manufacture of cloth was one of those ancient and natural sources of wealth which england had ravished from the netherlands, and which the latter was justified in recovering by every effort consistent with national honor and fair principles of government. the influence of prince maurice had gained complete success for the calvinist party, in its various titles of gomarists, non-remonstrants, etc. the audacity and violence of these ferocious sectarians knew no bounds. outrages, too many to enumerate, became common through the country; and arminianism was on all sides assailed and persecuted. barneveldt frequently appealed to maurice without effect; and all the efforts of the former to obtain justice by means of the civil authorities were paralyzed by the inaction in which the prince retained the military force. in this juncture, the magistrates of various towns, spurred on by barneveldt, called out the national militia, termed waardegelders, which possessed the right of arming at its own expense for the protection of the public peace. schism upon schism was the consequence, and the whole country was reduced to that state of anarchy so favorable to the designs of an ambitious soldier already in the enjoyment of almost absolute power. maurice possessed all the hardihood and vigor suited to such an occasion. at the head of two companies of infantry, and accompanied by his brother frederick henry, he suddenly set out at night from the hague; arrived at the brille; and in defiance of the remonstrances of the magistrates, and in violation of the rights of the town, he placed his devoted garrison in that important place. to justify this measure, reports were spread that barneveldt intended to deliver it up to the spaniards; and the ignorant, insensate, and ungrateful people swallowed the calumny. this and such minor efforts were, however, all subservient to the one grand object of utterly destroying, by a public proscription, the whole of the patriot party, now identified with arminianism. a national synod was loudly clamored for by the gomarists; and in spite of all opposition on constitutional grounds, it was finally proclaimed. uitenbogaard, the enlightened pastor and friend of maurice, who on all occasions labored for the general good, now moderated, as much as possible, the violence of either party; but he could not persuade barneveldt to render himself, by compliance, a tacit accomplice with a measure that he conceived fraught with violence to the public privileges. he had an inflexible enemy in carleton, the english ambassador. his interference carried the question; and it was at his suggestion that dordrecht, or dort, was chosen for the assembling of the synod. du maurier, the french ambassador, acted on all occasions as a mediator; but to obtain influence at such a time it was necessary to become a partisan. several towns--leyden, gouda, rotterdam, and some others--made a last effort for their liberties, and formed a fruitless confederation. barneveldt solicited the acceptance of his resignation of all his offices. the states-general implored him not to abandon the country at such a critical moment: he consequently maintained his post. libels the most vindictive and atrocious were published and circulated against him; and at last, forced from his silence by these multiplied calumnies, he put forward his "apology," addressed to the states of holland. this dignified vindication only produced new outrages; maurice, now become prince of orange by the death of his elder brother without children, employed his whole authority to carry his object, and crush barneveldt. at the head of his troops he seized on towns, displaced magistrates, trampled under foot all the ancient privileges of the citizens, and openly announced his intention to overthrow the federative constitution. his bold conduct completely terrified the states-general. they thanked him; they consented to disband the militia; formally invited foreign powers to favor and protect the synod about to be held at dort. the return of carleton from england, where he had gone to receive the more positive promises of support from king james, was only wanting, to decide maurice to take the final step; and no sooner did the ambassador arrive at the hague than barneveldt and his most able friends, grotius, hoogerbeets, and ledenberg, were arrested in the name of the states-general. the country was taken by surprise; no resistance was offered. the concluding scenes of the tragedy were hurried on; violence was succeeded by violence, against public feeling and public justice. maurice became completely absolute in everything but in name. the supplications of ambassadors, the protests of individuals, the arguments of statesmen, were alike unavailing to stop the torrent of despotism and injustice. the synod of dort was opened on the th of november, . theology was mystified; religion disgraced; christianity outraged. and after one hundred and fifty-two sittings, during six months' display of ferocity and fraud, the solemn mockery was closed on the th of may, , by the declaration of its president, that "its miraculous labors had made hell tremble." proscriptions, banishments, and death were the natural consequences of this synod. the divisions which it had professed to extinguish were rendered a thousand times more violent than before. its decrees did incalculable ill to the cause they were meant to promote. the anglican church was the first to reject the canons of dort with horror and contempt. the protestants of france and germany, and even geneva, the nurse and guardian of calvinism, were shocked and disgusted, and unanimously softened down the rigor of their respective creeds. but the moral effects of this memorable conclave were too remote to prevent the sacrifice which almost immediately followed the celebration of its rites. a trial by twenty-four prejudiced enemies, by courtesy called judges, which in its progress and its result throws judicial dignity into scorn, ended in the condemnation of barneveldt and his fellow patriots, for treason against the liberties they had vainly labored to save. barneveldt died on the scaffold by the hands of the executioner on the th of may, , in the seventy-second year of his age. grotius and hoogerbeets were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. ledenberg committed suicide in his cell, sooner than brave the tortures which he anticipated at the hands of his enemies. many more pages than we are able to afford sentences might be devoted to the details of these iniquitous proceedings, and an account of their awful consummation. the pious heroism of barneveldt was never excelled by any martyr to the most holy cause. he appealed to maurice against the unjust sentence which condemned him to death; but he scorned to beg his life. he met his fate with such temperate courage as was to be expected from the dignified energy of his life. his last words were worthy a philosopher whose thoughts, even in his latest moments, were superior to mere personal hope or fear, and turned to the deep mysteries of his being. "o god!" cried de barneveldt, "what then is man?" as he bent his head to the sword that severed it from his body, and sent the inquiring spirit to learn the great mystery for which it longed. chapter xvii to the death of prince maurice a.d. -- the princess-dowager of orange, and du maurier, the french ambassador, had vainly implored mercy for the innocent victim at the hands of the inexorable stadtholder. maurice refused to see his mother-in-law: he left the ambassador's appeal unanswered. this is enough for the rigid justice of history that cannot be blinded by partiality, but hands over to shame, at the close of their career, even those whom she nursed in the very cradle of heroism. but an accusation has become current, more fatal to the fame of prince maurice, because it strikes at the root of his claims to feeling, which could not be impugned by a mere perseverance in severity that might have sprung from mistaken views. it is asserted, but only as general belief, that he witnessed the execution of barneveldt. the little window of an octagonal tower, overlooking the square of the binnenhof at the hague, where the tragedy was acted, is still shown as the spot from which the prince gazed on the scene. almost concealed from view among the clustering buildings of the place, it is well adapted to give weight to the tradition; but it may not, perhaps, even now be too late to raise a generous incredulity as to an assertion of which no eye-witness attestation is recorded, and which might have been the invention of malignity. there are many statements of history which it is immaterial to substantiate or disprove. splendid fictions of public virtue have often produced their good if once received as fact; but, when private character is at stake, every conscientious writer or reader will cherish his "historic doubts," when he reflects on the facility with which calumny is sent abroad, the avidity with which it is received, and the careless ease with which men credit what it costs little to invent and propagate, but requires an age of trouble and an almost impossible conjunction of opportunities effectually to refute. grotius and hoogerbeets were confined in the castle of louvestein. moersbergen, a leading patriot of utrecht, de haan, pensionary of haarlem, and uitenbogaard, the chosen confidant of maurice, but the friend of barneveldt, were next accused and sentenced to imprisonment or banishment. and thus arminianism, deprived of its chiefs, was for the time completely stifled. the remonstrants, thrown into utter despair, looked to emigration as their last resource. gustavus adolphus, king of sweden, and frederick, duke of holstein, offered them shelter and protection in their respective states. several availed themselves of these offers; but the states-general, alarmed at the progress of self-expatriation, moderated their rigor, and thus checked the desolating evil. several of the imprisoned arminians had the good fortune to elude the vigilance of their jailers; but the escape of grotius is the most remarkable of all, both from his own celebrity as one of the first writers of his age in the most varied walks of literature, and from its peculiar circumstances, which only found a parallel in european history after a lapse of two centuries. we allude to the escape of lavalette from the prison of the conciergerie in paris in , which so painfully excited the interest of all europe for the intended victim's wife, whose reason was the forfeit of her exertion. grotius was freely allowed during his close imprisonment all the relaxations of study. his friends supplied him with quantities of books, which were usually brought into the fortress in a trunk two feet two inches long, which the governor regularly and carefully examined during the first year. but custom brought relaxation in the strictness of the prison rules; and the wife of the illustrious prisoner, his faithful and constant visitor, proposed the plan of his escape, to which he gave a ready and, all hazards considered, a courageous assent. shut up in this trunk for two hours, and with all the risk of suffocation, and of injury from the rude handling of the soldiers who carried it out of the fort, grotius was brought clear off by the very agents of his persecutors, and safely delivered to the care of his devoted and discreet female servant, who knew the secret and kept it well. she attended the important consignment in the barge to the town of gorcum; and after various risks of discovery, providentially escaped, grotius at length found himself safe beyond the limits of his native land. his wife, whose torturing suspense may be imagined the while, concealed the stratagem as long as it was possible to impose on the jailer with the pardonable and praiseworthy fiction of her husband's illness and confinement to his bed. the government, outrageous at the result of the affair, at first proposed to hold this interesting prisoner in place of the prey they had lost, and to proceed criminally against her. but after a fortnight's confinement she was restored to liberty, and the country saved from the disgrace of so ungenerous and cowardly a proceeding. grotius repaired to paris, where he was received in the most flattering manner, and distinguished by a pension of one thousand crowns allowed by the king. he soon published his vindication--one of the most eloquent and unanswerable productions of its kind, in which those times of unjust accusations and illegal punishments were so fertile. the expiration of the twelve years' truce was now at hand; and the united provinces, after that long period of intestine trouble and disgrace, had once more to recommence a more congenial struggle against foreign enemies; for a renewal of the war with spain might be fairly considered a return to the regimen best suited to the constitution of the people. the republic saw, however, with considerable anxiety, the approach of this new contest. it was fully sensible of its own weakness. exile had reduced its population; patriotism had subsided; foreign friends were dead; the troops were unused to warfare; the hatred against spanish cruelty had lost its excitement; the finances were in confusion; prince maurice had no longer the activity of youth; and the still more vigorous impulse of fighting for his country's liberty was changed to the dishonoring task of upholding his own tyranny. the archdukes, encouraged by these considerations, had hopes of bringing back the united provinces to their domination. they accordingly sent an embassy to holland with proposals to that effect. it was received with indignation; and the ambassador, peckius, was obliged to be escorted back to the frontiers by soldiers, to protect him from the insults of the people. military operations were, however, for a while refrained from on either side, in consequence of the deaths of philip iii. of spain and the archduke albert. philip iv. succeeded his father at the age of sixteen; and the archduchess isabella found herself alone at the head of the government in the belgian provinces. olivarez became as sovereign a minister in spain, as his predecessor the duke of lerma had been; but the archduchess, though now with only the title of stadtholderess of the netherlands, held the reins of power with a firm and steady hand. in the celebrated thirty years' war which had commenced between the protestants and catholics of germany, the former had met with considerable assistance from the united provinces. barneveldt, who foresaw the embarrassments which the country would have to contend with on the expiration of that truce, had strongly opposed its meddling in the quarrel; but his ruin and death left no restraint on the policy which prompted the republic to aid the protestant cause. fifty thousand florins a month to the revolted protestants, and a like sum to the princes of the union, were for some time advanced. frederick, the elector palatine, son-in-law of the king of england, and nephew of the prince, was chosen by the bohemians for their king; but in spite of the enthusiastic wishes of the english nation, james persisted in refusing to interfere in frederick's favor. france, governed by de luynes, a favorite whose influence was deeply pledged, and, it is said, dearly sold to spain, abandoned the system of henry iv., and upheld the house of austria. thus the new monarch, only aided by the united provinces, and that feebly, was soon driven from his temporary dignity; his hereditary dominions in the palatinate were overrun by the spanish army under spinola; and frederick, utterly defeated at the battle of prague, was obliged to take refuge in holland. james's abandonment of his son-in-law has been universally blamed by almost every historian. he certainly allowed a few generous individuals to raise a regiment in england of two thousand four hundred chosen soldiers, who, under the command of the gallant sir horace vere, could only vainly regret the impossibility of opposition to ten times their number of veteran troops. this contest was carried on at first with almost all the advantages on the side of the house of austria. two men of extraordinary character, which presented a savage parody of military talent, and a courage chiefly remarkable for the ferocity into which it degenerated, struggled for a while against the imperial arms. these were the count of mansfield and christian of brunswick. at the head of two desperate bands, which, by dint of hard fighting, acquired something of the consistency of regular armies, they maintained a long resistance; but the duke of bavaria, commanding the troops of the emperor, and count tilly at the head of those of spain, completed in the year the defeat of their daring and semi-barbarous opponents. spinola was resolved to commence the war against the republic by some important exploit. he therefore laid siege to berg-op-zoom, a place of great consequence, commanding the navigation of the meuse and the coasts of all the islands of zealand. but maurice, roused from the lethargy of despotism which seemed to have wholly changed his character, repaired to the scene of threatened danger; and succeeded, after a series of desperate efforts on both sides, to raise the siege, forcing spinola to abandon his attempt with a loss of upward of twelve thousand men. frederick henry in the meantime had made an incursion into brabant with a body of light troops; and ravaging the country up to the very gates of mechlin, louvain, and brussels, levied contributions to the amount of six hundred thousand florins. the states completed this series of good fortune by obtaining the possession of west friesland, by means of count mansfield, whom they had despatched thither at the head of his formidable army, and who had, in spite of the opposition of count tilly, successfully performed his mission. we must now turn from these brief records of military affairs, the more pleasing theme for the historian of the netherlands in comparison with domestic events, which claim attention but to create sensations of regret and censure. prince maurice had enjoyed without restraint the fruits of his ambitious daring. his power was uncontrolled and unopposed, but it was publicly odious; and private resentments were only withheld by fear, and, perhaps, in some measure by the moderation and patience which distinguished the disciples of arminianism. in the midst, however, of the apparent calm, a deep conspiracy was formed against the life of the prince. the motives, the conduct, and the termination of this plot, excite feelings of many opposite kinds. we cannot, as in former instances, wholly execrate the design and approve the punishment. commiseration is mingled with blame, when we mark the sons of barneveldt, urged on by the excess of filial affection to avenge their venerable father's fate; and despite our abhorrence for the object in view, we sympathize with the conspirators rather than the intended victim. william von stoutenbourg and renier de groeneveld were the names of these two sons of the late pensionary. the latter was the younger; but, of more impetuous character than his brother, he was the principal in the plot. instead of any efforts to soften down the hatred of this unfortunate family, these brothers had been removed from their employments, their property was confiscated, and despair soon urged them to desperation. in such a time of general discontent it was easy to find accomplices. seven or eight determined men readily joined in the plot; of these, two were catholics, the rest arminians; the chief of whom was henry slatius, a preacher of considerable eloquence, talent, and energy. it was first proposed to attack the prince at rotterdam; but the place was soon after changed for ryswyk, a village near the hague, and afterward celebrated by the treaty of peace signed there and which bears its name. ten other associates were soon engaged by the exertions of slatius: these were arminian artisans and sailors, to whom the actual execution of the murder was to be confided; and they were persuaded that it was planned with the connivance of prince frederick henry, who was considered by the arminians as the secret partisan of their sect. the th of february was fixed on for the accomplishment of the deed. the better to conceal the design, the conspirators agreed to go unarmed to the place, where they were to find a box containing pistols and poniards in a spot agreed upon. the death of the prince of orange was not the only object intended. during the confusion subsequent to the hoped-for success of that first blow, the chief conspirators intended to excite simultaneous revolts at leyden, gouda, and rotterdam, in which towns the arminians were most numerous. a general revolution throughout holland was firmly reckoned on as the infallible result; and success was enthusiastically looked for to their country's freedom and their individual fame. but the plot, however cautiously laid and resolutely persevered in, was doomed to the fate of many another; and the horror of a second murder (but with far different provocation from the first) averted from the illustrious family to whom was still destined the glory of consolidating the country it had formed. two brothers named blansaart, and one parthy, having procured a considerable sum of money from the leading conspirators, repaired to the hague, as they asserted, for the purpose of betraying the plot; but they were forestalled in this purpose: four of the sailors had gone out to ryswyk the preceding evening, and laid the whole of the project, together with the wages of their intended crime, before the prince; who, it would appear, then occupied the ancient chateau, which no longer exists at ryswyk. the box of arms was found in the place pointed out by the informers, and measures were instantly taken to arrest the various accomplices. several were seized. groeneveld had escaped along the coast disguised as a fisherman, and had nearly effected his passage to england, when he was recognized and arrested in the island of vlieland. slatius and others were also intercepted in their attempts at escape.--stoutenbourg, the most culpable of all, was the most fortunate; probably from the energy of character which marks the difference between a bold adventurer and a timid speculator. he is believed to have passed from the hague in the same manner as grotius quitted his prison; and, by the aid of a faithful servant, he accomplished his escape through various perils, and finally reached brussels, where the archduchess isabella took him under her special protection. he for several years made efforts to be allowed to return to holland; but finding them hopeless, even after the death of maurice, he embraced the catholic religion, and obtained the command of a troop of spanish cavalry, at the head of which he made incursions into his native country, carrying before him a black flag with the effigy of a death's head, to announce the mournful vengeance which he came to execute. fifteen persons were executed for the conspiracy. if ever mercy was becoming to a man, it would have been pre-eminently so to maurice on this occasion; but he was inflexible as adamant. the mother, the wife, and the son of groeneveld, threw themselves at his feet, imploring pardon. prayers, tears and sobs were alike ineffectual. it is even said that maurice asked the wretched mother "why she begged mercy for her son, having refused to do as much for her husband?" to which cruel question she is reported to have made the sublime answer--"because my son is guilty, and my husband was not." these bloody executions caused a deep sentiment of gloom. the conspiracy excited more pity for the victims than horror for the intended crime. maurice, from being the idol of his countrymen, was now become an object of their fear and dislike. when he moved from town to town, the people no longer hailed him with acclamations; and even the common tokens of outward respect were at times withheld. the spaniards, taking advantage of the internal weakness consequent on this state of public feeling in the states, made repeated incursions into the provinces, which were now united but in title, not in spirit. spinola was once more in the field, and had invested the important town of breda, which was the patrimonial inheritance of the princes of orange. maurice was oppressed with anxiety and regret; and, for the sake of his better feelings, it may be hoped, with remorse. he could effect nothing against his rival; and he saw his own laurels withering from his careworn brow. the only hope left of obtaining the so much wanted supplies of money was in the completion of a new treaty with france and england. cardinal richelieu, desirous of setting bounds to the ambition and the successes of the house of austria, readily came into the views of the states; and an obligation for a loan of one million two hundred thousand livres during the year , and one million more for each of the two succeeding years, was granted by the king of france, on condition that the republic made no new truce with spain without his mediation. an alliance nearly similar was at the same time concluded with england. perpetual quarrels on commercial questions loosened the ties which bound the states to their ancient allies. the failure of his son's intended marriage with the infanta of spain had opened the eyes of king james to the way in which he was despised by those who seemed so much to respect him. he was highly indignant; and he undertook to revenge himself by aiding the republic. he agreed to furnish six thousand men, and supply the funds for their pay, with a provision for repayment by the states at the conclusion of a peace with spain. prince maurice had no opportunity of reaping the expected advantages from these treaties. baffled in all his efforts for relieving breda, and being unsuccessful in a new attempt upon antwerp, he returned to the hague, where a lingering illness, that had for some time exhausted him, terminated in his death on the d of april, , in his fifty-ninth year. most writers attribute this event to agitation at being unable to relieve breda from the attack of spinola. it is in any case absurd to suppose that the loss of a single town could have produced so fatal an effect on one whose life had been an almost continual game of the chances of war. but cause enough for maurice's death may be found in the wearing effects of thirty years of active military service, and the more wasting ravages of half as many of domestic despotism. chapter xviii to the treaty of munster a.d. -- frederick henry succeeded to almost all his brother's titles and employments, and found his new dignities clogged with an accumulation of difficulties sufficient to appall the most determined spirit. everything seemed to justify alarm and despondency. if the affairs of the republic in india wore an aspect of prosperity, those in europe presented a picture of past disaster and approaching peril. disunion and discontent, an almost insupportable weight of taxation, and the disputes of which it was the fruitful source, formed the subjects of internal ill. abroad was to be seen navigation harassed and trammelled by the pirates of dunkirk; and the almost defenceless frontiers of the republic exposed to the irruptions of the enemy. the king of denmark, who endeavored to make head against the imperialist and spanish forces, was beaten by tilly, and made to tremble for the safety of his own states. england did nothing toward the common cause of protestantism, in consequence of the weakness of the monarch; and civil dissensions for a while disabled france from resuming the system of henry iv. for humbling the house of austria. frederick henry was at this period in his forty-second year. his military reputation was well established; he soon proved his political talents. he commenced his career by a total change in the tone of government on the subject of sectarian differences. he exercised several acts of clemency in favor of the imprisoned and exiled arminians, at the same time that he upheld the dominant religion. by these measures he conciliated all parties; and by degrees the fierce spirit of intolerance became subdued. the foreign relations of the united provinces now presented the anomalous policy of a fleet furnished by the french king, manned by rigid calvinists, and commanded by a grandson of admiral coligny, for the purpose of combating the remainder of the french huguenots, whom they considered as brothers in religion, though political foes; and during the joint expedition which was undertaken by the allied french and dutch troops against rochelle, the stronghold of protestantism, the preachers of holland put up prayers for the protection of those whom their army was marching to destroy. the states-general, ashamed of this unpopular union, recalled their fleet, after some severe fighting with that of the huguenots. cardinal richelieu and the king of france were for a time furious in their displeasure; but interests of state overpowered individual resentments, and no rupture took place. charles i. had now succeeded his father on the english throne. he renewed the treaty with the republic, which furnished him with twenty ships to assist his own formidable fleet in his war against spain. frederick henry had, soon after his succession to the chief command, commenced an active course of martial operations, and was successful in almost all his enterprises. he took groll and several other towns; and it was hoped that his successes would have been pushed forward upon a wider field of action against the imperial arms; but the states prudently resolved to act on the defensive by land, choosing the sea for the theatre of their more active operations. all the hopes of a powerful confederation against the emperor and the king of spain seemed frustrated by the war which now broke out between france and england. the states-general contrived by great prudence to maintain a strict neutrality in this quarrel. they even succeeded in mediating a peace between the rival powers, which was concluded the following year; and in the meantime they obtained a more astonishing and important series of triumphs against the spanish fleets than had yet been witnessed in naval conflicts. the west india company had confided the command of their fleet to peter hein, a most intrepid and intelligent sailor, who proved his own merits, and the sagacity of his employers on many occasions, two of them of an extraordinary nature. in , he defeated a fleet of twenty-six vessels, with a much inferior force. in the following year, he had the still more brilliant good fortune, near havana, in the island of cuba, in an engagement with the great spanish armament, called the money fleet, to indicate the immense wealth which it contained. the booty was safely carried to amsterdam, and the whole of the treasure, in money, precious stones, indigo, etc., was estimated at the value of twelve million florins. this was indeed a victory worth gaining, won almost without bloodshed, and raising the republic far above the manifold difficulties by which it had been embarrassed. hein perished in the following year, in a combat with some of the pirates of dunkirk--those terrible freebooters whose name was a watchword of terror during the whole continuance of the war. the year brought three formidable armies at once to the frontiers of the republic, and caused a general dismay all through the united provinces; but the immense treasures taken from the spaniards enabled them to make preparations suitable to the danger; and frederick henry, supported by his cousin william of nassau, his natural brother justin, and other brave and experienced officers, defeated every effort of the enemy. he took many towns in rapid succession; and finally forced the spaniards to abandon all notion of invading the territories of the republic. deprived of the powerful talents of spinola, who was called to command the spanish troops in italy, the armies of the archduchess, under the count of berg, were not able to cope with the genius of the prince of orange. the consequence was the renewal of negotiations for a second truce. but these were received on the part of the republic with a burst of opposition. all parties seemed decided on that point; and every interest, however opposed on minor questions, combined to give a positive negative on this. the gratitude of the country for the services of frederick henry induced the provinces of which he was stadtholder to grant the reversion in this title to his son, a child of three years old; and this dignity had every chance of becoming as absolute, as it was now pronounced almost hereditary, by the means of an army of one hundred and twenty thousand men devoted to their chief. however, few military occurrences took place, the sea being still chosen as the element best suited to the present enterprises of the republic. in the widely-distant settlements of brazil and batavia, the dutch were equally successful; and the east and west india companies acquired eminent power and increasing solidity. the year was signalized by an expedition into flanders, consisting of eighteen thousand men, intended against dunkirk, but hastily abandoned, in spite of every probability of success, by the commissioners of the states-general, who accompanied the army, and thwarted all the ardor and vigor of the prince of orange. but another great naval victory in the narrow seas of zealand recompensed the disappointments of this inglorious affair. the splendid victories of augustus adolphus against the imperial arms in germany changed the whole face of european affairs. protestantism began once more to raise its head; and the important conquests by frederick henry of almost all the strong places on the meuse, including maestricht, the strongest of all, gave the united provinces their ample share in the glories of the war. the death of the archduchess isabella, which took place at brussels in the year , added considerably to the difficulties of spain in the belgian provinces. the defection of the count of berg, the chief general of their armies, who was actuated by resentment on the appointment of the marquis of st. croix over his head, threw everything into confusion, in exposing a widespread confederacy among the nobility of these provinces to erect themselves into an independent republic, strengthened by a perpetual alliance with the united provinces against the power of spain. but the plot failed, chiefly, it is said, by the imprudence of the king of england, who let the secret slip, from some motives vaguely hinted at, but never sufficiently explained. after the death of isabella, the prince of brabancon was arrested. the prince of epinoi and the duke of burnonville made their escape; and the duke of arschot, who was arrested in spain, was soon liberated, in consideration of some discoveries into the nature of the plot. an armistice, published in , threw this whole affair into complete oblivion. the king of spain appointed his brother ferdinand, a cardinal and archbishop of toledo, to the dignity of governor-general of the netherlands. he repaired to germany at the head of seventeen thousand men, and bore his share in the victory of nordlingen; after which he hastened to the netherlands, and made his entry into brussels in . richelieu had hitherto only combated the house of austria in these countries by negotiation and intrigue; but he now entered warmly into the proposals made by holland for a treaty offensive and defensive between louis xiii. and the republic. by a treaty soon after concluded (february , ) the king of france engaged to invade the belgian provinces with an army of thirty thousand men, in concert with a dutch force of equal number. it was agreed that if belgium would consent to break from the spanish yoke it was to be erected into a free state; if, on the contrary, it would not co-operate for its own freedom, france and holland were to dismember, and to divide it equally. the plan of these combined measures was soon acted on. the french army took the field under the command of the marshals de chatillon and de breeze; and defeated the spaniards in a bloody battle, near avein, in the province of luxemburg, on the th of may, , with the loss of four thousand men. the victors soon made a junction with the prince of orange; and the towns of tirlemont, st. trond, and some others, were quickly reduced. the former of these places was taken by assault, and pillaged with circumstances of cruelty that recall the horrors of the early transactions of the war. the prince of orange was forced to punish severely the authors of these offences. the consequences of this event were highly injurious to the allies. a spirit of fierce resistance was excited throughout the invaded provinces. louvain set the first example. the citizens and students took arms for its defence; and the combined forces of france and holland were repulsed, and forced by want of supplies to abandon the siege, and rapidly retreat. the prince-cardinal, as ferdinand was called, took advantage of this reverse to press the retiring french; recovered several towns; and gained all the advantages as well as glory of the campaign. the remains of the french army, reduced by continual combats, and still more by sickness, finally embarked at rotterdam, to return to france in the ensuing spring, a sad contrast to its brilliant appearance at the commencement of the campaign. the military events for several ensuing years present nothing of sufficient interest to induce us to record them in detail. a perpetual succession of sieges and skirmishes afford a monotonous picture of isolated courage and skill; but we see none of those great conflicts which bring out the genius of opposing generals, and show war in its grand results, as the decisive means of enslaving or emancipating mankind. the prince-cardinal, one of the many who on this bloody theatre displayed consummate military talents, incessantly employed himself in incursions into the bordering provinces of france, ravaged picardy, and filled paris with fear and trembling. he, however, reaped no new laurels when he came into contact with frederick henry, who, on almost every occasion, particularly that of the siege of breda, in , carried his object in spite of all opposition. the triumphs of war were balanced; but spain and the belgian provinces, so long upheld by the talent of the governor-general, were gradually become exhausted. the revolution in portugal, and the succession of the duke of braganza, under the title of john iv., to the throne of his ancestors, struck a fatal blow to the power of spain. a strict alliance was concluded between the new monarch of france and holland; and hostilities against the common enemy were on all sides vigorously continued. the successes of the republic at sea and in their distant enterprises were continual, and in some instances brilliant. brazil was gradually falling into the power of the west india company. the east india possessions were secure. the great victory of van tromp, known by the name of the battle of the downs, from being fought off the coast of england, on the st of october, , raised the naval reputation of holland as high as it could well be carried. fifty ships taken, burned, and sunk, were the proofs of their admiral's triumph; and the spanish navy never recovered the loss. the victory was celebrated throughout europe, and van tromp was the hero of the day. the king of england was, however, highly indignant at the hardihood with which the dutch admiral broke through the etiquette of territorial respect, and destroyed his country's bitter foes under the very sanction of english neutrality. but the subjects of charles i. did not partake their monarch's feelings. they had no sympathy with arbitrary and tyrannic government; and their joy at the misfortune of their old enemies the spaniards gave a fair warning of the spirit which afterward proved so fatal to the infatuated king, who on this occasion would have protected and aided them. in an unsuccessful enterprise in flanders, count henry casimir of nassau was mortally wounded, adding another to the list of those of that illustrious family whose lives were lost in the service of their country. his brother, count william frederick, succeeded him in his office of stadtholder of friesland; but the same dignity in the provinces of groningen and drent devolved on the prince of orange. the latter had conceived the desire of a royal alliance for his son william. charles i. readily assented to the proposal of the states-general that this young prince should receive the hand of his daughter mary. embassies were exchanged; the conditions of the contract agreed on; but it was not till two years later that van tromp, with an escort of twenty ships, conducted the princess, then twelve years old, to the country of her future husband. the republic did not view with an eye quite favorable this advancing aggrandizement of the house of orange. frederick henry had shortly before been dignified by the king of france, at the suggestion of richelieu, with the title of "highness," instead of the inferior one of "excellency"; and the states-general, jealous of this distinction granted to their chief magistrate, adopted for themselves the sounding appellation of "high and mighty lords." the prince of orange, whatever might have been his private views of ambition, had however the prudence to silence all suspicion, by the mild and moderate use which he made of the power, which he might perhaps have wished to increase, but never attempted to abuse. on the th of november, , the prince-cardinal ferdinand died at brussels in his thirty-third year; another instance of those who were cut off, in the very vigor of manhood, from worldly dignities and the exercise of the painful and inauspicious duties of governor-general of the netherlands. don francisco de mello, a nobleman of highly reputed talents, was the next who obtained this onerous situation. he commenced his governorship by a succession of military operations, by which, like most of his predecessors, he is alone distinguished. acts of civil administration are scarcely noticed by the historians of these men. not one of them, with the exception of the archduke albert, seems to have valued the internal interests of the government; and he alone, perhaps, because they were declared and secured as his own. de mello, after taking some towns, and defeating the marshal de guiche in the battle of hannecourt, tarnished all his fame by the great faults which he committed in the famous battle of rocroy. the duke of enghien, then twenty-one years of age, and subsequently so celebrated as the great condé, completely defeated de mello, and nearly annihilated the spanish and walloon infantry. the military operations of the dutch army were this year only remarkable by the gallant conduct of prince william, son of the prince of orange, who, not yet seventeen years of age, defeated, near hulst, under the eyes of his father, a spanish detachment in a very warm skirmish. considerable changes were now insensibly operating in the policy of europe. cardinal richelieu had finished his dazzling but tempestuous career of government, in which the hand of death arrested him on the th of december, . louis xiii. soon followed to the grave him who was rather his master than his minister. anne of austria was declared regent during the minority of her son, louis xiv., then only five years of age; and cardinal mazarin succeeded to the station from which death alone had power to remove his predecessor. the civil wars in england now broke out, and their terrible results seemed to promise to the republic the undisturbed sovereignty of the seas. the prince of orange received with great distinction the mother-in-law of his son, when she came to holland under pretext of conducting her daughter; but her principal purpose was to obtain, by the sale of the crown jewels and the assistance of frederick henry, funds for the supply of her unfortunate husband's cause. the prince and several private individuals contributed largely in money; and several experienced officers passed over to serve in the royalist army of england. the provincial states of holland, however, sympathizing wholly with the parliament, remonstrated with the stadtholder; and the dutch colonists encouraged the hostile efforts of their brethren, the puritans of scotland, by all the absurd exhortations of fanatic zeal. boswell, the english resident in the name of the king, and strickland, the ambassador from the parliament, kept up a constant succession of complaints and remonstrances on occasion of every incident which seemed to balance the conduct of the republic in the great question of english politics. considerable differences existed: the province of holland, and some others, leaned toward the parliament; the prince of orange favored the king; and the states-general endeavored to maintain a neutrality. the struggle was still furiously maintained in germany. generals of the first order of military talent were continually appearing, and successively eclipsing each other by their brilliant actions. gustavus adolphus was killed in the midst of his glorious career, at the battle of lutzen; the duke of weimar succeeded to his command, and proved himself worthy of the place; tilly and the celebrated wallenstein were no longer on the scene. the emperor ferdinand ii. was dead, and his son ferdinand iii. saw his victorious enemies threaten, at last, the existence of the empire. everything tended to make peace necessary to some of the contending powers, as it was at length desirable for all. sweden and denmark were engaged in a bloody and wasteful conflict. the united provinces sent an embassy, in the month of june, , to each of those powers; and by a vigorous demonstration of their resolution to assist sweden, if denmark proved refractory, a peace was signed the following year, which terminated the disputes of the rival nations. negotiations were now opened at munster between the several belligerents. the republic was, however, the last to send its plenipotentiaries there; having signed anew treaty with france, by which they mutually stipulated to make no peace independent of each other. it behooved the republic, however, to contribute as much as possible toward the general object; for, among other strong motives to that line of conduct, the finances of holland were in a state perfectly deplorable. every year brought the necessity of a new loan; and the public debt of the provinces now amounted to one hundred and fifty million florins, bearing interest at six and a quarter per cent. considerable alarm was excited at the progress of the french army in the belgian provinces; and escape from the tyranny of spain seemed only to lead to the danger of submission to a nation too powerful and too close at hand not to be dangerous, either as a foe or an ally. these fears were increased by the knowledge that cardinal mazarin projected a marriage between louis xiv. and the infanta of spain, with the belgian provinces, or spanish netherlands as they were now called, for her marriage portion. this project was confided to the prince of orange, under the seal of secrecy, and he was offered the marquisate of antwerp as the price of his influence toward effecting the plan. the prince revealed the whole to the states-general. great fermentation was excited; the stadtholder himself was blamed, and suspected of complicity with the designs of the cardinal. frederick henry was deeply hurt at this want of confidence, and the injurious publications which openly assailed his honor in a point where he felt himself entitled to praise instead of suspicion. the french labored to remove the impression which this affair excited in the republic; but the states-general felt themselves justified by the intriguing policy of mazarin in entering into a secret negotiation with the king of spain, who offered very favorable conditions. the negotiations were considerably advanced by the marked disposition evinced by the prince of orange to hasten the establishment of peace. yet, at this very period, and while anxiously wishing this great object, he could not resist the desire for another campaign; one more exploit, to signalize the epoch at which he finally placed his sword in the scabbard. frederick henry was essentially a soldier, with all the spirit of his race; and this evidence of the ruling passion, while he touched the verge of the grave, is one of the most striking points of his character. he accordingly took the field; but, with a constitution broken by a lingering disease, he was little fitted to accomplish any feat worthy of his splendid reputation. he failed in an attempt on venlo, and another on antwerp, and retired to the hague, where for some months he rapidly declined. on the th of march, , he expired, in his sixty-third year; leaving behind him a character of unblemished integrity, prudence, toleration, and valor. he was not of that impetuous stamp which leads men to heroic deeds, and brings danger to the states whose liberty is compromised by their ambition. he was a striking contrast to his brother maurice, and more resembled his father in many of those calmer qualities of the mind, which make men more beloved without lessening their claims to admiration. frederick henry had the honor of completing the glorious task which william began and maurice followed up. he saw the oppression they had combated now humbled and overthrown; and he forms the third in a sequence of family renown, the most surprising and the least checkered afforded by the annals of europe. william ii. succeeded his father in his dignities; and his ardent spirit longed to rival him in war. he turned his endeavors to thwart all the efforts for peace. but the interests of the nation and the dying wishes of frederick henry were of too powerful influence with the states, to be overcome by the martial yearnings of an inexperienced youth. the negotiations were pressed forward; and, despite the complaints, the murmurs, and the intrigues of france, the treaty of munster was finally signed by the respective ambassadors of the united provinces and spain, on the th of january, . this celebrated treaty contains seventy-nine articles. three points were of main and vital importance to the republic: the first acknowledges an ample and entire recognition of the sovereignty of the states-general, and a renunciation forever of all claims on the part of spain; the second confirms the rights of trade and navigation in the east and west indies, with the possession of the various countries and stations then actually occupied by the contracting powers; the third guarantees a like possession of all the provinces and towns of the netherlands, as they then stood in their respective occupation--a clause highly favorable to the republic, which had conquered several considerable places in brabant and flanders. the ratifications of the treaty were exchanged at munster with great solemnity on the th of may following the signature; the peace was published in that town and in osnaburg on the th, and in all the different states of the king of spain and the united provinces as soon as the joyous intelligence could reach such various and widely separated destinations. thus after eighty years of unparalleled warfare, only interrupted by the truce of , during which hostilities had not ceased in the indies, the new republic rose from the horrors of civil war and foreign tyranny to its uncontested rank as a free and independent state among the most powerful nations of europe. no country had ever done more for glory; and the result of its efforts was the irrevocable guarantee of civil and religious liberty, the great aim and end of civilization. the king of france alone had reason to complain of this treaty: his resentment was strongly pronounced. but the united provinces flung back the reproaches of his ambassador on cardinal mazarin; and the anger of the monarch was smothered by the policy of the minister. the internal tranquillity of the republic was secured from all future alarm by the conclusion of the general peace of westphalia, definitively signed on the th of october, . this treaty was long considered not only as the fundamental law of the empire, but as the basis of the political system of europe. as numbers of conflicting interests were reconciled, germanic liberty secured, and a just equilibrium established between the catholics and protestants, france and sweden obtained great advantages; and the various princes of the empire saw their possessions regulated and secured, at the same time that the powers of the emperor were strictly defined. this great epoch in european history naturally marks the conclusion of another in that of the netherlands; and this period of general repose allows a brief consideration of the progress of arts, sciences, and manners, during the half century just now completed. the archdukes albert and isabella, during the whole course of their sovereignty, labored to remedy the abuses which had crowded the administration of justice. the perpetual edict, in , regulated the form of judicial proceedings; and several provinces received new charters, by which the privileges of the people were placed on a footing in harmony with their wants. anarchy, in short, gave place to regular government; and the archdukes, in swearing to maintain the celebrated pact known by the name of the joyeuse entree, did all in their power to satisfy their subjects, while securing their own authority. the piety of the archdukes gave an example to all classes. this, although degenerating in the vulgar to superstition and bigotry, formed a severe check, which allowed their rulers to restrain popular excesses, and enabled them in the internal quiet of their despotism to soften the people by the encouragement of the sciences and arts. medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, made prodigious progress during this epoch. several eminent men flourished in the netherlands. but the glory of others, in countries presenting a wider theatre for their renown, in many instances eclipsed them; and the inventors of new methods and systems in anatomy, optics and music were almost forgotten in the splendid improvements of their followers. in literature, hugo de groot, or grotius (his latinized name, by which he is better known), was the most brilliant star of his country or his age, as erasmus was of that which preceded. he was at once eminent as jurist, poet, theologian, and historian. his erudition was immense; and he brought it to bear in his political capacity, as ambassador from sweden to the court of france, when the violence of party and the injustice of power condemned him to perpetual imprisonment in his native land. the religious disputations in holland had given a great impulse to talent. they were not mere theological arguments; but with the wild and furious abstractions of bigotry were often blended various illustrations from history, art, and science, and a tone of keen and delicate satire, which at once refined and made them readable. it is remarkable that almost the whole of the latin writings of this period abound in good taste, while those written in the vulgar tongue are chiefly coarse and trivial. vondel and hooft, the great poets of the time, wrote with genius and energy, but were deficient in judgment founded on good taste. the latter of these writers was also distinguished for his prose works; in honor of which louis xiii. dignified him with letters patent of nobility, and decorated him with the order of st. michael. but while holland was more particularly distinguished by the progress of the mechanical arts, to which prince maurice afforded unbounded patronage, the belgian provinces gave birth to that galaxy of genius in the art of painting, which no equal period of any other country has ever rivalled. a volume like this would scarcely suffice to do justice to the merits of the eminent artists who now flourished in belgium; at once founding, perfecting, and immortalizing the flemish school of painting. rubens, vandyck, teniers, crayer, jordaens, sneyders, and a host of other great names, crowd on us with claims for notice that almost make the mention of any an injustice to the rest. but europe is familiar with their fame; and the widespread taste for their delicious art makes them independent of other record than the combination of their own exquisite touch, undying tints, and unequalled knowledge of nature. engraving, carried at the same time to great perfection, has multiplied some of the merits of the celebrated painters, while stamping the reputation of its own professors. sculpture, also, had its votaries of considerable note. among these, des jardins and quesnoy held the foremost station. architecture also produced some remarkable names. the arts were, in short, never held in higher honor than at this brilliant epoch. otto venire, the master of rubens, held most important employments. rubens himself, appointed secretary to the privy council of the archdukes, was subsequently sent to england, where he negotiated the peace between that country and spain. the unfortunate king charles so highly esteemed his merit that he knighted him in full parliament, and presented him with the diamond ring he wore on his own finger, and a chain enriched with brilliants. david teniers, the great pupil of this distinguished master, met his due share of honor. he has left several portraits of himself; one of which hands him down to posterity in the costume, and with the decorations of the belt and key, which he wore in his capacity of chamberlain to the archduke leopold, governor-general of the spanish netherlands. the intestine disturbances of holland during the twelve years' truce, and the enterprises against friesland and the duchy of cleves, had prevented that wise economy which was expected from the republic. the annual ordinary cost of the military establishment at that period amounted to thirteen million florins. to meet the enormous expenses of the state, taxes were raised on every material. they produced about thirty million florins a year, independent of five million each for the east and west india companies. the population in , in holland, was about six hundred thousand, and the other provinces contained about the same number. it is singular to observe the fertile erections of monopoly in a state founded on principles of commercial freedom. the east and west india companies, the greenland company, and others, were successively formed. by the effect of their enterprise, industry and wealth, conquests were made and colonies founded with surprising rapidity. the town of amsterdam, now new york, was founded in ; and the east saw batavia rise up from the ruins of jacatra, which was sacked and razed by the dutch adventurers. the dutch and english east india companies, repressing their mutual jealousy, formed a species of partnership in for the reciprocal enjoyment of the rights of commerce. but four years later than this date an event took place so fatal to national confidence that its impressions are scarcely yet effaced--this was the torturing and execution of several englishmen in the island of amboyna, on pretence of an unproved plot, of which every probability leads to the belief that they were wholly innocent. this circumstance was the strongest stimulant to the hatred so evident in the bloody wars which not long afterward took place between the two nations; and the lapse of two centuries has not entirely effaced its effects. much has been at various periods written for and against the establishment of monopolizing companies, by which individual wealth and skill are excluded from their chances of reward. with reference to those of holland at this period of its history, it is sufficient to remark that the great results of their formation could never have been brought about by isolated enterprises; and the justice or wisdom of their continuance are questions wholly dependent on the fluctuations in trade, and the effects produced on that of any given country by the progress and the rivalry of others. with respect to the state of manners in the republic, it is clear that the jealousies and emulation of commerce were not likely to lessen the vice of avarice with which the natives have been reproached. the following is a strong expression of one, who cannot, however, be considered an unprejudiced observer, on occasion of some disputed points between the dutch and english maritime tribunals--"the decisions of our courts cause much ill-will among these people, whose hearts' blood is their purse."[ ] while drunkenness was a vice considered scarcely scandalous, the intrigues of gallantry were concealed with the most scrupulous mystery--giving evidence of at least good taste, if not of pure morality. court etiquette began to be of infinite importance. the wife of count ernest casimir of nassau was so intent on the preservation of her right of precedence that on occasion of lady carleton, the british ambassadress, presuming to dispute the _pas_, she forgot true dignity so far as to strike her. we may imagine the vehement resentment of such a man as carleton for such an outrage. the lower orders of the people had the rude and brutal manners common to half-civilized nations which fight their way to freedom. the unfortunate king of bohemia, when a refugee in holland, was one day hunting; and, in the heat of the chase, he followed his dogs, which had pursued a hare, into a newly sown corn-field: he was quickly interrupted by a couple of peasants armed with pitchforks. he supposed his rank and person to be unknown to them; but he was soon undeceived, and saluted with unceremonious reproaches. "king of bohemia! king of bohemia!" shouted one of the boors, "why do you trample on my wheat which i have so lately had the trouble of sowing?" the king made many apologies, and retired, throwing the whole blame on his dogs. but in the life of marshal turenne we find a more marked trait of manners than this, which might be paralleled in england at this day. this great general served his apprenticeship in the art of war under his uncles, the princes maurice and frederick henry. he appeared one day on the public walk at the hague, dressed in his usual plain and modest style. some young french lords, covered with gold, embroidery, and ribbons, met and accosted him: a mob gathered round; and while treating turenne, although unknown to them, with all possible respect, they forced the others to retire, assailed with mockery and the coarsest abuse. [footnote : carleton.] but one characteristic, more noble and worthy than any of those thus briefly cited, was the full enjoyment of the liberty of the press in the united provinces. the thirst of gain, the fury of faction, the federal independence of the minor towns, the absolute power of prince maurice, all the combinations which might carry weight against this grand principle, were totally ineffectual to prevail over it. and the republic was, on this point, proudly pre-eminent among surrounding nations. chapter xix from the peace of munster to the peace of nimeguen a.d. -- the completion of the peace of munster opens a new scene in the history of the republic. its political system experienced considerable changes. its ancient enemies became its most ardent friends, and its old allies loosened the bonds of long-continued amity. the other states of europe, displeased at its imperious conduct, or jealous of its success, began to wish its humiliation; but it was little thought that the consummation was to be effected at the hands of england. while holland prepared to profit by the peace so brilliantly gained, england, torn by civil war, was hurried on in crime and misery to the final act which has left an indelible stain on her annals. cromwell and the parliament had completely subjugated the kingdom. the unfortunate king, delivered up by the scotch, was brought to a mock trial, and condemned to an ignominious death. great as were his faults, they are almost lost sight of in the atrocity of his opponents; so surely does disproportioned punishment for political offences produce a reaction in the minds that would approve a commensurate penalty. the united provinces had preserved a strict neutrality while the contest was undecided. the prince of orange warmly strove to obtain a declaration in favor of his father-in-law, charles i. the prince of wales and the duke of york, his sons, who had taken refuge at the hague, earnestly joined in the entreaty; but all that could be obtained from the states-general was their consent to an embassy to interpose with the ferocious bigots who doomed the hapless monarch to the block. pauw and joachimi, the one sixty-four years of age, the other eighty-eight, the most able men of the republic, undertook the task of mediation. they were scarcely listened to by the parliament, and the bloody sacrifice took place. the details of this event, and its immediate consequences, belong to english history; and we must hurry over the brief, turbid, and inglorious stadtholderate of william ii., to arrive at the more interesting contest between the republic which had honorably conquered its freedom, and that of the rival commonwealth, which had gained its power by hypocrisy, violence, and guilt. william ii. was now in his twenty-fourth year. he had early evinced that heroic disposition which was common to his race. he panted for military glory. all his pleasures were those usual to ardent and high-spirited men, although his delicate constitution seemed to forbid the indulgence of hunting, tennis, and the other violent exercises in which he delighted. he was highly accomplished; spoke five different languages with elegance and fluency, and had made considerable progress in mathematics and other abstract sciences. his ambition knew no bounds. had he reigned over a monarchy as absolute king, he would most probably have gone down to posterity a conqueror and a hero. but, unfitted to direct a republic as its first citizen, he has left but the name of a rash and unconstitutional magistrate. from the moment of his accession to power, he was made sensible of the jealousy and suspicion with which his office and his character were observed by the provincial states of holland. many instances of this disposition were accumulated to his great disgust; and he was not long in evincing his determination to brave all the odium and reproach of despotic designs, and to risk everything for the establishment of absolute power. the province of holland, arrogating to itself the greatest share in the reforms of the army, and the financial arrangements called for by the transition from war to peace, was soon in fierce opposition with the states-general, which supported the prince in his early views. cornelius bikker, one of the burgomasters of amsterdam, was the leading person in the states of holland; and a circumstance soon occurred which put him and the stadtholder in collision, and quickly decided the great question at issue. the admiral cornellizon de witt arrived from brazil with the remains of his fleet, and without the consent of the council of regency there established by the states-general. he was instantly arrested by order of the prince of orange, in his capacity of high-admiral. the admiralty of amsterdam was at the same time ordered by the states-general to imprison six of the captains of this fleet. the states of holland maintained that this was a violation of their provincial rights, and an illegal assumption of power on the part of the states-general; and the magistrates of amsterdam forced the prison doors, and set the captains at liberty. william, backed by the authority of the states-general, now put himself at the head of a deputation from that body, and made a rapid tour of visitation to the different chief towns of the republic, to sound the depths of public opinion on the matters in dispute. the deputation met with varied success; but the result proved to the irritated prince that no measures of compromise were to be expected, and that force alone was to arbitrate the question. the army was to a man devoted to him. the states-general gave him their entire, and somewhat servile, support. he, therefore, on his own authority, arrested the six deputies of holland, in the same way that his uncle maurice had seized on barneveldt, grotius, and the others; and they were immediately conveyed to the castle of louvestein. in adopting this bold and unauthorized measure, he decided on an immediate attempt to gain possession of the city of amsterdam, the central point of opposition to his violent designs. william frederick, count of nassau, stadtholder of friesland, at the head of a numerous detachment of troops, marched secretly and by night to surprise the town; but the darkness and a violent thunderstorm having caused the greater number to lose their way, the count found himself at dawn at the city gates with a very insufficient force; and had the further mortification to see the walls well manned, the cannon pointed, the draw-bridges raised, and everything in a state of defence. the courier from hamburg, who had passed through the scattered bands of soldiers during the night, had given the alarm. the first notion was that a roving band of swedish or lorraine troops, attracted by the opulence of amsterdam, had resolved on an attempt to seize and pillage it. the magistrates could scarcely credit the evidence of day, which showed them the count of nassau and his force on their hostile mission. a short conference with the deputies from the citizens convinced him that a speedy retreat was the only measure of safety for himself and his force, as the sluices of the dikes were in part opened, and a threat of submerging the intended assailants only required a moment more to be enforced. nothing could exceed the disappointment and irritation of the prince of orange consequent on this transaction. he at first threatened, then negotiated, and finally patched up the matter in a mariner the least mortifying to his wounded pride. bikker nobly offered himself for a peace-offering, and voluntarily resigned his employments in the city he had saved; and de witt and his officers were released. william was in some measure consoled for his disgrace by the condolence of the army, the thanks of the province of zealand, and a new treaty with france, strengthened by promises of future support from cardinal mazarin; but, before he could profit by these encouraging symptoms, domestic and foreign, a premature death cut short all his projects of ambition. over-violent exercise in a shooting party in guelders brought on a fever, which soon terminated in an attack of smallpox. on the first appearance of his illness, he was removed to the hague; and he died there on the th of november, , aged twenty-four years and six months. the death of this prince left the state without a stadtholder, and the army without a chief. the whole of europe shared more or less in the joy or the regret it caused. the republican party, both in holland and in england, rejoiced in a circumstance which threw back the sovereign power into the hands of the nation; the partisans of the house of orange deeply lamented the event. but the birth of a son, of which the widowed princess of orange was delivered within a week of her husbands death, revived the hopes of those who mourned his loss, and offered her the only consolation which could assuage her grief. this child was, however, the innocent cause of a breach between his mother and grandmother, the dowager-princess, who had never been cordially attached to each other. each claimed the guardianship of the young prince; and the dispute was at length decided by the states, who adjudged the important office to the elector of brandenburg and the two princesses jointly. the states of holland soon exercised their influence on the other provinces. many of the prerogatives of the stadtholder were now assumed by the people; and, with the exception of zealand, which made an ineffectual attempt to name the infant prince to the dignity of his ancestors under the title of william iii., a perfect unanimity seemed to have reconciled all opposing interests. the various towns secured the privileges of appointing their own magistrates, and the direction of the army and navy devolved to the states-general. the time was now arrived when the wisdom, the courage, and the resources of the republic were to be put once more to the test, in a contest hitherto without example, and never since equalled in its nature. the naval wars between holland and england had their real source in the inveterate jealousies and unbounded ambition of both countries, reciprocally convinced that a joint supremacy at sea was incompatible with their interests and their honor, and each resolved to risk everything for their mutual pretensions--to perish rather than yield. the united provinces were assuredly not the aggressors in this quarrel. they had made sure of their capability to meet it, by the settlement of all questions of internal government, and the solid peace which secured them against any attack on the part of their old and inveterate enemy; but they did not seek a rupture. they at first endeavored to ward off the threatened danger by every effort of conciliation; and they met, with temperate management, even the advances made by cromwell, at the instigation of st. john, the chief justice, for a proposed, yet impracticable coalition between the two republics, which was to make them one and indivisible. an embassy to the hague, with st. john and strickland at its head, was received with all public honors; but the partisans of the families of orange and stuart, and the populace generally, openly insulted the ambassadors. about the same time dorislas, a dutchman naturalized in england, and sent on a mission from the parliament, was murdered at the hague by some scotch officers, friends of the banished king; the massacre of amboyna, thirty years before, was made a cause of revived complaint; and altogether a sum of injuries was easily made up to turn the proposed fantastic coalition into a fierce and bloody war. the parliament of england soon found a pretext in an outrageous measure, under pretence of providing for the interests of commerce. they passed the celebrated act of navigation, which prohibited all nations from importing into england in their ships any commodity which was not the growth and manufacture of their own country. this law, though worded generally, was aimed directly at the dutch, who were the general factors and carriers of europe. ships were seized, reprisals made, the mockery of negotiation carried on, fleets equipped, and at length the war broke out. in the month of may, , the dutch admiral, tromp, commanding forty-two ships of war, met with the english fleet under blake in the straits of dover; the latter, though much inferior in number, gave a signal to the dutch admiral to strike, the usual salutation of honor accorded to the english during the monarchy. totally different versions have been given by the two admirals of what followed. blake insisted that tromp, instead of complying, fired a broadside at his vessel; tromp stated that a second and a third bullet were sent promptly from the british ship while he was preparing to obey the admiral's claim. the discharge of the first broadside is also a matter of contradiction, and of course of doubt. but it is of small consequence; for whether hostilities had been hurried on or delayed, they were ultimately inevitable. a bloody battle began: it lasted five hours. the inferiority in number on the side of the english was balanced by the larger size of their ships. one dutch vessel was sunk; another taken; and night parted the combatants. the states-general heard the news with consternation: they despatched the grand pensionary pauw on a special embassy to london. the imperious parliament would hear of neither reason nor remonstrance. right or wrong, they were resolved on war. blake was soon at sea again with a numerous fleet; tromp followed with a hundred ships; but a violent tempest separated these furious enemies, and retarded for a while the rencounter they mutually longed for. on the th of august a battle took place between sir george ayscue and the renowned de ruyter, near plymouth, each with about forty ships; but with no decisive consequences. on the th of october, blake, aided by bourn and pen, met a dutch squadron of nearly equal force off the coast of kent, under de ruyter and de witt. the fight which followed was also severe, but not decisive, though the dutch had the worst of the day. in the mediterranean, the dutch admiral van galen defeated the english captain baddely, but bought the victory with his life. and, on the th of november, another bloody conflict took place between blake and tromp, seconded by de ruyter, near the goodwin sands. in this determined action blake was wounded and defeated; five english ships, taken, burned, or sunk; and night saved the fleet from destruction. after this victory tromp placed a broom at his masthead, as if to intimate that he would sweep the channel free of all english ships. great preparations were made in england to recover this disgrace; eighty sail put to sea under blake, dean, and monk, so celebrated subsequently as the restorer of the monarchy. tromp and de ruyter, with seventy-six vessels, were descried on the th of february, escorting three hundred merchantmen up channel. three days of desperate fighting ended in the defeat of the dutch, who lost ten ships of war and twenty-four merchant vessels. several of the english ships were disabled, one sunk; and the carnage on both sides was nearly equal. tromp acquired prodigious honor by this battle; having succeeded, though defeated, in saving, as has been seen, almost the whole of his immense convoy. on the th of june and the day following two other actions were fought: in the first of which the english admiral dean was killed; in the second, monk, pen, and lawson amply revenged his death by forcing the dutch to regain their harbors with great loss. the st of july was the last of these bloody and obstinate conflicts for superiority. tromp issued out once more, determined to conquer or die. he met the enemy off scheveling, commanded by monk. both fleets rushed to the combat. the heroic dutchman, animating his sailors with his sword drawn, was shot through the heart with a musket-ball. this event, and this alone, won the battle, which was the most decisive of the whole war. the enemy captured or sunk nearly thirty ships. the body of tromp was carried with great solemnity to the church of delft, where a magnificent mausoleum was erected over the remains of this eminently brave and distinguished man. this memorable defeat, and the death of this great naval hero, added to the injury done to their trade, induced the states-general to seek terms from their too powerful enemy. the want of peace was felt throughout the whole country. cromwell was not averse to grant it; but he insisted on conditions every way disadvantageous and humiliating. he had revived his chimerical scheme of a total conjunction of government, privileges, and interests between the two republics. this was firmly rejected by john de witt, now grand pensionary of holland, and by the states under his influence. but the dutch consented to a defensive league; to punish the survivors of those concerned in the massacre of amboyna; to pay nine thousand pounds of indemnity for vessels seized in the sound, five thousand pounds for the affair of amboyna, and eighty-five thousand pounds to the english east india company, to cede to them the island of polerone in the east; to yield the honor of the national flag to the english; and, finally, that neither the young prince of orange nor any of his family should ever be invested with the dignity of stadtholder. these two latter conditions were certainly degrading to holland; and the conditions of the treaty prove that an absurd point of honor was the only real cause for the short but bloody and ruinous war which plunged the provinces into overwhelming difficulties. for several years after the conclusion of this inglorious peace, universal discontent and dissension spread throughout the republic. the supporters of the house of orange, and every impartial friend of the national honor, were indignant at the act of exclusion. murmurs and revolts broke out in several towns; and all was once more tumult, agitation, and doubt. no event of considerable importance marks particularly this epoch of domestic trouble. a new war was at last pronounced inevitable, and was the means of appeasing the distractions of the people, and reconciling by degrees contending parties. denmark, the ancient ally of the republic, was threatened with destruction by charles gustavus, king of sweden, who held copenhagen in blockade. the interests of holland were in imminent peril should the swedes gain the passage of the sound. this double motive influenced de witt; and he persuaded the states-general to send admiral opdam with a considerable fleet to the baltic. this intrepid successor of the immortal tromp soon came to blows with a rival worthy to meet him. wrangel, the swedish admiral, with a superior force, defended the passage of the sound; and the two castles of cronenberg and elsenberg supported his fleet with their tremendous fire. but opdam resolutely advanced; though suffering extreme anguish from an attack of gout, he had himself carried on deck, where he gave his orders with the most admirable coolness and precision, in the midst of danger and carnage. the rival monarchs witnessed the battle; the king of sweden from the castle of cronenberg, and the king of denmark from the summit of the highest tower in his besieged capital. a brilliant victory crowned the efforts of the dutch admiral, dearly bought by the death of his second in command, the brave de witt, and peter florizon, another admiral of note. relief was poured into copenhagen. opdam was replaced in the command, too arduous for his infirmities, by the still more celebrated de ruyter, who was greatly distinguished by his valor in several successive affairs: and after some months more of useless obstinacy, the king of sweden, seeing his army perish in the island of funen, by a combined attack of those of holland and denmark, consented to a peace highly favorable to the latter power. these transactions placed the united provinces on a still higher pinnacle of glory than they had ever reached. intestine disputes were suddenly calmed. the algerines and other pirates were swept from the seas by a succession of small but vigorous expeditions. the mediation of the states re-established peace in several of the petty states of germany. england and france were both held in check, if not preserved in friendship, by the dread of their recovered power. trade and finance were reorganized. everything seemed to promise a long-continued peace and growing greatness, much of which was owing to the talents and persevering energy of de witt; and, to complete the good work of european tranquillity, the french and spanish monarchs concluded in this year the treaty known by the name of the "peace of the pyrenees." cromwell had now closed his career, and charles ii. was restored to the throne from which he had so long been excluded. the complimentary entertainments rendered to the restored king in holland were on the proudest scale of expense. he left the country which had given him refuge in misfortune, and done him honor in his prosperity, with profuse expressions of regard and gratitude. scarcely was he established in his recovered kingdom, when a still greater testimony of deference to his wishes was paid, by the states-general formally annulling the act of exclusion against the house of orange. a variety of motives, however, acting on the easy and plastic mind of the monarch, soon effaced whatever of gratitude he had at first conceived. he readily entered into the views of the english nation, which was irritated by the great commercial superiority of holland, and a jealousy excited by its close connection with france at this period. it was not till the d of february, , that war was formally declared against the dutch; but many previous acts of hostility had taken place in expeditions against their settlements on the coast of africa and in america, which were retaliated by de ruyter with vigor and success. the dutch used every possible means of avoiding the last extremities. de witt employed all the powers of his great capacity to avert the evil of war; but nothing could finally prevent it, and the sea was once more to witness the conflict between those who claimed its sovereignty. a great battle was fought on the st of june. the duke of york, afterward james ii., commanded the british fleet, and had under him the earl of sandwich and prince rupert. the dutch were led on by opdam; and the victory was decided in favor of the english by the blowing up of that admiral's ship, with himself and his whole crew. the loss of the dutch was altogether nineteen ships. de witt the pensionary then took in person the command of the fleet, which was soon equipped; and he gave a high proof of the adaptation of genius to a pursuit previously unknown, by the rapid knowledge and the practical improvements he introduced into some of the most intricate branches of naval tactics. immense efforts were now made by england, but with a very questionable policy, to induce louis xiv. to join in the war. charles offered to allow of his acquiring the whole of the spanish netherlands, provided he would leave him without interruption to destroy the dutch navy (and, consequently, their commerce), in the by no means certain expectation that its advantages would all fall to the share of england. but the king of france resolved to support the republic. the king of denmark, too, formed an alliance with them, after a series of the most strange tergiversations. spain, reduced to feebleness, and menaced with invasion by france, showed no alacrity to meet charles's overtures for an offensive treaty. van galen, bishop of munster, a restless prelate, was the only ally he could acquire. this bishop, at the head of a tumultuous force of twenty thousand men, penetrated into friesland; but six thousand french were despatched by louis to the assistance of the republic, and this impotent invasion was easily repelled. the republic, encouraged by all these favorable circumstances, resolved to put forward its utmost energies. internal discords were once more appeased; the harbors were crowded with merchant ships; the young prince of orange had put himself under the tuition of the states of holland and of de witt, who faithfully executed his trust; and de ruyter was ready to lead on the fleet. the english, in spite of the dreadful calamity of the great fire of london, the plague which desolated the city, and a declaration of war on the part of france, prepared boldly for the shock. the dutch fleet, commanded by de ruyter and tromp, the gallant successor of his father's fame, was soon at sea. the english, under prince rupert and monk, now duke of albemarle, did not lie idle in port. a battle of four days continuance, one of the most determined and terrible up to this period on record, was the consequence. the dutch claim, and it appears with justice, to have had the advantage. but a more decisive conflict took place on the th of july,[ ] when a victory was gained by the english, the enemy having three of their admirals killed. "my god!" exclaimed de ruyter; during this desperate fight, and seeing the certainty of defeat; "what a wretch i am! among so many thousand bullets, is there not one to put an end to my miserable life?" [footnote : in all these naval battles we have followed hume and the english historians as to dates, which, in almost every instance, are strangely at variance with those given by the dutch writers.] the king of france hastened forward in this crisis to the assistance of the republic and de witt, by a deep stroke of policy, amused the english with negotiation while a powerful fleet was fitted out. it suddenly appeared in the thames, under the command of de ruyter, and all england was thrown into consternation. the dutch took sheerness, and burned many ships of war; almost insulting the capital itself in their predatory incursion. had the french power joined that of the provinces at this time, and invaded england, the most fatal results to that kingdom might have taken place. but the alarm soon subsided with the disappearance of the hostile fleet; and the signing the peace of breda, on the th of july, , extricated charles from his present difficulties. the island of polerone was restored to the dutch, and the point of maritime superiority was, on this occasion, undoubtedly theirs. while holland was preparing to indulge in the luxury of national repose, the death of philip iv. of spain, and the startling ambition of louis xiv., brought war once more to their very doors, and soon even forced it across the threshold of the republic. the king of france, setting at naught his solemn renunciation at the peace of the pyrenees of all claims to any part of the spanish territories in right of his wife, who was daughter of the late king, found excellent reasons (for his own satisfaction) to invade a material portion of that declining monarchy. well prepared by the financial and military foresight of colbert for his great design, he suddenly poured a powerful army, under turenne, into brabant and flanders; quickly overran and took possession of these provinces; and, in the space of three weeks, added franche-comte to his conquests. europe was in universal alarm at these unexpected measures; and no state felt more terror than the republic of the united provinces. the interest of all countries seemed now to require a coalition against the power which had abandoned the house of austria only to settle on france. the first measure to this effect was the signing of the triple league between holland, sweden, and england, at the hague, on the th of january, . but this proved to be one of the most futile confederations on record. charles, with almost unheard-of perfidy throughout the transaction, fell in with the designs of his pernicious, and on this occasion purchased, cabinet, called the cabal; and he entered into a secret treaty with france, in the very teeth of his other engagements. sweden was dissuaded from the league by the arguments of the french ministers; and holland in a short time found itself involved in a double war with its late allies. a base and piratical attack on the dutch smyrna fleet by a large force under sir robert holmes, on the th of march, , was the first overt act of treachery on the part of the english government. the attempt completely failed, through the prudence and valor of the dutch admirals; and charles reaped only the double shame of perfidy and defeat. he instantly issued a declaration of war against the republic, on reasoning too palpably false to require refutation, and too frivolous to merit record to the exclusion of more important matter from our narrow limits. louis at least covered with the semblance of dignity his unjust co-operation in this violence. he soon advanced with his army, and the contingents of munster and cologne, his allies, amounting altogether to nearly one hundred and seventy thousand men, commanded by conde, turenne, luxemburg, and others of the greatest generals of france. never was any country less prepared than were the united provinces to resist this formidable aggression. their army was as naught; their long cessation of military operations by land having totally demoralized that once invincible branch of their forces. no general existed who knew anything of the practice of war. their very stores of ammunition had been delivered over, in the way of traffic, to the enemy who now prepared to overwhelm them. de witt was severely, and not quite unjustly, blamed for having suffered the country to be thus taken by surprise, utterly defenceless, and apparently without resource. envy of his uncommon merit aggravated the just complaints against his error. but, above all things, the popular affection to the young prince threatened, in some great convulsion, the overthrow of the pensionary, who was considered eminently hostile to the illustrious house of orange. [illustration: a holland beauty] william iii., prince of orange, now twenty-two years of age, was amply endowed with those hereditary qualities of valor and wisdom which only required experience to give him rank with the greatest of his ancestors. the louvenstein party, as the adherents of the house of orange were called, now easily prevailed in their long-conceived design of placing him at the head of affairs, with the titles of captain-general and high admiral. de witt, anxious from personal considerations, as well as patriotism, to employ every means of active exertion, attempted the organization of an army, and hastened the equipment of a formidable fleet of nearly a hundred ships of the line and half as many fire-ships. de ruyter, now without exception the greatest commander of the age, set sail with this force in search of the combined fleets of england and france, commanded by the duke of york and marshal d'etrees. he encountered them, on the th of may, , at solebay. a most bloody engagement was the result of this meeting. sandwich, on the side of the english, and van ghent, a dutch admiral, were slain. the glory of the day was divided; the victory doubtful; but the sea was not the element on which the fate of holland was to be decided. the french armies poured like a torrent into the territories of the republic. rivers were passed, towns taken, and provinces overrun with a rapidity much less honorable to france than disgraceful to holland. no victory was gained--no resistance offered; and it is disgusting to look back on the fulsome panegyrics with which courtiers and poets lauded louis for those facile and inglorious triumphs. the prince of orange had received the command of a nominal army of seventy thousand men; but with this undisciplined and discouraged mass he could attempt nothing. he prudently retired into the province of holland, vainly hoping that the numerous fortresses on the frontiers would have offered some resistance to the enemy. guelders, overyssel and utrecht were already in louis's hands. groningen and friesland were threatened. holland and zealand opposed obstruction to such rapid conquest from their natural position; and amsterdam set a noble example to the remaining towns--forming a regular and energetic plan of defence, and endeavoring to infuse its spirit into the rest. the sluices, those desperate sources at once of safety and desolation, were opened; the whole country submerged; and the other provinces following this example, extensive districts of fertility and wealth were given to the sea, for the exclusion of which so many centuries had scarcely sufficed. the states-general now assembled, and it was decided to supplicate for peace at the hands of the combined monarchs. the haughty insolence of louvois, coinciding with the temper of louis himself, made the latter propose the following conditions as the price of peace: to take off all duties on commodities exported into holland; to grant the free exercise of the romish religion in the united provinces; to share the churches with the catholics, and to pay their priests; to yield up all the frontier towns, with several in the heart of the republic; to pay him twenty million livres; to send him every year a solemn embassy, accompanied by a present of a golden medal, as an acknowledgment that they owed him their liberty; and, finally, that they should give entire satisfaction to the king of england. charles, on his part, after the most insulting treatment of the ambassadors sent to london, required, among other terms, that the dutch should give up the honor of the flag without reserve, whole fleets being expected, even on the coasts of holland, to lower their topsails to the smallest ship under british colors; that the dutch should pay one million pounds sterling toward the charges of the war, and ten thousand pounds a year for permission to fish in the british seas; that they should share the indian trade with the english; and that walcheren and several other islands should be put into the king's hands as security for the performance of the articles. the insatiable monarchs overshot the mark. existence was not worth preserving on these intolerable terms. holland was driven to desperation; and even the people of england were inspired with indignation at this monstrous injustice. in the republic a violent explosion of popular excess took place. the people now saw no safety but in the courage and talents of the prince of orange. he was tumultuously proclaimed stadtholder. de witt and his brother cornelis, the conscientious but too obstinate opponents of this measure of salvation, fell victims to the popular frenzy. the latter, condemned to banishment on an atrocious charge of intended assassination against the prince of orange, was visited in his prison at the hague by the grand pensionary. the rabble, incited to fury by the calumnies spread against these two virtuous citizens, broke into the prison, forced the unfortunate brothers into the street, and there literally tore them to pieces with circumstances of the most brutal ferocity. this horrid scene took place on the th of august, . the massacre of the de witts completely destroyed the party of which they were the head. all men now united under the only leader left to the country. william showed himself well worthy of the trust, and of his heroic blood. he turned his whole force against the enemy. he sought nothing for himself but the glory of saving his country; and taking his ancestors for models, in the best points of their respective characters, he combined prudence with energy, and firmness with moderation. his spirit inspired all ranks of men. the conditions of peace demanded by the partner kings were rejected with scorn. the whole nation was moved by one concentrated principle of heroism; and it was even resolved to put the ancient notion of the first william into practice, and abandon the country to the waves, sooner than submit to the political annihilation with which it was threatened. the capability of the vessels in their harbors was calculated; and they were found sufficient to transport two hundred thousand families to the indian settlements. we must hasten from this sublime picture of national desperation. the glorious hero who stands in its foreground was inaccessible to every overture of corruption. buckingham, the english ambassador, offered him, on the part of england and france, the independent sovereignty of holland, if he would abandon the other provinces to their grasp; and, urging his consent, asked him if he did not see that the republic was ruined? "there is one means," replied the prince of orange, "which will save me from the sight of my country's ruin--i will die in the last ditch." action soon proved the reality of the prince's profession. he took the field; having first punished with death some of the cowardly commanders of the frontier towns. he besieged and took naarden, an important place; and, by a masterly movement, formed a junction with montecuculi, whom the emperor leopold had at length sent to his assistance with twenty thousand men. groningen repulsed the bishop of munster, the ally of france, with a loss of twelve thousand men. the king of spain (such are the strange fluctuations of political friendship and enmity) sent the count of monterey, governor of the belgian provinces, with ten thousand men to support the dutch army. the elector of brandenburg also lent them aid. the whole face of affairs was changed; and louis was obliged to abandon all his conquests with more rapidity than he had made them. two desperate battles at sea, on the th of may and the th of june, in which de ruyter and prince rupert again distinguished themselves, only proved the valor of the combatants, leaving victory still doubtful. england was with one common feeling ashamed of the odious war in which the king and his unworthy ministers had engaged the nation. charles was forced to make peace on the conditions proposed by the dutch. the honor of the flag was yielded to the english; a regulation of trade was agreed to; all possessions were restored to the same condition as before the war; and the states-general agreed to pay the king eight hundred thousand patacoons, or nearly three hundred thousand pounds. with these encouraging results from the prince of orange's influence and example, holland persevered in the contest with france. he, in the first place, made head, during a winter campaign in holland, against marshal luxemburg, who had succeeded turenne in the low countries, the latter being obliged to march against the imperialists in westphalia. he next advanced to oppose the great conde, who occupied brabant with an army of forty-five thousand men. after much manoeuvring, in which the prince of orange displayed consummate talent, he on only one occasion exposed a part of his army to a disadvantageous contest. conde seized on the error; and of his own accord gave the battle to which his young opponent could not succeed in forcing him. the battle of senef is remarkable not merely for the fury with which it was fought, or for its leaving victory undecided, but as being the last combat of one commander and the first of the other. "the prince of orange," said the veteran conde (who had that day exposed his person more than on any previous occasion), "has acted in everything like an old captain, except venturing his life too like a young soldier." the campaign of offered no remarkable event; the prince of orange with great prudence avoiding the risk of a battle. but the following year was rendered fatally remarkable by the death of the great de ruyter,[ ] who was killed in an action against the french fleet in the mediterranean; and about the same time the not less celebrated turenne met his death from a cannon-ball in the midst of his triumphs in germany. this year was doubly occupied in a negotiation for peace and an active prosecution of the war. louis, at the head of his army, took several towns in belgium: william was unsuccessful in an attempt on maestricht. about the beginning of winter, the plenipotentiaries of the several belligerents assembled at nimeguen, where the congress for peace was held. the hollanders, loaded with debts and taxes, and seeing the weakness and slowness of their allies, the spaniards and germans, prognosticated nothing but misfortunes. their commerce languished; while that of england, now neutral amid all these quarrels, flourished extremely. the prince of orange, however, ambitious of glory, urged another campaign; and it commenced accordingly. in the middle of february, louis carried valenciennes by storm, and laid siege to st. omer and cambray. william, though full of activity, courage, and skill, was, nevertheless, almost always unsuccessful in the field, and never more so than in this campaign. several towns fell almost in his sight; and he was completely defeated in the great battle of mount cassel by the duke of orleans and marshal luxemburg. but the period for another peace was now approaching. louis offered fair terms for the acceptance of the united provinces at the congress of nimeguen, april, , as he now considered his chief enemies spain and the empire, who had at first only entered into the war as auxiliaries. he was, no doubt, principally impelled in his measures by the marriage of the prince of orange with the lady mary, eldest daughter of the duke of york, and heir presumptive to the english crown, which took place on the d of october, to the great joy of both the dutch and english nations. charles was at this moment the arbiter of the peace of europe; and though several fluctuations took place in his policy in the course of a few months, as the urgent wishes of the parliament and the large presents of louis differently actuated him, still the wiser and more just course prevailed, and he finally decided the balance by vigorously declaring his resolution for peace; and the treaty was consequently signed at nimeguen, on the th of august, . the prince of orange, from private motives of spleen, or a most unjustifiable desire for fighting, took the extraordinary measure of attacking the french troops under luxemburg, near mons, on the very day after the signing of this treaty. he must have known it, even though it were not officially notified to him; and he certainly had to answer for all the blood so wantonly spilled in the sharp though undecisive action which ensued. spain, abandoned to her fate, was obliged to make the best terms she could; and on the th of september she also concluded a treaty with france, on conditions entirely favorable to the latter power. [footnote : the council of spain gave de ruyter the title and letters patent of duke. the latter arrived in holland after his death; and his children, with true republican spirit, refused to adopt the title.] chapter xx from the peace of nimeguen to the peace of utrecht a.d. -- a few years passed over after this period, without the occurrence of any transaction sufficiently important to require a mention here. each of the powers so lately at war followed the various bent of their respective ambition. charles of england was sufficiently occupied by disputes with parliament, and the discovery, fabrication, and punishment of plots, real or pretended. louis xiv., by a stretch of audacious pride hitherto unknown, arrogated to himself the supreme power of regulating the rest of europe, as if all the other princes were his vassals. he established courts, or chambers of reunion as they were called, in metz and brisac, which cited princes, issued decrees, and authorized spoliation, in the most unjust and arbitrary manner. louis chose to award to himself luxemburg, chiny, and a considerable portion of brabant and flanders. he marched a considerable army into belgium, which the spanish governors were unable to oppose. the prince of orange, who labored incessantly to excite a confederacy among the other powers of europe against the unwarrantable aggressions of france, was unable to arouse his countrymen to actual war; and was forced, instead of gaining the glory he longed for, to consent to a truce for twenty years, which the states-general, now wholly pacific and not a little cowardly, were too happy to obtain from france. the emperor and the king of spain gladly entered into a like treaty. the fact was that the peace of nimeguen had disjointed the great confederacy which william had so successfully brought about; and the various powers were laid utterly prostrate at the feet of the imperious louis, who for a while held the destinies of europe in his hands. charles ii. died most unexpectedly in the year ; and his obstinately bigoted and unconstitutional successor, james ii., seemed, during a reign of not four years' continuance, to rush wilfully headlong to ruin. during this period, the prince of orange had maintained a most circumspect and unexceptionable line of conduct; steering clear of all interference with english affairs; giving offence to none of the political factions; and observing in every instance the duty and regard which he owed to his father-in-law. during monmouth's invasion he had despatched to james's assistance six regiments of british troops which were in the dutch service, and he offered to take the command of the king's forces against the rebels. it was from the application of james himself that william took any part in english affairs; for he was more widely and much more congenially employed in the establishment of a fresh league against france. louis had aroused a new feeling throughout protestant europe by the revocation of the edict of nantes. the refugees whom he had driven from their native country inspired in those in which they settled hatred of his persecution as well as alarm of his power. holland now entered into all the views of the prince of orange. by his immense influence he succeeded in forming the great confederacy called the league of augsburg, to which the emperor, spain, and almost every european power but england became parties. james gave the prince reason to believe that he too would join in this great project, if william would in return concur in his views of domestic tyranny; but william wisely refused. james, much disappointed, and irritated by the moderation which showed his own violence in such striking contrast, expressed his displeasure against the prince, and against the dutch generally, by various vexatious acts. william resolved to maintain a high attitude; and many applications were made to him by the most considerable persons in england for relief against james's violent measures, and which there was but one method of making effectual. that method was force. but as long as the princess of orange was certain of succeeding to the crown on her father's death, william hesitated to join in an attempt that might possibly have failed and lost her her inheritance. but the birth of a son, which, in giving james a male heir, destroyed all hope of redress for the kingdom, decided the wavering, and rendered the determined desperate. the prince chose the time for his enterprise with the sagacity, arranged its plan with the prudence, and put it into execution with the vigor, which were habitual qualities of his mind. louis xiv., menaced by the league of augsburg, had resolved to strike the first blow against the allies. he invaded germany; so that the dutch preparations seemed in the first instance intended as measures of defence against the progress of the french. but louis's envoy at the hague could not be long deceived. he gave notice to his master, who in his turn warned james. but that infatuated monarch not only doubted the intelligence, but refused the french king's offers of assistance and co-operation. on the st of october, the prince of orange, with an army of fourteen thousand men, and a fleet of five hundred vessels of all kinds, set sail from helvoetsluys; and after some delays from bad weather, he safely landed his army in torbay, on the th of november, . the desertion of james's best friends; his own consternation, flight, seizure, and second escape; and the solemn act by which he was deposed; were the rapid occurrences of a few weeks: and thus the grandest revolution that england had ever seen was happily consummated. without entering here on legislative reasonings or party sophisms, it is enough to record the act itself; and to say, in reference to our more immediate subject, that without the assistance of holland and her glorious chief, england might have still remained enslaved, or have had to purchase liberty by oceans of blood. by the bill of settlement, the crown was conveyed jointly to the prince and princess of orange, the sole administration of government to remain in the prince; and the new sovereigns were proclaimed on the d of february, . the convention, which had arranged this important point, annexed to the settlement a declaration of rights, by which the powers of royal prerogative and the extent of popular privilege were defined and guaranteed. william, now become king of england, still preserved his title of stadtholder of holland; and presented the singular instance of a monarchy and a republic being at the same time governed by the same individual. but whether as a king or a citizen, william was actuated by one grand and powerful principle, to which every act of private administration was made subservient, although it certainly called for no sacrifice that was not required for the political existence of the two nations of which he was the head. inveterate opposition to the power of louis xiv. was this all-absorbing motive. a sentiment so mighty left william but little time for inferior points of government, and everything but that seems to have irritated and disgusted him. he was soon again on the continent, the chief theatre of his efforts. he put himself in front of the confederacy which resulted from the congress of utrecht in . he took the command of the allied army; and till the hour of his death, he never ceased his indefatigable course of hostility, whether in the camp or the cabinet, at the head of the allied armies, or as the guiding spirit of the councils which gave them force and motion. several campaigns were expended, and bloody combats fought, almost all to the disadvantage of william, whose genius for war was never seconded by that good fortune which so often decides the fate of battles in defiance of all the calculations of talent. but no reverse had power to shake the constancy and courage of william. he always appeared as formidable after defeat as he was before action. his conquerors gained little but the honor of the day. fleurus, steinkerk, herwinde, were successively the scenes of his evil fortune, and the sources of his fame. his retreats were master-strokes of vigilant activity and profound combinations. many eminent sieges took place during this war. among other towns, mons and namur were taken by the french, and huy by the allies; and the army of marshal villeroi bombarded brussels during three days, in august, , with such fury that the town-house, fourteen churches, and four thousand houses, were reduced to ashes. the year following this event saw another undecisive campaign. during the continuance of this war, the naval transactions present no grand results. du bart, a celebrated adventurer of dunkirk, occupies the leading place in those affairs, in which he carried on a desultory but active warfare against the dutch and english fleets, and generally with great success. all the nations which had taken part in so many wars were now becoming exhausted by the contest, but none so much so as france. the great despot who had so long wielded the energies of that country with such wonderful splendor and success found that his unbounded love of dominion was gradually sapping all the real good of his people, in chimerical schemes of universal conquest. england, though with much resolution voting new supplies, and in every way upholding william in his plans for the continuance of war, was rejoiced when louis accepted the mediation of charles xi., king of sweden, and agreed to concessions which made peace feasible. the emperor and charles ii. of spain, were less satisfied with those concessions; but everything was finally arranged to meet the general views of the parties, and negotiations were opened at ryswyk. the death of the king of sweden, and the minority of his son and successor, the celebrated charles xii., retarded them on points of form for some time. at length, on the th of september, , the articles of the treaty were subscribed by the dutch, english, spanish, and french ambassadors. the treaty consisted of seventeen articles. the french king declared he would not disturb or disquiet the king of great britain, whose title he now for the first time acknowledged. between france and holland were declared a general armistice, perpetual amity, a mutual restitution of towns, a reciprocal renunciation of all pretensions upon each other, and a treaty of commerce which was immediately put into execution. thus, after this long, expensive, and sanguinary war, things were established just on the footing they had been by the peace of nimeguen; and a great, though unavailable lesson, read to the world on the futility and wickedness of those quarrels in which the personal ambition of kings leads to the misery of the people. had the allies been true to each other throughout, louis would certainly have been reduced much lower than he now was. his pride was humbled, and his encroachments stopped. but the sufferings of the various countries engaged in the war were too generally reciprocal to make its result of any material benefit to either. the emperor held out for a while, encouraged by the great victory gained by his general, prince eugene of savoy, over the turks at zenta in hungary; but he finally acceded to the terms offered by france; the peace, therefore, became general, but, unfortunately for europe, of very short duration. france, as if looking forward to the speedy renewal of hostilities, still kept her armies undisbanded. let the foresight of her politicians have been what it might, this negative proof of it was justified by events. the king of spain, a weak prince, without any direct heir for his possessions, considered himself authorized to dispose of their succession by will. the leading powers of europe thought otherwise, and took this right upon themselves. charles died on the st of november, , and thus put the important question to the test. by a solemn testament he declared philip, duke of anjou, second son of the dauphin, and grandson of louis xiv., his successor to the whole of the spanish monarchy. louis immediately renounced his adherence to the treaties of partition, executed at the hague and in london, in and , and to which he had been a contracting party; and prepared to maintain the act by which the last of the descendants of charles v. bequeathed the possessions of spain and the indies to the family which had so long been the inveterate enemy and rival of his own. the emperor leopold, on his part, prepared to defend his claims; and thus commenced the new war between him and france, which took its name from the succession which formed the object of dispute. hostilities were commenced in italy, where prince eugene, the conqueror of the turks, commanded for leopold, and every day made for himself a still more brilliant reputation. louis sent his grandson to spain to take possession of the inheritance, for which so hard a fight was yet to be maintained, with the striking expression at parting--"my child, there are no longer any pyrenees!" an expression most happily unprophetic for the future independence of europe; for the moral force of the barrier has long existed after the expiration of the family compact which was meant to deprive it of its force. louis prepared to act vigorously. among other measures, he caused part of the dutch army that was quartered in luxemburg and brabant to be suddenly made prisoners of war, because they would not own philip v. as king of spain. the states-general were dreadfully alarmed, immediately made the required acknowledgment, and in consequence had their soldiers released. they quickly reinforced their garrisons, purchased supplies, solicited foreign aid, and prepared for the worst that might happen. they wrote to king william, professing the most inviolable attachment to england; and he met their application by warm assurances of support and an immediate reinforcement of three regiments. william followed up these measures by the formation of the celebrated treaty called the grand alliance, by which england, the states, and the emperor covenanted for the support of the pretensions of the latter to the spanish monarchy. william was preparing, in spite of his declining health, to take his usual lead in the military operations now decided on, and almost all europe was again looking forward to his guidance, when he died on the th of march, , leaving his great plans to receive their execution from still more able adepts in the art of war. william's character has been traced by many hands. in his capacity of king of england, it is not our province to judge him in this place. as stadtholder of holland, he merits unqualified praise. like his great ancestor william i., whom he more resembled than any other of his race, he saved the country in a time of such imminent peril that its abandonment seemed the only resource left to the inhabitants, who preferred self-exile to slavery. all his acts were certainly merged in the one overwhelming object of a great ambition--that noble quality, which, if coupled with the love of country, is the very essence of true heroism. william was the last of that illustrious line which for a century and a half had filled europe with admiration. he never had a child; and being himself an only one, his title as prince of orange passed into another branch of the family. he left his cousin, prince frison of nassau, the stadtholder of friesland, his sole and universal heir, and appointed the states-general his executors. william's death filled holland with mourning and alarm. the meeting of the states-general after this sad intelligence was of a most affecting description; but william, like all master-minds, had left the mantle of his inspiration on his friends and followers. heinsius, the grand pensionary, followed up the views of the lamented stadtholder with considerable energy, and was answered by the unanimous exertions of the country. strong assurances of support from queen anne, william's successor, still further encouraged the republic, which now vigorously prepared for war. but it did not lose this occasion of recurring to the form of government of . no new stadtholder was now appointed; the supreme authority being vested in the general assembly of the states, and the active direction of affairs confided to the grand pensionary. this departure from the form of government which had been on various occasions proved to be essential to the safety, although at all times hazardous to the independence, of the states, was not attended with any evil consequences. the factions and the anarchy which had before been the consequence of the course now adopted were prevented by the potent influence of national fear lest the enemy might triumph, and crush the hopes, the jealousies, and the enmities of all parties in one general ruin. thus the common danger awoke a common interest, and the splendid successes of her allies kept holland steady in the career of patriotic energy which had its rise in the dread of her redoubtable foe. the joy in france at william's death was proportionate to the grief it created in holland; and the arrogant confidence of louis seemed to know no bounds. "i will punish these audacious merchants," said he, with an air of disdain, when he read the manifesto of holland; not foreseeing that those he affected to despise so much would, ere long, command in a great measure the destinies of his crown. queen anne entered upon the war with masculine intrepidity, and maintained it with heroic energy. efforts were made by the english ministry and the states-general to mediate between the kings of sweden and poland. but charles xii., enamored of glory, and bent on the one great object of his designs against russia, would listen to nothing that might lead him from his immediate career of victory. many other of the northern princes were withheld, by various motives, from entering into the contest with france, and its whole brunt devolved on the original members of the grand alliance. the generals who carried it on were marlborough and prince eugene. the former, at its commencement an earl, and subsequently raised to the dignity of duke, was declared generalissimo of the dutch and english forces. he was a man of most powerful genius, both as warrior and politician. a pupil of the great turenne, his exploits left those of his master in the shade. no commander ever possessed in a greater degree the faculty of forming vast designs, and of carrying them into effect with consummate skill; no one displayed more coolness and courage in action, saw with a keener eye the errors of the enemy, or knew better how to profit by success. he never laid siege to a town that he did not take, and never fought a battle that he did not gain. prince eugene joined to the highest order of personal bravery a profound judgment for the grand movements of war, and a capacity for the most minute of the minor details on which their successful issue so often depends. united in the same cause, these two great generals pursued their course without the least misunderstanding. at the close of each of those successive campaigns, in which they reaped such a full harvest of renown, they retired together to the hague, to arrange, in the profoundest secrecy, the plans for the next year's operations, with one other person, who formed the great point of union between them, and completed a triumvirate without a parallel in the history of political affairs. this third was heinsius, one of those great men produced by the republic whose names are tantamount to the most detailed eulogium for talent and patriotism. every enterprise projected by the confederates was deliberately examined, rejected, or approved by these three associates, whose strict union of purpose, disowning all petty rivalry, formed the centre of counsels and the source of circumstances finally so fatal to france. louis xiv., now sixty years of age, could no longer himself command his armies, or probably did not wish to risk the reputation he was conscious of having gained by the advice and services of turenne, conde, and luxemburg. louvois, too, was dead; and colbert no longer managed his finances. a council of rash and ignorant ministers hung like a dead weight on the talent of the generals who succeeded the great men above mentioned. favor and not merit too often decided promotion, and lavished command. vendome, villars, boufflers, and berwick were set aside, to make way for villeroi, tallard, and marsin, men every way inferior. the war began in in italy, and marlborough opened his first campaign in brabant also in that year. for several succeeding years the confederates pursued a career of brilliant success, the details of which do not properly belong to this work. a mere chronology of celebrated battles would be of little interest, and the pages of english history abound in records of those deeds. blenheim, ramillies, oudenarde, and malplaquet, are names that speak for themselves, and tell their own tale of glory. the utter humiliation of france was the result of events, in which the undying fame of england for inflexible perseverance and unbounded generosity was joined in the strictest union with that of holland; and the impetuous valor of the worthy successor to the title of prince of orange was, on many occasions, particularly at malplaquet, supported by the devotion and gallantry of the dutch contingent in the allied armies. the naval affairs of holland offered nothing very remarkable. the states had always a fleet ready to support the english in their enterprises; but no eminent admiral arose to rival the renown of rooke, byng, benbow, and others of their allies. the first of those admirals took gibraltar, which has ever since remained in the possession of england. the great earl of peterborough carried on the war with splendid success in portugal and spain, supported occasionally by the english fleet under sir cloudesley shovel, and that of holland under admirals allemonde and wapenaer. during the progress of the war, the haughty and longtime imperial louis was reduced to a state of humiliation that excited a compassion so profound as to prevent its own open expression--the most galling of all sentiments to a proud mind. in the year he solicited peace on terms of most abject submission. the states-general, under the influence of the duke of marlborough and prince eugene, rejected all his supplications, retorting unsparingly the insolent harshness with which he had formerly received similar proposals from them. france, roused to renewed exertions by the insulting treatment experienced by her humiliated but still haughty despot, made prodigious but vain efforts to repair her ruinous losses. in the following year louis renewed his attempts to obtain some tolerable conditions; offering to renounce his grandson, and to comply with all the former demands of the confederates. even these overtures were rejected; holland and england appearing satisfied with nothing short of--what was after all impracticable--the total destruction of the great power which louis had so long proved to be incompatible with their welfare. the war still went on; and the taking of bouchain on the th of august, , closed the almost unrivalled military career of marlborough, by the success of one of his boldest and best conducted exploits. party intrigue had accomplished what, in court parlance, is called the disgrace, but which, in the language of common sense, means only the dismissal of this great man. the new ministry, who hated the dutch, now entered seriously into negotiations with france. the queen acceded to these views, and sent special envoys to communicate with the court of versailles. the states-general found it impossible to continue hostilities if england withdrew from the coalition; conferences were consequently opened at utrecht in the month of january, . england took the important station of arbiter in the great question there debated. the only essential conditions which she demanded individually were the renunciation of all claims to the crown of france by philip v., and the demolition of the harbor of dunkirk. the first of these was the more readily acceded to, as the great battles of almanza and villaviciosa, gained by philip's generals, the dukes of berwick and vendome, had steadily fixed him on the throne of spain--a point still more firmly secured by the death of the emperor joseph i., son of leopold, and the elevation of his brother charles, philip's competitor for the crown of spain, to the imperial dignity, by the title of charles vi. the peace was not definitively signed until the th of april, ; and france obtained far better conditions than those which were refused her a few years previously. the belgian provinces were given to the new emperor, and must henceforth be called the austrian instead of the spanish netherlands. the gold and the blood of holland had been profusely expended during this contest; it might seem for no positive results; but the exhaustion produced to every one of the other belligerents was a source of peace and prosperity to the republic. its commerce was re-established; its financial resources recovered their level; and altogether we must fix on the epoch now before us as that of its utmost point of influence and greatness. france, on the contrary, was now reduced from its palmy state of almost european sovereignty to one of the deepest misery; and its monarch, in his old age, found little left of his former power but those records of poetry, painting, sculpture, and architecture which tell posterity of his magnificence, and the splendor of which throw his faults and his misfortunes into the shade. the great object now to be accomplished by the united provinces was the regulation of a distinct and guaranteed line of frontier between the republic and france. this object had become by degrees, ever since the peace of munster, a fundamental maxim of their politics. the interposition of the belgian provinces between the republic and france was of serious inconvenience to the former in this point of view. it was made the subject of a special article in "the grand alliance." in the year it was particularly discussed between england and the states, to the great discontent of the emperor, who was far from wishing its definitive settlement. but it was now become an indispensable item in the total of important measures whose accomplishment was called for by the peace of utrecht. conferences were opened on this sole question at antwerp in the year ; and, after protracted and difficult discussions, the treaty of the barrier was concluded on the th of november, . this treaty was looked on with an evil eye in the austrian netherlands. the clamor was great and general; jealousy of the commercial prosperity of holland being the real motive. long negotiations took place on the subject of the treaty; and in december, , the republic consented to modify some of the articles. the pragmatic sanction, published at vienna in by charles vi., regulated the succession to all the imperial hereditary possessions; and, among the rest, the provinces of the netherlands. but this arrangement, though guaranteed by the chief powers of europe, was, in the sequel, little respected, and but indifferently executed. chapter xxi from the peace of utrecht to the incorporation of belgium with the french republic a.d. -- during a period of thirty years following the treaty of utrecht, the republic enjoyed the unaccustomed blessing of profound peace. while the discontents of the austrian netherlands on the subject of the treaty of the barrier were in debate, the quadruple alliance was formed between holland, england, france and the emperor, for reciprocal aid against all enemies, foreign and domestic. it was in virtue of this treaty that the pretender to the english throne received orders to remove from france; and the states-general about the same time arrested the swedish ambassador, baron gortz, whose intrigues excited some suspicion. the death of louis xiv. had once more changed the political system of europe; and the commencement of the eighteenth century was fertile in negotiations and alliances in which we have at present but little direct interest. the rights of the republic were in all instances respected; and holland did not cease to be considered as a power of the first distinction and consequence. the establishment of an east india company at ostend, by the emperor charles vi., in , was the principal cause of disquiet to the united provinces, and the most likely to lead to a rupture. but, by the treaty of hanover in , the rights of holland resulting from the treaty of munster were guaranteed; and in consequence the emperor abolished the company of his creation, by the treaty of seville in , and that of vienna in . the peace which now reigned in europe allowed the united provinces to direct their whole efforts toward the reform of those internal abuses resulting from feudality and fanaticism. confiscations were reversed, and property secured throughout the republic. it received into its protection the persecuted sectarians of france, germany, and hungary; and the tolerant wisdom which it exercised in these measures gives the best assurance of its justice and prudence in one of a contrary nature, forming a solitary exception to them. this was the expulsion of the jesuits, whose dangerous and destructive doctrines had been long a warrant for this salutary example to the protestant states of europe. in the year the united provinces were threatened with imminent peril, which accident alone prevented from becoming fatal to their very existence. it was perceived that the dikes, which had for ages preserved the coasts, were in many places crumbling to ruin, in spite of the enormous expenditure of money and labor devoted to their preservation. by chance it was discovered that the beams, piles and other timber works employed in the construction of the dikes were eaten through in all parts by a species of sea-worm hitherto unknown. the terror of the people was, as may be supposed, extreme. every possible resource was applied which could remedy the evil; a hard frost providentially set in and destroyed the formidable reptiles; and the country was thus saved from a danger tenfold greater than that involved in a dozen wars. the peace of europe was once more disturbed in . poland, germany, france, and spain, were all embarked in the new war. holland and england stood aloof; and another family alliance of great consequence drew still closer than ever the bonds of union between them. the young prince of orange, who in had been elected stadtholder of groningen and guelders, in addition to that of friesland which had been enjoyed by his father, had in the year married the princess anne, daughter of george ii. of england; and by thus adding to the consideration of the house of nassau, had opened a field for the recovery of all its old distinctions. the death of the emperor charles vi., in october, , left his daughter, the archduchess maria theresa, heiress of his throne and possessions. young, beautiful, and endowed with qualities of the highest order, she was surrounded with enemies whose envy and ambition would have despoiled her of her splendid rights. frederick of prussia, surnamed the great, in honor of his abilities rather than his sense of justice, the electors of bavaria and saxony, and the kings of spain and sardinia, all pressed forward to the spoliation of an inheritance which seemed a fair play for all comers. but maria theresa, first joining her husband, duke francis of lorraine, in her sovereignty, but without prejudice to it, under the title of co-regent, took an attitude truly heroic. when everything seemed to threaten the dismemberment of her states, she threw herself upon the generous fidelity of her hungarian subjects with a dignified resolution that has few examples. there was imperial grandeur even in her appeal to their compassion. the results were electrical; and the whole tide of fortune was rapidly turned. england and holland were the first to come to the aid of the young and interesting empress. george ii., at the head of his army, gained the victory of dettingen, in support of her quarrel, in ; the states-general having contributed twenty thousand men and a large subsidy to her aid. louis xv. resolved to throw his whole influence into the scale against these generous efforts in the princess's favor; and he invaded the austrian netherlands in the following year. marshal saxe commanded under him, and at first carried everything before him. holland, having furnished twenty thousand troops and six ships of war to george ii. on the invasion of the young pretender, was little in a state to oppose any formidable resistance to the enemy that threatened her own frontiers. the republic, wholly attached for so long a period to pursuits of peace and commerce, had no longer good generals nor effective armies; nor could it even put a fleet of any importance to sea. yet with all these disadvantages it would not yield to the threats nor the demands of france; resolved to risk a new war rather than succumb to an enemy it had once so completely humbled and given the law to. conferences were opened at breda, but interrupted almost as soon as commenced. hostilities were renewed. the memorable battle of fontenoy was offered and gloriously fought by the allies; accepted and splendidly won by the french. never did the english and dutch troops act more nobly in concert than on this remarkable occasion. the valor of the french was not less conspicuous; and the success of the day was in a great measure decided by the irish battalions, sent, by the lamentable politics of those and much later days, to swell the ranks and gain the battles of england's enemies. marshal saxe followed up his advantage the following year, taking brussels and many other towns. almost the whole of the austrian netherlands being now in the power of louis xv., and the united provinces again exposed to invasion and threatened with danger, they had once more recourse to the old expedient of the elevation of the house of orange, which in times of imminent peril seemed to present a never-failing palladium. zealand was the first to give the impulsion; the other provinces soon followed the example; and william iv. was proclaimed stadtholder and captain-general, amid the almost unanimous rejoicings of all. these dignities were soon after declared hereditary both in the male and female line of succession of the house of orange nassau. the year saw the termination of the brilliant campaigns of louis xv. during this bloody war of eight years' continuance. the treaty of aix-la-chapelle, definitively signed on the th of october, put an end to hostilities; maria theresa was established in her rights and power; and europe saw a fair balance of the nations, which gave promise of security and peace. but the united provinces, when scarcely recovering from struggles which had so checked their prosperity, were employed in new and universal grief and anxiety by the death of their young stadtholder, which happened at the hague, october , . he had long been kept out of the government, though by no means deficient in the talents suited to his station. his son, william v., aged but three years and a half, succeeded him, under the guardianship of his mother, anne of england, daughter of george ii., a princess represented to be of a proud and ambitious temper, who immediately assumed a high tone of authority in the state. the war of seven years, which agitated the north of europe, and deluged its plains with blood, was almost the only one in which the republic was able to preserve a strict neutrality throughout. but this happy state of tranquillity was not, as on former occasions, attended by that prodigious increase of commerce, and that accumulation of wealth, which had so often astonished the world. differing with england on the policy which led the latter to weaken and humiliate france, jealousies sprung up between the two countries, and dutch commerce became the object of the most vexatious and injurious efforts on the part of england. remonstrance was vain; resistance impossible; and the decline of the republic hurried rapidly on. the hanseatic towns, the american colonies, the northern states of europe, and france itself, all entered into the rivalry with holland, in which, however, england carried off the most important prizes. several private and petty encounters took place between the vessels of england and holland, in consequence of the pretensions of the former to the right of search; and had the republic possessed the ability of former periods, and the talents of a tromp or a de ruyter, a new war would no doubt have been the result. but it was forced to submit; and a degrading but irritating tranquillity was the consequence for several years; the national feelings receiving a salve for home-decline by some extension of colonial settlements in the east, in which the island of ceylon was included. in the midst of this inglorious state of things, and the domestic abundance which was the only compensation for the gradual loss of national influence, the installation of william v., in ; his marriage with the princess of prussia, niece of frederick the great, in ; and the birth of two sons, the eldest on the th of august, ; successively took place. magnificent fetes celebrated these events; the satisfied citizens little imagining, amid their indolent rejoicings, the dismal futurity of revolution and distress which was silently but rapidly preparing for their country. maria theresa, reduced to widowhood by the death of her husband, whom she had elevated to the imperial dignity by the title of francis i., continued for a while to rule singly her vast possessions; and had profited so little by the sufferings of her own early reign that she joined in the iniquitous dismemberment of poland, which has left an indelible stain on her memory, and on that of frederick of prussia and catherine of russia. in her own dominions she was adored; and her name is to this day cherished in belgium among the dearest recollections of the people. the impulsion given to the political mind of europe by the revolution in north america was soon felt in the netherlands. the wish for reform was not merely confirmed to the people. a memorable instance was offered by joseph ii., son and successor of maria theresa, that sovereigns were not only susceptible of rational notions of change, but that the infection of radical extravagance could penetrate even to the imperial crown. disgusted by the despotism exercised by the clergy of belgium, joseph commenced his reign by measures that at once roused a desperate spirit of hostility in the priesthood, and soon spread among the bigoted mass of the people, who were wholly subservient to their will. miscalculating his own power, and undervaluing that of the priests, the emperor issued decrees and edicts with a sweeping violence that shocked every prejudice and roused every passion perilous to the country. toleration to the protestants, emancipation of the clergy from the papal yoke, reformation in the system of theological instruction, were among the wholesale measures of the emperor's enthusiasm, so imprudently attempted and so virulently opposed. but ere the deep-sown seeds of bigotry ripened to revolt, or produced the fruit of active resistance in belgium, holland had to endure the mortification of another war with england. the republic resolved on a futile imitation of the northern powers, who had adopted the difficult and anomalous system of an armed neutrality, for the prevention of english domination on the seas. the right of search, so proudly established by this power, was not likely to be wrenched from it by manifestoes or remonstrances; and holland was not capable of a more effectual warfare. in the year , st. eustache, surinam, essequibo, and demerara, were taken by british valor; and in the following year several of the dutch colonies in the east, well fortified but ill defended, also fell into the hands of england. almost the whole of those colonies, the remnants of prodigious power acquired by such incalculable instances of enterprise and courage, were one by one assailed and taken. but this did not suffice for the satisfaction of english objects in the prosecution of the war. it was also resolved to deprive holland of the baltic trade. a squadron of seven vessels, commanded by sir hyde parker, was encountered on the dogher bank by a squadron of dutch ships of the same force under admiral zoutman. an action of four hours was maintained with all the ancient courage which made so many of the memorable sea-fights between tromp, de ruyter, blake, and monk drawn battles. a storm separated the combatants, and saved the honor of each; for both had suffered alike, and victory had belonged to neither. the peace of terminated this short, but, to holland, fatal war; the two latter years of which had been, in the petty warfare of privateering, most disastrous to the commerce of the republic. negapatam, on the coast of coromandel, and the free navigation of the indian seas, were ceded to england, who occupied the other various colonies taken during the war. opinion was now rapidly opening out to that spirit of intense inquiry which arose in france, and threatened to sweep before it not only all that was corrupt, but everything that tended to corruption. it is in the very essence of all kinds of power to have that tendency, and, if not checked by salutary means, to reach that end. but the reformers of the last century, new in the desperate practice of revolutions, seeing its necessity, but ignorant of its nature, neither did nor could place bounds to the careering whirlwind that they raised. the well-meaning but intemperate changes essayed by joseph ii. in belgium had a considerable share in the development of free principles, although they at first seemed only to excite the resistance of bigotry and strengthen the growth of superstition. holland was always alive to those feelings of resistance, to established authority which characterize republican opinions; and the general discontent at the result of the war with england gave a good excuse to the pretended patriotism which only wanted change, while it professed reform. the stadtholder saw clearly the storm which was gathering, and which menaced his power. anxious for the present, and uncertain for the future, he listened to the suggestions of england, and resolved to secure and extend by foreign force the rights of which he risked the loss from domestic faction. in the divisions which were now loudly proclaimed among the states in favor of or opposed to the house of orange, the people, despising all new theories which they did not comprehend, took open part with the family so closely connected with every practical feeling of good which their country had yet known. the states of holland soon proceeded to measures of violence. resolved to limit the power of the stadtholder, they deprived him of the command of the garrison of the hague, and of all the other troops of the province; and, shortly afterward, declared him removed from all his employments. the violent disputes and vehement discussions consequent upon this measure throughout the republic announced an inevitable commotion. the advance of a prussian army toward the frontiers inflamed the passions of one party and strengthened the confidence of the other. an incident which now happened brought about the crisis even sooner than was expected. the princess of orange left her palace at loo to repair to the hague; and travelling with great simplicity and slightly attended, she was arrested and detained by a military post on the frontiers of the province of holland. the neighboring magistrates of the town of woesden refused her permission to continue her journey, and forced her to return to loo under such surveillance as was usual with a prisoner of state. the stadtholder and the english ambassador loudly complained of this outrage. the complaint was answered by the immediate advance of the duke of brunswick with twenty thousand prussian soldiers. some demonstrations of resistance were made by the astonished party whose outrageous conduct had provoked the measure; but in three weeks' time the whole of the republic was in perfect obedience to the authority of the stadtholder, who resumed all his functions of chief magistrate, with the additional influence which was sure to result from a vain and unjustifiable attempt to reduce his former power. we regret to be beyond the reach of mr. ellis's interesting but unpublished work, detailing the particulars of this revolution. the former persual of a copy of it only leaves a recollection of its admirable style and the leading facts, but not of the details with sufficient accuracy to justify more than a general reference to the work itself. by this time the discontent and agitation in belgium had attained a most formidable height. the attempted reformation in religion and judicial abuses persisted in by the emperor were represented, by a party whose existence was compromised by reform, as nothing less than sacrilege and tyranny, and blindly rejected by a people still totally unfitted for rational enlightenment in points of faith, or practices of civilization. remonstrances and strong complaints were soon succeeded by tumultuous assemblages and open insurrection. a lawyer of brussels, named vander noot, put himself at the head of the malcontents. the states-general of brabant declared the new measures of the emperor to be in opposition to the constitution and privileges of the country. the other belgian provinces soon followed this example. the prince albert of saxe-teschen, and the archduchess maria theresa, his wife, were at this period joint governors-general of the austrian netherlands. at the burst of rebellion they attempted to temporize; but this only strengthened the revolutionary party, while the emperor wholly disapproved their measures and recalled them to vienna. count murray was now named governor-general; and it was evident that the future fate of the provinces was to depend on the issue of civil war. count trautmansdorff, the imperial minister at brussels, and general d'alton, who commanded the austrian troops, took a high tone, and evinced a peremptory resolution. the soldiery and the citizens soon came into contact on many points; and blood was spilled at brussels, mechlin, and antwerp. the provincial states were convoked, for the purpose of voting the usual subsidies. brabant, after some opposition, consented; but the states of hainault unanimously refused the vote. the emperor saw, or supposed, that the necessity for decisive measures was now inevitable. the refractory states were dissolved, and arrests and imprisonments were multiplied in all quarters. vander noot, who had escaped to england, soon returned to the netherlands, and established a committee at breda, which conferred on him the imposing title of agent plenipotentiary of the people of brabant. he hoped, under this authority, to interest the english, prussian, and dutch governments in favor of his views; but his proposals were coldly received: protesiant states had little sympathy for a people whose resistance was excited, not by tyrannical efforts against freedom, but by broad measures of civil and religious reformation; the only fault of which was their attempted application to minds wholly incompetent to comprehend their value. left to themselves, the belgians soon gave a display of that energetic valor which is natural to them, and which would be entitled to still greater admiration had it been evinced in a worthier cause. during the fermentation which led to a general rising in the provinces, on the impulse of fanatic zeal, the truly enlightened portion of the people conceived the project of raising, on the ruins of monkish superstition and aristocratical power, an edifice of constitutional freedom. vonck, also an advocate of brussels, took the lead in this splendid design; and he and his friends proved themselves to have reached the level of that true enlightenment which distinguished the close of the eighteenth century. but the vonckists, as they were called, formed but a small minority compared with the besotted mass; and, overwhelmed by fanaticism on the one hand, and despotism on the other, they were unable to act effectually for the public good. vander mersch, a soldier of fortune, and a man of considerable talents, who had raised himself from the ranks to the command of a regiment, and had been formed in the school of the seven years' war, was appointed to the command of the patriot forces. joseph ii. was declared to have forfeited his sovereignty in brabant; and hostilities soon commenced by a regular advance of the insurgent army upon that province. vander mersch displayed consummate ability in this crisis, where so much depended upon the prudence of the military chief. he made no rash attempt, to which commanders are sometimes induced by reliance upon the enthusiasm of a newly revolted people. he, however, took the earliest safe opportunity of coming to blows with the enemy; and, having cleverly induced the austrians to follow him into the very streets of the town of turnhout, he there entered on a bloody contest, and finally defeated the imperialists with considerable loss. he next manoeuvred with great ability, and succeeded in making his way into the province of flanders, took ghent by assault, and soon reduced bruges, ypres, and ostend. at the news of these successes, the governors-general quitted brussels in all haste. the states of flanders assembled, in junction with those of brabant. both provinces were freed from the presence of the austrian troops. vander noot and the committee of breda made an entrance into brussels with all the pomp of royalty; and in the early part of the following year ( ) a treaty of union was signed by the seven revolted provinces, now formed into a confederation under the name of the united belgian states. all the hopes arising from these brilliant events were soon, however, to be blighted by the scorching heats of faction. joseph ii., whose temperament appears to have been too sensitive to support the shock of disappointment in plans which sprung from the purest motives, saw, in addition to this successful insurrection against his power, his beloved sister, the queen of france, menaced with the horrors of an inevitable revolution. his over-sanguine expectations of successfully rivalling the glory of frederick and catherine, and the ill success of his war against the turks, all tended to break down his enthusiastic spirit, which only wanted the elastic resistance of fortitude to have made him a great character. he for some time sunk into a profound melancholy; and expired on the th of january, , accusing his belgian subjects of having caused his premature death. leopold, the successor of his brother, displayed much sagacity and moderation in the measures which he adopted for the recovery of the revolted provinces; but their internal disunion was the best ally of the new emperor. the violent party which now ruled at brussels had ungratefully forgotten the eminent services of vander mersch, and accused him of treachery, merely from his attachment to the noble views and principles of the widely-increasing party of the vonckists. induced by the hope of reconciling the opposing parties, he left his army in namur, and imprudently ventured into the power of general schoenfeld, who commanded the troops of the states. vander mersch was instantly arrested and thrown into prison, where he lingered for months, until set free by the overthrow of the faction he had raised to power; but he did not recover his liberty to witness the realization of his hopes for that of his country. the states-general, in their triumph over all that was truly patriotic, occupied themselves solely in contemptible labors to establish the monkish absurdities which joseph had suppressed. the overtures of the new emperor were rejected with scorn; and, as might be expected from this combination of bigotry and rashness, the imperial troops under general bender marched quietly to the conquest of the whole country; town after town opening their gates, while vander noot and his partisans betook themselves to rapid and disgraceful flight. on the th of december, , the ministers of the emperor concluded a convention with those of england, russia, and holland (which powers guaranteed its execution), by which leopold granted an amnesty for all past offences, and confirmed to all his recovered provinces their ancient constitution and privileges; and, thus returning under the domination of austria, belgium saw its best chance for successfully following the noble example of the united provinces paralyzed by the short-sighted bigotry which deprived the national courage of all moral force. leopold enjoyed but a short time the fruits of his well-measured indulgence: he died, almost suddenly, march , ; and was succeeded by his son francis ii., whose fate it was to see those provinces of belgium, which had cost his ancestors so many struggles to maintain, wrested forever from the imperial power. belgium presented at this period an aspect of paramount interest to the world; less owing to its intrinsic importance than to its becoming at once the point of contest between the contending powers, and the theatre of the terrible struggle between republican france and the monarchs she braved and battled with. the whole combinations of european policy were staked on the question of the french possession of this country. this war between france and austria began its earliest operations on the very first days after the accession of francis ii. the victory of jemappes, gained by dumouriez, was the first great event of the campaign. the austrians were on all sides driven out. dumouriez made his triumphal entry into brussels on the th of november; and immediately after the occupation of this town the whole of flanders, brabant, and hainault, with the other belgian provinces, were subjected to france. soon afterward several pretended deputies from the belgian people hastened to paris, and implored the convention to grant them a share of that liberty and equality which was to confer such inestimable blessings on france. various decrees were issued in consequence; and after the mockery of a public choice, hurried on in several of the towns by hired jacobins and well-paid patriots, the incorporation of the austrian netherlands with the french republic was formally pronounced. the next campaign destroyed this whole fabric of revolution. dumouriez, beaten at nerwinde by the prince of saxe-coburg, abandoned not only his last year's conquest, but fled from his own army to pass the remainder of his life on a foreign soil, and leave his reputation a doubtful legacy to history. belgium, once again in the possession of austria, was placed under the government of the archduke charles, the emperor's brother, who was destined to a very brief continuance in this precarious authority. during this and the succeeding year the war was continued with unbroken perseverance and a constant fluctuation in its results. in the various battles which were fought, and the sieges which took place, the english army was, as usual, in the foremost ranks, under the duke of york, second son of george iii. the prince of orange, at the head of the dutch troops, proved his inheritance of the valor which seems inseparable from the name of nassau. the archduke charles laid the foundation of his subsequent high reputation. the emperor francis himself fought valiantly at the head of his troops. but all the coalesced courage of these princes and their armies could not effectually stop the progress of the republican arms. the battle of fleurus rendered the french completely masters of belgium; and the representatives of the city of brussels once more repaired to the national convention of france, to solicit the reincorporation of the two countries. this was not, however, finally pronounced till the st of october, , by which time the violence of an arbitrary government had given the people a sample of what they were to expect. the austrian netherlands and the province of liege were divided into nine departments, forming an integral part of the french republic; and this new state of things was consolidated by the preliminaries of peace, signed at leoben in styria, between the french general bonaparte and the archduke charles, and confirmed by the treaty of campo-formio on the th of october, . chapter xxii from the invasion of holland by the french to the return of the prince of orange a.d. -- while the fate of belgium was decided on the plains of fleurus, pichegru prepared to carry the triumphant arms of france into the heart of holland. he crossed the meuse at the head of one hundred thousand men, and soon gained possession of most of the chief places of flanders. an unusually severe winter was setting in; but a circumstance which in common cases retards the operations of war was, in the present instance, the means of hurrying on the conquest on which the french general was bent. the arms of the sea, which had hitherto been the best defences of holland, now became solid masses of ice; battlefields, on which the soldiers manoeuvred and the artillery thundered, as if the laws of the elements were repealed to hasten the fall of the once proud and long flourishing republic. nothing could arrest the ambitious ardor of the invaders. the duke of york and his brave army resisted to the utmost; but, borne down by numbers, he was driven from position to position. batteries, cannons, and magazines were successfully taken; and pichegru was soon at the term of his brilliant exploits. but holland speedily ceased to be a scene of warfare. the discontented portion of the citizens, now the majority, rejoiced to retaliate the revolution of by another, received the french as liberators. reduced to extremity, yet still capable by the aid of his allies of making a long and desperate resistance, the stadtholder took the nobler resolution of saving his fellow-citizens from the horrors of prolonged warfare. he repaired to the hague; presented himself in the assembly of the states-general; and solemnly deposited in their hands the exercise of the supreme power, which he found he could no longer wield but to entail misery and ruin on his conquered country. after this splendid instance of true patriotism and rare virtue, he quitted holland and took refuge in england. the states-general dissolved a national assembly installed at the hague; and, the stadtholderate abolished, the united provinces now changed their form of government, their long-cherished institutions, and their very name, and were christened the batavian republic. assurances of the most flattering nature were profusely showered on the new state, by the sister republic which had effected this new revolution. but the first measure of regeneration was the necessity of paying for the recovered independence, which was effected for the sum of one hundred million florins. the new constitution was almost entirely modelled on that of france, and the promised independence soon became a state of deplorable suffering and virtual slavery. incalculable evils were the portion of holland in the part which she was forced to take in the war between france and england. her marine was nearly annihilated, and some of her most valuable possessions in the indies ravished from her by the british arms. she was at the same time obliged to cede to her ally the whole of dutch flanders, maestricht, venloo, and their dependencies; and to render free and common to both nations the navigation of the rhine, the meuse, and the scheldt. the internal situation of the unfortunate republic was deplorable. under the weight of an enormous and daily increasing debt, all the resources of trade and industry were paralyzed. universal misery took place of opulence, and not even the consolation of a free constitution remained to the people. they vainly sought that blessing from each new government of the country whose destinies they followed, but whose advantages they did not share. they saw themselves successively governed by the states-general, a national assembly, and the directory. but these ephemeral authorities had not sufficient weight to give the nation domestic happiness, nor consideration among the other powers. on the th of october, , the english admiral, sir adam duncan, with a superior force, encountered the dutch fleet under de winter off camperdown; and in spite of the bravery of the latter he was taken prisoner, with nine ships of the line and a frigate. an expedition on an extensive scale was soon after fitted out in england, to co-operate with a russian force for the establishment of the house of orange. the helder was the destination of this armament, which was commanded by sir ralph abercrombie. the duke of york soon arrived in the texel with a considerable reinforcement. a series of severe, and well-contested actions near bergen ended in the defeat of the allies and the abandonment of the enterprise; the only success of which was the capture of the remains of the dutch fleet, which was safely conveyed to england. from this period the weight of french oppression became every day more intolerable in holland. ministers, generals, and every other species of functionary, with swarms of minor tyrants, while treating the country as a conquered province, deprived it of all share in the brilliant though checkered glories gained by that to which it was subservient. the dutch were robbed of national independence and personal freedom. while the words "liberty" and "equality" were everywhere emblazoned, the french ambassador assumed an almost oriental despotism. the language and forms of a free government were used only to sanction a foreign tyranny; and the batavian republic, reduced to the most hopeless and degraded state, was in fact but a forced appendage chained to the triumphal car of france. napoleon bonaparte, creating by the force of his prodigious talents the circumstances of which inferior minds are but the creatures, now rapidly rose to the topmost height of power. he not only towered above the mass of prejudices which long custom had legalized, but spurned the multitude by whom these prejudices had been overthrown. yet he was not of the first order of great minds; for he wanted that grand principle of self-control which is the supreme attribute of greatness. potent, and almost irresistible in every conflict with others, and only to be vanquished by his own acts, he possessed many of the higher qualities of genius. he was rapid, resolute, and daring, filled with contempt for the littleness of mankind, yet molding every atom which composed that littleness to purposes at utter variance with its nature. in defiance of the first essence of republican theory, he built himself an imperial throne on the crushed privileges of a prostrate people; and he lavished titles and dignities on men raised from its very dregs, with a profusion which made nobility a byword of scorn. kingdoms were created for his brothers and his friends; and the batavian republic was made a monarchy, to give louis a dignity, or at least a title, like the rest. the character of louis bonaparte was gentle and amiable, his manners easy and affable. he entered on his new rank with the best intentions toward the country which he was sent to reign over; and though he felt acutely when the people refused him marks of respect and applause, which was frequently the case, his temper was not soured, and he conceived no resentment. he endeavored to merit popularity; and though his power was scanty, his efforts were not wholly unsuccessful. he labored to revive the ruined trade, which he knew to be the staple of dutch prosperity: but the measures springing from this praiseworthy motive were totally opposed to the policy of napoleon; and in proportion as louis made friends and partisans among his subjects, he excited bitter enmity in his imperial brother. louis was so averse from the continental system, or exclusion of british manufactures, that during his short reign every facility was given to his subjects to elude it, even in defiance of the orders conveyed to him from paris through the medium of the french ambassador at the hague. he imposed no restraints on public opinion, nor would he establish the odious system of espionage cherished by the french police; but he was fickle in his purposes, and prodigal in his expenses. the profuseness of his expenditure was very offensive to the dutch notions of respectability in matters of private finance, and injurious to the existing state of the public means. the tyranny of napoleon became soon quite insupportable to him; so much so, that it is believed that had the ill-fated english expedition to walcheren in succeeded, and the army advanced into the country, he would have declared war against france. after an ineffectual struggle of more than three years, he chose rather to abdicate his throne than retain it under the degrading conditions of proconsulate subserviency. this measure excited considerable regret, and much esteem for the man who preferred the retirement of private life to the meanness of regal slavery. but louis left a galling memento of misplaced magnificence, in an increase of ninety millions of florins (about nine millions sterling) to the already oppressive amount of the national debt of the country. the annexation of holland to the french empire was immediately pronounced by napoleon. two-thirds of the national debt were abolished, the conscription law was introduced, and the berlin and milan decrees against the introduction of british manufactures were rigidly enforced. the nature of the evils inflicted on the dutch people by this annexation and its consequences demand a somewhat minute examination. previous to it all that part of the territory of the former united provinces had been ceded to france. the kingdom of holland consisted of the departments of the zuyder zee, the mouths of the maese, the upper yssel, the mouths of the yssel, friesland, and the western and eastern ems; and the population of the whole did not exceed one million eight hundred thousand souls. when louis abdicated his throne, he left a military and naval force of eighteen thousand men, who were immediately taken into the service of france; and in three years and a half after that event this number was increased to fifty thousand, by the operation of the french naval and military code: thus about a thirty-sixth part of the whole population was employed in arms. the forces included in the maritime conscription were wholly employed in the navy. the national guards were on constant duty in the garrisons or naval establishments. the cohorts were by law only liable to serve in the _interior_ of the french empire--that is to say, from hamburg to rome; but after the russian campaign, this limitation was disregarded, and they formed a part of napoleon's army at the battle of bautzen. the conscription laws now began to be executed with the greatest rigor; and though the strictest justice and impartiality were observed in the ballot and other details of this most oppressive measure, yet it has been calculated that, on an average, nearly one-half of the male population of the age of twenty years was annually taken off. the conscripts were told that their service was not to extend beyond the term of five years; but as few instances occurred of a french soldier being discharged without his being declared unfit for service, it was always considered in holland that the service of a conscript was tantamount to an obligation during life. besides, the regulations respecting the conscription were annually changed, by which means the code became each year more intricate and confused; and as the explanation of any doubt rested with the functionaries, to whom the execution of the law was confided, there was little chance of their constructions mitigating its severity. but the conscription, however galling, was general in its operation. not so the formation of the emperor's guard of honor. the members of this patrician troop were chosen from the most noble and opulent families, particularly those who were deemed inimical to the french connection. the selection depended altogether on the prefect, who was sure to name those most obnoxious to his political or personal dislike, without regard to their rank or occupation, or even the state of their health. no exemption was admitted--not even to those who from mental or bodily infirmity, or other cause, had been declared unfit for general military duty. the victims were forced to the mockery of volunteering their services; obliged to provide themselves with horses, arms, and accoutrements; and when arrived at the depot appointed for their assembling, considered probably but as hostages for the fidelity of their relatives. the various taxes were laid on and levied in the most oppressive manner; those on land usually amounting to twenty-five, and those on houses to thirty per cent of the clear annual rent. other direct taxes were levied on persons and movable property, and all were regulated on a scale of almost intolerable severity. the whole sum annually obtained from holland by these means amounted to about thirty millions of florins (or three million pounds sterling), being at the rate of about one pound thirteen shillings four pence from every soul inhabiting the country. the operation of what was called the continental system created an excess of misery in holland, only to be understood by those who witnessed its lamentable results. in other countries, belgium for instance, where great manufactories existed, the loss of maritime communication was compensated by the exclusion of english goods. in states possessed of large and fertile territories, the population which could no longer be employed in commerce might be occupied in agricultural pursuits. but in holland, whose manufactures were inconsiderable, and whose territory is insufficient to support its inhabitants, the destruction of trade threw innumerable individuals wholly out of employment, and produced a graduated scale of poverty in all ranks. a considerable part of the population had been employed in various branches of the traffic carried on by means of the many canals which conveyed merchandise from the seaports into the interior, and to the different continental markets. when the communication with england was cut off, principals and subordinates were involved in a common ruin. in france, the effect of the continental system was somewhat alleviated by the license trade, the exportation of various productions forced on the rest of continental europe, and the encouragement given to home manufactures. but all this was reversed in holland: the few licenses granted to the dutch were clogged with duties so exorbitant as to make them useless; the duties on one ship which entered the maese, loaded with sugar and coffee, amounting to about fifty thousand pounds sterling. at the same time every means was used to crush the remnant of dutch commerce and sacrifice the country to france. the dutch troops were clothed and armed from french manufactories; the frontiers were opened to the introduction of french commodities duty free; and the dutch manufacturer undersold in his own market. the population of amsterdam was reduced from two hundred and twenty thousand souls to one hundred and ninety thousand, of which a fourth part derived their whole subsistence from charitable institutions, while another fourth part received partial succor from the same sources. at haarlem, where the population had been chiefly employed in bleaching and preparing linen made in brabant, whole streets were levelled with the ground, and more than five hundred houses destroyed. at the hague, at delft, and in other towns, many inhabitants had been induced to pull down their houses, from inability to keep them in repair or pay the taxes. the preservation of the dikes, requiring an annual expense of six hundred thousand pounds sterling, was everywhere neglected. the sea inundated the country, and threatened to resume its ancient dominion. no object of ambition, no source of professional wealth or distinction, remained to which a hollander could aspire. none could voluntarily enter the army or navy, to fight for the worst enemy of holland. the clergy were not provided with a decent competency. the ancient laws of the country, so dear to its pride and its prejudices, were replaced by the code napoleon; so that old practitioners had to recommence their studies, and young men were disgusted with the drudgery of learning a system which was universally pronounced unfit for a commercial country. independent of this mass of positive ill, it must be borne in mind that in holland trade was not merely a means of gaining wealth, but a passion long and deeply grafted on the national mind: so that the dutch felt every aggravation of calamity, considering themselves degraded and sacrificed by a power which had robbed them of all which attaches a people to their native land; and, for an accumulated list of evils, only offered them the empty glory of appertaining to the country which gave the law to all the nations of europe, with the sole exception of england. those who have considered the events noted in this history for the last two hundred years, and followed the fluctuations of public opinion depending on prosperity or misfortune, will have anticipated that, in the present calamitous state of the country, all eyes were turned toward the family whose memory was revived by every pang of slavery, and associated with every throb for freedom. the presence of the prince of orange, william iv., who had, on the death of his father, succeeded to the title, though he had lost the revenues of his ancient house, and the re-establishment of the connection with england, were now the general desire. some of the principal partisans of the house of nassau were for some time in correspondence with his most serene highness. the leaders of the various parties into which the country was divided became by degrees more closely united. approaches toward a better understanding were reciprocally made; and they ended in a general anxiety for the expulsion of the french, with the establishment of a free constitution, and a cordial desire that the prince of orange should be at its head. it may be safely affirmed, that, at the close of the year , these were the unanimous wishes of the dutch nation. napoleon, lost in the labyrinths of his exorbitant ambition, afforded at length a chance of redress to the nations he had enslaved. elevated so suddenly and so high, he seemed suspended between two influences, and unfit for either. he might, in a moral view, be said to have breathed badly, in a station which was beyond the atmosphere of his natural world, without being out of its attraction; and having reached the pinnacle, he soon lost his balance and fell. driven from russia by the junction of human with elemental force, in , he made some grand efforts in the following year to recover from his irremediable reverses. the battles of bautzen and lutzen were the expiring efforts of his greatness. that of leipzig put a fatal negative upon the hopes that sprang from the two former; and the obstinate ambition, which at this epoch made him refuse the most liberal offers of the allies, was justly punished by humiliation and defeat. almost all the powers of europe now leagued against him; and france itself being worn out by his wasteful expenditure of men and money, he had no longer a chance in resistance. the empire was attacked at all points. the french troops in holland were drawn off to reinforce the armies in distant directions; and the whole military force in that country scarcely exceeded ten thousand men. the advance of the combined armies toward the frontiers became generally known: parties of cossacks had entered the north of holland in november, and were scouring the country beyond the yssel. the moment for action on the part of the dutch confederate patriots had now arrived; and it was not lost or neglected. a people inured to revolutions for upward of two centuries, filled with proud recollections, and urged on by well-digested hopes, were the most likely to understand the best period and the surest means for success. an attempt that might have appeared to other nations rash was proved to be wise, both by the reasonings of its authors and its own results. the intolerable tyranny of france had made the population not only ripe, but eager for revolt. this disposition was acted on by a few enterprising men, at once partisans of the house of orange and patriots in the truest sense of the word. it would be unjust to omit the mention of some of their names in even this sketch of the events which sprang from their courage and sagacity. count styrum, messieurs repelaer d'jonge, van hogendorp, vander duyn van maasdam, and changuion, were the chiefs of the intrepid junta which planned and executed the bold measures of enfranchisement, and drew up the outlines of the constitution which was afterward enlarged and ratified. their first movements at the hague were totally unsupported by foreign aid. their early checks from the exasperated french and their overcautious countrymen would have deterred most men embarked in so perilous a venture; but they never swerved nor shrank back. at the head of a force, which courtesy and policy called an army, of three hundred national guards badly armed, fifty citizens carrying fowling-pieces, fifty soldiers of the old dutch guard, four hundred auxiliary citizens armed with pikes, and a cavalry force of twenty young men, the confederates oddly proclaimed the prince of orange, on the th of november, , in their open village of the hague, and in the teeth of a french force of full ten thousand men, occupying every fortress in the country. while a few gentlemen thus boldly came forward, at their own risk, with no funds but their private fortunes, and only aided by an unarmed populace, to declare war against the french emperor, they did not even know the residence of the exiled prince in whose cause they were now so completely compromised. the other towns of holland were in a state of the greatest incertitude: rotterdam had not moved; and the intentions of admiral kickert, who commanded there, were (mistakenly) supposed to be decidedly hostile to the national cause. amsterdam had, on the preceding day, been the scene of a popular commotion, which, however, bore no decided character; the rioters having been fired on by the national guard, no leader coming forward, and the proclamation of the magistrates cautiously abstaining from any allusion to the prince of orange. a brave officer, captain falck, had made use of many strong but inefficient arguments to prevail on the timid corporation to declare for the prince; the presence of a french garrison of sixty men seeming sufficient to preserve their patriotism from any violent excess. the subsequent events at the hague furnish an inspiring lesson for all people who would learn that to be free they must be resolute and daring. the only hope of the confederates was from the british government, and the combined armies then acting in the north of europe. but many days were to be lingered through before troops could be embarked, and make their way from england in the teeth of the easterly winds then prevailing; while a few cossacks, hovering on the confines of holland, gave the only evidence of the proximity of the allied forces. in this crisis, it was most fortunate that the french prefect at the hague, m. de stassart, had stolen away on the earliest alarm; and the french garrison of four hundred chasseurs, aided by one hundred well-armed custom-house officers, under the command of general bouvier des eclats, caught the contagious fears of the civil functionary. this force had retired to the old palace--a building in the centre of the town, the depot of all the arms and ammunition then at the hague, and, from its position, capable of some defence. but the general and his garrison soon felt a complete panic from the bold attitude of count styrum, who made the most of his little means, and kept up, during the night, a prodigious clatter by his twenty horsemen; sentinels challenging, amid incessant singing and shouting, cries of "oranje boven!" "vivat oranje!" and clamorous patrols of the excited citizens. at an early hour on the th, the french general demanded terms, and obtained permission to retire on gorcum, his garrison being escorted as far as the village of ryswyk by the twenty cavaliers who composed the whole mounted force of the patriots. unceasing efforts were now made to remedy the want of arms and men. a quantity of pikes were rudely made and distributed to the volunteers who crowded in; and numerous fishing-boats were despatched in different directions to inform the british cruisers of the passing events. an individual named pronck, an inhabitant of schævening, a village of the coast, rendered great services in this way, from his influence among the sailors and fishermen in the neighborhood. the confederates spared no exertion to increase the confidence of the people under many contradictory and disheartening contingencies. an officer who had been despatched for advice and information to baron bentinck, at zwolle, who was in communication with the allies, returned with the discouraging news that general bulow had orders not to pass the yssel, the allies having decided not to advance into holland beyond the line of that river. a meeting of the ancient regents of the hague was convoked by the proclamation of the confederates, and took place at the house of mr. van hogendorp, the ancient residence of the de witts. the wary magistrates absolutely refused all co-operation in the daring measures of the confederates, who had now the whole responsibility on their heads, with little to cheer them on in their perilous career but their own resolute hearts and the recollection of those days when their ancestors, with odds as fearfully against them, rose up and shivered to atoms the yoke of their oppressors. some days of intense anxiety now elapsed; and various incidents occurred to keep up the general excitement. reinforcements came gradually in; no hostile measure was resorted to by the french troops; yet the want of success, as rapid as was proportioned to the first movements of the revolution, threw a gloom over all. amsterdam and rotterdam still held back; but the nomination of messrs. van hogendorp and vander duyn van maasdam to be heads of the government, until the arrival of the prince of orange, and a formal abjuration of the emperor napoleon, inspired new vigor into the public mind. two nominal armies were formed, and two generals appointed to the command; and it is impossible to resist a smile of mingled amusement and admiration on reading the exact statement of the forces, so pompously and so effectively announced as forming the armies of utrecht and gorcum. the first of these, commanded by major-general d'jonge, consisted of three hundred infantry, thirty-two volunteer cavalry, with two eight-pounders. the latter, under the orders of major-general sweertz van landas, was composed of two hundred and fifty of the hague orange guard, thirty prussian deserters from the french garrison, three hundred volunteers, forty cavalry, with two eight-pounders. the "army of gorcum" marched on the d on rotterdam: its arrival was joyfully hailed by the people, who contributed three hundred volunteers to swell its ranks. the "army of utrecht" advanced on leyden, and raised the spirits of the people by the display of even so small a force. but still the contrary winds kept back all appearance of succor from england, and the enemy was known to meditate a general attack on the patriot lines from amsterdam to dordrecht. the bad state of the roads still retarded the approach of the far-distant armies of the allies; alarms, true and false, were spread on all hands--when the appearance of three hundred cossacks, detached from the russian armies beyond the yssel, prevailed over the hesitation of amsterdam and the other towns, and they at length declared for the prince of orange. but this somewhat tardy determination seemed to be the signal for various petty events, which at an epoch like that were magnified into transactions of the most fatal import. a reinforcement of one thousand five hundred french troops reached gorcum from antwerp: a detachment of twenty-five dutch, with a piece of cannon, were surprised at one of the outposts of woerden, which had been previously evacuated by the french, and the recapture of the town was accompanied by some excesses. the numbers and the cruelties of the enemy were greatly exaggerated. consternation began to spread all over the country. the french, who seemed to have recovered from their panic, had resumed on all sides offensive operations. the garrison of gorcum made a sortie, repulsed the force under general van landas, entered the town of dordrecht, and levied contributions; but the inhabitants soon expelled them, and the army was enabled to resume its position. still the wind continued adverse to arrivals from the english coast; the cossacks, so often announced, had not yet reached the hague; and the small unsupported parties in the neighborhood of amsterdam were in daily danger of being cut off. in this crisis the confederates were placed in a most critical position. on the eve of failure, and with the certainty, in such a result, of being branded as rebels and zealots, whose rashness had drawn down ruin on themselves, their families, and their country, it required no common share of fortitude to bear up against the danger that threatened them. aware of its extent, they calmly and resolutely opposed it; and each seemed to vie with the others in energy and firmness. the anxiety of the public had reached the utmost possible height. every shifting of the wind was watched with nervous agitation. the road from the hague to the sea was constantly covered with a crowd of every age and sex. each sail that came in sight was watched and examined with intense interest; and at length, on the th of november, a small boat was seen to approach the shore, and the inquiring glances of the observers soon discovered that it contained an englishman. this individual, who had come over on a mercantile adventure, landed amid the loudest acclamation, and was conducted by the populace in triumph to the governor's. dressed in an english volunteer uniform, he showed himself in every part of the town, to the great delight of the people, who hailed him as the precursor and type of an army of deliverers. the french soon retreated before the marvellous exaggerations which the coming of this single englishman gave rise to. the dutch displayed great ability in the transmission of false intelligence to the enemy. on the th mr. fagel arrived from england with a letter from the prince of orange, announcing his immediate coming; and finally, the disembarkation of two hundred english marines, on the th, was followed the next day by the landing of the prince, whose impatience to throw himself into the open arms of his country made him spurn every notion of risk and every reproach for rashness. he was received with indescribable enthusiasm. the generous flame rushed through the whole country. no bounds were set to the affectionate confidence of the nation, and no prince ever gave a nobler example of gratitude. as the people everywhere proclaimed william i. sovereign prince, it was proposed that he should everywhere assume that title. it was, however, after some consideration, decided that no step of this nature should be taken till his most serene highness had visited the capital. on the st of december the prince issued a proclamation to his countrymen, in which he states his hopes of becoming, by the blessing of providence, the means of restoring them to their former state of independence and prosperity. "this," continued he, "is my only object; and i have the satisfaction of assuring you that it is also the object of the combined powers. this is particularly the wish of the prince regent and the british nation; and it will be proved to you by the succor which that powerful people will immediately afford you, and which will, i hope, restore those ancient bonds of alliance and friendship which were a source of prosperity and happiness to both countries." this address being distributed at amsterdam, a proclamation, signed by the commissioners of the confederate patriots, was published there the same day. it contained the following passages, remarkable as being the first authentic declaration of the sovereignty subsequently conferred on the prince of orange: "the uncertainty which formerly existed as to the executive power will no longer paralyze your efforts. it is not william, the sixth stadtholder, whom the nation recalls, without knowing what to hope or expect from him; but william i. who offers himself as sovereign prince of this free country." the following day, the d of december, the prince made his entry into amsterdam. he did not, like some other sovereigns, enter by a breach through the constitutional liberties of his country, in imitation of the conquerors from the olympic games, who returned to the city by a breach in its walls: he went forward borne on the enthusiastic greetings of his fellow-countrymen, and meeting their confidence by a full measure of magnanimity. on the d of december he published an address, from which we shall quote one paragraph: "you desire, netherlands! that i should be intrusted with a greater share of power than i should have possessed but for my absence. your confidence, your affection, offer me the sovereignty; and i am called upon to accept it, since the state of my country and the situation of europe require it. i accede to your wishes. i overlook the difficulties which may attend such a measure; i accept the offer which you have made me; but i accept it only on one condition--that it shall be accompanied by a wise constitution, which shall guarantee your liberties and secure them against every attack. my ancestors sowed the seeds of your independence: the preservation of that independence shall be the constant object of the efforts of myself and those around me." chapter xxiii from the installation of william i. as prince sovereign of the netherlands to the battle of waterloo a.d. -- the regeneration of holland was rapid and complete. within four months, an army of twenty-five thousand men was raised; and in the midst of financial, judicial, and commercial arrangements, the grand object of the constitution was calmly and seriously debated. a committee, consisting of fourteen persons of the first importance in the several provinces, furnished the result of three months' labors in the plan of a political code, which was immediately printed and published for the consideration of the people at large. twelve hundred names were next chosen from among the most respectable householders in the different towns and provinces, including persons of every religious persuasion, whether jews or christians. a special commission was then formed, who selected from this number six hundred names; and every housekeeper was called on to give his vote for or against their election. a large majority of the six hundred notables thus chosen met at amsterdam on the th of march, . the following day they assembled with an immense concourse of people in the great church, which was splendidly fitted up for the occasion; and then and there the prince, in an impressive speech, solemnly offered the constitution for acceptance or rejection. after a few hours' deliberation, a discharge of artillery announced to the anxious population that the constitution had been accepted. the numbers present were four hundred and eighty-three, and the votes as follows: ayes, four hundred and fifty-eight; noes, twenty-five. there were one hundred and seventeen members absent; several of these were kept away by unavoidable obstacles. the majority among them was considered as dissentients; but it was calculated that if the whole body of six hundred had voted, the adoption of the constitution would have been carried by a majority of five-sixths. the dissentients chiefly objected to the power of declaring war and concluding treaties of peace being vested in the sovereign. some individuals urged that the protestant interest was endangered by the admission of persons of every persuasion to all public offices; and the catholics complained that the state did not sufficiently contribute to the support of their religious establishments. such objections as these were to be expected, from individual interest or sectarian prejudices. but they prove that the whole plan was fairly considered and solemnly adopted; that so far from being the dictation of a government, it was the freely chosen charter of the nation at large, offered and sworn to by the prince, whose authority was only exerted in restraining and modifying the overardent generosity and confidence of the people. only one day more elapsed before the new sovereign was solemnly inaugurated, and took the oath prescribed by the constitution: "i swear that first and above all things i will maintain the constitution of the united netherlands, and that i will promote, to the utmost of my power, the independence of the state and the liberty and prosperity of its inhabitants." in the eloquent simplicity of this pledge, the dutch nation found an ample guarantee for their freedom and happiness. with their characteristic wisdom and moderation, they saw that the obligation it imposed embraced everything they could demand; and they joined in the opinion expressed by the sovereign in his inaugural address, that "no greater degree of liberty could be desired by rational subjects, nor any larger share of power by the sovereign, than that allotted to them respectively by the political code." while holland thus resumed its place among free nations, and france was restored to the bourbons by the abdication of napoleon, the allied armies had taken possession of and occupied the remainder of the low countries, or those provinces distinguished by the name of belgium (but then still forming departments of the french empire), and the provisional government was vested in baron vincent, the austrian general. this choice seemed to indicate an intention of restoring austria to her ancient domination over the country. such was certainly the common opinion among those who had no means of penetrating the secrets of european policy at that important epoch. it was, in fact, quite conformable to the principle of _statu_quo_ante_bellum_, adopted toward france. baron vincent himself seemed to have been impressed with the false notion; and there did not exist a doubt throughout belgium of the re-establishment of the old institutions. but the intentions of the allied powers were of a nature far different. the necessity of a consolidated state capable of offering a barrier to french aggression on the flemish frontier was evident to the various powers who had so long suffered from its want. by england particularly, such a field was required for the operations of her armies; and it was also to the interest of that nation that holland, whose welfare and prosperity are so closely connected with her own, should enjoy the blessings of national independence and civil liberty, guaranteed by internal strength as well as friendly alliances. the treaty of paris ( th may, ), was the first act which gave an open manifestation of this principle. it was stipulated by its sixth article; that "holland, placed under the sovereignty of the house of orange, should receive an increase of territory." in this was explained the primitive notion of the creation of the kingdom of the netherlands, based on the necessity of augmenting the power of a nation which was destined to turn the balance between france and germany. the following month witnessed the execution of the treaty of london, which prescribed the precise nature of the projected increase. it was wholly decided, without subjecting the question to the approbation of belgium, that that country and holland should form one united state; and the rules of government in the chief branches of its administration were completely fixed. the prince of orange and the plenipotentiaries of the great allied powers covenanted by this treaty: first, that the union of the two portions forming the kingdom of the netherlands should be as perfect as possible, forming one state, governed in conformity with the fundamental law of holland, which might be modified by common consent; secondly, that religious liberty, and the equal right of citizens of all persuasions to fill all the employments of the state, should be maintained; thirdly, that the belgian provinces should be fairly represented in the assembly of the states-general, and that the sessions of the states in time of peace should be held alternately in belgium and in holland; fourthly and fifthly, that all the commercial privileges of the country should be common to the citizens at large; that the dutch colonies should be considered as belonging equally to belgium; and, finally, that the public debt of the two countries, and the expenses of its interest, should be borne in common. we shall now briefly recapitulate some striking points in the materials which were thus meant to be amalgamated. holland, wrenched from the spanish yoke by the genius and courage of the early princes of orange, had formed for two centuries an independent republic, to which the extension of maritime commerce had given immense wealth. the form of government was remarkable. it was composed of seven provinces, mutually independent of each other. these provinces possessed during the middle ages constitutions nearly similar to that of england: a sovereign with limited power; representatives of the nobles and commons, whose concurrence with the prince was necessary for the formation of laws; and, finally, the existence of municipal privileges, which each town preserved and extended by means of its proper force. this state of things had known but one alteration--but that a mighty one--the forfeiture of philip ii. at the latter end of the sixteenth century, and the total abolition of monarchical power. the remaining forms of the government were hardly altered; so that the state was wholly regulated by its ancient usages; and, like some gothic edifice, its beauty and solidity were perfectly original, and different from the general rules and modern theories of surrounding nations. the country loved its liberty such as it found it, and not in the fashion of any utopian plan traced by some new-fangled system of political philosophy. inherently protestant and commercial, the dutch abhorred every yoke but that of their own laws, of which they were proud even in their abuse. they held in particular detestation all french customs, in remembrance of the wretchedness they had suffered from french tyranny; they had unbounded confidence in the house of orange, from long experience of its hereditary virtues. the main strength of holland was, in fact, in its recollections; but these, perhaps, generated a germ of discontent, in leading it to expect a revival of all the influence it had lost, and was little likely to recover, in the total change of systems and the variations of trade. there nevertheless remained sufficient capital in the country, and the people were sufficiently enlightened, to give just and extensive hope for the future which now dawned on them. the obstacles offered by the dutch character to the proposed union were chiefly to be found in the dogmatical opinions, consequent on the isolation of the country from all the principles that actuated other states, and particularly that with which it was now joined: while long-cherished sentiments of opposition to the catholic religion was little likely to lead to feelings of accommodation and sympathy with its new fellow-citizens. the inhabitants of belgium, accustomed to foreign domination, were little shocked by the fact of the allied powers having disposed of their fate with consulting their wishes. but they were not so indifferent to the double discovery of finding themselves the subjects of a dutch and a protestant king. without entering at large into any invidious discussion on the causes of the natural jealousy which they felt toward holland, it may suffice to state that such did exist, and in no very moderate degree. the countries had hitherto had but little community of interests with each other; and they formed elements so utterly discordant as to afford but slight hope that they would speedily coalesce. the lower classes of the belgian population were ignorant as well as superstitious (not that these two qualities are to be considered as inseparable); and if they were averse to the dutch, they were perhaps not more favorably disposed to the french and austrians. the majority of the nobles may be said to have leaned more, at this period, to the latter than to either of the other two peoples. but the great majority of the industrious and better informed portions of the middle orders felt differently from the other two, because they had found tangible and positive advantages in their subjection to france, which overpowered every sentiment of political degradation. we thus see there was little sympathy between the members of the national family. the first glance at the geographical position of holland and belgium might lead to a belief that their interests were analogous. but we have traced the anomalies in government and religion in the two countries, which led to totally different pursuits and feelings. holland had sacrificed manufactures to commerce. the introduction, duty free, of grain from the northern parts of europe, though checking the progress of agriculture, had not prevented it to flourish marvellously, considering this obstacle to culture; and, faithful to their traditional notions, the dutch saw the elements of well-being only in that liberty of importation which had made their harbors the marts and magazines of europe. but the belgian, to use the expressions of an acute and well-informed writer, "restricted in the thrall of a less liberal religion, is bounded in the narrow circle of his actual locality. concentrated in his home, he does not look beyond the limits of his native land, which he regards exclusively. incurious, and stationary in a happy existence, he has no interest in what passes beyond his own doors." totally unaccustomed to the free principles of trade, so cherished by the dutch, the belgians had found under the protection of the french custom-house laws, an internal commerce and agricultural advantages which composed their peculiar prosperity. they found a consumption for the produce of their well-cultivated lands, at high prices, in the neighboring provinces of france. the webs woven by the belgian peasantry, and generally all the manufactures of the country, met no rivalry from those of england, which were strictly prohibited; and being commonly superior to those of france, the sale was sure and the profit considerable. belgium was as naturally desirous of the state of things as holland was indifferent to it; but in could only have been accomplished by the destruction of free trade, and the exclusive protection of internal manufactures. under such discrepancies as we have thus traced in religion, character, and local interests, the two countries were made one; and on the new monarch devolved the hard and delicate task of reconciling each party in the ill-assorted match, and inspiring them with sentiments of mutual moderation. under the title of governor-general of the netherlands (for his intended elevation to the throne and the definitive junction of holland and belgium were still publicly unknown), the prince of orange repaired to his new state. he arrived at brussels in the month of august, , and his first effort was to gain the hearts and the confidence of the people, though he saw the nobles and the higher orders of the inferior classes (with the exception of the merchants) intriguing all around him for the re-establishment of the austrian power. petitions on this subject were printed and distributed; and the models of those anti-national documents may still be referred to in a work published at the time.[ ] [footnote : history of the low countries, by st. genoist.] as soon as the moment came for promulgating the decision of the sovereign powers as to the actual extent of the new kingdom--that is to say, in the month of february, --the whole plan was made public; and a commission, consisting of twenty-seven members, dutch and belgian, was formed, to consider the modifications necessary in the fundamental law of holland, in pursuance of the stipulation of the treaty of london. after due deliberation these modifications were formed, and the great political pact was completed for the final acceptance of the king and people. as a document so important merits particular consideration, in reference to the formation of the new monarchy, we shall briefly condense the reasonings of the most impartial and well-informed classes in the country on the constitution now about to be framed. every one agreed that some radical change in the whole form of government was necessary, and that its main improvement should be the strengthening of the executive power. that possessed by the former stadtholders of holland was often found to be too much for the chief of a republic, too little for the head of a monarchy. the assembly of the states-general, as of old constructed, was defective in many points; in none so glaringly as in that condition which required unanimity in questions of peace or war, and in the provision, from which they had no power to swerve, that all the taxes should be uniform. both these stipulations were, of sheer necessity, continually disregarded; so that the government could be carried on at all only by repeated violations of the constitution. in order to excuse measures dictated by this necessity, each stadtholder was perpetually obliged to form partisans, and he thus became the hereditary head of a faction. his legitimate power was trifling: but his influence was capable of fearful increase; for the principle which allowed him to infringe the constitution, even on occasions of public good, might be easily warped into a pretext for encroachments that had no bounds but his own will. besides, the preponderance of the deputies from the commercial towns in the states-general caused the others to become mere ciphers in times of peace; only capable of clogging the march of affairs, and of being, on occasions of civil dissensions, the mere tools of whatever party possessed the greatest tact in turning them to their purpose. hence a wide field was open to corruption. uncertainty embarrassed every operation of the government. the hague became an arena for the conflicting intrigues of every court in europe. holland was dragged into almost every war; and thus, gradually weakened from its rank among independent nations, it at length fell an easy prey to the french invaders. to prevent the recurrence of such evils as those, and to establish a kingdom on the solid basis of a monarchy, unequivocal in its essence yet restrained in its prerogative, the constitution we are now examining was established. according to the report of the commissioners who framed it, "it is founded on the manners and habits of the nation, on its public economy and its old institutions, with a disregard for the ephemeral constitutions of the age. it is not a mere abstraction, more or less ingenious, but a law adapted to the state of the country in the nineteenth century. it did not reconstruct what was worn out by time; but it revived all that was worth preserving. in such a system of laws and institutions well adapted to each other, the members of the commission belonging to the belgian provinces recognized the basis of their ancient charters, and the principles of their former liberty. they found no difficulty in adapting this law, so as to make it common to the two nations, united by ties which had been broken only for their own misfortune and that of europe, and which it was once more the interest of europe to render indissoluble." the news of the elevation of william i. to the throne was received in the dutch provinces with great joy, in as far as it concerned him personally; but a joy considerably tempered by doubt and jealousy, as regarded their junction with a country sufficiently large to counterbalance holland, oppose interests to interests, and people to people. national pride and oversanguine expectations prevented a calm judgment on the existing state of europe, and on the impossibility of holland, in its ancient limits, maintaining the influence which it was hoped it would acquire. in belgium the formation of the new monarchy excited the most lively sensation. the clergy and the nobility were considerably agitated and not slightly alarmed; the latter fearing the resentment of the king for their avowed predilection in favor of austria, and perceiving the destruction of every hope of aristocratical domination. the more elevated of the middle clases also saw an end to their exclusive occupation of magisterial and municipal employments. the manufacturers, great and small, saw the ruin of monopoly staring them in the face. the whole people took fright at the weight of the dutch debt, which was considerably greater than that of belgium. no one seemed to look beyond the present moment. the advantage of colonial possessions seemed remote and questionable to those who possessed no maritime commerce; and the pride of national independence was foreign to the feelings of those who had never yet tasted its blessings. it was in this state of public feeling that intelligence was received in march, , of the reappearance in france of the emperor napoleon. at the head of three hundred men he had taken the resolution, without parallel even among the grandest of his own powerful conceptions, of invading a country containing thirty millions of people, girded by the protecting armies of coalesced europe, and imbued, beyond all doubt, with an almost general objection to the former despot who now put his foot on its shores, with imperial pretensions only founded on the memory of his bygone glory. his march to paris was a miracle; and the vigor of his subsequent measures redeems the ambitious imbecility with which he had hurried on the catastrophe of his previous fall. the flight of louis xviii. from paris was the sure signal to the kingdom of the netherlands, in which he took refuge, that it was about to become the scene of another contest for the life or death of despotism. had the invasion of belgium, which now took place, been led on by one of the bourbon family, it is probable that the priesthood, the people, and even the nobility, would have given it not merely a negative support. but the name of napoleon was a bugbear for every class; and the efforts of the king and government, which met with most enthusiastic support in the northern provinces, were seconded with zeal and courage by the rest of the kingdom. the national force was soon in the field, under the command of the prince of orange, the king's eldest son, and heir-apparent to the throne for which he now prepared to fight. his brother, prince frederick, commanded a division under him. the english army, under the duke of wellington, occupied brussels and the various cantonments in its neighborhood; and the prussians, commanded by prince blucher, were in readiness to co-operate with their allies on the first movement of the invaders. napoleon, hurrying from paris to strike some rapid and decisive blow, passed the sambre on the th of june, at the head of the french army, one hundred and fifty thousand strong, driving the prussians before him beyond charleroi and back on the plain of fleurus with some loss. on the th was fought the bloody battle of ligny, in which the prussians sustained a decided defeat; but they retreated in good order on the little river lys, followed by marshal grouchy with thirty thousand men detached by napoleon in their pursuit. on the same day the british advanced position at quatre bras, and the _corps_d'armée_ commanded by the prince of orange, were fiercely attacked by marshal ney; a battalion of belgian infantry and a brigade of horse artillery having been engaged in a skirmish the preceding evening at frasnes with the french advanced troops. the affair of quatre bras was sustained with admirable firmness by the allied english and netherland forces, against an enemy infinitely superior in number, and commanded by one of the best generals in france. the prince of orange, with only nine thousand men, maintained his position till three o'clock in the afternoon, despite the continual attacks of marshal ney, who commanded the left of the french army, consisting of forty-three thousand men. but the interest of this combat, and the details of the loss in killed and wounded, are so merged in the succeeding battle, which took place on the th, that they form in most minds a combination of exploits which the interval of a day can scarcely be considered to have separated. the th was occupied by a retrograde movement of the allied army, directed by the duke of wellington, for the purpose of taking its stand on the position he had previously fixed on for the pitched battle, the decisive nature of which his determined foresight had anticipated. several affairs between the french and english cavalry took place during this movement; and it is pretty well established that the enemy, flushed with the victory over blucher of the preceding day, were deceived by this short retreat of wellington, and formed a very mistaken notion of its real object, or of the desperate reception destined for the morrow's attack. the battle of waterloo has been over and over described and profoundly felt, until its records may be said to exist in the very hearts and memories of the nations. the fiery valor of the assault, and the unshakable firmness of the resistance, are perhaps without parallel in the annals of war. the immense stake depending on the result, the grandeur of napoleon's isolated efforts against the flower of the european forces, and the awful responsibility resting on the head of their great leader, give to this conflict a romantic sublimity, unshared by all the manoeuvring of science in a hundred commonplace combats of other wars. it forms an epoch in the history of battles. it is to the full as memorable, as an individual event, as it is for the consequences which followed it. it was fought by no rules, and gained by no tactics. it was a fair stand-up fight on level ground, where downright manly courage was alone to decide the issue. this derogates in nothing from the splendid talents and deep knowledge of the rival commanders. their reputation for all the intricate qualities of generalship rests on the broad base of previous victories. this day was to be won by strength of nerve and steadiness of heart; and a moral grandeur is thrown over its result by the reflection that human skill had little to do where so much was left to providence. we abstain from entering on details of the battle. it is enough to state that throughout the day the troops of the netherlands sustained the character for courage which so many centuries had established. various opinions have gone forth as to the conduct of the belgian troops on this memorable occasion. isolated instances were possibly found, among a mass of several thousands, of that nervous weakness which neither the noblest incitements nor the finest examples can conquer. old associations and feelings not effaced might have slackened the efforts of a few, directed against former comrades or personal friends whom the stern necessity of politics had placed in opposing ranks. raw troops might here and there have shrunk from attacks the most desperate on record; but that the great principle of public duty, on grounds purely national, pervaded the army, is to be found in the official reports of its loss; two thousand and fifty-eight men killed and one thousand nine hundred and thirty-six wounded prove indelibly that the troops of the netherlands had their full share in the honor of the day. the victory was cemented by the blood of the prince of orange, who stood the brunt of the fight with his gallant soldiers. his conduct was conformable to the character of his whole race, and to his own reputation during a long series of service with the british army in the spanish peninsula. he stood bravely at the head of his troops during the murderous conflict; or, like wellington, in whose school he was formed and whose example was beside him, rode from rank to rank and column to column, inspiring his men by the proofs of his untiring courage. several anecdotes are related of the prince's conduct throughout the day. one is remarkable as affording an example of those pithy epigrams of the battlefield with which history abounds, accompanied by an act that speaks a fine knowledge of the soldier's heart. on occasion of one peculiarly desperate charge, the prince, hurried on by his ardor, was actually in the midst of the french, and was in the greatest danger; when a belgian battalion rushed forward, and, after a fierce struggle, repulsed the enemy and disengaged the prince. in the impulse of his admiration and gratitude, he tore from his breast one of those decorations gained by his own conduct on some preceding occasion, and flung it among the battalion, calling out, "take it, take it, my lads! you have all earned it!" this decoration was immediately grappled for, and tied to the regimental standard, amid loud shouts of "long live the prince!" and vows to defend the trophy, in the very utterance of which many a brave fellow received the stroke of death. a short time afterward, and just half an hour before that terrible charge of the whole line, which decided the victory, the prince was struck by a musket-ball in the left shoulder. he was carried from the field, and conveyed that evening to brussels, in the same cart with one of his wounded aides-de-camp, supported by another, and displaying throughout as much indifference to pain as he had previously shown contempt of danger. the battle of waterloo consolidated the kingdom of the netherlands. the wound of the prince of orange was perhaps one of the most fortunate that was ever received by an individual, or sympathized in by a nation. to a warlike people, wavering in their allegiance, this evidence of the prince's valor acted like a talisman against disaffection. the organization of the kingdom was immediately proceeded on. the commission, charged with the revision of the fundamental law, and the modification required by the increase of territory, presented its report on the st of july. the inauguration of the king took place at brussels on the st of september, in presence of the states-general: and the ceremony received additional interest from the appearance of the sovereign supported by his two sons who had so valiantly fought for the rights he now swore to maintain; the heir to the crown yet bearing his wounded arm in a scarf, and showing in his countenance the marks of recent suffering. the constitution was finally accepted by the nation, and the principles of the government were stipulated and fixed in one grand view--that of the union, and, consequently, the force of the new state. it has been asked by a profound and sagacious inquirer, or at least the question is put forth on undoubted authority in his name, "why did england create for herself a difficulty, and what will be by and by a natural enemy, in uniting holland and belgium, in place of managing those two immense resources to her commerce by keeping them separate? for holland, without manufactures, was the natural mart for those of england, while belgium under an english prince had been the route for constantly inundating france and germany." so asked napoleon, and england may answer and justify her conduct so impugned, on principles consistent with the general wishes and the common good of europe. the discussion of the question is foreign to our purpose, which is to trace the circumstances, not to argue on the policy, that led to the formation of the netherlands as they now exist. but it appears that the different integral parts of the nation were amalgamated from deep-formed designs for their mutual benefit. belgium was not given to holland, as the already-cited article of the treaty of paris might at first sight seem to imply; nor was holland allotted to belgium. but they were grafted together, with all the force of legislative wisdom; not that one might be dominant and the other oppressed, but that both should bend to form an arch of common strength, able to resist the weight of such invasions as had perpetually periled, and often crushed, their separate independence. supplementary chapter a.d. -- in the preceding chapters we have seen the history of holland carried down to the treaty which joined together what are now known as the separate countries of holland and belgium. and it is at this point that the interest of the subject for the historian practically ceases. the historian differs from the annalist in this--that he selects for treatment those passages in the career of nations which possess a dramatic form and unity, and therefore convey lessons for moral guidance, or for constituting a basis for reasonable prognostications of the future. but there are in the events of the world many tracts of country (as we might term them) which have no special character or apparent significance, and which therefore, though they may extend over many years in time, are dismissed with bare mention in the pages of the historian; just as, in travelling by rail, the tourist will keep his face at the window only when the scenery warrants it; at other times composing himself to other occupations. the scenery of dutch history has episodes as stirring and instructive as those of any civilized people since history began; but it reached its dramatic and moral apogee when the independence of the united netherlands was acknowledged by spain. the netherlands then reached their loftiest pinnacle of power and prosperity; their colonial possessions were vast and rich; their reputation as guardians of liberty and the rights of man was foremost in the world. but further than this they could not go; and the moment when a people ceases to advance may generally be regarded as the moment when, relatively speaking at least, it begins to go backward. the dutch could in no sense become the masters of europe; not only was their domain too small, but it was geographically at a disadvantage with the powerful and populous nations neighboring it, and it was compelled ever to fight for its existence against the attacks of nature itself. the stormy waves of the north sea were ever moaning and threatening at the gates, and ever and anon a breach would be made, and the labor of generations annulled. holland could never enter upon a career of conquest, like france or russia; neither could she assume the great part which britain has played; for although the character of the dutchmen is in many respects as strong and sound as that of the english, and in some ways its superior, yet the dutch had not been dowered with a sea-defended isle for their habitation, which might enable them to carry out enterprises abroad without the distraction and weakness involved in maintaining adequate guards at home. they were mighty in self-defence and in resistance against tyranny; and they were unsurpassed in those virtues and qualities which go to make a nation rich and orderly; but aggression could not be for them. they took advantage of their season of power to confirm themselves in the ownership of lands in the extreme east and in the west, which should be a continual source of revenue; but they could do no more; and they wasted not a little treasure and strength in preserving what they had gained, or a part of it, from the grasp of others. but this was the sum of their possibility; they could not presume to dictate terms to the world; and the consequence was that they gradually ceased to be a considered factor in the european problem. in some respects, their territorial insignificance, while it prevented them from aggressive action, preserved them from aggression; their domain was not worth conquering, and again its conquest could not be accomplished by any nation without making others uneasy and jealous. they became, like switzerland, and unlike poland and hungary, a neutral region, which it was for the interest of europe at large to let alone. none cared to meddle with them; and, on the other hand, they had native virtue and force enough to resist being absorbed into other peoples; the character of the dutch is as distinct to-day as ever it had been. their language, their literature, their art, and their personal traits, are unimpaired. they are, in their own degree, remarkably prosperous and comfortable; and they have the good sense to be content with their condition. they are liberal and progressive, and yet conservative; they are even with modern ideas as regards education and civilization, and yet the tourist within their boundaries continually finds himself reminded of their past. the costumes and the customs of the mass of the people have undergone singularly little change; they mind their own affairs, and are wisely indifferent to the affairs of others. both as importers and as exporters they are useful to the world, and if the prophecies of those who foretell a general clash of the european powers should be fulfilled, it is likely that the dutch will be onlookers merely, or perhaps profit by the misfortunes of their neighbors to increase their own well-being. as we have seen in the foregoing pages, belgium did not unite with the hollanders in their revolt of the sixteenth century; but appertained to burgundy, and was afterward made a domain of france. but after napoleon had been overthrown at waterloo, the nations who had been so long harried and terrorized by him were not satisfied with banishing the ex-conqueror to his island exile, but wished to present any possibility of another napoleon arising to renew the wars which had devastated and impoverished them. consequently they agreed to make a kingdom which might act as a buffer between france and the rest of europe; and to this end they decreed that belgium and holland should be one. but in doing this, the statesmen or politicians concerned failed to take into account certain factors and facts which must inevitably, in the course of time, undermine their arrangements. nations cannot be arbitrarily manufactured to suit the convenience of others. there is a chemistry in nationalities which has laws of its own, and will not be ignored. between the hollanders and the belgians there existed not merely a negative lack of homogeneity, but a positive incompatibility. the hollanders had for generations been fighters and men of enterprise; the belgians had been the appanage of more powerful neighbors. the hollanders were protestants; the belgians were adherents of the papacy. the former were seafarers; the latter, farmers. the sympathies or affiliations of the dutch were with the english and the germans; those of the belgians were with the french. moreover, the dutch were inclined to act oppressively toward the belgians, and this disposition was made the more irksome by the fact that king william was a dull, stupid, narrow and very obstinate sovereign, who thought that to have a request made of him was reason sufficient for resisting it. but over and above all these causes for disintegration of the new kingdom lay facts of the broadest significance and application. the arbiters of did not sufficiently apprehend the meaning of the french revolution. the wars of napoleon had made them forget it; his power had seemed so much more formidable and positive that the deeper forces which had brought about the events of the last decade of the eighteenth century were ignored. but they still continued profoundly active, and were destined ere long to announce themselves anew. they were in truth the generative forces of the nineteenth century. they have not yet spent themselves; but as we look back upon the events of the past eighty or ninety years, we perceive what vast differences there are between what we were in napoleon's day and what we are now. a long period of intrigue and misrule, of wars and revolutions, has been followed by material, mental and social changes affecting every class of the people, and especially that class which had hitherto been almost entirely unconsidered. the wars of this century have been of another character than those of the past; they have not involved basic principles of human association, but have been the result of attempts to gain comparatively trifling political advantages, or else were the almost inevitable consequence of adjustments of national relations. several small new kingdoms have appeared; but their presence has not essentially altered the political aspect of europe. it is the conquests of mind that have been, in this century, far more important than the struggles of arms. steam, as applied to locomotion on sea and land, and to manufactures, has brought about modifications in social and industrial conditions that cannot be exaggerated. steamboats and railroads have not only given a different face to commerce and industry, but they have united the world in bonds of mutual knowledge and sympathy, which cannot fail to profoundly affect the political relations of mankind. isolation is ignorance; as soon as men begin to discover, by actual intercourse, the similarities and dissimilarities of their several conditions, these will begin to show improvements. to be assured that people in one part of the world are better off than those in another, will tend inevitably to bring about ameliorations for the latter. the domain of evil will be continually restricted, and that of good enlarged. in the dissemination of intelligence and the spread of sympathy, the telegraph, and other applications of electricity, have enormously aided the work of steam. every individual of civilized mankind may now be cognizant, at any moment, of what is taking place at any point of the earth's surface to which the appliances of civilization have penetrated. this unprecedented spread of common acquaintanceship of the world has been supplemented by discoveries of science in many other directions. we know more of the moon to-day than europe did of this planet a few centuries ago. the industrial arts are now prosecuted by machinery with a productiveness which enables one man to do the work formerly performed by hundreds, and which more than keeps up the supply with the demand. conquests of natural forces are constantly making, and each one of them adds to the comfort and enlightenment of man. men, practically, live a dozen lives such as those of the past in their single span of seventy years; and we are even finding means of prolonging the scriptural limit of mortal existence physically as well as mentally. but is all this due to that great moral and social earthquake to which we give the name of the french revolution? yes; for that upheaval, like the plow of some titanic husbandman, brought to the surface elements of good and use which had been lying fallow for unnumbered ages. it brought into view the people, as against mere rulers and aristocrats, who had hitherto lived upon what the people produced, without working themselves, and without caring for anything except to conserve things as they were. human progress will never be advanced by oligarchies, no matter how gentle and well-disposed. we see their results to-day in spain and in turkey, which are still mediæval, or worse, in their condition and methods. it is the brains of the common people that have wrought the mighty change; their personal interests demand that they go forward, and their fresh and unencumbered minds show them the way. the great scientists, the inventors, the philanthropists, the reformers, are all of the common people; the statesmen who have really governed the world in this century have sprung from the common stock. the french revolution destroyed the dominance of old ideas, and with them the forms in which they were embodied. political, personal and religious freedom are now matters of course; but a hundred years ago they were almost unheard of, save in the dreams of optimists and fanatics. the rights of labor have been vindicated; and the right of every human being to the benefit of what he produces has been claimed and established. along with this improvement has come, of course, a train of evils and abuses, due to our ignorance of how best to manage and apply our new privileges and advantages; but such evils are transient, and the conditions which created them will suffice, ere long, to remove them. the conflict between labor and capital is not permanent; it will yield to better knowledge of the true demands of political economy. the indifference or corruption of law makers and dispensers will disappear when men realize that personal selfishness is self-destructive, and that only care for the commonweal can bring about prosperity for the individual. the democracy is still in its swaddling clothes, and its outward aspect is in many ways ugly and unwelcome, and we sigh for the elegance and composure of old days; but these discomforts are a necessary accompaniment of growth, and will vanish when the growing pains are past. the press is the mirror of the aspirations, the virtues and the faults of the new mankind; its power is stupendous and constantly increasing; many are beginning to dread it as a possible agent of ill; but in truth its real power can only be for good, since the mass of mankind, however wedded to selfishness as individuals, are united in desiring honesty and good in the general trend of things; and it is to the generality, and not to the particular, that the press, to be successful, must appeal. it is the great critic and the great recorder; and in the face of such criticism and record abuses cannot long maintain themselves. men will be free, first of external tyrannies, and then of that more subtle but not less dangerous tyranny which they impose upon themselves. as might have been expected, extremists have arisen who sought to find a short road to perfection, and they have met with disappointment. the dreams of the socialists have not been realized; men will not work for one another unless they are at the same time working for themselves. the communist and the nihilist are yet further from the true ideal; there will always remain in human society certain persons who rule, and others who obey. there must always, in all affairs, be a head to direct as well as hands to execute. men are born unequal in intelligence and ability; and it will never be possible to reduce leaders to the level of followers. the form of society must take its model from the human form, in which one part is subordinate to another, yet all work together in harmony. only time--and probably no very long time--is required to bring a recognition of these facts. meanwhile, the very violence of the revolts against even the suspicion of oppression are but symptoms of the vigorous vitality which, in former centuries, seemed to have no existence at all. on the other hand, industrial co-operation seems to promise successful development; it involves immense economies, and consequent profit to producers. the middleman has his uses, and especially is he a convenience; but it is easy to pay too dear for conveniences; and there seems no reason why the producer should not, as time goes on, become constantly better equipped for dealing direct with the consumer, to the manifest advantage of both. all these and many other triumphs of civilization, which we see now in objective form, were present in potency at the beginning of this century, though, as we have said, they were not duly taken into account by the framers of the agreement which sought to make holland and belgium one flesh. had the sun not yet risen upon the human horizon, the attempt might have had a quasi success; but the light was penetrating the darkened places, and men were no longer willing to accept subjection as their inevitable doom. it might be conducive to the comfort of the rest of europe that batavian and belgian should dwell together under one political roof; but it did not suit the parties themselves; and therefore they soon began to make their incompatibility known. but nothing was heard beyond the grumblings of half-awakened discontent until, in , the new revolution in paris sent a sympathetic thrill through all the dissatisfied of europe. a generation had now passed since the first great upheaval, and men had had time to digest the lesson which it conveyed, and to draw various more or less reasonable inferences as to future possibilities. it had been determined that, broadly speaking, what the people heartily wanted, the people might have; and the disturbances in paris indicated that the people were prepared to resent any attempt on the part of their rulers to bring back the old abuses. when the pentarchy, in , had made its division of the spoils of napoleon, the bourbons were reseated on the throne which louis xiv. had made famous; but louis xviii. was but a degenerate representative of the glories that had been. he adopted a reactionary policy against the napoleonic (or imperialist), the republican and the protestant elements in france; and outrages and oppressions occurred. as a consequence, secret societies were formed to counteract the ultra-royalist policy. when louis died, it was hoped that his successor, charles x., might introduce improvements; but on the contrary he only made matters worse. the consequence was the gradual growth of a liberal party, seeking a monarchy based on the support of the great middle class of the population. in charles disbanded the national guard; and in the following year the liberals elected a majority in the chamber. charles foolishly attempted to meet this step by making the prince de polignac his minister, who stood for all that the people had in abhorrence. the prince issued ordinances declaring the late elections illegal, narrowing down the rights of suffrage to the large landowners, and forbidding all liberty to the press. hereupon the populace of paris erected barricades and took up arms; and in the "three days" from the th to the th of july, , they defeated the forces of the king, and after capturing the hotel de ville and the louvre, sent him into exile, and made the venerable and faithful lafayette commander of the national guard. but the revolutionists showed forbearance; and instead of beheading charles, as they might have done, they let him go, and punished the ministers by imprisonment only. this put an end to the older line of the bourbons in france, and the representative of the younger branch, louis philippe ("philippe egalite"), was set on the throne, in the hope that he would be willing to carry out the people's will. all this was interesting to the belgians, and they profited by the example. they regarded william as another charles, and deemed themselves justified in revolting against his rule. they declared that they were no longer subject to his control, and issue was joined on that point. but the powers were not ready to permit the dissolution of their anxiously constructed edifice; and they met together with a view to arranging some secure modus vivendi. the issue of their deliberations took the form of proposing that the duchy of luxemburg, at the southeast corner of belgium, should be ceded to holland on the north. this suggestion was favorably received by the hollanders, but was not so agreeable to the belgians; and an assembly at brussels devised and adopted a liberal constitution, and invited leopold of saxe-coburg to occupy their throne. leopold was at this time about forty years of age; he was the youngest son of francis, duke of saxe-coburg; he had married, in , the daughter of george iv. of england, the princess charlotte, and had, a few months before the belgians' proposal, been offered and had refused the crown of greece. but the belgian throne was more to his liking; and after taking measures to sound the powers on the subject, and to assure himself of their good will, he accepted the proffer, and was crowned under the title of leopold i. his reign lasted thirty-four years, and was comparatively uneventful and prosperous. but the dutch refused to tolerate this change of sovereignty without a struggle; william raised an army and suddenly threw it into belgium; and the chanees are that he would have made short work of belgian resistance had the two been permitted to fight out their quarrel undisturbed. this, however, could not happen; since the independence of belgium had been recognized by england, austria, russia, and prussia; and the triumphal march of the dutch was arrested by a french army which happened to be in the place where they could be most effective in the circumstances. the dutch had occupied antwerp, a town on the borderland of belgium and holland. it had been in the possession of the french in , but had been taken from them at the restoration in . the french now laid siege to it, being under the command of gérard, while the dutch were led by chassè. the citadel was taken in , and the resistance of the dutch to the decree of europe was practically at an end, though william the obstinate refused for several years to accept the fact. the duchy of luxemburg had sided with the belgians all along, as might have been anticipated from its position and natural affiliations; and though no immediate action was taken relative to its ownership till , it remained during the interval in belgian hands. matters remained in this ambiguous condition for some time; but though the dutch might grumble, they could not fight. at length the treaty of was signed in london, on the th of april, according to the terms of which part of the duchy of luxemburg was retained by the belgians, and part was ruled by the king of holland as grand duke. in other respects, the status quo ante was preserved, and the partition of holland and belgium was confirmed, as it has ever since remained. the history of belgium thenceforward has been almost wholly devoid of incidents; the little nation may quite too apothegm as applying to themselves, "short are the annals of a happy people!" their insignificance and their geographical position secure them against all disturbance. they live in their tiny quarters with economy and industry; the most densely populous community in europe, and one of the most prosperous. around their borders rises the sullen murmur of threatening armies and hostile dynasties; but belgium is free from menace, and their sunshine of peace is without a cloud. it is of course conceivable that in the great struggle which seems impending, the belgian nation may suddenly vanish from the map, and become but a memory in the minds of a future generation; but their end, if it come, is likely to be in the nature of a euthanasia, and so far as they are physically concerned, they will survive their political annihilation. the only ripples which have varied the smooth surface of their career since the treaty, have been disputes between the liberal and clerical parties on questions of education, and disturbances and occasional riots instigated by socialists over industrial questions. leopold, dying at the age of seventy-six, was succeeded by his son as leopold ii., and his reign continued during the remainder of the century. the treaty of , in addition to its provisions already mentioned, gave limburg, on the prussian border, to the dutch, and opened the scheldt under heavy tolls. in october of the year following the treaty, william i. abdicated the throne of holland in favor of his son. he had not enjoyed his reign, and he retired in an ill humor, which was not without some excuse. his career had been a worthy one; he had been a soldier in the field from his twenty-first year till the battle of wagram in , when he was near forty; after that he dwelt in retirement in berlin until he was called to the throne of the netherlands. at that time he had exchanged his german possessions for the grand duchy of luxemburg; and was therefore naturally reluctant to be deprived of the latter. the old soldier survived his abdication only a few years, dying in at berlin. william ii. was a soldier like his father. he had gained distinction under wellington in the spanish campaign, and in the struggle against napoleon during the hundred days he commanded the dutch contingent. he married anne, sister of alexander i. of russia, in , and at the outbreak of the revolution of he was sent to belgium to bring about an arrangement. on the th of october of that year he took the step, which was repudiated by his rigid old father, of acknowledging belgian independence; but he subsequently commanded the dutch army against the belgians, and was forced to yield to the french in august, . after his accession, he behaved with firmness and liberality, and died in leaving a good reputation behind him. meanwhile, the new revolution of was approaching. insensibly, the states of europe had ranged themselves under two principles. there were on one side the states governed by constitutions, including great britain, france, holland, belgium, switzerland, sweden and, norway, denmark, and, for the time being, spain and portugal. on the other side were russia, prussia, austria, the italian states, and some of those of germany, who held that the right of rule and the making of laws belonged absolutely to certain dynasties, which were, indeed, morally bound to consult the interests of their populations, yet were not responsible to their subjects for the manner in which they might choose to do it. in the last mentioned states there existed a chronic strife between the people and their rulers. it was an irrepressible conflict, and its crisis was reached in . it was in france that things first came to a head. louis philippe and his minister, guizot, tried to render the government gradually independent of the nation, in imitation of the absolutist empires; and the uneasiness caused by this policy was emphasized by the scarcity that prevailed during the years and . the liberals began to demand electoral reform; but the king, on opening the chambers, intimated that he was convinced that no reform was needed. angry debates ensued, and finally the opposition arranged for a great banquet in the champs elysee on february , , in support of the reform movement. this gathering, however, was forbidden by guizot. the order was regarded as arbitrary, and the republicans seized the opportunity. barricades appeared in paris, the king was forced to abdicate, and took refuge with his family in england. france was thereupon declared to be a republic, and the government was intrusted to lamartine and others. there was now great danger of excesses similar to those of the first great revolution; but the elements of violence were kept under by the opposition of the middle and higher classes. the communistic clubs were overawed by the national guards, and on april th the communistic party was defeated. general cavaignac, who had been made dictator during the struggle, laid down his office after the battle which began on the d of june between the rabble of idle mechanics, eighty thousand in number, and the national forces had been decided in favor of the latter, who slew no less than sixteen thousand of the enemy. cavaignac was now appointed chief of the executive commission with the title of president of the council. a reaction favoring a monarchy was indicated; but meanwhile a new constitution provided for a quadriennial presidency, with a single legislature of seven hundred and fifty members. louis napoleon, the nephew of the great emperor, was chosen by a majority vote for the office in december of . four years later he was declared emperor under the title of napoleon iii. the revolutionary movement spread to other countries of europe, with varying results. in hungary, kossuth in the diet demanded of the emperor-king a national government. prince metternich, prime minister, attempted to resist the demand with military force, but an insurrection in vienna drove him into exile, and the hungarians gained a temporary advantage, and were granted a constitution. the slavs met at prague, at the instigation of polocky, and held a congress; but it was broken up by the impatience of the inhabitants, and a success of the imperialists was followed by the rising of the southern slavs in favor of the emperor. a battle took place in hungary on september , , but the imperialists under jellachich were routed and driven toward the austrian frontier. the war became wider in its scope; the insurrectionists at first met with success; but in spite of their desperate valor the hungarian forces were finally overthrown by the aid of a russian army; and their leader, goergy, was compelled to surrender to the russians on august , . it was thought that the czar might annex hungary; but he handed it back to francis joseph, who, by way of vengeance, permitted the most hideous cruelties. in germany, the issue had no definite feature. the people demanded freedom of the press and a german parliament, and the various princes seemed acquiescent; but when it was proposed that prussia should become germany, there was opposition on all sides; a diet of the confederation was held, but frederick william iv., king of prussia, refused to accept the title of hereditary emperor which was offered him. austria and prussia came into opposition; two rival congresses were sitting at the same time in ; and war between the two states was only averted by the interference of russia. czar nicholas, then virtually dictator of europe, ordered prussia's troops back, and the convention of olmutz, in november, seemed to put a final end to prussia's hopes of german hegemony. all the local despotisms of italy collapsed before the breath of revolution; but the country then found itself face to face with austria. charles albert of sardinia had the courage to head the revolt; but was defeated, and abdicated in favor of his son victor emmanuel. venice was taken after a severe siege by the austrians; and king bomba managed to repossess himself of naples, after a terrible massacre. sicily was subdued. in the papal states, pio nono was deposed; but after a time a reaction set in, the provisional government under mazzini was overthrown, and the french occupied rome and recalled the pope. the question as to the danish or german ownership of the duchies of schleswig-holstein had already been agitated, and they became acute at this time; but the spirit of the new revolution had no direct bearing upon the matter. by the end of the first half of the nineteenth century, europe was outwardly quiet once more. and what part had holland taken in these proceedings? a very small one. the phlegmatic dutchmen found themselves fairly well off, and were nowise tempted to embark in troubles for sentiment's sake. the constitution given them in was revised, with the consent of the king, and the changes, which involved various political reforms, went into effect on april , . william ii. died just eleven months afterward, and was succeeded by his son william iii., at that time a man of two-and-thirty. he favored the reforms granted by his father, and showed himself to be in harmony with such sober ideas of progress as belonged to the nation over which he ruled. his aim in all things was peace, and the development of the resources of the country; he understood his people, and they placed confidence in him, and holland steadily grew in wealth and comfort. in , after the establishment by the papacy of catholic bishoprics had been allowed, there was a period of some excitement; for roman catholicism had found a stern and unconquerable foe in the dutch; when it had come with the bloody tyranny of spain. but those evil days were past, and the dutch, who had pledged themselves to welcome religious freedom in their dominions, were disposed to let bygones be bygones, and to permit such of their countrymen as preferred the catholic ceremonial to have their way. it was evident that no danger existed of holland's becoming subject to the papacy; and, indeed, the immediate political sequel of the establishment of the bishoprics was the election of a moderate, liberal, protestant cabinet, which thoroughly represented the country, and which represented its tone thereafter, with such modifications as new circumstances might suggest. the dutch were philosophic, and were victims to no vague and costly ambitions. they felt that they had given sufficient proofs of their quality in the past; the glory which they had won as champions of liberty could never fade; and now they merited the repose which we have learned to associate with our conception of the dutch character. their nature seems to partake of the scenic traits of their country; its picturesque, solid serenity, its unemotional levels, its flavor of the antique: and yet beneath that composure we feel the strength and steadfastness which can say to the ocean, thus far and no further, and can build their immaculate towns, and erect their peaceful windmills, and navigate their placid canals, and smoke their fragrant pipes on land which, by natural right, should be the bottom of the sea. holland is a perennial type of human courage and industry, common sense and moderation. as we contemplate them to-day, it requires an effort of the imagination to picture them as the descendants of a race of heroes who defied and overcame the strongest and most cruel power on earth in their day, and then taught the rest of europe how to unite success in commerce with justice and honor. but the heroism is still there, and, should need arise, we need not doubt that it would once more be manifested. because holland is so quiet, some rash critics fancy that she may be termed effete. but this is far from the truth. the absence of military burdens, rendered needless by the intelligent selfishness, if not the conscience, of the rest of europe, implies no decadence of masculine spirit in the dutch. in no department of enterprise, commercial ability, or intellectual energy are they inferior to any of their contemporaries, or to their own great progenitors. "holland," says professor thorold rogers, "is the origin of scientific medicine and rational therapeutics. from holland came the first optical instruments, the best mathematicians, the most intelligent philosophers, as well as the boldest and most original thinkers. amsterdam and rotterdam held the printing presses of europe in the early days of the republic; the elzevirs were the first publishers of cheap editions, and thereby aided in disseminating the new learning. from holland came the new agriculture, which has done so much for social life, horticulture and floriculture. the dutch taught modern europe navigation. they were the first to explore the unknown seas, and many an island and cape which their captains discovered has been renamed after some one who got his knowledge by their research, and appropriated the fruit of his predecessor's labors. they have been as much plundered in the world of letters as they have been in commerce and politics. holland taught the western nations finance--perhaps no great boon. but they also taught commercial honor, the last and hardest lesson which nations learn. they inculcated free trade, a lesson nearly as hard to learn, if not harder, since the conspiracy against private right is watchful, incessant, and, as some would make us believe, respectable. they raised a constant and for a long time ineffectual protest against the barbarous custom of privateering, and the dangerous doctrine of contraband of war, a doctrine which, if carried out logically, would allow belligerents to interdict the trade of the world. the dutch are the real founders of what people call international law, or the rights of nations. they made mistakes, but they made fewer than their neighbors made. the benefits which they conferred were incomparably greater than the errors they committed. there is nothing more striking than the fact that, after a brief and discreditable episode, the states were an asylum for the persecuted. the jews, who were condemned because they were thrifty, plundered because they were rich, and harassed because they clung tenaciously to their ancient faith and customs, found an asylum in holland; and some of them perhaps, after they originated and adopted, with the pliability of their race, a teutonic alias, have not been sufficiently grateful to the country which sheltered them. the jansenists, expelled from france, found a refuge in utrecht, and more than a refuge, a recognition, when recognition was a dangerous offence. "there is no nation in europe," continues the professor, "which owes more to holland than great britain does. the english were for a long time, in the industrial history of modern civilization, the stupidest and most backward nation in europe. there was, to be sure, a great age in england during the reign of elizabeth and that of the first stuart king. but it was brief indeed. in every other department of art, of agriculture, of trade, we learned our lesson from the hollanders. i doubt whether any other small european race, after passing through the trials which it endured after the peace of aix-la-chapelle to the conclusion of the continental war, ever had so entire a recovery. the chain of its history, to be sure, was broken, and can never, in the nature of things, be welded together. but there is still left to holland the boast and the reality of her motto, 'luctor et emergo.'" the events of holland's history since the catholic concessions can be briefly told. in slavery was abolished in the dutch west indies, the owners being compensated; and forty-two thousand slaves were set free, chiefly in dutch guiana. in the same year the navigation of the scheldt was freed, by purchase from holland by the european powers, of the right to levy tolls. in , louis napoleon raised the question of luxemburg by negotiating to buy the grand duchy from holland; but prussia objected to the scheme, and the matter was finally settled by a conference in london; the prussian garrison evacuating the fortifications, which were then dismantled, and luxemburg was declared neutral territory. capital punishment was abolished in ; and on the th of july of the same year the amsterdam national exposition was opened by prince henry. in , at the outbreak of war between germany and france, the neutrality of holland as to both belligerents was secured by the other powers. in the hollanders ceded dutch guinea to england, and in the canal between amsterdam and the north sea, which had been begun in , was completed, and the passage through it was accomplished by a monitor. another exposition was opened in , and in the same year the constitution underwent a further revision. on the th of june, , the prince of orange, heir-apparent to the throne, died, and the succession thus devolved upon the princess wilhelmina, then a child of four years. william iii. himself died in , and queen emma thereupon assumed the regency, which she was to hold until wilhelmina came of age in ; an agreeable consummation which we have just witnessed. a word may here be said concerning the physical and political constitution of the present kingdom of holland. the country is divided into eleven provinces--north and south holland, zealand, north brabant, utrecht, limburg, gelderland, overyssel, drenthe, groningen, and friesland. there are three large rivers--the rhine, the meuse, and the scheldt. the inhabitants are low germans (dutch), frankish, saxon, frisian, and jews, the latter numbering some sixty thousand, though their influence is, owing to their wealth and activity, larger than these figures would normally represent. the leading religion of the country is lutheran; but there are also many catholics and persons of other faiths, all of whom are permitted the enjoyment of their creeds. holland was at one time second to no country in the extent of its colonies; and it still owns java, the moluccas, part of borneo, new guinea, sumatra and celebes, in the east; and in the west, dutch guiana and curacoa. in roman times the low countries were inhabited by various peoples, chiefly of germanic origin; and in the middle ages were divided into several duchies and counties--such as brabant, flanders, gelderland, holland, zealand, etc. the present government is a hereditary monarchy, consisting of a king or queen and states-general; the upper chamber of fifty members, the lower of one hundred. it is essentially a country of large towns, of five thousand inhabitants and upward. the frisians are in north holland, separated by the river meuse from the franks; the saxons extend to the utrecht veldt. the semitic race is represented by the portuguese jews; and there is an admixture of other nationalities. in no part of the country do the dutch present a marked physical type, but, on the other hand, they are sharply differenced, in various localities, by their laws, their customs, and particularly by their dialects; indeed the frisians have a distinct language of their own. the constitution of , though more than once revised, remains practically much the same as at first. the son of the monarch, the heir-apparent, is called the prince of orange. the administration of the provinces is in the hands of the provincial states; these meet but a few times in the year. the communes have their communal councils, under the control of the burgomasters. there is a high court of justice, and numerous minor courts. the population is divided between about two million two hundred thousand protestants, and half as many roman catholics, together with others. there are four thousand schools, with six hundred thousand pupils, and about fourteen thousand teachers. not more than ten per cent of the people are illiterate, and the women are as carefully educated the men. there are four great universities: leyden, founded in ; utrecht, founded in ; groningen, in ; and amsterdam, which has existed since . these seats of learning give instruction to from three hundred to seven hundred students each. the total expenses of the universities average about six hundred thousand dollars. there are also in holland excellent institutions of art, science, and industry. agriculture is generally pursued, but without the extreme science and economy shown in belgium. the cultivation and produce vary, in part, according as the soil is sand or clay; but the same kind of soil, in different parts of the country, produces different results. cattle are largely raised and are of first-rate quality; friesland produces the best, but there are also excellent stocks in north holland and south holland. in drenthe, owing to the extensive pasturage, great numbers of sheep are raised. but perhaps the most important industry of holland is the fisheries, both those of the deep sea, and those carried on in the great zuyder zee, which occupies a vast area within the boundaries of the country. these fisheries, however, are not in all years successful, owing to the ungovernable vagaries of ocean currents, and other causes. holland has taken a prominent part in european thought since about . the dutch language, instead of yielding to the domination of the german, has been cultivated and enriched. the writers who have achieved distinction could hardly even be named in space here available, and any approach to a critical estimate of them would require volumes. one of the earlier but best-known names is that of jacobus van lennep, who is regarded as the leader of the dutch romantic school. he was born in amsterdam on the th of march, , and died at oosterbeek, near arnheim, august , . his father, david, was a professor and a poet; jacobus studied jurisprudence at leyden, and afterward practiced law at amsterdam. for a while he took some part in politics as a member of the second chamber; but his heart was bent on the pursuit of literature, and he gradually abandoned all else for that. his first volume of poems was published when he was but four-and-twenty; and he was the author of several dramas. but his strongest predilections were for romantic novel-writing; and his works in this direction show signs of the influence of walter scott, who dominated the romantic field in the first half of this century, and was known in holland as well as throughout the rest of europe. "the foster son" was published in ; the "rose of dekama" in ; "the adventures of claus sevenstars" in . his complete works, in prose and poetry, fill six-and-thirty volumes. a younger contemporary of van lennep was nikolas beets, born at haarlem in ; he also was both poet and prose writer, and his "camara obscura," published in , is accounted a masterpiece of character and humor, though it was composed when the author was barely twenty-four years of age. van den brink was a leading critic of the romanticists; hasebrock, author of a volume of essays called "truth and dream," has been likened to the english charles lamb. vosmaer is another eminent figure in dutch literature; he wrote a "life of rembrandt" which is a masterpiece of biography. kuenen, who died but ten years ago, was a biblical critic of european celebrity. but the list of contemporary dutch writers is long and brilliant, and the time to speak critically of them must be postponed. nothing impresses the visitor to holland more than the vast dikes or dams which restrain the sea from overwhelming the country. they have to be constantly watched and renewed, and to those unused to the idea of dwelling in the presence of such constant peril, the phlegm of the hollanders is remarkable. m. havard, who has made a careful study of the country and its people, and who writes of them in a lively style, has left excellent descriptions of these unique works. "we know," he says, "what the zealand soil is--how uncertain, changing, and mutable; nevertheless, a construction is placed upon it, one hundred and twenty yards long, sixteen yards wide at the entrance, and more than seven and a half yards deep below high water. add to this, that the enormous basin (one thousand nine hundred square yards) is enclosed within granite walls of extraordinary thickness, formed of solid blocks of stone of tremendous weight. to what depth must the daring workmen who undertook the cyclopean task have gone in search of a stable standpoint, on which to lay the foundation of such a mass! in what subterranean layer could they have had such confidence, in this country where the earth sinks in, all of a sudden, where islands disappear without leaving a trace--that they ventured to build upon it so mighty an edifice! and observe that not only one dam is thus built; in the two islands of zuid beveland and walcheren a dozen have been constructed. there are two at wormeldingen. in the presence of these achievements, of problems faced with such courage and solved with such success, one is almost bewildered." elsewhere, in speaking of kampveer, one of the towns which suffered an inundation, he says, "poor little port! once so famous, lively, populous, and noisy, and now so solitary and still! traces of its former military and mercantile character are yet to be seen. on the left stands a majestic building with thick walls and few apertures, terminating on the sea in a crenelated round tower; and these elegant houses, with their arched and trefoiled windows, and their decorated gables, on the right, once formed the ancient scotschhuis. every detail of the building recalls the great trade in wool done by the city at that period. far off, at the entrance of the port, stands a tower, the last remnant of the ramparts, formerly a fortification; it is now a tavern. in vain do we look for the companion tower; it has disappeared with the earth on which its foundations stood deep and strong for ages. if, from the summit of the surviving tower, you search for that mysterious town upon the opposite bank, you will look for it in vain where it formerly stood and mirrored its houses and steeples in the limpid waters. kampen also has been swallowed up forever, leaving no trace that it ever existed in this world. the land that stretches out before us is all affected by that subtle, cancerous disease, the _val_, whose ravages are so terrible. two centuries ago this great bay was so filled up with sand that it was expected the two islands would in a short time be reunited and thenceforth form but one. then, on a sudden, the gulf yawned anew. that huge rent, the veer gat, opened once again, more deeply than before; whole towns were buried, and their inhabitants drowned. then the water retired, the earth rose, shaking off its humid winding sheet, and the old task was resumed; man began once more to dispute the soil with the invading waves. a portion of the land, which seemed to have been forever lost, was regained; but at the cost of what determined strife, after how many battles, with what dire alternations! within a century, three entire polders on the north coast of noordbeveland have again vanished, and in the place where they were there flows a stream forty yards deep. in , the polder of borselen, thirty-one acres in extent, sank into the waters. each year the terrible _val_ devours some space or other, carrying away the land in strips. the sophia polder is now attacked by the _val_. every possible means is being employed for its defence; no sacrifice is spared. the game is almost up; already one dike has been swallowed, and a portion of the conquered ground has had to be abandoned. the dams are being strengthened in the rear, while every effort is being made to fix the soil so as to prevent the slipping away of the reclaimed land. to effect this, not only are the dams, reinforced and complicated by an inextricable network of stones and interlaced tree-branches; but _zinkstukken_ are sunk far off in the sea, which by squeezing down the shifting bottom avert those sudden displacements which bring about such disasters. the zinkstukken--enormous constructions in wicker work--are square rafts, made of reeds and boughs twisted together, sometimes two or three hundred feet long on a side. they are made on the edge of the coast and pushed into the sea; and no sooner is one afloat than it is surrounded by a crowd of barges and boats, big and little, laden with stones and clods of earth. the boats are then attached to the zinkstuk, and this combined flotilla is so disposed along shore that the current carries it to the place where the zinkstuk is to be sunk. when the current begins to make itself felt, the raft is loaded by the simple process of heaping the contents of the barges upon the middle of it. the men form in line from the four corners to the centre, and the loads of stone and earth are passed on to the centre of the raft, on which they are flung; then the middle of the zinkstuk begins to sink gently, and to disappear under the water. as it goes down, the operators withdraw; the stones and clods are then flung upon it from boats. at this stage of the proceedings the zinkstuk is so heavy that all the vessels, dragged by its weight, lean over, and their masts bend above it. but now the decisive moment approaches, and the foreman, standing on the poop of the largest boat, in the middle of the flotilla, on the side furthest from the shore, awaits the instant when the zinkstuk shall come into precisely the foreordained position. at that instant he utters a shout and makes a signal; the ropes are cut, the raft plunges downward, and disappears forever, while the boats recover their proper position." m. havard merits the space we have given him; for he describes a work the like of which has never been seen elsewhere in the world, any more than have the conditions which necessitated it. but the picturesqueness of the actual scene can hardly be conveyed in words. under an azure sky we behold outstretched a sparkling sea, its waters shading from green to blue and from yellow to violet, harmoniously blending. in the distance, as though marking the horizon, stretches a long, green strip of land, with the spires of the churches standing out in strong relief against the sky. at our feet is the zinkstuk, surrounded by its flotilla. the great red sails furled upon the masts, the green poops, the rudders sheathed with burnished copper, the red streaks along the sides of the boats, the colored shirts, brown vests, and blue girdles of the men, touched by the warm rays of the sun, compose a striking picture. on all sides the men are in motion, and five hundred brawny arms are flinging the contents of the boats upon the great raft; a truly titanic stoning! projectiles rain from all sides without pause, until the moment comes when the decisive command is to be given. then silence, absolute and impressive, falls upon the multitude. suddenly the signal is given; a creaking noise is heard; the fifty boats right themselves at the same instant, and turn toward the point where the great raft which had separated them has just disappeared. they bump against one another, they get entangled, they group themselves in numberless different ways. the swarming men, stooping and raising up, the uplifted arms, the flying stones, the spurting water covering the boats with foam; and in the midst of the confusion the polder-jungens flinging the clods of earth with giant strength and swiftness upon the raft. at certain points the tumult declines; flags are hoisted from the tops of masts, the large sails are shaken out, and aided by the breeze some vessels get loose, sail out, and desert the field of battle. these are they whose task is done, and which are empty. they retire one by one upon the great expanse of water, which, save in one spot, was a little while ago deserted, and is now overspread with the vessels making their various ways toward that green line on the horizon. this is a conflict not of days, nor of years, nor of generations, but of all time; and what the end will be none can foretell. it is the concrete symbol of the everlasting fight of man with nature, which means civilization. the day may come when, where once holland was, will be outspread the serene waters of the sea, hiding beneath them the records of the stupendous struggle of so many centuries. or, perhaps, some mysterious shifting of the ocean bottom may not only lift holland out of peril, but uncover mighty tracts of land which, in the prehistoric past, belonged to europe. meanwhile it is easy to understand that the people who can wage this ceaseless war for their homes and lives, are the sons of those heroes who curbed the might of spain, and taught the world the lessons of freedom and independence. the end [transcriber's note: bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and italic text is surrounded by _underscores_.] our little dutch cousin the little cousin series (trade mark) each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in tint. cloth, mo, with decorative cover, per volume, cents list of titles by mary hazelton wade (unless otherwise indicated) =our little african cousin= =our little alaskan cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little arabian cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little armenian cousin= =our little australian cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little brazilian cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little brown cousin= =our little canadian cousin= by elizabeth r. macdonald =our little chinese cousin= by isaac taylor headland =our little cuban cousin= =our little dutch cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little egyptian cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little english cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little eskimo cousin= =our little french cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little german cousin= =our little greek cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little hawaiian cousin= =our little hindu cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little indian cousin= =our little irish cousin= =our little italian cousin= =our little japanese cousin= =our little jewish cousin= =our little korean cousin= by h. lee m. pike =our little mexican cousin= by edward c. butler =our little norwegian cousin= =our little panama cousin= by h. lee m. pike =our little philippine cousin= =our little porto rican cousin= =our little russian cousin= =our little scotch cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little siamese cousin= =our little spanish cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little swedish cousin= by claire m. coburn =our little swiss cousin= =our little turkish cousin= l. c. page & company new england building, boston, mass. [illustration: pieter and wilhelmina] our little dutch cousin by blanche mcmanus author of "our little english cousin," "our little french cousin," "our little scotch cousin," etc. _illustrated by_ the author [illustration] boston l. c. page & company _publishers_ _copyright, _ by l. c. page & company (incorporated) _all rights reserved_ the little cousin series (_trade mark_) fifth impression, july, preface our little dutch cousins have much in common with little american cousins, not so much perhaps with respect to present-day institutions and manners and customs, as with the survivals and traditions of other days, when the dutch played so important a part in the founding of the new america. it was from holland, too, from the little port of delfshaven, that the pilgrim fathers first set sail for the new world, and by this fact alone holland and america are bound together by another very strong link, though this time it was of english forging. no european country, save england, has the interest for the american reader or traveller that has "the little land of dikes and windmills," and there are many young americans already familiar with the ways of their cousins from over the seas from the very fact that so many of them come to holland to visit its fine picture-galleries, its famous and historic buildings, its tulip-gardens, and its picturesque streets and canals, which make it a paradise for artists. our little dutch cousins mingle gladly with their little american cousins, and the ties that bind make a bond which is, and always has been, inseverable. contents chapter page i. pieter and wilhelmina ii. the american cousin iii. the land of dikes and windmills iv. the kermis v. the bicycle ride vi. where the cheeses come from list of illustrations page pieter and wilhelmina _frontispiece_ "'how old is cousin theodore, mother?' asked wilhelmina" "'i'm going to snap-shot one of them with my camera'" at the kermis on the road to delfshaven "the children stood in the bows" [illustration: _map of holland showing places mentioned in our little dutch cousin_] our little dutch cousin chapter i. pieter and wilhelmina what do you think of a country where you can pick up sugar-plums along the road? well, this was just what pieter and wilhelmina were going to do as, hand in hand, they flew up the road as fast as their little wooden shoes would let them, to meet a carriage which was rapidly approaching. behind the carriage ran a crowd of children, laughing and tumbling over each other. "oh! they are throwing the 'suikers' now; run faster, wilhelmina," panted pieter; and, sure enough, as the carriage went by, a shower of candies fell all about them. one piece dropped right in wilhelmina's mouth, which of course was open, because she had been running so hard. but there was no time to laugh, as the children were all scrambling hard to pick up the sweets. then they tried to catch up with the carriage again, but it was nearly out of sight by this time, and so one by one the young folk stopped to count up their gains, and compare them with one another. this was a wedding-party returning from church. in the carriage sat the bride and groom. the carriage sat high up on its two great wheels, and was gaudily painted and gaily decked with flowers and ribbons. pieter and wilhelmina had been on the lookout for this bridal party with more than usual interest, for two relatives of the bride had come to their mother a few days before to invite her to the wedding ceremony, and the children thought these young men had looked very fine in their best clothes, with flowers stuck in the sides of their caps. the bride had her arms full of candies, and, as was the custom, she threw them out to the children as they drove along. the little dutch children call these candies "suikers." as you may imagine, this is a great treat for them, and accordingly the children of holland take more of an interest in weddings than do the children of other countries. "put all the 'suikers' in my apron, pieter," said wilhelmina, "and let us go and show them to the mother," and the children quickly ran back home. wilhelmina and pieter were twins, so it does not matter whether we say wilhelmina or pieter first, and they looked so much alike that when they stood together in the high grass by the side of the canal which ran in front of their home, it was hard to tell one from the other if it had not been for pieter's cap. they both had round, rosy faces, and round, blue eyes, and yellow hair, only you would not know that wilhelmina had any hair at all, for it was completely hidden by her cap. they both wore little wooden shoes, and it was a marvel how fast they could run in them, for they seem to be on the point of dropping off most of the time, but, strange to say, they never do. holland is the dearest little wee country in the world. uncle sam could put it in his vest pocket. it looks like a country just made to play in. its houses are so small and trim, all set about with neat little gardens and trees, which look as if they had been cut out of wood, like the trees in the "noah's arks." there are little canals and little bridges everywhere, and little towns scattered here and there all over the broad, flat country. you could go to all of the principal cities of this little land in one day, and you can stand in one of the church towers and see over half the country at a glance. the only things that look big are the windmills. what do you think of a garden gate without any fence? but this is just the sort of a gate that the twins entered when they arrived home. instead of a fence there was a small canal which divided the garden from the road, and of course the gate was in the middle of a small bridge, otherwise how could they have got across the canal? at the front door they both left their shoes on the steps outside, for dutch people never think of bringing their dirty shoes into the house. then they opened only half of the front door and went in. many dutch doors are made in two parts, the upper half remaining open most of the time, like a window, while the lower half is closed like an ordinary door. "oh, mamma, see what a lot of 'suikers' the bride threw to us," said wilhelmina, running up to mevrouw joost, who was bustling about the china cupboard in the living-room. "and she was such a pretty bride, too, with a lovely dress; and there were flowers twined all about the carriage, and a wreath on the horse's head, and long streamers of white ribbon wound around the whip," she continued breathlessly. "and we got more 'suikers' than any one else," put in pieter. "yes, it was a gay party. i saw them pass by the house," said mevrouw joost, smilingly, as she ate a "suiker." "baby jan must have one too," said wilhelmina, as she went over to play with the baby who was kicking and crowing in his great carved cradle near the window. jan was the household pet, and there had been a great celebration when he was a week old. all the friends of the joost family were invited to come and see the baby, a red pincushion having been hung out beside the front door to let everybody know that there was a new baby boy within. when the guests arrived, they were given rusks to eat, a kind of sweet bread, covered with aniseed and sugar, called "muisjes," which really means "mice." before, when the friends had come to pay their respects to wilhelmina and pieter, there had been two kinds of "muisjes." one had a sort of smooth white icing on the top, and that was wilhelmina's, while pieter's rusks had lumps of sugar sticking up all over them. the dutch are the neatest people in the world. they are always washing and rubbing and dusting things, and one could no more find a spider's web in mevrouw joost's home than they could a white elephant. the floor of the living-room was made of tiny red bricks, waxed and polished until they shone like glass. there was much heavy oak furniture, beautifully carved; a big round table stood in the centre, and on one side was a great dresser or sideboard. the chairs were solid and big, with high backs and straw seats, and some of them were painted dark green, with curious little pictures and decorations also painted on them. one end of the square room was filled by what looked like two big cupboards with heavy green curtains hanging in front of them, but one of the curtains was drawn partly back and one could see that they were two great beds instead, built into the wall just like cupboards. these were the "show-beds," and were not for constant use, but mostly for ornament. mevrouw joost was very proud of these beds and kept them always made up with her very finest linen, trimmed with rich lace, and her most brilliantly coloured embroidered coverlids, the whole being piled so high that the beds nearly reached the ceiling. there was barely enough room on top for the two enormous eider-down pillows, with gay covers and lace ruffles, which lay on each of the beds and completed their furnishings. some dutch houses have a separate room for these "show-beds," which we should call a parlour, but mevrouw joost had her "show-beds" where she could enjoy their magnificence every day. she had her "show-room," too, but kept it most beautifully and tightly closed up, so that not a ray of light or a speck of dirt could come in, for it was only used on some great occasion. another side of the living-room was nearly filled by the huge fireplace, covered with square, blue delft tiles, on each of which was a picture which told a story from the bible. the ceiling was crossed with great beams of wood, and a wainscoting of wood went all around the room. on the sideboard, on the shelves above the beds, and over the mantel were fine pieces of rare old delft china, which is a beautiful deep blue. it is very rare now, and much prized by the dutch mevrouws. there was also a quantity of copper and brass jugs and pewter platters, while by the fireplace hung a big brass warming-pan, which is a great pan with a cover and a long handle. on a cold and damp winter's night mevrouw joost filled it with red-hot coals, and warmed the household beds by slipping it in and out between the sheets. there were spotless white curtains at the tiny windows, and everything shone under the housewife's brisk rubbings. back of the sitting-room was the kitchen, with another big fireplace, in which was set the cooking-stove. around the walls were many bright copper pans and pots of all kinds. there were big brass jugs to hold milk, and kegs with brass hoops in which they stow away their butter. the dutch are so fond of polishing things that they put brass on everything, it would seem, just for the joy of rubbing it afterward. many of the commoner things were made beautiful as well. the knife-handles were carved, and on many of the brass bowls and platters were graceful patterns. one would see a little cow carved on the big wooden butter-spoon, or a tiny windmill on the handle of a fork, while the great churn that stood in the corner of the kitchen had gay pictures painted upon it. from this you may judge what a pleasant and attractive room mevrouw joost's kitchen was. "why are you putting out all the best china and the pretty silver spoons, mother?" asked wilhelmina. "the father is showing a visitor through the tulip-gardens. it is the great merchant, mynheer van der veer, from amsterdam. he has come to buy some of the choice plants, for he says truly there are no tulips in all holland as fine as ours," and the good lady drew herself up with a pardonable pride, as she polished the big silver coffee-pot, which already shone so wilhelmina might see her face in it like a mirror. "can i help you, mother?" asked wilhelmina. she would have liked nothing better than to handle the dainty cups and saucers, but she knew well that her mother would not trust this rare old china to any hands but her own, for these cups and saucers had been handed down through many generations of her family, as had the quaint silver spoons with the long twisted handles, at the end of which were little windmills, ships, lions, and the like, all in silver. "no, no, little one, you are only in the way; go out into the garden and tell your father not to delay too long or our guest will drink cold coffee," said mevrouw, bustling about more than ever. wilhelmina was eager enough to see the great mynheer, so she joined pieter, who had already slipped out, and together they went toward the bulb-gardens, where mynheer and their father were looking over the wonderful tulips. pieter and wilhelmina lived in a quaint little house of one story only, built of very small red brick, with a roof of bright red tiles. the window-frames were painted white, and the window-blinds a bright blue, while the front door was bright green. there was a little garden in front, and the paths all followed tiny canals, which were spanned here and there by small bridges. in one corner was a pond, on which floated little toy ducks and fish, and it was great fun for the children to wind up the clockwork inside of these curious toys, and watch them move about as if they were alive. but on this afternoon the twins were thinking of other things, and kept on to the bulb-gardens. here was a lovely sight,--acres and acres of nothing but tulips of all colours, and hyacinths, and other bulbs which mynheer joost grew to send to the big flower markets of holland and other countries as well; for, as mevrouw joost had said, their tulips were famous the world over. mynheer joost took great pains with his bulbs, and was able to grow many varieties which could not be obtained elsewhere. the tulip is really the national flower of holland, so the dutch (as the people of holland are called) are very fond of them, and you see more beautiful varieties here than anywhere else. every dutchman plants tulips in his garden, and there is a great rivalry between neighbours as to who can produce the most startling varieties in size and colour. pieter and wilhelmina were never tired of hearing their father tell of the time all holland went almost crazy over tulips. this was nearly three hundred years ago, after the tulip had just been brought to holland, and was a much rarer flower than it is to-day. it got to be the fashion for every one to raise tulips, and they sold for large sums of money. several thousands of "guldens" (a "gulden" is the chief dutch coin) were paid for a single bulb. people sold their houses and lands to buy tulips, which they were able to sell again at a great profit. everybody went wild over these beautiful flowers, rich and poor alike, men, women, and children. everybody bought and sold tulips, and nobody thought or talked about anything but the price of tulips. at last the dutch government put a stop to this nonsense, and down tumbled the prices of tulips. in spite of this, the dutch love for the flower still continued, and to-day one may see these great fields of tulips and hyacinths and other bulb-plants covering miles and miles of the surface of holland, just as do wheat-fields in other lands. there is a large and continually growing trade in these plants going on all over holland, and mynheer joost was always able to sell his plants for as big a price as any others in the market. the principal tulip-gardens are in the vicinities of the cities of leyden and haarlem, and from where wilhelmina and pieter now stood, in the midst of their father's tulip-beds, they could see the tower of the groote kerk, or great church, of haarlem. mynheer joost sold a very rare variety, which only he knew how to grow, and which was named the "joost;" it was almost pure black, with only a tiny red tip on each petal. it was the pride of his heart, and he often told the children that he hoped some day to be able to turn it into a pure black one; and then what a fortune it would bring them all! so pieter and wilhelmina watched its growth almost as carefully as did their father. "there is mynheer and the father now, looking at the 'great tulip,'" said pieter. this was the way they always spoke of this wonderful plant. but wilhelmina suddenly grew shy at the sight of the great man. "come, let us hide," she said, and she tried to draw pieter behind one of the large glass houses, in which were kept many of the rarer plants. but pieter wanted to see mynheer van der veer, the well-known merchant who owned so many big warehouses in amsterdam, and also a tall, fine house on one of the "grachten" of that city, which is the name given to the canals. mynheer was a portly old gentleman, and was dressed much as would be a merchant in any great city; in a black suit and a silk hat, for the wealthy people of the big cities of holland do not wear to-day the picturesque costumes of the country people. it is only in the country and small towns that one sees the quaint dress which often has changed but little from what it was hundreds of years ago. but the joost family, like many another in the country, were very proud of their old-time dress, and would not have changed it for a modern costume for anything, and though mynheer joost was also a wealthy man, he was dressed in the same kind of clothes as those worn by his father and grandfather before him. he had on big, baggy trousers of dark blue velvet, coming only to the knee, and fastened at the waist with a great silver buckle; a tight-fitting vest or coat, with two rows of big silver buttons down the front, and around his neck was a gay-coloured handkerchief. on his head was a curious high cap, and on his feet the big wooden shoes, nicely whitened. each of the men were smoking big cigars, for the dutch are great smokers, and are never without a pipe or cigar. mynheer van der veer had finished selecting his tulips, and now caught sight of the twins, who were standing shyly together, holding hands as usual, behind a mass of crimson and yellow tulips. "aha! these are your two young ones, my friend; they, too, are sturdy young plants. "you look like one of your father's finest pink tulips, little one," he continued, patting wilhelmina's pink cheeks. you might not think it was a compliment to be called a tulip, but you must not forget what a high regard the dutch have for these flowers. so wilhelmina knew that she was receiving a great compliment, and grew pinker than ever, and entirely forgot the message which her mother had given her. "and, pieter, some day i suppose that you will be growing rare tulips like your father," said mynheer, peering at the lad over the rims of his glasses. "pieter helps me greatly now, out of school hours, and wilhelmina can pack blossoms for the market as well as our oldest gardener," said mynheer joost, who thought that there were no children in holland the equal of his twins. "but you must let the vrouw give you some of her cakes and coffee before you leave, mynheer," he continued as he led the way back to the house. the dutch are very hospitable, and are never so happy as when they are giving their visitors nice things to eat and drink, and it would be considered very rude to refuse any of these good things; but then nobody wants to. mynheer van der veer was soon seated at the big oak table, which was covered with a linen cloth finely embroidered, and edged with a deep ruffle of lace. on it were the plates of delftware filled with many kinds of cakes and sweet biscuits, which the dutch call "koejes;" besides, there were delicious sweet rusks, which mevrouw joost brought hot from the oven. then she poured the hot water on to the coffee from a copper kettle which stood on a high copper stand by the side of the table. the silver coffee-pot itself stood on a porcelain stand at one end of the table, and under this stand was a tiny flame burning from an alcohol-lamp in order to keep the coffee warm. there was no better coffee to be had in all holland than mevrouw joost's, and how good it tasted, to be sure, out of the dainty china cups,--real china, for they had been brought from the far east by a great-uncle of the joosts who had engaged in the trade with china at the time when there were nothing but sailing ships on the seas. after the coffee came brandied cherries, served in little glasses. "when the young people come to amsterdam again, mynheer joost, you must bring them to see me," said the merchant, "and perhaps the young man will want to leave even his tulips when he sees what is in the big warehouses." the twins' eyes shone and they pinched each other with delight at the mere thought of a visit to the wonderful city house of the great merchant in wealthy amsterdam, the largest city in their country. chapter ii. the american cousin any one who saw the twins on their way to school one morning soon after the visit of mynheer van der veer would know that something unusual had happened, for they were both talking away at once, in a most excited manner. little dutch children are usually very quiet, when compared to the children of most other countries, though they are full of fun, in a quiet sort of a way, when they want to be. "oh, pieter," wilhelmina was saying, "to think that we have a cousin coming to see us from across the seas!" "i wonder if he can talk dutch; if he can't we will have to speak english, so you had better see to it that you have a better english lesson than you did yesterday," said pieter, who was rather vain of his own english. there is nothing strange in hearing little dutch children speak english, french, or german, for they are taught all three languages in their schools; and even very little children can say some words of english or german. "it is well for you to talk," said wilhelmina, feeling hurt. "english is not hard for you to learn; as for me, i can learn my german lesson in half the time that you can." "ah well! the german is more like our own dutch language," said pieter, soothingly, for the twins were never "at outs" for long at a time. "you will soon learn english from our new cousin from america. listen! there is the school-bell ringing now," and away they clattered in their wooden shoes to the schoolhouse. yesterday there had been a solemn meeting in the joost home. you must know that it was an important occasion, because they all met in the "show-room." the "domine" (as the dutch call their clergymen) had been invited, and the schoolmaster, too, and they all sat around and sipped brandied cherries and coffee, the men puffing away on their long pipes, while mynheer joost read aloud to them a letter. it was from a distant relative of the joost family who lived in new york city. you know, of course, that the dutch were among the first to settle in america, and in the present great city of new york. in those early days a great-great-grand-uncle of mynheer joost had gone to the island of manhattan, and made his home, and now one of his descendants, a mr. sturteveldt, who was a merchant in new york city, was anxious to learn something about his family in holland. he had heard of mynheer joost through a friend of his who was fond of flowers, and who had once come to holland to buy some of mynheer joost's beautiful tulips. [illustration: "'how old is cousin theodore, mother?' asked wilhelmina"] so mr. sturteveldt had written mynheer joost many letters and mynheer joost had written him many letters. finally mr. sturteveldt wrote and said he very much wished his only son theodore to see holland, and to become acquainted with his dutch relatives. upon this, mynheer joost had invited theodore to come and spend some time with them, and this letter that he was now reading said that theodore was to sail in a few days in one of the big steamers that sail between new york and rotterdam, under the care of the captain, and requested that mynheer joost would make arrangements to have him met at rotterdam. no wonder they all had to talk it over between many sips of coffee and puffs from the long pipes. it was a great event for the joost family. as for pieter and wilhelmina, they could talk and think of nothing else, and wilhelmina went about all the time murmuring to herself, "how do you do?" and "i am very pleased to see you," and "i hope you had a pleasant voyage," so as to be sure to say it correctly when her american cousin should arrive. "how old is cousin theodore, mother?" asked wilhelmina, as she was helping to give the "show-room" its weekly cleaning. "just twelve, i believe," said her mother. "and coming all by himself! i should be frightened nearly to death," said wilhelmina, who was polishing the arm of a chair so hard that the little gold ornaments on her cap bobbed up and down. wilhelmina was short and chubby, and her short blue dress, gathered in as full around her waist as could be, made her look chubbier still. over her tight, short-sleeved bodice was crossed a gaily flowered silk handkerchief, and around her head, like a coronet, was a gold band from which hung on either side a gold ornament, which looked something like a small corkscrew curl of gold. on top of all this she wore a pretty little lace cap; and what was really funny, her earrings were hung in her cap instead of in her ears! to-day she had on a big cotton working-apron, instead of the fine silk one which she usually wore. wilhelmina and her mother were dressed just alike, only mevrouw's dress was even more bunchy, for she had on about five heavy woollen skirts. this is a dutch fashion, and one wonders how the women are able to move around so lively. "oh, mother, you are putting away another roll of linen!" and wilhelmina even forgot the coming of her new cousin for the moment, so interested was she as she saw the mother open the great linen-press. this linen-press was the pride of mevrouw joost's heart, for piled high on its shelves were rolls and rolls of linen, much of it made from the flax which grew upon their place. mevrouw joost herself had spun the thread on her spinning-wheel which stood in one corner of the room, and then it had been woven into cloth. some of these rolls of linen were more than a hundred years old, for they had been handed down like the china and silver. the linen of a dutch household is reckoned a very valuable belonging indeed, and wilhelmina watched her mother smooth the big rolls which were all neatly tied up with coloured ribbons, with a feeling of awe, for she knew that they were a part of their wealth, and that some day, when she had a house of her own, some of this old family linen would be given her, and then she, too, would have a big linen-press of which to be proud. just as mevrouw joost closed up the big "show-room" there came a cry from the road of "eggs, eggs, who'll give us eggs?" "there come the children begging for easter eggs," said wilhelmina as she ran to the door. at the gate were three little children waving long poles on which were fastened evergreen and flowers, and singing a queer dutch song about easter eggs. "may i give them some, mother?" "yes, one each, though i think their pockets are stuffed out with eggs, now," answered mevrouw. but if they already did have their pockets stuffed, the children were delighted to get the three that wilhelmina brought out to them, and went on up the road, still singing, to see how many they could get at the next house. the dutch children amuse themselves for some days before easter by begging for eggs in this way, which they take to their own homes and dye different colours and then exhibit to their friends. on easter day there is more fun, for they all gather in the meadows and roll the eggs on the grass, each trying to hit and break those of his neighbours. at last the day came when pieter and wilhelmina were to see their new cousin for the first time. their father had gone to rotterdam to meet the steamship and bring theodore back with him. the twins hurried from school, and hurried through dinner, and in fact hurried with everything they did. then they put on their holiday clothes and kept running up the road to see if their father and theodore were coming, although they knew that it would be hours before they would reach home. but of course, just when they were not looking for them, in walked the father and said: "here is your cousin theodore, children; make him welcome." and there stood a tall lad, much taller than pieter, though they were the same age, holding out his hand and talking english so fast that it made their heads swim. pieter managed to say "how do you do? i am glad you have come," but poor wilhelmina--every word of her english flew out of her head, and all she could think to say was, "_ik dank u, mijnheer_,"--"thank you, sir." then suddenly the children all grew as shy as could be, but after they had eaten of mevrouw's good supper, they grew sociable and theodore told them all about his voyage over, and pieter found that he could understand him better than at first. even wilhelmina got in a few english words, and when pieter and theodore went to sleep together, in what theodore called a "big box," anybody would have thought they had known each other all their lives. the three young cousins were soon the best of friends; and as for theodore, everything was so new and strange to him that he said it was like a big surprise party all the time. he said, too, that he was going to be a real dutchman while he was with them, and nothing would do but that he must have a suit of clothes just like pieter's, and a tall cap. how they all laughed the first time he tried to walk in the big wooden shoes! but it wasn't long before he could run in them as fast as the twins. chapter iii. the land of dikes and windmills theodore wanted to learn to speak dutch, and so every morning, after they had eaten their breakfast of coffee, rye bread, and butter, with either herrings or cheese, away he went with the twins across the meadows to the schoolhouse in the centre of the village. after dinner theodore and pieter helped about in the tulip-gardens, while wilhelmina and mevrouw polished and dusted and rubbed things, and made butter in the great wooden and china churn. on the weekly holiday the three children would take long walks, or perhaps a ride on the steam street-cars, or trams, which puffed through the village; or they would ride their bicycles, for this is a favourite pastime with the dutch, whose flat straight roads are always so excellently kept. "where shall we go to-day?" asked pieter, as they started out for a walk one afternoon. "theodore has not seen haarlem yet," said wilhelmina. "let's walk there and come back on the steam-tram." "that makes me feel as if i were at home. we have a harlem, too, which is a part of new york city. i suppose it was named after your city. let's go by all means, and i will take some pictures," said theodore, slinging his camera over his shoulder, and away they went in high spirits. the children were soon walking along a shady road by the side of the canal. as far as they could see, in any direction, stretched the bulb-gardens blazing with colour of all kinds. dotted everywhere about were windmills of all sizes, their sails gleaming white in the sunlight as they went round and round. on either side of the road were neat little villas, with trim gardens before them. as pieter told them, these were the summer homes of the well-to-do people who live in the cities. everybody who can, has one of these villas, where they can come during the hot weather, and they especially like to have one near haarlem, because the beautiful gardens roundabout make the country seem so gay and bright. "this is the one which belongs to mynheer van der veer," said wilhelmina. "i think it is the most beautiful of them all." and so it was, according to dutch taste. the young people stopped to look at it admiringly. for a dutch home it was very large, because it had two stories. the entire front was painted in half a dozen different colours to represent as many different coloured stones, all arranged in a fanciful pattern. the window-blinds were a bright pea-green, and the framework a delicate pink. the door was a dark green with a fine brass knocker in the centre, and a brass railing, shining like gold, ran down on either side of the white steps. the roof was of bright red tiles, which glistened in the sun, and what do you think was on the highest point of the gable? a china cat, coloured like life, and standing with its back up, just as though it were ready to spring upon another cat! over the doorway was painted the motto: "buiten zorg," which means "without a care." what really amused the party most were the queer figures which stood around in the garden. "see that funny old fellow over by the pond, shaking his head; you might think he was alive," said theodore. "he looks like a turk with a big turban." "that," said pieter, "is an automaton, which can be wound up so as to nod his head. and look, there is another figure near him,--a funny old woman, who keeps turning around, as if she got tired of seeing the gentleman with the turban. those ducks swimming about on the pond are made to move in the same way." the summer villa gardens are usually filled with these queer mechanical contrivances. i suppose it amuses the rich old burghers to watch them as they sit smoking their long pipes and taking their ease in their little summer-houses on the hot days. mynheer van der veer was very proud of his collection and took great care of them. when a shower came up he would put an open umbrella over each one, which made them look funnier still, and when it rained very hard, he would pick them up bodily and carry them into the house; then when the sun shone again, out would come the funny little figures too. "why is the little summer-house in the corner of the garden built over the canal?" asked theodore. "i really don't know," said pieter; "they always are, and no villa is complete in its appointments without one. there is where mynheer and mevrouw sit in the afternoon and have their coffee and 'koejes.' mynheer sits and smokes and dozes and mevrouw does embroidery." the flower-beds were all arranged in regular shapes; the walks were made of several kinds of coloured sands which were arranged to form regular patterns. the trees were not allowed to grow as they pleased. dear me, no! they were trimmed in shapes and forms too, and some of the tree-trunks were even painted. but all was very clean and proper, and every leaf looked as though it was frequently dusted and washed. "well, i should not dare to move about in that garden for fear i should put something out of order," said theodore. "it wouldn't do for american children to play in, with those fine patterns in the sand and all the rest. they would certainly disappear in a short time." "so they would here, as well," laughed pieter. "but they are kept up only for show, and everybody uses a side-entrance except on grand occasions." "oh, there is a family of storks on that house!" called out wilhelmina; "look, pieter, aren't they lucky people who live there?" sure enough, on the top of the chimney was a mass of straw, and in the midst of it stood two tall storks. this was their nest, and papa and mamma stork were waiting for the young stork family to come out of their shells. papa stork stood on one leg and cocked his head down to the children as much as to say: "don't you wish that we were living at your house?"; for storks must know as well as anybody how much they are thought of in holland. the good people of that country build little platforms over their chimneys just so that a stork couple that are looking for a place to begin housekeeping will see it and say to themselves: "here's a nice flat place on which to build our nest." it is considered very lucky indeed for a stork family to come to live on one's chimney-top. "we thought one was coming to live at our house last year," said wilhelmina, "but they must have made up their minds to go elsewhere, and i was so sorry." "and they build on churches, too," cried theodore. "look, there's a nest on the roof of that church. i had been thinking that it was a bundle of sticks, and wondering how it got up there." "the storks have built there for many years, and they seem to like the highest places they can find," said pieter. "there is a law to protect the storks, and to forbid any injury being done to them, so you see they can have a better time than most birds." "look, pieter, there are big ships over there in the middle of that green meadow; how ever did they get there? bless my stars!" said theodore, "i do believe they are sailing over the grass." "oh, theodore, you are so funny!" laughed wilhelmina; "of course they are on the water; there is a canal over there where you are looking." "well, i can't see it," persisted theodore, who thought his eyes were playing him tricks. "that's because our canals are higher than the land about them," said pieter. "you must know that we are very economical with our dry land; there is nothing we prize so much, because we have so little of it; and there is no people in the world who have worked so hard for theirs as the dutch, not only to get it in the first place, but to keep it afterward. "once all this country about here was either a marsh or covered by water. the land could not be allowed to go to waste like that, and so great walls of mud and stone, called dikes, were built. canals were run here, there, and everywhere, and the waters which covered the lowlands were pumped into these canals and so drained off. the new land was practically a new area added to the small territory of holland, and where once was nothing but salt marsh and water-flooded meadows are now cities and towns and houses and lovely gardens. "as one walks along many of the canal banks in holland, one is often overlooking the roof-tops of the houses below." "why," said theodore, "if we tried, we might look right down that man's chimney, and see what they are cooking for dinner; the road is on a level with the roof." "yes, our roads, too, are often built on dikes; this keeps them hard and dry," said pieter. "you may judge as to how wide some of these dikes are, for on this particular one there is not only a road, but a row of trees on either side of it as well. some are so broad that there are houses, and even villages, on top of them. the reclaimed lands lying between the dikes are called 'polders,' and thousands of acres of the richest part of holland have been made in this way. some day, too, it is planned that the whole of the zuyder zee will be planted and built over with gardens and houses." "that is just like finding a country," said theodore, "but hasn't it all cost a lot of money?" "yes, indeed," answered pieter, "and not only that, but millions of 'gulden' have still to be spent every year to fight the waters back again." pieter also told theodore that many of the great windmills which he saw were used to pump off the surplus water which drained through from the canals. so many of these canals are there in holland that the country is cut up by them like a checker-board. they are of all sizes, from a tiny ditch to others big enough for large ships to sail upon. there are not only these inland dikes, which protect the canals and the lands lying between, but there are great sea-walls of sand and rock to keep the sea itself in place, otherwise it would come rushing over the lowlands and drown half the country. even that is not the end of the matter. thousands and thousands of men have to watch these dikes day and night, for one little leak might be the means of flooding miles of country, and washing away many homes and lives. when the cry is heard, "the dike is breaking!" every man, woman, and child must go and help do their share toward fighting back the water. "well, i am proud of my dutch blood," said theodore; "they are a splendid little people to work as they do, and they have had a hard fight to keep their heads above water. i wonder if that saying didn't first come from a dutchman!" "perhaps that is the reason that we dutch people talk so little," said pieter; "we have to think and work so hard all the time to keep what we have." "well," said theodore, "holland is a wonderful country; it is wholly unlike any other place." "tell the story, pieter," said wilhelmina, "of the time when the people cut the dikes and let in the water to save themselves from the enemy." "that's a long story, and we must save it for another time," said pieter, "until after theodore has seen leyden, for it was there that it happened." this talk on dutch history came to a sudden stop as pieter called out: "look out, theodore, or you will get drenched," and the children had only time to dodge a big bucket of water that a fat vrouw was tossing up on her windows. "you have not yet learned, theodore, that a dutch woman will not stop her washing and cleaning for any one," laughed pieter, as they left the angry vrouw shaking her mop at them. "i have seen vrouw huytens, our neighbour," said pieter, "scrubbing her house-front in a heavy rain, holding an umbrella over herself at the same time." i suppose the idea of cleanliness comes from the fact that the dutch have so much water handy; they say that when a dutch vrouw cannot find anything else to do, she says, "let's wash something." [illustration: "'i'm going to snap-shot one of them with my camera'"] it was saturday, the great cleaning day, and the housewives were washing down the doors and blinds and the sides of the houses with big mops, until everything shone brilliantly in the sunlight; the white door-steps, and even the tree-trunks and the red brick walks were not forgotten. they would dip up the water from the canals and dash it over the pavements with a reckless disregard for passers-by. as the children entered the town matters grew worse. everywhere were happy dutch folk of all ages, swashing clean water about over everything, until theodore finally said: "the next time i come out on cleaning-up day i shall wear a waterproof. i wonder the dutch people don't grow web-footed, like ducks. "you don't know how strange it looks to me to see carts drawn by dogs," he continued. "i'm going to snap-shot one of them with my camera." all along the road rattled the little carts drawn by dogs, for dogs are used a great deal in both holland and belgium in place of horses. "don't you have them in america?" asked wilhelmina, in curious wonderment. "no, indeed," said theodore. "how people would stare to see the baker deliver his bread in one of our cites or towns from a little cart drawn by dogs." "most of the vegetables from the farms roundabout are brought into town in this way," said pieter. "and there is a man and a dog pulling side by side; what would they say to that at home, i wonder," said theodore. "yes, some of our poor 'boers,' or farmers, have only one dog, and he must be helped. but there is a vegetable-cart with three fine dogs harnessed to it. often there are four or five dogs to a cart," said pieter, "and they can draw big loads, too, i can tell you; and they are as intelligent as human beings. "you see that big black dog knows that the brown one is not doing his share of the work, so he keeps his eye on him and gives him a sharp bite every once and again to keep him up to the mark." "is that a milk-cart?" asked theodore, as he sighted a sort of a chariot with three great polished brass cans in it, all shining, like everything else that is dutch. "see, while the master is serving his customer, the dog just lies down in his harness and rests; that is where he is better off than a pony would be under the same circumstances. think of a pony lying down every time he stopped." at this speech of theodore's, wilhelmina was much amused. "a pony could not shield himself from the sun by crawling under the cart, either," said pieter. "see, there is one who has crawled under his cart while he is waiting, and is taking a comfortable nap. you may be sure, however, if any stranger attempted to take anything from his cart, he would become very wide awake, and that person would be very sorry for it, for the dogs guard their master's property faithfully." by this time our party was well into town. they saw the "groote markt," or big market-place, and the groote kerk. every dutch town has a great market-place, and generally the groote kerk, or big church, stands in it, as well as the town hall. it is here, too, that the principal business of the town is transacted. the children walked along the canals, which are the main streets in dutch towns and cities, and theodore never grew tired of looking at the queer houses, always with their gable ends to the street. "what on earth does that mean?" said theodore, stopping to read a sign on the cellar-door of a small house,--"water and fire to sell." "oh," said pieter, "that is where the poor people can go and buy for a tiny sum some boiling water and a piece of red-hot peat, with which to cook their dinner. it is really cheaper for them than to keep a fire all the day in their own houses. peat is generally sold for this purpose instead of coal or wood, for it is not so costly." by this time the young cousins were quite ready to take the steam-tram home, and were hungry enough for the good supper which they knew mevrouw joost had prepared for them. chapter iv. the kermis "isn't it nice that theodore has come in time for the kermis?" said wilhelmina, as the cousins were packing the flowers into the big baskets for the market, early one morning. "what is a kermis?" asked theodore, all curiosity at once. "it is a great fair, and generally lasts a week," said pieter. these fairs are held in many of the dutch towns and cities. booths are put up in the groote markt and on the streets, where the sale of all kinds of things is carried on. there are games and merrymakings, and dances, and singing, and fancy costumes, and much more to make them novel to even the dutch themselves. "there is to be a kermis at rotterdam shortly," said pieter, "and the father has promised to take us all." for a time the children talked about nothing but the kermis, until at last the great day came, and they all found themselves on the train which was taking them to rotterdam. as they drew near the city it was easy to see that everybody was going to the kermis, and was thinking of nothing else. the roads were crowded with all kinds of queer vehicles and gay costumes. there were the big country wagons, of strange shapes, and painted in bright colours. in them were piled the whole family,--grandparents, mother, father, aunts, uncles, and cousins. there were the dogs, too, drawing their little carts, and trying to keep up with the big wagons, panting bravely along with their tongues hanging out, as much as to say, "we are not going to let the horses get there first, just because we are little." there were men and women on bicycles,--the women with their caps and streamers flapping in the wind like white wings, and their half-dozen skirts filling out like a balloon, as they pedalled rapidly along. it was just twelve o'clock as our party left the station, and the bells were ringing gaily, which was the signal for the opening of the kermis. "my, but isn't this a jam!" gasped theodore, who found himself wedged in between the market-baskets of two fat vrouws. "it is, indeed," said mynheer joost, "and we must not lose sight of one another. now, wilhelmina, you keep between theodore and pieter, while the mother and i will go ahead to open the way." there was no use trying to hurry,--dutch folk do not hurry, even to a kermis,--so our party just let themselves be pushed slowly along until they reached the groote markt. here things were really getting lively. all around the great square were booths or stalls, where one could buy almost anything they were likely to want. flags were flying everywhere, and from booth to booth were stretched garlands of flowers and streamers of ribbons. in the centre of the market-square a band of music was playing, and couples were trying to dance in spite of the rough cobblestone pavement and the jostling of the crowd which was watching them. "you can see now, theodore, just how your dutch cousins really look, for there are folk here from all over the country, and all in their best holiday dress," said mynheer joost. "that group of little girls, with those high sleeves that come nearly to the tops of their heads, and with extra large skirts, are from zealand." "i see a woman with two or three caps on her head, and a big, black straw hat on top of them," said theodore. "she is from hindeloopen; and there, too, are a number of fisherwomen, wearing huge straw hats, which look like big baskets." there were other women wearing beautiful flowered silk shawls, and the sun glistened on the gold ornaments which dangled from their white caps as their owners danced up and down between the long lines of booths, holding each other's hands. people were already crowding around the booths, buying their favourite dainties to eat, which at once reminded the young people that they, too, were hungry. "what will you have, theodore, 'poffertjes' or 'oliebollen'?" asked pieter. "oh, what names!" laughed theodore. "how can i tell? show them to me first." "of course theodore must eat the 'poffertjes,' for that is the real kermis cake," said mynheer joost, and led the way to a booth where a woman with a big, flapping cap and short sleeves was standing, dipping ladlefuls of batter from a big wooden bowl, and dropping them into hollowed-out places in a big pan, which was placed on an open fire before her. as soon as they were cooked, another woman piled them nicely up, one on top of another, with butter and sugar between, and, with a smile, set a big plateful before the children, who made them disappear in short order. "why, they are buckwheat cakes, just like ours at home!" said theodore, in the midst of his first mouthful; "and they are fine, too. now let us try the other thing with the funny name," he continued. "there they are, in that box," said pieter, as he pointed to some fritters, made in the shape of little round balls. "oh, 'oliebollen' aren't half so nice as waffles; let us have them instead," said wilhelmina. "i think i agree with wilhelmina," said theodore; "the 'oliebollen' seem to be taking a bath in oil," he continued, shaking his head doubtfully. "oh, try one, anyhow," said pieter. "you must not miss any of the kermis cakes." "well, they taste better than they look," said theodore, as he swallowed one of the greasy little balls. "how would you like a raw herring, now, to give you an appetite for your dinner?" asked pieter, as they passed the fish-stalls, which were decorated with festoons of fish that looked, at a little distance, like strings of white flags waving in the breeze. "not for me, thank you," answered his cousin, "but just look at all those people eating them as if they enjoyed them; and dried fish and smoked fish, too, and all without any bread." [illustration: at the kermis] after the waffles had been found and eaten, the young people became much interested in watching a group of men trying to break a cake. the cake was placed over a hollowed-out place in a large log of wood, and whoever could break the cake in halves with a blow of his stick won the cake, or what was left of it. the thing sounds easy, but it proved more difficult than would have seemed possible. "let us eat an 'ellekoek' together, pieter; there they are," and wilhelmina pointed to what looked like yards and yards of ribbon hanging from one of the booths. the children forthwith bought a length, which was measured off for them just as if it really were ribbon, and wilhelmina put one end in her mouth and pieter the other end in his. the idea is to eat this ribbon cake without touching it with the hands or without its breaking. this wilhelmina and pieter managed to do in spite of much laughter, and gave each other a hearty kiss when they got to the middle of it. "well," said theodore, "i should think that a kermis was for the purpose of eating cakes." the market-place became gayer and gayer. a crowd of people would lock arms and form a long line, and then go skipping and dancing along between the booths, singing and trying to capture other merrymakers in order to make them join their band. "look out, theodore, or this line will catch you," laughed pieter, who jumped out of the way, pulling wilhelmina after him. the first thing theodore knew, a gay crowd had circled around him and made him a prisoner, calling out to him to come and keep kermis with them. but theodore was not to be captured so easily; he had not become proficient in gymnastics for nothing, so he simply ran up to a short little fellow, and putting his hands on his shoulders, vaulted clean over him, to the amazement of the crowd and the delight of the twins. the fun lasted long into the night, but mynheer joost took his little party to their hotel early in the evening, for the fun was growing somewhat boisterous; besides, they had a long day ahead of them for the morrow. mevrouw and jan were going back by the train, but mynheer and the children had brought their bicycles with them, and were going to cycle back a part of the way. the children were looking forward to this with as much pleasure as they had to any feature of the kermis. and so they went to bed and dreamed of cakes, miles long, that wiggled about like long snakes. chapter v. the bicycle ride "be up bright and early," mynheer joost had said the night before, and it was a little after seven when the young people finished breakfast. a dutch breakfast is a big thing; besides nice coffee, there was rye bread and and white bread, rolls and rusks, half a dozen kinds of cheeses, as well as many kinds of cold sausages cut into thin slices. after seeing mevrouw and jan off on the train, the children mounted their wheels, and, in company with mynheer, went bumping over the big round cobblestones with which rotterdam is paved. "our city streets are not as good as our country roads, but we will soon be out in the open country," said mynheer, as they turned into the "boompjes." "do you remember, theodore," he continued, "your steamer landed you just at that dock opposite." the "boompjes" is a great quay alongside of which are to be seen all manner of steamships, from those which trade with the ports of great britain and germany, to the little craft which ply up and down the rivers and canals of holland, and the long barges and canal-boats with their brown sails. our bicycle party crossed many bridges over little and big canals. by the side of many of these canals the great tall houses seemed to grow right up out of the water, queer old houses with gables all twists and curves. at last they passed through the "delftsche poort," one of the old gateways of rotterdam, and then out on to the smooth country road, still running by the side of the canal. "ah, this is better," said pieter, as he gave a sigh of relief. "no wonder cycling is popular in holland; you have such fine, flat roads," said theodore. "just look at this one all paved with tiny bricks; why, it's like riding on a table-top." "they are called 'klinkers,' and many of our roads are paved this way; but do you see that town just to the left, theodore?" said mynheer joost, as he pointed to a jumble of houses, windmills, and masts of ships not far away. "that is delfshaven; you know what happened there once long ago, do you not?" "oh, it was from there that the pilgrim fathers sailed for america," cried theodore. "but i thought they sailed from plymouth, england," said pieter. "they did put into plymouth, on account of a storm, but their first start was from delfshaven. can't we go and see the place where they went on board ship, cousin joost?" said theodore, who nearly tumbled off his wheel in his effort to see the town. [illustration: on the road to delfshaven] "i am afraid the spot could not be found now," smiled mynheer. "delfshaven has grown to be a big town since then; but you can see the church where they worshipped before they set sail." so they turned on to the road into the town. the old church seemed plain and bare to theodore, as he stood in it and looked at its simple white walls, and it was hard for him to realize that the history of new england began here. "i must write henry all about delfshaven; he'd give a lot to be in my shoes, now," said theodore, as they rode away again. "who is henry?" asked wilhelmina. "he is a chum of mine and lives in boston. you see his people came over with the pilgrims, just as mine came over later from holland, and he is always talking a lot about the _mayflower_ and all that. "but just see that woman pulling that big boat, and the two children helping her--think of it!" and theodore forgot all about the pilgrims in the strange sight before him. "those are barge-people; let us stop and rest awhile, and you can see them better," said mynheer, who set the example by jumping off his wheel. it did look like hard work, too, as the woman came slowly along, panting and straining at one end of a long rope. there was a loop in the rope which passed over her chest, and the other end was made fast to the prow of the barge, or "tjalk." behind her were a little girl and a boy, not more than ten or twelve years old, each of them, like the mother, tugging away at the heavy load. "think of those little children helping to move that great heavy boat! i don't see how they do it," said wilhelmina. "it must be hard work, but they don't seem to mind it," said her father. it looked as if the children did not, for they were plump and round, and as they passed, they smiled shyly and said "good morning," and kept looking back with grins of amusement. "the father is the one who has the easy time," said pieter; "see, he sits comfortably beside the big tiller, to which he only gives a slight turn once and again, for the canals are so straight that the 'tjalk' does not require much steering. he is quite content to let the vrouw and the little ones tow the 'tjalk' while he smokes and dozes on deck." "well, it grows 'curiouser and curiouser,' as alice in wonderland said. your roads are of water, and your wagons are boats, and your people do the work of horses. why don't they use horses?" demanded theodore. "well the 'tjalks' really depend upon the wind to carry them along," said mynheer. "you see this one has a big sail, and it is only when there is no wind that they have to tow the boats. once they used dogs for the towing, but now the people who live on board do the work, and if it is slow, why, nobody seems to mind." the barge was painted red and blue, and in the great rounded bow there were two round openings through which the anchor-chains passed, and which looked like big staring eyes, particularly at night, when a ray of light often shot through them. "of course some one is washing things, as usual," said theodore; "even the barges don't escape a continual 'spring cleaning.' and sure enough, there was another woman splashing pailfuls of water over everything, even over the drowsy mynheer at the tiller. he was probably used to this, however, for he didn't take the slightest notice. "yes, indeed, the 'tjalk' owners take a great pride in the spick and span appearance of their boats," said mynheer joost. "you must remember that the 'tjalk' is their home. they are born on it, and often live and die there, as did their fathers and grandfathers before them, for many of these boats are very old. the little cabin on the poop is all the house they ever have, and they are just as proud of it as if it were a fine villa like that of mynheer van der veer. "you see," he continued, "they have their little garden, too. there are tulips planted in a box before the door, and a tiny path outlined with shells." "and a little garden-gate, too," cried wilhelmina; "isn't it funny?" "yes," said her father, "they like to think that they have everything that goes with a house on land." "there is a cage of birds, also," said wilhelmina again, "and a little china dog sitting by the side of the tulip-bed, who seems to be watching them." "i suppose if there were room enough in the garden there would be a summer-house, too," said pieter. there is no doubt but what the "bargees" enjoy their lives, and nothing would make them so unhappy as to have to live on dry land. there are thousands and thousands of these "tjalks" in holland, and most of the merchandise of all kinds which is transported about the country is carried by them. "time to be on the road," said mynheer to his young party; and before long they were all riding into the old town of delft. "listen to those bells," cried theodore, "they are playing one of our popular american marches. where are they?" "those are the chimes you hear ringing in the belfry," said pieter. "they must be playing the march in your honour, theodore." each town in holland has its chime of bells, usually hung in the tower of the principal church. the chimes are played by means of a wonderful mechanical keyboard, and the dutch are very fond of hearing them ring out the popular tunes of the day. "it was in this place that long ago the famous blue and white delftware was made, like that the mother has at home," said mynheer. "there is delftware made now, but it is not prized like the old kind. "but we must not linger, children, if we are to reach the hague for dinner," and he marshalled the young people again upon the road. soon they were skimming over the smooth, flat roadway, and came almost at once on to fine boulevards lined with handsome houses, so they knew they were at the hague itself. the twins were as interested as their american cousin in the sights of their capital city, and wilhelmina wanted to know at once if there would be a chance of their seeing the queen. you see she was named after queen wilhelmina, so she felt as if she had a right to see her, even more than other little dutch girls, though indeed they are all fond of their young ruler, who not so very long ago was a young girl like wilhelmina herself. wilhelmina had among her treasures at home a picture of queen wilhelmina, taken when she was a little girl, and dressed in the pretty frisian costume, one of the prettiest of the national costumes of holland. "i can't say," smiled her father, in answer to wilhelmina's question, "but we can go out to the 'huis ten bosch,' and maybe we shall be fortunate enough to meet her out driving in the park." after our friends had done justice to a good dinner at one of the famous hotels of the hague, they left their bicycles at the hotel, and took the steam-tram to the "huis ten bosch," which is dutch for "house in the wood." it is one of the royal palaces of holland and is situated in the midst of a beautiful wood. the forests of holland are very much prized because there are so few of them, and so this "house in the wood" is one of the favourite royal residences. though wilhelmina did not see her queen, she saw the next best thing, for they went through the state apartments of the palace, and saw the beautiful chinese room and the japanese room, each of them entirely filled with beautiful things from the orient. "now shall we go to scheveningen, or are you too tired?" asked mynheer. "tired!" the children laughed at the idea. they were out for a holiday, and were going to see as much as possible; and away they went again on another steam-tram to a fishing-town a few miles from the hague, called scheveningen, which is a big mouthful of a word, isn't it? this is where the fisherfolk live who go out in their stubby boats, called "pinken," to fish in the north sea. "i don't see the ocean," said pieter, looking about him as they walked through the town, with its rows and rows of neat little houses of brick where the fishermen live. "climb up to the top of those sand-dunes and you will," said his father. "these dunes or banks of sand have been blown up by the wind and sea until they form a high wall or breakwater. there are many such all along the coast of holland, and to keep the wind from blowing the loose sand back inland, over the fields and gardens, these banks of sand, or dunes, are planted over in many places with grasses and shrubs, which bind the sand together and keep it in place." "there is a fish auction going on over there: let's go down and see it," called out pieter. a boat-load of fish had just been landed on the beach, and a crowd of fishermen and women were standing around it. the women had big basket-shaped hats over their white caps, and the men wore baggy trousers and tall caps. the fish were being auctioned off in the dutch fashion, which is just the reverse of the usual auctioneering methods. a market price is put upon the fish, and the purchaser bidding the nearest thereto takes them. "what are those things on the sands over there that look like big mushrooms, cousin joost?" asked theodore, pointing to a spot half a mile or so farther on. "they do look something like mushrooms, theodore," said his uncle, "and they come and go about as quickly. they are the straw chairs and shelters in which visitors sit when they are taking the fresh air on the sands." these chairs are closed in on all sides but one, and have a sort of roof over them, so as to protect the occupant from the wind and rain. scheveningen, besides being one of the largest fishing-towns in holland, is the great seaside resort of the dutch people. here the well-to-do burghers and merchants come with their vrouws and sit in the big basket-chairs, while the children dig miniature canals and build toy dikes in the sand, modelled after those which surround their homes. when our tourists got back to the hague they walked around and looked at the fine houses of the city. they saw, too, the storks in the market-place, around which were many fisherwomen with their wares spread out for sale. the storks are well fed, and are kept here at the expense of the city, for good luck, perhaps. the children thought they had cycled quite enough for one day, so they put their wheels and themselves in the train for leyden, and were soon tooting into one of the oldest cities of holland. "are we there already?" asked theodore, amazed at the shortness of the journey. "yes, everything is close together in our little holland," said mynheer. the dutch are very proud of leyden for many reasons, but especially for the brave defence the city made against the spaniards at the time when the sturdy dutch were fighting to free themselves from the rule of spain. the city was besieged for nearly a year, but the plucky burghers never gave in. the city was finally saved by cutting the dikes, and letting in the waters, so that the dutch fleet could sail right up to the city walls and thus drive off the enemy. it is said that to reward the people of leyden for their bravery and courage, the government afterward offered to either free them forever from all taxes, or to give them a university. they wisely chose the latter, and this same university of leyden has always ranked among the great institutions of learning throughout the world, and many great men have studied within its walls. "your friend henry would like to see leyden, also," said mynheer. "it was here that the pilgrim fathers lived for many years before they finally set sail for the new world. the city gave them a safe shelter, when they were persecuted and driven from other lands, and for this reason alone leyden should always be remembered by our american cousins." "don't you feel as if you had been up two whole days?" asked theodore of pieter, as he gave a big yawn; but pieter and wilhelmina were already fast asleep as the train whirled them on toward haarlem. none of the children talked much either while they ate the hot supper mevrouw joost had ready for them, and soon they were tucked away in their beds. but the next day you should have heard the three tongues wag, and mevrouw and baby jan had to hear all the adventures over again many times. chapter vi. where the cheeses come from "what a jumble of ships and houses! i shouldn't think you would know whether you were going into a house or aboard ship, when you open the front door," said theodore, one fine summer's day, when the cousins were strolling about amsterdam, on their way to pay the promised visit to mynheer van der veer. others besides theodore might think the same thing, for amsterdam really grew up out of the water. the houses are, for the most part, built on wooden piles; and there are as many canals as there are streets, and big ships move about between the buildings in the most wonderful manner. they found mynheer van der veer smoking his meerschaum pipe at his warehouse on one of the principal canals. he was glad indeed to see his little friends of the tulip-garden, as he called them, and showed them all around the big establishment. they saw the big ships that were anchored right at his door, and the bales and boxes being loaded into their holds from the very windows of the warehouse itself. he showed them the coffees and sugars and spices which other ships had brought from the dutch east indies, which as you all know are around on the other side of the world. holland owns some of the richest islands in the world, many of them larger than holland itself. one of these islands is java, where the fine java coffee comes from, and this is one of the reasons why the dutch always have such good coffee, and drink so much of it. mynheer gave them all nice spices to taste, and was amused at the faces they made at some hot peppery things they were eager to try. after this he took them to his fine, tall house that faced on another canal, where there were long rows of other tall houses, all built of tiny bricks and as neat as pins. all of them were as much alike, in their outside appearance at least, as a row of pins, too. here the children met the portly mevrouw van der veer in her rustling silk dress, who gave them a warm welcome. she had just come in from a walk, and on the top of her beautiful lace cap with its gold ornaments she wore a very fashionable modern hat. "oh," thought wilhelmina, "why does she spoil her fine cap like that?" but you see many dutch ladies who combine the old and the new styles in just that way. they all sat in mevrouw's fine parlour, with its shining waxed floor, which was filled with beautiful things from all parts of the world. there was furniture of teak-wood from india, wonderfully carved, and rare china and porcelain from china and japan. exquisite silk curtains hung at the windows, and embroidered screens cut off any possible draughts. these rare things had been brought from time to time in mynheer's ships, as they were homeward bound from these far-off countries. mevrouw sat before a little table laden with silver and fine china, and poured coffee for them from a big silver coffee-pot, and gave them many kinds of nice dutch cakes to eat; and when she said good-bye she promised mynheer joost that she would come some day and see his tulip-garden herself. "why was that small looking-glass fastened outside of one of the upper windows?" asked theodore, as they left mynheer van der veer's house. "many of these dutch houses have these little mirrors fastened before the windows at such an angle that by merely looking in it from the inside, one may see who is at the front door," said his cousin; "and then, too, the ladies can sit by the window, sewing or reading, and can amuse themselves by watching what is going on in the street below, without troubling to look out of the window." "i should hate to have to wear a dress like that," said wilhelmina, looking at two young girls who were passing by. it did look strange, for one half of their dress was red and the other half black. "they are the girls from the orphanage, and this is the uniform that they all must wear," said mynheer joost. "now theodore must see some of the pictures of our great painters," he continued, as he led the young folks toward the splendid picture-gallery, where they strolled through what seemed to them miles of rooms and corridors, all hung with beautiful and valuable pictures, for little holland has had some of the greatest artists the world has ever known, and some day, if you care about pictures,--and you certainly should,--you will want to go there and see them for yourself. after this they did a great deal more sight-seeing, and mynheer showed them the "exchange," where the business of the city is carried on, and told them that there was one week in the year when the boys of amsterdam were allowed to use the "exchange" for a playground. this was a reward for the good deed of some brave boys of long ago, when the spaniards were plotting to capture the city. the boys, it seems, first discovered the secret, and went and informed the authorities, who were thus able to defend their city from attack. "this," said mynheer, "was the case when i was young, and i suppose the boys are still allowed the same privilege." our little folk were glad enough to take their seats on the deck of the little steamboat which was to take them to alkmaar, the centre of the cheese-trade of north holland. "whew! but we have done a lot of tramping about to-day; oh, my poor feet!" said pieter, as he stretched himself out on a bench. "father, haven't you got something for us to eat in your pocket?" asked wilhelmina, coaxingly. mynheer smiled, and from away down in the depths of his pocket, he drew forth a big loaf of gingerbread. the children munched away at this favourite dutch delicacy, and amused themselves by watching the people who were making the journey with them. there were two fat old women, sitting side by side and knitting away as if for their lives. they nodded their heads every time they spoke, which made their long gold corkscrew ornaments in their caps bob up and down, and each had her feet on a little foot-stove as if it were midwinter. there were two little girls with their father, who looked like little dolls, in short red dresses, with dark green waists and short sleeves, and pretty aprons embroidered in many coloured silks, and many gold chains, and earrings reaching nearly down to their shoulders. they had a solid gold head-piece under their caps. the man had on velvet knickerbockers, nearly as broad as they were long, and two great silver rosettes fastened in his belt. there were big silver buttons on his jacket, and his cap must have been over a foot high. the little girls were very shy, but when wilhelmina offered them some of her gingerbread they soon made friends, and the three were soon chatting away like old acquaintances. "aren't they gorgeous?" whispered pieter. "they are from the little island of marken, near here, in the zuyder zee, and have on all their holiday clothes." the island of marken is like a big bowl, mynheer told them, for all of it but the rim is lower than the waters which surround it. the rim is a high stone wall which was built to keep the water out. everybody who lives there keeps a boat tied to their gate or door in order that they may have some means of escape if the wall should ever break. "just think of it! i should never sleep nights, if i lived there, for fear of waking up and finding myself floating about in the water. i should think the dutch would be the most nervous people in the world, instead of the most placid," said theodore. "that danger does not often happen," said mynheer. "but look how beautifully carved their shoes are. the men do it themselves during the long winter evenings, and take great pride in their work." the little steamer puffed along the north sea canal, by which the big ships come right up to amsterdam. all kinds of queer tublike boats, with big brown sails, tanned to preserve them from the damp, passed them, and soon they turned into the river zaan. "there is zaandam," said mynheer; "they say that most of the people who live there are millionaires. it is a wealthy little town." "you would not think so from the looks of the houses," remarked pieter; "they seem mostly to be small brick cottages of one story, with a tiny yard in front." as the steamer glides along, between green meadows as flat as one's hand, they could see on all sides innumerable windmills. the boys tried to count them, but soon gave up the task. it is said that there are over six hundred of them in this one short stretch of country. "why are some of the windmills built on top of the houses?" asked theodore. "for the reason that they are made to turn the machinery which is situated in the buildings below," said mynheer; "not all the windmills are used for pumping water, by any means." they were now in the midst of the cheese country, one of the richest sections of holland. there were everywhere to be seen trim little villas and neat farmhouses, while the meadows were full of the curiously marked black and white cows called "holsteins." these are the favourite cows throughout holland for furnishing the milk for the famous butter and cheeses of the country. they were at alkmaar before they knew it. the two old women, who had never stopped knitting for a moment, picked up their little foot-stoves and waddled off; wilhelmina bade her little marken friends good-bye; and mynheer's party hurried off to a little inn on the market-place, for the sun was setting and the children said they were nearly starved, in spite of the gingerbread which they had eaten. outside the inn was a row of fat, sleepy-looking old men sitting on a long bench, watching a game of "skittles" which was going on in the square, for both "grown-ups" and children usually play their games in the village square. each had his long pipe and a glass of "schnapps" just under his part of the bench, and when he wanted a drink all he had to do was to reach down and get it. not one of them said a word; they just sat there and looked, and smoked and drank. in a cosy room, with a floor of red bricks, neatly covered with sand, a rosy-cheeked girl soon set out a real dutch supper for our hungry little travellers. there was cold sausage, potato salad, fresh herrings, and a strange dish made of buttermilk and buckwheat-flour, all boiled together and flavoured with green herbs. the joost family thought it delicious, but theodore said that it would take him some time to get used to it, and preferred the big loaves of rye-bread filled with raisins. as for cheeses, there was no end to the different kinds--and all of them excellent; while to wind up with, there was a delicious hot gingerbread and good coffee. did it keep them awake? no, indeed, they dropped off to sleep in a moment, inside their big cupboard-beds, that had doors to them, instead of curtains, which made them look more like boxes than ever. "just come and look out the window, theodore," said pieter early the next morning. he was at the window and theodore was out of bed in a moment and beside him. "why the whole square is filled with cheeses," he cried. so it was, for this was market-day, when the farmers--"boeren," they are called--from all the country roundabout bring in their cheeses to sell them in the market-place. the boys scrambled into their clothes, and in a few minutes were walking among the great piles of cheeses. there were all kinds and shapes and sizes,--cheeses that looked like great red balls, yellow cheeses, white cheeses, green cheeses, flat, round, square and all sizes. "i didn't suppose there were as many cheeses in the world," said theodore, looking around him. "and the wagons, too, aren't they fine; they look as gay as circus wagons." and so they did, for they were painted every colour under the sun; some of them even had flowers painted upon them; and they were all shapes, too; some were curved like shells, and others looked not unlike a boat on wheels. "let us see what is going on over there, where there is such a crowd of people," said pieter, as he led the way to the other side of the square. here was the weighing-house, where the cheeses were being weighed on funny old-fashioned scales, which looked as though they had been in use hundreds of years. the buyers, too, were testing the cheeses. they would taste a cheese and cut a small plug out of it to see if it were of good quality, and then they would put the plug back in place again, when the cheese, to all appearances, looked as it did before. the bargaining over the cheeses took a long time, for the farmers are very careful to make a good deal for themselves, and they will not be hurried; and generally, when they are on their way home again, they look very well satisfied with themselves, and as contented as the portly vrouw sitting beside them, or the "kinder," as they call the children, playing about in the bottom of the wagon. "i don't suppose you boys have given up eating breakfast," a voice behind them said, and turning they saw mynheer joost. "wilhelmina and i have already had ours, so hurry up with yours, and then come down to the canal; we are going to see the cheeses loaded on to the boats." along the canal were drawn up the boats, with their brown sails, and steamers and barges and all kinds of craft. when the boys appeared again, they all stopped to watch a pile of round, red cheeses which were piled up like shot, ready to be loaded. a man picked one up in either hand and tossed them to another man, who was standing beside the ship's hatch; and he, in turn, tossed them to another who was down in the hold and who was stacking them up in neat rows. "i'd like to play that kind of ball; it looks as easy as can be," said pieter. "it's not as easy as you think," said his father; "just pick up one of these cheeses, and try its weight." pieter tried and so did theodore; but they thought better of it as a game, and the cheese man himself laughed at their unsuccessful efforts to grasp a cheese in one hand. "just look at our hands," exclaimed theodore, after they had finished handling the cheeses; "they are quite red." "that is the red colouring matter which is put on the outside to preserve them," said mynheer. "now we will take a walk around the town, and then make our way back to amsterdam," said mynheer joost; "and we will stop by the way at edam, and you can see the little town which gives the name to these red cheeses." during the dinner at edam, a happy idea struck mynheer joost. "children," he said, "how would you like to have a ride in a 'trekschuit,' or passenger barge? there is one leaving here for volendam in half an hour, the landlord of the inn tells me, and if you are ready, we will go out and hunt it up." [illustration: "the children stood in the bows"] "oh, that will be great fun," cried the twins in one breath. there are few of these old-time conveyances left in holland, and it was as much a novelty for them as for theodore. you will see from the picture what an odd sort of a passenger craft the "trekschuit" really is. there is one man pulling it, while another walks behind and steers it by the big tiller, which he handles from the shore in the same manner that he would if he were on board. the children stood in the bows among the big brass milk-cans and butter baskets of the market-women, and said they knew just how comfortable the fat dutchmen feel, as they sit on their "tjalks," and let their women and children draw them about. the next day found our little friends home again, planning other good times. soon the time came, however, when theodore must leave his dutch cousins and go back to america. the twins were nearly broken-hearted at the very idea of it; for they had become as fond of theodore as if he were a brother. wilhelmina wept, and said she didn't see why theodore could not stay for st. nicholas; and pieter himself had to wink hard to keep back the tears. but theodore consoled them by telling them that he would come again and spend a winter with them, so as to see a real dutch christmas, which, strange to say, is celebrated on the feast of good st. nicholas, which comes on the sixth of december. then they would have skating and all kinds of winter sports together, which, to tell the truth, are the favourite amusements of our little dutch cousins. the end. the little cousin series the most delightful and interesting accounts possible of child life in other lands, filled with quaint sayings, doings, and adventures. each one vol., mo, decorative cover, cloth, with six or more full-page illustrations in color. price per volume $ . _by mary hazelton wade (unless otherwise indicated)_ =our little african cousin= =our little alaskan cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little arabian cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little armenian cousin= =our little brown cousin= =our little canadian cousin= by elizabeth r. macdonald =our little chinese cousin= by isaac taylor headland =our little cuban cousin= =our little dutch cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little english cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little eskimo cousin= =our little french cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little german cousin= =our little hawaiian cousin= =our little hindu cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little indian cousin= =our little irish cousin= =our little italian cousin= =our little japanese cousin= =our little jewish cousin= =our little korean cousin= by h. lee m. pike =our little mexican cousin= by edward c. butler =our little norwegian cousin= =our little panama cousin= by h. lee m. pike =our little philippine cousin= =our little porto rican cousin= =our little russian cousin= =our little scotch cousin= by blanche mcmanus =our little siamese cousin= =our little spanish cousin= by mary f. nixon-roulet =our little swedish cousin= by claire m. coburn =our little swiss cousin= =our little turkish cousin= the goldenrod library the goldenrod library contains stories which appeal alike both to children and to their parents and guardians. each volume is well illustrated from drawings by competent artists, which, together with their handsomely decorated uniform binding, showing the goldenrod, usually considered the emblem of america, is a feature of their manufacture. each one volume, small mo, illustrated $ . list of titles =aunt nabby's children.= by frances hodges white. =child's dream of a star, the.= by charles dickens. =flight of rosy dawn, the.= by pauline bradford mackie. =findelkind.= by ouida. =fairy of the rhone, the.= by a. comyns carr. =gatty and i.= by frances e. crompton. =helena's wonderworld.= by frances hodges white. =jerry's reward.= by evelyn snead barnett. =la belle nivernaise.= by alphonse daudet. =little king davie.= by nellie hellis. =little peterkin vandike.= by charles stuart pratt. =little professor, the.= by ida horton cash. =peggy's trial.= by mary knight potter. =prince yellowtop.= by kate whiting patch. =provence rose, a.= by ouida. =seventh daughter, a.= by grace wickham curran. =sleeping beauty, the.= by martha baker dunn. =small, small child, a.= by e. livingston prescott. =susanne.= by frances j. delano. =water people, the.= by charles lee sleight. =young archer, the.= by charles e. brimblecom. cosy corner series it is the intention of the publishers that this series shall contain only the very highest and purest literature,--stories that shall not only appeal to the children themselves, but be appreciated by all those who feel with them in their joys and sorrows. the numerous illustrations in each book are by well-known artists, and each volume has a separate attractive cover design. each vol., mo, cloth $ . _by annie fellows johnston_ =the little colonel.= (trade mark.) the scene of this story is laid in kentucky. its heroine is a small girl, who is known as the little colonel, on account of her fancied resemblance to an old-school southern gentleman, whose fine estate and old family are famous in the region. =the giant scissors.= this is the story of joyce and of her adventures in france. joyce is a great friend of the little colonel, and in later volumes shares with her the delightful experiences of the "house party" and the "holidays." =two little knights of kentucky.= who were the little colonel's neighbors. in this volume the little colonel returns to us like an old friend, but with added grace and charm. she is not, however, the central figure of the story, that place being taken by the "two little knights." =mildred's inheritance.= a delightful little story of a lonely english girl who comes to america and is befriended by a sympathetic american family who are attracted by her beautiful speaking voice. by means of this one gift she is enabled to help a school-girl who has temporarily lost the use of her eyes, and thus finally her life becomes a busy happy one. =cicely and other stories for girls.= the readers of mrs. johnston's charming juveniles will be glad to learn of the issue of this volume for young people. =aunt 'liza's hero and other stories.= a collection of six bright little stories, which will appeal to all boys and most girls. =big brother.= a story of two boys. the devotion and care of steven, himself a small boy, for his baby brother, is the theme of the simple tale. =ole mammy's torment.= "ole mammy's torment" has been fitly called "a classic of southern life." it relates the haps and mishaps of a small negro lad, and tells how he was led by love and kindness to a knowledge of the right. =the story of dago.= in this story mrs. johnston relates the story of dago, a pet monkey, owned jointly by two brothers. dago tells his own story, and the account of his haps and mishaps is both interesting and amusing. =the quilt that jack built.= a pleasant little story of a boy's labor of love, and how it changed the course of his life many years after it was accomplished. =flip's islands of providence.= a story of a boy's life battle, his early defeat, and his final triumph, well worth the reading. _by edith robinson_ =a little puritan's first christmas.= a story of colonial times in boston, telling how christmas was invented by betty sewall, a typical child of the puritans, aided by her brother sam. =a little daughter of liberty.= the author introduces this story as follows: "one ride is memorable in the early history of the american revolution, the well-known ride of paul revere. equally deserving of commendation is another ride,--the ride of anthony severn,--which was no less historic in its action or memorable in its consequences." =a loyal little maid.= a delightful and interesting story of revolutionary days, in which the child heroine, betsey schuyler, renders important services to george washington. =a little puritan rebel.= this is an historical tale of a real girl, during the time when the gallant sir harry vane was governor of massachusetts. =a little puritan pioneer.= the scene of this story is laid in the puritan settlement at charlestown. =a little puritan bound girl.= a story of boston in puritan days, which is of great interest to youthful readers. =a little puritan cavalier.= the story of a "little puritan cavalier" who tried with all his boyish enthusiasm to emulate the spirit and ideals of the dead crusaders. =a puritan knight errant.= the story tells of a young lad in colonial times who endeavored to carry out the high ideals of the knights of olden days. _by ouida (louise de la ramée)_ =a dog of flanders=: a christmas story. too well and favorably known to require description. =the nurnberg stove.= this beautiful story has never before been published at a popular price. _by frances margaret fox_ =the little giant's neighbours.= a charming nature story of a "little giant" whose neighbours were the creatures of the field and garden. =farmer brown and the birds.= a little story which teaches children that the birds are man's best friends. =betty of old mackinaw.= a charming story of child-life, appealing especially to the little readers who like stories of "real people." =brother billy.= the story of betty's brother, and some further adventures of betty herself. =mother nature's little ones.= curious little sketches describing the early lifetime, or "childhood," of the little creatures out-of-doors. =how christmas came to the mulvaneys.= a bright, lifelike little story of a family of poor children, with an unlimited capacity for fun and mischief. the wonderful never-to-be forgotten christmas that came to them is the climax of a series of exciting incidents. _by miss mulock_ =the little lame prince.= a delightful story of a little boy who has many adventures by means of the magic gifts of his fairy godmother. =adventures of a brownie.= the story of a household elf who torments the cook and gardener, but is a constant joy and delight to the children who love and trust him. =his little mother.= miss mulock's short stories for children are a constant source of delight to them, and "his little mother," in this new and attractive dress, will be welcomed by hosts of youthful readers. =little sunshine's holiday.= an attractive story of a summer outing. "little sunshine" is another of those beautiful child-characters for which miss mulock is so justly famous. _by marshall saunders_ =for his country.= a sweet and graceful story of a little boy who loved his country; written with that charm which has endeared miss saunders to hosts of readers. =nita, the story of an irish setter.= in this touching little book, miss saunders shows how dear to her heart are all of god's dumb creatures. =alpatok, the story of an eskimo dog.= alpatok, an eskimo dog from the far north, was stolen from his master and left to starve in a strange city, but was befriended and cared for, until he was able to return to his owner. _by will allen dromgoole_ =the farrier's dog and his fellow.= this story, written by the gifted young southern woman, will appeal to all that is best in the natures of the many admirers of her graceful and piquant style. =the fortunes of the fellow.= those who read and enjoyed the pathos and charm of "the farrier's dog and his fellow" will welcome the further account of the adventures of baydaw and the fellow at the home of the kindly smith. =the best of friends.= this continues the experiences of the farrier's dog and his fellow, written in miss dromgoole's well-known charming style. =down in dixie.= a fascinating story for boys and girls, of a family of alabama children who move to florida and grow up in the south. _by marian w. wildman_ =loyalty island.= an account of the adventures of four children and their pet dog on an island, and how they cleared their brother from the suspicion of dishonesty. =theodore and theodora.= this is a story of the exploits and mishaps of two mischievous twins, and continues the adventures of the interesting group of children in "loyalty island." _by charles g. d. roberts_ =the cruise of the yacht dido.= the story of two boys who turned their yacht into a fishing boat to earn money to pay for a college course, and of their adventures while exploring in search of hidden treasure. =the young acadian.= the story of a young lad of acadia who rescued a little english girl from the hands of savages. =the lord of the air.= the story of the eagle =the king of the mamozekel.= the story of the moose =the watchers of the camp-fire.= the story of the panther =the haunter of the pine gloom.= the story of the lynx =the return to the trails.= the story of the bear =the little people of the sycamore.= the story of the raccoon _by other authors_ =the great scoop.= _by molly elliot seawell_ a capital tale of newspaper life in a big city, and of a bright, enterprising, likable youngster employed thereon. =john whopper.= the late bishop clark's popular story of the boy who fell through the earth and came out in china, with a new introduction by bishop potter. =the dole twins.= _by kate upson clark_ the adventures of two little people who tried to earn money to buy crutches for a lame aunt. an excellent description of child-life about , which will greatly interest and amuse the children of to-day, whose life is widely different. =larry hudson's ambition.= _by james otis_, author of "toby tyler," etc. larry hudson is a typical american boy, whose hard work and enterprise gain him his ambition,--an education and a start in the world. =the little christmas shoe.= _by jane p. scott woodruff_ a touching story of yule-tide. =wee dorothy.= _by laura updegraff_ a story of two orphan children, the tender devotion of the eldest, a boy, for his sister being its theme and setting. with a bit of sadness at the beginning, the story is otherwise bright and sunny, and altogether wholesome in every way. =the king of the golden river=: a legend of stiria. _by john ruskin_ written fifty years or more ago, and not originally intended for publication, this little fairy-tale soon became known and made a place for itself. =a child's garden of verses.= _by r. l. stevenson_ mr. stevenson's little volume is too well known to need description. books for young people the little colonel books (trade mark) _by annie fellows johnston_ each vol., large mo, cloth decorative, per vol $ . =the little colonel stories.= (trade mark) illustrated. being three "little colonel" stories in the cosy corner series, "the little colonel," "two little knights of kentucky," and "the giant scissors," put into a single volume. =the little colonel's house party.= (trade mark) illustrated by louis meynell. =the little colonel's holidays.= (trade mark) illustrated by l. j. bridgman. =the little colonel's hero.= (trade mark) illustrated by e. b. barry. the little colonel at boarding school. (trade mark) illustrated by e. b. barry. =the little colonel in arizona.= (trade mark) illustrated by e. b. barry. =the little colonel's christmas vacation.= (trade mark) illustrated by e. b. barry. =the little colonel, maid of honour.= (trade mark) illustrated by e. b. barry. =the little colonel.= (trade mark) =two little knights of kentucky.= =the giant scissors.= =big brother.= special holiday editions each one volume, cloth decorative, small quarto, $ . . new plates, handsomely illustrated, with eight full-page drawings in color. "the books are as satisfactory to the small girls, who find them adorable, as for the mothers and librarians, who delight in their influence."--_christian register._ these four volumes, boxed as a four volume set $ . =in the desert of waiting=: the legend of camelback mountain. =the three weavers=: a fairy tale for fathers and mothers as well as for their daughters. =keeping tryst.= =the legend of the bleeding heart.= each one volume, tall mo, cloth decorative $ . paper boards . there has been a constant demand for publication in separate form of these four stories, which were originally included in four of the "little colonel" books. =joel: a boy of galilee.= by annie fellows johnston. illustrated by l. j. bridgman. new illustrated edition, uniform with the little colonel books, vol., large mo, cloth decorative $ . a story of the time of christ, which is one of the author's best-known books. =asa holmes=; or, at the cross-roads. a sketch of country life and country humor. by annie fellows johnston. with a frontispiece by ernest fosbery. large mo, cloth, gilt top $ . "'asa holmes; or, at the cross-roads' is the most delightful, most sympathetic and wholesome book that has been published in a long while."--_boston times._ =the rival campers;= or, the adventures of henry burns. by ruel perley smith. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . here is a book which will grip and enthuse every boy reader. it is the story of a party of typical american lads, courageous, alert, and athletic, who spend a summer camping on an island off the maine coast. "the best boys' book since 'tom sawyer.'"--_san francisco examiner._ =the rival campers afloat=; or, the prize yacht viking. by ruel perley smith. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . this book is a continuation of the adventures of "the rival campers" on their prize yacht _viking_. an accidental collision results in a series of exciting adventures, culminating in a mysterious chase, the loss of their prize yacht, and its recapture by means of their old yacht, _surprise_. =the rival campers ashore.= by ruel perley smith, author of "the rival campers," "the rival campers afloat," etc. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . "the rival campers ashore" deals with the adventures of the campers and their friends in and around the town of benton. mr. smith introduces a new character,--a girl,--who shows them the way to an old mill, around which the mystery of the story revolves. the girl is an admirable acquisition, proving as daring and resourceful as the campers themselves. =the young section-hand=; or, the adventures of allan west. by burton e. stevenson, author of "the marathon mystery," etc. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by l. j. bridgman $ . mr. stevenson's hero is a manly lad of sixteen, who is given a chance as a section-hand on a big western railroad, and whose experiences are as real as they are thrilling. =the young train dispatcher.= by burton e. stevenson, author of "the young section-hand," etc. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . the young hero has many chances to prove his manliness and courage in the exciting adventures which befall him in the discharge of his duty. =captain jack lorimer.= by winn standish. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by a. b. shute $ . jack is a fine example of the all-around american high-school boy. he has the sturdy qualities boys admire, and his fondness for clean, honest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of sympathy among athletic youths. =jack lorimer's champions=; or, sports on land and lake. by winn standish, author of "captain jack lorimer," etc. square mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . all boys and girls who take an interest in school athletics will wish to read of the exploits of the millvale high school students, under the leadership of captain jack lorimer. captain jack's champions play quite as good ball as do some of the teams on the large leagues, and they put all opponents to good hard work in other summer sports. jack lorimer and his friends stand out as the finest examples of all-round american high school boys and girls. =beautiful joe's paradise=; or, the island of brotherly love. a sequel to "beautiful joe." by marshall saunders, author of "beautiful joe." one vol., library mo, cloth, illustrated $ . "this book revives the spirit of 'beautiful joe' capitally. it is fairly riotous with fun, and as a whole is about as unusual as anything in the animal book line that has seen the light. it is a book for juveniles--old and young."--_philadelphia item._ ='tilda jane.= by marshall saunders. one vol., mo, fully illustrated, cloth decorative, $ . "it is one of those exquisitely simple and truthful books that win and charm the reader, and i did not put it down until i had finished it--honest! and i am sure that every one, young or old, who reads will be proud and happy to make the acquaintance of the delicious waif. "i cannot think of any better book for children than this. i commend it unreservedly."--_cyrus townsend brady._ =the story of the graveleys.= by marshall saunders, author of "beautiful joe's paradise," "'tilda jane," etc. library mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by e. b. barry $ . here we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and triumphs, of a delightful new england family, of whose devotion and sturdiness it will do the reader good to hear. =born to the blue.= by florence kimball russel. mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . the atmosphere of army life on the plains breathes on every page of this delightful tale. the boy is the son of a captain of u. s. cavalry stationed at a frontier post in the days when our regulars earned the gratitude of a nation. =in west point gray.= by florence kimball russel. mo, cloth decorative, illustrated $ . west point forms the background for the second volume in this series, and gives us the adventures of jack as a cadet. here the training of his childhood days in the frontier army post stands him in good stead; and he quickly becomes the central figure of the west point life. =the sandman; his farm stories.= by william j. hopkins. with fifty illustrations by ada clendenin williamson. large mo, decorative cover $ . "an amusing, original book, written for the benefit of very small children. it should be one of the most popular of the year's books for reading to small children."--_buffalo express._ =the sandman: more farm stories.= by william j. hopkins. large mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $ . mr. hopkins's first essay at bedtime stories met with such approval that this second book of "sandman" tales was issued for scores of eager children. life on the farm, and out-of-doors, is portrayed in his inimitable manner. =the sandman: his ship stories.= by william j. hopkins, author of "the sandman: his farm stories," etc. large mo, decorative cover, fully illustrated $ . "mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who put the little ones to bed, and rack their brains for stories, will find this book a treasure."--_cleveland leader._ "children call for these stories over and over again."--_chicago evening post._ =pussy-cat town.= by marion ames taggart. small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors $ . "pussy-cat town" is a most unusual delightful cat story. ban-ban, a pure maltese who belonged to rob, kiku-san, lois's beautiful snow white pet, and their neighbors bedelia the tortoise-shell, madame laura the widow, wutz butz the warrior, and wise old tommy traddles, were really and truly cats. =the roses of saint elizabeth.= by jane scott woodruff, author of "the little christmas shoe." small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors by adelaide everhart $ . this is a charming little story of a child whose father was caretaker of the great castle of the wartburg, where saint elizabeth once had her home. =gabriel and the hour book.= by evaleen stein. small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors by adelaide everhart $ . gabriel was a loving, patient, little french lad, who assisted the monks in the long ago days, when all the books were written and illuminated by hand, in the monasteries. =the enchanted automobile.= translated from the french by mary j. safford. small quarto, cloth decorative, illustrated and decorated in colors by edna m. sawyer $ . the enchanted automobile was sent by the fairy godmother of a lazy, discontented little prince and princess to take them to fairyland, where they might visit their storybook favorites. =the red feathers.= by theodore roberts, author of "brothers of peril," etc. cloth decorative, illustrated $ . "the red feathers" tells of the remarkable adventures of an indian boy who lived in the stone age, many years ago, when the world was young, and when fairies and magicians did wonderful things for their friends and enemies. =the wreck of the ocean queen.= by james otis, author of "larry hudson's ambition," etc. cloth decorative, illustrated $ . this story takes its readers on a sea voyage around the world; gives them a trip on a treasure ship; an exciting experience in a terrific gale; and finally a shipwreck, with a mutineering crew determined to take the treasure to complicate matters. but only the mutineers will come to serious harm, and after the reader has known the thrilling excitement of lack of food and water, of attacks by night and day, and of a hand-to-hand fight, he is rescued and brought safely home again,--to realize that it's only a story, but a stirring and realistic one. =little white indians.= by fannie e. ostrander. cloth decorative, illustrated $ . the "little white indians" were two families of children who "played indian" all one long summer vacation. they built wigwams and made camps; they went hunting and fought fierce battles on the war-trail. a bright, interesting story which will appeal strongly to the "make-believe" instinct in children, and will give them a healthy, active interest in "the simple life." * * * * * transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. page , extra word "and" removed from text. original read: (rye bread and and white bread) ads at back of book, "l. r." changed to "r. l." for robert louis stevenson's "a child's garden of verses." (by r. l. stevenson) ads at back of book, case of the subtitle of "jack lorimer's champion's" was changed to match the rest of the titles' layout. originally "or, sports on land and lake" was in mixed-case lettering. the rise of the dutch kingdom - a short account of the early development of the modern kingdom of the netherlands by hendrik willem van loon, illustrated garden city new york doubleday, page & company [illustration: william i] dedication this little book, telling the story of our national usurpation by a foreign enemy during the beginning of the nineteenth century, appears at a moment when our nearest neighbours are suffering the same fate which befell us more than a hundred years ago. i dedicate my work to the five soldiers of the belgian army who saved my life near waerloos. i hope that their grandchildren may read a story of national revival which will be as complete and happy as that of our own land. brussels, belgium, christmas night, . apologia and for those other faults of barbarism, doric dialect, extemporanean style, tautologies, apish imitation, a rhapsody of rags gathered together from several dung-hills, excrements of authors, toys and fopperies confusedly tumbled out, without art, invention, judgment, wit, learning, harsh, raw, rude, fantastical, absurd, insolent, indiscreet, ill-composed, indigested, vain, scurrile, idle, dull, and dry, i confess all ('tis partly affected); thou canst not think worse of me than i do of myself. * * * * * so that as a river runs, sometimes precipitate and swift, then dull and slow; now direct, then _per ambages_; now deep, then shallow; now muddy, then clear; now broad, then narrow; doth my style flow: now serious, then light; now comical, then satirical; now more elaborate, then remiss, as the present subject required or as at that time i was affected. and if thou vouchsafe to read this treatise, it shall seem no otherwise to thee than the way to an ordinary traveller, sometimes fair, sometimes foul, here champaign, there enclosed; barren in one place, better soil in another. --_anatomy of melancholy_.--burton. foreword this foreword is an afterthought. it was written when the first proofs of the book had gone back to the printer. and this is how it took its origin: a few days ago i received a copy of a dutch historical magazine containing a violent attack upon one of my former books. the reviewer, who evidently neither had taken the time to read my book nor had taken the trouble to understand what i was trying to say, accused me among other things of a haughty contempt for my forefathers during their time of decline. haughty contempt, indeed! nay, brother of the acrid pen, was it not the truth which hurt thee so unexpectedly rather than my scornful irony? there are those who claim that reviews do not matter. there are those who, when their work is talked about with supercilious ignorance, claim that an author ought to forget what has been said about his work. pious wish! the writer who really cares for his work can no more forget an undeserved insult to the product of his brain than he can forgive a harsh word given unmerited to one of his children. the thing rankles. and in my desire to see a pleasant face, to talk this hurt away, as soon as i arrived this morning in new york i went to see a friend. he has an office downtown. it overlooks the harbour. from its window one beholds the old world entering the new one by way of the ellis island ferryboat. it was early and i had to wait. over the water there hung a low, thin mist. sea-gulls, very white against the gray sky, were circling about. and then suddenly, in the distance, there appeared a dark form coming sliding slowly through the fog. and through a window, opened to get over the suffocating effect of the steam-heat, there sounded the vibrating tones of a hoarse steam-whistle--a sound which brought back to me my earliest years spent among ships and craft of all sorts, and queer noises of water and wind and steam. and then, after a minute, i recognized by its green and white funnel that it was one of our own ships which was coming up the harbour. and at that instant everything upon which i had been brooding became so clear to me that i took to the nearest typewriter, and there, in front of that same open window, i sit and write what i have understood but a moment ago. once, we have been a very great people. we have had a slow decline and we have had a fall which we caused by our own mistakes and during which we showed the worst sides of our character. but now all this has changed. and at the present moment we have a better claim to a place on the honour-list of nations than the mere fact that once upon a time, some three centuries ago, our ancestors did valiant deeds. for, more important, because more difficult of accomplishment, there stands this one supreme fact: we have come back. what i shall have to tell you in the following pages, if you are inclined to regard it as such, will read like a mockery of one's own people. but who is there that has studied the events of those years between - who did not feel the utter indignation, the terrible shame, of so much cowardice, of such hopeless vacillation in the hour of need, of such indifference to civic duties? who has ever tried to understand the events of the year of restoration who does not know that there was very little glory connected with an event which the self-contented contemporary delighted to compare to the great days of the struggle against spanish tyranny? and who that has studied the history of the early nineteenth century does not know how for two whole generations after the napoleonic wars our country was no better than a negative power, tolerated because so inoffensive? and who, when he compares what was one hundred years ago with what is to-day, can fail to see what a miracle of human energy here has happened? i have no statistics at hand to tell you about our shipping, our imports and exports, or to show you the very favourable place which the next to the smallest among the nations occupies. nor can i, without looking it up, write down for your benefit what we have invented, have written, have painted. nor is it my desire to show you in detail how the old neglected inheritance of the east india company has been transformed into a colonial empire where not only the intruding hollander but where the native, too, has a free chance to develop and to prosper. but what i can say and will say with all emphasis is this: look where you will, in whatever quarter of the globe you desire, and you will find holland again upholding her old traditions for efficiency, energy, and tenacity of purpose. pay a visit to the hollander at home and you will find that he is trying to solve with the same ancient industry of research the eternal problems of nature, while with the utmost spirit of modern times he attempts to reconstruct the relationship between those who have and those who have not, until a basis mutually more beneficial shall have been established. then you will see how upon all sides there has been a return to a renewed interest in life and to a desire to do cheerfully those tasks which the country has been set to do. and then you will understand how the year , proud of what has been achieved, though not content that the goal has been reached, can well afford to tell the truth about the year . for after a century and a half of decline holland once more has aspired to be great in everything in which a small nation can be great. _new york, n.y., october , ._ contents apologia foreword dramatis personÆ prologue the last days of the old order the revolution the cost of revolution the provisional the opening ceremonies pieter paulus national assembly no. i at work national assembly no. ii at work glory abroad coup d'État no. i the constitutional coup d'État no. ii constitution no. ii at work more glory abroad constitution no. iii the third constitution at work economic condition social life peace schimmelpenninck king louis of holland the department formerly called holland liberation the restoration william i a comparison of the four constitutions of holland bibliography list of illustrations half-tones william i _frontispiece_ the estates of holland flight of william v krayenhoff warship entering the port of amsterdam daendels french troops entering amsterdam capetown captured by the english pieter paulus the national assembly the speaker of the assembly welcoming the french minister invasion of the british dutch troops rushing to the defence of the coast armed bark of the year the executive council of the east india company dutch ships frozen in the ice batavia--the fashionable quarter a country place skating on the river maas at rotterdam trades: printer, bookbinder, diamond cutter, the mint schimmelpenninck schimmelpenninck arrives at the hague louis napoleon napoleon visits amsterdam departure of gardes d'honneur from amsterdam gysbert karel van hogendorp proclamation of the new government arrival of william i in scheveningen lieutenant van speyck blows up his ship king william ii line maps in text on pages , , , , , , dramatis personÆ dramatis personÆ (_in order of their appearance_). curtain: _december, _. _william v_: last hereditary stadholder, futile, well-meaning, but without any conception of the events which during the latter half of the eighteenth century brought about the new order of things. unable to institute the highly necessary centralization of the country and emancipate the middle classes, which for the last three centuries have been cut totally out of all political power. he is driven out by the french revolution more than by his own discontented countrymen. dies, forgotten, on his country estates in germany. _the patriots_: mildly revolutionary party, since the middle of the eighteenth century working for a more centralized and somewhat more representative government. belong almost without exception to the professional and higher middle classes. represented in the new batavian assemblies mostly under the name of unionists. _the regents_: the old plutocratic oligarchy. disappear with the triumph of the patriots. continue opposition to the centralizing process, but for all intents and purposes they have played their little rôle when the old republic ceases to be. _the federalists_: combine all the opposition elements in the new batavian republic which work to maintain the old decentralization. _daendels_: lawyer, cart-tail orator, professional exile. fallen hero of the patriotic struggles; flees to belgium when the prussians in restore william v to his old dignities. returns in as quite a hero and a french major-general. later with french help organizes a number of _coups d'état_ which finally remove the opposing federalists and give the power to the unionists. a capable man in many ways. an enthusiast who spared others as little as he did himself. _krayenhoff_: doctor, physicist, experiments in new medical theories with same cheer he does in the new science of politics. able and efficient in everything he undertakes. too much of a man of principle and honesty to make much of a career during revolutionary days. _pieter paulus_: the sort of man who twenty years before might have saved the republic if only the stadholder had known how to avail himself of such a simple citizen possessed of so much common sense. trained thoroughly in the intricate working of the republic's government. scrupulously honest. so evidently the one and only man to lead the new batavian republic that he was killed immediately by overwork. _schimmelpenninck_: lawyer, man of unselfish patriotism, honest, careful, no sense of humour, but a very sober sense of the practically possible. no lover of extremes, but in no way blind to the impossibility of maintaining the old, outworn system of government. tries at his own private inconvenience to save the country, but when he fails keeps the everlasting respect of both his enemies and those who were supposed to be his friends. _france_, or, rather, the french revolution, regards the republic in the same way in which a poor man looks upon a rich man with a beefsteak. being possessed of a strong club, it hits the rich man on the head, grabs his steak, his clothes, everything he possesses, and then makes him turn about and fight his former friends. _liberty, equality, and fraternity_: trademark patented by the french republic between the years and . the goods covered by this trademark soon greatly deteriorate and finally cover a rank imitation of the original article. _napoleon bonaparte_: chief salesman of the above article for the territory abroad. further references unnecessary. gets a controlling hold of the firm in which at first he was a subordinate. removes the article which made him successful from the market and introduces a new brand, covered merely with a big n. firm fails in . the involuntary customers pay the deficit. _england_: chief enemy of above. in self-defence against the franco-dutch combination, it takes all of the republic's outlying territories. _louis napoleon_: second brother of napoleon bonaparte. only gentleman of the family. made king of holland in anticipation of a complete french annexation. makes an honest but useless attempt to prevent this annexation. wife (napoleon's stepdaughter) no good. son, napoleon iii, emperor of the french. _le brun, duke of plaisance_: governor of the annexed republic. makes the very best of a rather odious job. far superior to the corps of brigands who were his subordinates. _van hogendorp_: incarnation of the better elements of the old order; supporter of william v, although very much aware of the uselessness of that prince. has seen a little more of the world than most of his contemporaries. during the batavian republic and annexation refuses to have anything to do with what he considers an illegitimate form of government. man of great strength who, practically alone, arranges the revolution of , which drives out the french before the european allies can conquer the republic. _william i_: first constitutional king of holland, oldest son of william v, has learned a good deal abroad, but only during the last ten years of his exile. personally a man of the old régime, but with too excellent a business sense not to see that the times have changed. rather too much a business man and too little a statesman. excellent organizer. in many ways too energetic. pity he did not live a hundred years later. of the real people we shall see very little. a small minority, very small indeed, will try to make a noise like jacobins. but their little comedy is abruptly ended by the great french stage manager every time he thinks that such rowdy acting is no longer suitable. unfortunately for themselves, they began their particular acting three years later than paris, and, fortunately for the rest of us, the sort of plays written around the guillotine were no longer popular in france when the managers in holland wished to introduce them. the majority of the people, however, gradually impoverished by eternal taxation, without the old revenues from the colonies, with their sons enlisted and serving a bad cause in foreign armies--the majority takes to a disastrous way of vegetating at home, takes to leading an introspective and non-constructive religious life, finally despairing of everything save paternal despotism. in the country everything becomes frenchified. the fashions are the fashions of paris (two years late). furniture, books, literature, everything except an old-fashioned and narrow orthodoxy becomes a true but clumsy copy of the french. the other actors in our little play are foreigners: sansculottes, french soldiers of all arms, british and russian invaders, captives from all of the lord's countries, french customs officers, french policemen, french spies, adventurers of every sort and nationality; french bands playing the "carmagnole" and "marseillaise," _ad infinitum_ and _ad nauseam_. finally cossacks, russian infantry, blücher hussars, followed by a sudden and wild crowd of citizens waving orange colours. and then, once more for many years, dull, pious citizens, taking no interest in anything but their own respectability, looking at the world from behind closed curtains, so terribly hit by adversity that they no longer dare to be active. until this generation gradually takes the road to the welcome cemetery, the curtains are pulled up, the windows are opened, and a fresh spirit of energy and enterprise is allowed to blow through the old edifice, and the old fear of living is replaced by the desire to take an active part in the work of the greater world. the rise of the dutch kingdom prologue and now--behold the scene changes. the old republic of the united netherlands, once the stronghold of an incipient liberty, the asylum to which for many centuries fled all those who were persecuted--this same republic will be regarded by the disciples of the great french revolution as another bastille of usurped power, as the incarnation of all despotic principles, and will soon be demolished by its own eager citizens. the ruins will be carted away as so much waste material, unworthy of being used in the great new temple now to be constructed to the truly divine principles of liberty, fraternity, and equality. the old stadholder, last representative of the illustrious house of orange, alternately the father of his country and the beast of the book of revelation, will flee for his life and will spend the rest of his days in england or germany, nobody knows and nobody cares where. their high and mightinesses of the estates, proud little potentates once accustomed to full sovereign honours, refusing to receive the most important communication unless provided with their full and correct titles, these same high and mightinesses will have to content themselves with the even greater honour of being called citizen representatives. their ancient meeting hall, too sacred to allow the keeping of official records of their meetings, will be the sight of the town and will be patronized by the loafers to whom the rights of men mean a maypole, the tricolor, free gin, and a brass band. why go on with a minute recital? the end of the world has come. the days of tyranny, of indignity to the sovereign sanctity of the individual, are over. regents, coal-heavers, patriots, fish peddlers, officers and soldiers, soon they are all to be of the same human clay. the vote of one is as good as that of the other. wherefore, in the name of equality, give them all a chance and see what will come of it. if a constitution does not suit at the first attempt, use it to feed a patriotic bonfire. after all, what else is it but some woodpulp and printer's ink? if the parliament of to-day does not please the voters of to-morrow, dissolve it, close it with the help of gendarmes. if the members resist, call out the reserves or borrow some soldiers from the great sister republic, which is now teaching her blessed creed to all the world. they (the soldiers) are there for the asking (and for the paying). they are a little out at the elbows, very much out in regard to shoes, and they have not seen a real piece of money for many a weary month, but for a square meal and a handful of paper greenbacks they will dismiss a parliament, rob a museum, or levy taxes, with the utmost fidelity to their orders and with strict discipline to their master's commands. then, if constitutions and parliaments have failed in an equal degree, humbly beg for a king from among that remarkable family the father of which was a little pettifogging lawyer in a third-rate italian city, and the members of which now rule one half of the european continent. after the rights of men, the rights of a single man. in the great melting pot of the bonapartistic empire all hollanders at last become equal in the real sense of the word. they all have the same chance at promotion, at riches, and the pursuit of happiness. devotion to the master, and devotion to him alone, will bring recognition from the new divinity who issues orders signed with a single gigantic n. old republic of the united netherlands, enlightened republic of the free batavian proconsulate, kingdom of holland, it's all the same to the man who regards this little land as so much mud, deposited by his own, his french, rivers. vainly and desperately the bankrupt little kingdom of brother louis has struggled to maintain a semblance of independence. a piece of paper, a big splotchy n, and the whole comedy is over. the high and mightinesses, the citizen representatives, first consul, royal majesty, all the big and little political wirepullers of fifteen years of unstable government, are swept away, are told to hold their peace, and to contribute money and men, money and men, more money and men, to carry the glory of the capital n to the uttermost corners of the world. never mind about their government, their language, the remembrance of the old days of glorious renown. the old days are over for good. the language has no right to exist save as a patois for rustic yokels. as for the government, gold-laced adventurers, former barkeepers, and prize-fighters, now bearers of historic titles, will be sent to look after that. they come with an army of followers, tax-gatherers, policemen, and spies. they execute their duties in the most approved napoleonic fashion. there is war in spain and there is war in russia. there is murder to be done in portugal, and there is plunder to be gathered in germany. the hollander does not care for this sort of work. never mind his private likes and dislikes! hang a few, shoot a few, and the rest will march fast enough! and so, up and down the spanish peninsula, up but not down the russian steppes, the hollander who cared too much for trade to bother about politics is forced to march for the glory of that letter n. amsterdam is reduced from the richest city in europe to a forgotten nest, where the grass grows on the streets and where half of the population is kept alive by public charity. what matters it? his majesty has reviewed the new polish and lithuanian regiments and is highly contented with their appearance. the british have taken all the colonies, and the people eat grass for bread and drink chiccory for coffee. who cares? his majesty has bought a new goat cart for the king of rome, his august son, and is tremendously pleased with the new acquisition. the country is bankrupt. such a simple matter! some more paper, another scrawly n, and the state debt is reduced by two thirds. a hundred thousand families are ruined, but his majesty sleeps as well as ever and indeed never felt better in his life. until this capital letter goes the way of all big and small letters of the historical alphabet, and is put away in clio's box of enormities for all time-- and then, o patient reader, who wonders what all this rhetoric is leading to, what shall we then have to tell you? how out of the ruin of untried schemes, the terrible failures, the heartbreaking miseries of these two decades of honest enthusiasm and dishonest exploitation, there arose a new state, built upon a firmer ground than ever before, ready and willing to take upon itself the burden and the duties of a modern community, and showing in the next century that nothing is lost as long as the spirit of hopefulness and cheerful work and the firm belief in one's own destiny are allowed to survive material ruin. amen. i the last days of the old order december, it is the year of grace , and the eighth of the glorious french revolution. for almost a century there has been friction between the different parts of the population. a new generation has grown up in an atmosphere of endless political debate--finally of mere political scandal. but now the days of idle discussions are over. more than forty years before, manifestly in the year , the intelligent middle classes began their agitation for a share in the government, a government which during the days of great commercial prosperity has fallen entirely into the hands of the capitalistic classes. in this struggle, reasonable enough in itself, they have looked for guidance to the house of orange. alas! those princes who so often have led the people, who have made this nation what it is, whose name has come to stand for the very land of which they are the hired executives--these princes now no longer are in direct touch with the basic part of the nation. this time they have failed to see their manifest duty. left to their own devices, the reformers, the patriots as they are commonly called, have fallen into bad hands. they have mistaken mere rhetoric for action. they have allowed themselves to be advised by hot-headed young men, raw boys, filled with undigested philosophies borrowed from their better-instructed neighbours. as their allies they have taken experienced politicians who were willing to use this party of enthusiasts for their own selfish purposes. more through the mistakes of their enemies than through the virtue of their own partisans, the patriots have gained a victory in the chambers of the old estates, where the clumsy machinery of the republican government, outworn and ill-fitted for modern demands, rolls on like some forgotten water-wheel in an ancient forest. this victory, however, has been won too easily to be of any value to the conqueror. the patriots, believing themselves safe behind their wall of mere words, have gone out of their way to insult the hereditary stadholder. what is worse, they have given offence to his wife, the sister of the king of prussia. ten years before, in the last english war, through a policy of criminal ignorance, they risked their country's last bit of naval strength in an uneven quarrel. this time (we mean the year ) they bring upon themselves the military strength of the best-drilled country of the western world. in less than one week the prussians have blown together this card-house of the dutch patriots. their few untrained soldiers have fled without firing a single shot. stadholder william once more drives in state to his ancestral palace in the woods, and again his clumsy fingers try to unravel the perplexing maze of this antiquated government--with the same result as before. he cannot do it. truth is, that the old government is hopelessly beyond repair. demolition and complete reconstruction alone will save the country from anarchy. but where is the man with the courage and the tenacity of purpose to undertake this gigantic task? certainly it is not william, to whom a new cockade on the cap of his soldiers is of vastly more importance than a reform of the legislative power. nor can anything be hoped from old van den spiegel, the raadpensionaris, a man nearing the seventies, who desires more the rest of his comfortable zeeland estate than the hopeless management of an impossible government. there is, of course, the princess wilhelmina, the wife of william, a woman possessed of all the strength and executive ability of her great-uncle frederick, the late king of prussia. but just now she is regarded as the arch-traitress, the jezebel of the country. alone she can do nothing, and among the gold-laced brethren who doze in the princely anterooms there is not a man of even mediocre ability. for a short while a young man, trained abroad, capable observer, shrewd in the judgment of his fellow-men, and willing to make personal sacrifices for his principles, has supported her with vigorous counsel. but he, too, has given up the hopeless task of inciting the stadholder to deeds of energy, and we shall not hear the name of gysbrecht karel van hogendorp until twenty years later, when in the quiet of his study he shall prepare the first draft of the constitution of the new kingdom of the netherlands and shall make ready for the revolution which must overthrow the french yoke. in rotterdam, leading the uneventful life of a civilian director of the almost defunct admiralty, there is pieter paulus, who for a moment promised to play the rôle of a dutch mirabeau. he, too, however, found no elements with which he could do any constructive work. he has retired to his books and vouchers, trying to solve the puzzle of how to pay captains and sailors out of an empty treasury. a country of a million and a half of people, a country which for more than a century has led the destinies of europe, cannot be devoid of capable men in so short a time? then--where are they? most of them are still within the boundaries of the old republic. but disheartened by the disgrace of foreign invasion, by the muddling of patriot and regent, they sulk at home and await the things that are bound to come. many citizens, some say , , but probably less than , , have fled the country and are exiled abroad. they fill the little belgian cities along the dutch frontier. they live from hand to mouth. they petition the government in paris, they solicit help from the government in london, they will appeal to everybody who may have anything to give, be he friend or enemy. when support is not forthcoming--and usually the petitioned party turns a deaf ear--they run up a bill at the little political club where their credit is good, until the steward himself shall go into bankruptcy. then they renew their old appeals, until finally they receive a few grudging guilders, and as barroom politicians they await the day of vengeance and a return to the fraternal fleshpots. meanwhile in the hague, where, as of old, the stadholder plays at being a little monarch, what is being done? nothing! the year comes and brings the beginning of the great french revolution. the government of the republic thinks of the frightful things that might have happened if the patriots, instead of the prussians, had been successful in , and it draws the lines of reaction tighter than before. at the same time a new business depression sets in. large banking houses fail. the west india company of glorious memory is dissolved and put into the receiver's hands. two years more and france declares war upon the republic and upon england. the unwilling people are urged to fight, but refuse. town after town is surrendered without the firing of a single shot. it was the dissension in the french camp--it was the treason of dumouriez--which this time saved the country, not the bravery of its soldiers. and the moment the french had reorganized their forces, the cause of the stadholder was lost. in the years and new attacks followed. driven into a corner, with a vague feeling that this time it meant the end of things, the defence showed a little more courage than before. of organization, however, there was not a vestige. in between useless fortifications, insufficiently manned and badly defended, the french revolutionary armies walked straight to the well-filled coffers of rich amsterdam. it was midwinter. the rivers were frozen. how often had the ice served the invader as a welcome road into this impassable country! and just how often had not divine providence interfered with a timely thaw and had changed the victorious inroad into a disastrous rout? it had happened time and again during the rebellion against spain. it had happened in the year when the cowardly neglect of a dutch commander alone had saved the army of louis xiv from total annihilation. again, in this year of grace , the people expected a miracle. but miracles do not come to those who are not prepared to help themselves. the frost continued. for two weeks the thermometer did not rise above the freezing point. the maas and the waal, large rivers which were seldom frozen over, became solid banks of ice. wherever the french troops crossed them they were welcomed as deliverers. the country, honeycombed with treason, overrun with hungry exiles hastening home to a bed with clean linen, and a well-filled pantry, hailed the ragged sansculottes as the bringers of a new day of light. [illustration: . dutch republic _reproduced from author's sketch_] william, among his turnip-gardens and his little bodyguard, surrounded by his trivial court, wondered what the end was going to be. when first he entered upon the struggle with the patriots it was the head of old king charles which had haunted him in his dreams. now he had fresh visions of another but similar episode. two years before his good brother, the citizen capet, had climbed the scaffold for his last view of his rebellious subjects. since then all that was highest and finest and noblest in the french capital had trundled down the road which led to the place de la concorde. william was not of the stock of which heroes and martyrs are made. what was to become of him when the french should reach the hague? the advance guard of the invading army was now in utrecht. one day's distance for good cavalry separated the revolutionary soldiers from the dutch capital. the jewels and other valuables of the princely family had been sent away three months before, and were safely stored in the castle of brunswick. the personal belongings of the august household had been packed and were ready for immediate transportation. all running accounts had been settled and closed. what ready money there was left had been carefully collected and had been put up for convenient use by the fugitives. remained the all-important question, "where would they go?" evidently no one at the court seems to have known. there still was a large british auxiliary army in the eastern provinces of the republic; but at the first approach of the french troops, the british soldiers had hastily crossed gelderland and overysel and had fled eastward toward germany, a disorganized mob, burning and plundering as they went along to make up for the hardships of this terrible winter. close at their heels followed the french army, strengthened by dutch volunteers, guided by young daendels, who knew his native province of gelderland as he did the home town of hattum. this time the young patriot came as the conquering hero, and by the capture of the fortification of heusden he cut off the road which connected the province of holland with germany. to the north, to helder, the road was still open. and the fleet, assembled near texel, was entirely dependable. but before william could make up his mind to go northward it was too late. the sudden surrender of utrecht, the march of the french upon amsterdam, cut off this second road, too. there remained but one way: to take ship in scheveningen and flee to england. the only vessels now available were small fishing smacks, not unlike in form and rigging to the craft of the early vikings. the idea was far from inviting. the ships were bad sailers at all times. in winter they were positively dangerous. now, however, these little vessels were all that was left, and to scheveningen went the long row of carts, loaded with the goods of the small family and their half-dozen retainers, who were willing to follow them into exile. the end had come. the only question now was how to leave the stage with a semblance of dignity. william was passive to all that happened around him, accepting his fate with religious resignation. the princess, a very grand lady, who would have smiled on her way to the scaffold, kept up an appearance of cheerful contempt. their two sons--william, the later king of holland, and frederick, who was to die four years later at the head of an austrian army--vaguely attempted to create some military enthusiasm among the people; offered to blow themselves up in the last fortification. but what with ten thousand disorganized soldiers around them clamouring for food, for shoes, and for coats, it was no occasion for heroics. why make sacrifices where nothing was to be gained? despair and despondency, a shrugging of the shoulders and a protest, "what is the use?" met their appeal to the ancient courage and patriotism. old van den spiegel, the last of the raadpensionares, came nobly up to the best that was ever expected of his high office. he stuck to his duty until the very last. day and night he worked. when too sick to go about he had himself carried on a litter into the meeting hall of the estates. there he continued to lead the country's affairs and to give sound counsel until the moment the french entered the hague and threw him into prison. [illustration: the estates of holland] on january the th the definite news of the surrender of utrecht, of the imminent attack upon amsterdam, and the approach of the french, had reached the hague. it was a cold and sombre day. the people in a desultory curiosity flocked around the stadholder's palace and the rooms of the estates. a special mission had been sent to paris several days before to offer the committee of public safety a dutch proposal of peace. the delegates, however, who had met with the opposition of the exiled patriots who infested the french capital, had not made any headway, and for a long time they had been unable to send any news. the ordinary means of communication were cut off. the canal-boats could no longer run on account of the ice, and travel by land was slow. any moment, however, their answer might be expected. but the th came and the th went by and not a word was heard from paris. that night, in their ancient hall, in the dim light of flickering candles, the estates general met to discuss whether the country could still be saved. van den spiegel was carried into the hall and reported upon the hopeless state of affairs. a committee of members was then appointed to inquire of his highness whether he knew of a possible way out of the danger which was threatening the fatherland. late that night the prince received the deputies. a prolonged discussion took place. his highness, alas! knew of no way out of the present difficulties. unless the thaw should suddenly set in, unless the people should suddenly and spontaneously take up arms, unless providence should directly intercede, the country was lost. the next morning came, and still the frost continued, and not a single word of hopeful news. panic seized the estates. in all haste they sent two of their members to travel east, go find the commander of the invading army, and offer peace at any price. for when the french had attacked the republic they had proclaimed loudly that their war was upon the stadholder as the tyrannous head of the nation, but not upon the nation itself. if that were the case, the estates reasoned, let the nation sacrifice its ruler and escape further consequences. wherefore, in their articles of capitulation, they did not mention the stadholder. and from his side, william, who did not court martyrdom, declared nobly that he "did not wish to stand between the country's happiness and a continuation of the present struggle, and that he was quite ready to offer up his own interest and leave the land." in a lengthy letter to the estates general he explained his point of view, took leave of his country, and recommended the rest to god. during the night from saturday to sunday, january - , , the western storm which had been raging for almost a week subsided. an icy wind made the chance for flight to the english coast a possibility. early in the morning the princess wilhelmina and her daughter-in-law, with a two-year-old baby, prepared for flight. inside the palace, in the hall of audience, a room newly furnished at the occasion of her wedding, the princess took leave of her few remaining friends. many had already fled. others, now that the french were within striking distance of the residence, preferred to be indisposed and stayed at home. silently the princess wished a farewell to her old companions. outside the gate there was a larger assembly. tradespeople grown gray in deep respect for their benefactors, simple folk whose political creed was contained in the one phrase "the house of orange," patriots wishing to see the last voyage of this proud woman, stood on both sides of the court's entrance. nothing was said. it was no occasion for political manifestations. the two women and the baby, with a few servants following, slowly drove to scheveningen. without a moment's hesitation they were embarked, and at nine o'clock of the morning of this frightfully cold day they set sail for england. there, sick and miserable, they landed the next afternoon. [illustration: flight of william v] at eleven o'clock the prince heard that his wife had left in safety. the little palace in which he had built and rebuilt more than any of his ancestors was practically deserted. outside, through force of habit, the sentinels of the life guard still trudged up and down and presented arms to the foreign ambassadors who drove up to take leave. the members of the estates, in so far as they did not belong to the opposition, came in for a personal handshake and a farewell. poor william, innocent victim of his own want of ability, during these last scenes almost becomes a sympathetic figure. he tried to read a farewell message, but, overcome by emotion, he could not finish. a courtier took the paper and, with tears running down his face, read the last passages. at half-past one the court carriages drove up for the final journey. by this time the whole city had made the best of this holiday and had walked out toward the road to scheveningen. slowly, as if it meant a funeral, the long procession of carriages and carts wound its way over the famous road, once the wonder of its age, and now lined with curious folk, gazing on in silence, asking themselves what would happen next. in scheveningen the shore was black with people; and everywhere that same ominous quiet as if some great disaster were about to happen. at two o'clock everything was ready for the departure. the prince, with the young duke of hesse-darmstadt and four gentlemen in waiting and his private physician, embarked in the largest ship. the other members of their suite were divided among some twenty little vessels, all loaded to the brim with trunks, satchels, bales of clothes, everything, in most terrible confusion. the situation was uncomfortable. to ride at anchor in the surf of the north sea is no pleasure. and still the sign of departure was not given. hoping against hope, the stadholder expected to hear from the french authorities. at half-past four one of the members of the secret committee on foreign affairs of the estates came galloping down to scheveningen. news had been received from the french. it was unfavourable. the war was to continue until the stadholder should have been eliminated. [illustration: linemap, p. ] the native fishermen--and they should have known what they were talking about--declared that every hour longer on this dangerous coast meant a greater risk. at any moment a boat manned with french troops might leave rotterdam and intercept the fugitives. furthermore, the sea was full of ice. the wind, which now was favourable, might change and blow the ice on the shore. they all advised his highness to give the order to depart without further delay. whereupon william, in the cramped quarters of this smelly craft, in a sprawling hand, wrote his last official document. it reads like the excuses of a pouting child. "really"--so he tells the raadpensionaris--"really, since the french refuse an armistice, since there is no chance of reaching one or the other of the dutch ports, really now, you cannot expect me to remain here aimlessly floating up and down in the sea forever." and then comes some talk of reaching plymouth, where there "are a number of dutch men-of-war, and of a speedy return to some dutch province and to his good town of the hague." all very nice and very commonplace and dilatory until the very end. at five o'clock the ship carrying the prince hoisted her sails. before midnight william was well upon the high sea and out of all danger. the next morning, sick and miserable, he landed in harwich. there the fishermen were paid off. each captain received three hundred and fifty guilders. then william wished them godspeed and drove off to yarmouth to meet his wife. it was the last time he saw so many of his countrymen. from now on he saw only a few individuals, exiles like himself, who visited him at his little court of hampton and later at brunswick, mostly asking for help which he was unable to give. exit at the age of forty-seven, william v, last hereditary stadholder of the united netherlands--a sad figure, intending to do the best, succeeding only in doing the worst; victim of his own weakness and of conditions that destroyed the strongest and the most capable. in the quiet atmosphere of trifling details and petty etiquette of a third-rate german princedom he ended his days. at his funeral he received all the honours and pomp to which his exalted rank entitled him. but he never returned to his own country. of all the members of the house of orange william v is the only one whose grave is abroad. [illustration: krayenhoff] ii the revolution Ça ira. indeed and it will. while william is still bobbing up and down on the uncomfortable north sea, the republic, left without a stadholder, left without the whole superstructure of its ancient government, is wildly and hilariously dancing around a high pole. on top of this pole is a hat adorned with a tricoloured sash. at the foot of the pole stands a board upon which is painted "liberty, fraternity, equality." the music for the festivities is provided by the drums and fifes of the french soldiers. the melody that is being played is the "marseillaise." soon the hollanders shall provide the music themselves to the tune of some , , guilders a year. and they shall dance a gay little two-step across every battlefield of europe. the worst of the revolution of , from our point of view, was its absolute sincerity and its great honesty of purpose. the modern immigrant approaching the shores of the promised land in total ignorance of what he is about to discover, but with a deep conviction that soon all will be well, is no more naïve and simple in his unwarranted optimism that was the good patriot who during the first months of the year welcomed the bedraggled french sansculottes as his very dear deliverers and put his best guestroom at the disposal of some parisan tough in red, white, and blue pantaloons. verily the millennium had come. never, until within our own days of amateur sociology and of self-searching and devotion to the woes of our humbler brethren, has there been such conscientious desire to lift the world bodily out of its wicked old groove and put it upon a newer and better road. whether this hysterical joy, this unselfish ecstasy, about a new life was founded upon a sound and tangible basis few people knew and fewer cared. the sacred fire burned in their breasts and that was enough. it was no time for a minute analogy of inner sentiments. the world was all astir with great events ... _allons enfants de la patrie_, and the devil take the hindmost. meanwhile, since in all enthusiasm, genuine or otherwise, there must be some method; since the music of brass bands does not fill empty stomachs, but a baker has to bake bread; since, to come to our point, the old order of things had been destroyed, but no state can continue without some sort of order--meanwhile, what was the exact status of this good land? the french, as we have said before, had not made war upon the nation but upon the head thereof. exit the head; remains the nation. what was the position of the latter toward their noble deliverers? this was a question which had to be decided at once. the moment the french soldiers should overrun the entire country and should become conquerors, the republic was liable to be treated as so much vanquished territory. the republic knew of other countries which had suffered a like fate and did not aspire to follow their example. wherefore it became imperatively necessary to "do something." but what? in the hague, as a last nucleus of the old government, there remained a number of the members of the general estates, deliberating without purpose, waiting without hope for some indication of the future french policy. wait on, your high and mightinesses, wait until your fellow-members, who are now suing for peace, shall return with their tales of insult and contempt, to tell you their stories of an overbearing revolutionary general and of ill-clad ruffians, who are living on the fat of the land and refuse insolently to receive the honourable missionaries of the most high estates. of real work, however, of governing, meeting, discussing, voting, there will be no more for you to do. you may continue to lead an humble existence until a year later, but for the moment all your former executive power is centred in a body of which you have never heard before--in the revolutionary committee of amsterdam. the revolutionary committee in amsterdam, what was it, whence did it come, what did it aspire to do? its name was more formidable than its appearance. there were none of the approved revolutionary paraphernalia, no unshaven faces, nor unkempt hair. the soiled linen, once the distinguishing mark of every true progressive, was not tolerated in this honourable company. it is true that wigs were discarded for man's own natural hair, but otherwise the leaders of this self-appointed revolutionary executive organ were law-abiding citizens, who patronized the barber regularly, who believed in the ancestral doctrine of the saturday evening, and who had nothing in common with the prototypes of the french revolution but their belief in the same trinity of liberty, equality, and fraternity, with perhaps a little less stress upon the equality clause. no, the revolutionary committee which stepped so nobly forward at this critical moment was composed of highly respectable and representative citizens, members of the best families. they acted because nobody else acted, but not out of a desire for personal glory. the army of personal glorifiers was to have its innings at a later date. now, let us try to tell what this committee did and how the old order of things was changed into a new one. after all, it was a very simple affair. a modern newspaper correspondent would have thought it just about good for two thousand words. [illustration: warship entering the port of amsterdam] on friday, the th of january, the day on which the french took the town of utrecht, a certain wiselius, amateur author, writer of innumerable epics and lyrics, but otherwise an inoffensive lawyer and a member of the secret patriotic club, went to his office and composed an "appeal to the people." in this appeal the people were called upon to "throw off the yoke of tyranny and to liberate themselves." on the morning of the th this proclamation, hastily printed, was spread throughout the town and was eagerly read by the aforementioned people who were waiting for something to happen. during the afternoon of the same day this amount of floating literature received a sudden and most unexpected addition. general daendels, the man of the hour, commander of a battalion of batavian exiles, while pushing on toward amsterdam, had discovered a print-shop in the little village of leerdam, and, in rivalry with wiselius, he had set himself down to contrive another "appeal to the people." after a two hours' walk, his circulars had reached the capital and had breathed the genuine and unmistakable revolutionary atmosphere into the good town of amsterdam. here is a sample: "batavians, the representatives of the french people demand of the dutch nation that it shall free itself forthwith from slavery. they do not wish to come to the low countries as conquerors. they do not wish to force upon the old dutch republic the assignats which conquered territory must accept. (a fine bait, for this paper was money as valuable as confederate greenbacks.) they come hither driven solely by the love of liberty, fraternity, and equality, and they want to make the republic a friend and ally of france--an ally proud of her independence and her free sovereignty." when the amsterdam revolutionary committee noticed the commotion made by these two proclamations, especially by the second one, it decided to act at once. among the initiated inner circle the word was passed around that early the next morning, at the stroke of nine, a "revolution" would take place. but before the arrival of the momentous hour many unexpected things happened. let us try and explain them in due order. on the afternoon of the th general daendels had received a visit from an old friend, who was called dr. krayenhoff--an interesting type, possible only in the curious eighteenth century. originally destined for the study of jurisprudence, he had drifted into medicine, had taken up the new plaything called electricity, and as an electrical specialist had made quite a reputation. from popular lectures upon electricity and the natural sciences in general he had drifted into politics, had easily become a leading member of the progressive part of the patriots, and on account of his recognized executive ability had soon found himself one of the leaders of the party. he was a man of pleasant manners, rare personal courage, the combination of scientific, political, and military man which so often during the revolutionary days seemed destined to play a leading rôle. his former fellow-student, daendels, who had been away from the country for more than eight years, had eagerly welcomed this ambulant source of information, and had asked krayenhoff what chances of success the revolution would have in amsterdam. the two old friends had a lengthy conversation, the result of which was that krayenhoff declared himself willing to return to amsterdam to carry an official message from daendels to the town government and see what could be done. the town government was known to consist of weak brethren, and a little pressure and some threatening words might do a lot. there was only one obstacle to the plan of daendels to march directly upon the capital. the strong fortification of nieuwersluis was still in the hands of the troops of the old government. these might like to fight and block the way. but the commander of this post showed himself a man of excellent common sense. when citizen krayenhoff, on his way north, passed by this well-armed stronghold, the commander came out to meet him, and not only declared his eager intention of abandoning the fort but obligingly offered mr. krayenhoff a few of his buglers to act as parliamentaries on his expedition to amsterdam. [illustration: daendels] accordingly, on the morning of the th of january, krayenhoff and his buglers appeared before the walls of the town, and in the name of the franco-batavian general daendels proceeded to deliver their highly important message to their mightinesses the burgomasters and aldermen. the message solemnly promised that there would be no shedding of blood, no destroying of property, no violence to the person; but it insisted in very precise terms upon an immediate revolution. all things would happen in order and with decency, but revolution there must be. this summons to the town government was the sign for the patriotic club to make its first public appearance. six of the most influential leaders of the party, headed by rutger jan schimmelpenninck, incarnation of civic virtue and prudence, quietly walked to the town hall, where in the name of the people they demanded that the town government be delivered into their own hands. they assured the much frightened worthies of the town hall of their great personal esteem, and repeated the solemn promise that no violence of any sort would occur unless the militia be called out against them. [illustration: french troops entering amsterdam] the gentlemen of city hall assured the revolutionary committee that violence was the very last thing which they had in mind. but of course this whole proceeding was very sudden. would the honourable revolutionary committee kindly return at nine of that same evening, and then they would find everything arranged to their complete satisfaction. _ita que acta._ at half-past nine of the same evening the revolutionary committee returned to the town hall and found everything as desired. krayenhoff, who was made military commander of the city, climbed on the stoop of the building and by the light of a torch held by one of his new soldiers he read to the assembled multitude a solemn proclamation which informed all present that a revolution had taken place, and that early the next morning the official exchange of the high government would take place. after which the assembled multitude discreetly applauded and went home and to bed. the revolutionary committee, however, made ready for a night of literary activity and retired to the well-known inn, the cherry tree, to do a lot of writing. soon paper and ink covered the tables and the work of composing proclamations was in full swing; but ere many hours had passed, who should walk in but our old friend major-general daendels. that afternoon while making a tour of inspection with a few french hussars he had found the city gates of amsterdam wide open and unguarded. glad of the chance to sleep in a real bed, he had entered the town, had asked for the best hotel, and behold! our hero had been directed to the self-same cherry tree. his hussars were made comfortable in the stable and he himself was asked to light a pipe and join his brethren in their arduous task of providing the literary background for a revolution. the next morning, fresh and early, the french detachment drove up to form a guard of honour for the plain citizens who within another hour would be the official rulers of the city. when the clock of the new church struck the hour of ten, the representatives of the people of amsterdam entered the famous hall, where the town government had met in extraordinary session. both parties exhibited the most perfect manners. the patriots were received with the utmost politeness. they, from their side, assumed an attitude of much-distracted bailiffs who have come to perform a necessary but highly uncongenial duty. they assured the honourable town council again and again that no harm would befall them. but since (early the night before) "the batavian people had resumed the exercise of their ancient sovereign rights," the old self-instituted authorities had been automatically removed and had returned to that class of private citizens from which several centuries before their ancestors had one day risen. the burgomaster and aldermen could not deny this fundamental piece of historical logic. they gathered up their papers, made a polite bow, and disappeared. the people assembled in the open place in front of the city hall paid no attention. henceforth the regents could only have an interest as a historical curiosity. a new time had come. it was established upstairs, on the first floor, and another proclamation had been written. this first official document of the new era was then read from the balcony of the hall to the people below: "liberty, fraternity, equality. fellow-batavians: the old order of things has ceased to be. the new order of things will start with the following list of provisional representatives of the people of amsterdam. (follows a list of twenty-one names.) people of the batavian republic, what say ye?" the people, patient audience in all such political entertainments, said what was expected of them. the twenty-one new dignitaries, thus duly installed, then took their seats upon the unfamiliar green cushions of the aldermanic chairs and went over to the order of the day. the former subjects, present citizens, still assembled in the streets, went home to tell the folks that there had been a revolution, and that, on the th of january of the first year of the batavian liberty, the good town of amsterdam had thrown off the yoke of tyranny and the people had become free. and at ten o'clock curfew rang and everybody went to sleep. iii the cost of revolution this little historic comic opera which we are trying to compose has a great many "leitmotiven." the revolutionary ones are all of foreign make and importation. there is but one genuinely dutch tune, the old "wilhelmus of nassau." but this we shall not hear for many, many years, until it shall be played by a full orchestra, with an extra addition of warlike bugles and the roaring of many cannon. for the moment, while the overture is still being performed, we hear only a mumble of discordant and cacophonous parisian street tunes. one melody, however, we shall soon begin to notice uppermost. it is the "marseillaise," and it announces the approach of the taxpayer. for twenty years to come, whatever the general nature of our music, whenever we hear the strains of this inspiring tune, the villain of our opera will obey their summons and will make his rounds to collect from rich and poor with touching impartiality. on sunday, the th, the stadholder left the country. on monday, the th, the provisional representatives of the people of amsterdam made their little bow to the people from the stoop of the town hall. on the same day the french recognized the batavian republic officially. on wednesday, the st, amsterdam called upon fourteen other free cities to send delegates to discuss the ways and means of establishing a new government for the aforementioned republic. and on that same day the representatives of the french republic unpacked their meagre trunks in the palace of the old stadholder and demanded an amount of supplies for the french army which would have kept the dutch army in food and clothes and arms for half a dozen years. the provisional authorities demurred. the bill was much too high. "but surely," the french delegates said, "surely you must comply with our wishes. we have marched all the way from paris to this land of frogs to deliver you from a terrible tyrant. you can not expect us to starve." of course not, and the supplies were forthcoming. on the th of the same month, of january, the different provisional delegates from the provisional representative bodies of the different cities of holland met in the hague and sent word to the provincial estates that their meeting hall was needed for different and better purposes. and when the old estates had moved out the provisional citizens constituted themselves into an executive and legislative body, to be known as the "provisional representatives of the people of holland." the french authorities, snugly installed in the other wing of the palace where the provisionals met, were asked for their official approval. this they condescended to nod across the courtyard. then the new representatives set to work. pieter paulus, our old friend of the rotterdam admiralty, was elected speaker, an office for which he was most eminently fitted. in his opening speech he touched all the strings of the revolutionary harp--peace, quiet, security, equality, safety, justice, humanity, fairness to all. those were a few of the basic principles upon which the everlasting temple of civic righteousness was to be constructed. after which the provisional meeting set to work, and in very short order abolished the office of stadholder, the raadpensionaris, the nobility, absolved every one from the old oath of allegiance, recalled the peace missionaries who were still supposed to be looking for the french authorities, and ended up with a solemn declaration of the rights of men and a promise immediately to convoke a national assembly. the other provinces followed holland's example. in less than two weeks' time the entire country had dismissed its old estates and had provided itself with a new set of rulers. the new machinery, as long as there was nothing to do but to demolish the ruins of the old republic, worked beautifully; but when the last stones had been carted away, then there was a very different story to tell. three weeks after the stadholder had fled, provisional delegates to the estates general (the name had been retained for convenience sake) met in the hague. they adopted the declaration of the rights of men as their ethical constitution, abolished for the whole country what the provisional provincial estates had already abolished for each individual part, changed the five different admiralties into one single navy department, changed the council of state into a committee-on-the general-affairs-of-the-alliances-on-land, and vested this committee with the short name with power to make preparations for the calling together of a national assembly for the framing of a constitution. and then--_allons enfants de la patrie_--and here were those same citizens of the dilapidated uniform who had called but a moment before, and they had a little account which they would like to see settled. for now that the provisional delegates of the new republic were so conveniently together, would they not kindly oblige with a prompt payment? poor batavian republic, while your provisional representatives are making speeches, while your people are eagerly trying to rid themselves of titles, honours, coats-of-arms, fancy wigs, and short trousers, while the entire batavian republic is stewing in a most delightful feeling of brotherly love, the good brethren in paris are coldly calculating just how much they can take away from the republic without absolutely ruining her as a dividend-producing community. the french national convention, in matters of a monetary nature, took no chances. it sent two of its best financial experts to holland to make a close and first-hand inspection of all possible dutch assets, and to study the relation between revenue and expenditure and to discover just how much bleeding this rich old organism could stand. on the th of february these two experts, the citizens ramel and cochon (most fitting name), arrived in the hague. in less than two weeks they were ready with their report. they certainly knew their business. "do not kill the goose which lays the golden egg" was the tenor of their message to the french convention. "let holland prosper commercially, and then you shall be able to take a large sum every year for an unlimited number of years. but show some clemency for the present. whatever there used to be of value in the republic has been sent abroad many months ago and now lies hidden in safety vaults in hamburg and london. reëstablish confidence. the rich will come back; their property will come back; dividends will come back. then go in and take as much as the dutch capital can stand." such was the gist of their advice, but it was very ill received by the triumvirate which conducted the foreign policy of the french republic. they knew little of economics, but much about the pressing needs of the large armies which were fighting for the cause of fraternity and liberty. money was needed in italy and money was needed in germany, and the republic must provide it. and to citizen paulus and his provisional assembly there went a summons for one hundred million guilders to be paid in cash within three months, and for a per cent. loan of a same amount to be taken up by the dutch bankers before the year should be over. incidentally a vast tract of territory in the southern part of the republic was demanded to be used for french military purposes. here was a bit of constructive statesmanship for the month-old provisional government. twenty-five thousand hungry french soldiers garrisoned in their home cities and a peremptory demand for two millions and several hundred square miles of land. forward and backward the discussion ran. the republic was willing to open her colonies to french trade, to conclude an offensive and defensive treaty with france, to reorganize her fleet and use it against england. not a cent less than a hundred millions, answered paris. the republic must not be driven to extremes, or france will lose all the influence which it has obtained so far. "go ahead," said paris, "and get rid of us. the moment we shall recall our troops, the prussians will come to reëstablish your little stadholder the way they did in . our retreating army shall plunder all it can, and the rest will be left to the tender mercies of the prussian's hussars. get rid of us and see what is to become of your batavian republic." the provisionals, recognizing the truth of this statement, fearing another restoration, asked time for deliberation. then they offered to pay sixty millions and cede a vast tract of territory. "one hundred millions in cash and the same amount in a loan," said paris, "and not a cent less." pieter paulus (if only he had not died so young) worked hard and faithfully to try and avert this outrage. at times, as when he declared that "it were better to submit to the terms of a conqueror than to agree to such monstrous demands on the part of a professed friend," he rose to a certain heroism. but he stood alone, and his obstinate fight only resulted in a slight modification of some of the minor terms. one hundred millions in cash it was, and one hundred millions in cash it remained. on the th of may, , the treaty of the hague was concluded between the french and the batavian republics. the french guaranteed the independence and the liberty of the batavian republic and also guaranteed the abolition of the stadholdership. until the conclusion of a general european peace there should exist an offensive and defensive treaty between the two countries. against england this treaty would be binding forever. flushing must receive a french garrison. a number of small cities in the dutch part of flanders must become french. the colonies must be opened to french trade. the dutch must equip and maintain a french army of , men, and fifty million guilders must be paid outright, with another fifty million to come in regular rates. the batavian republic now could make up a little trial balance. this was the result: credit: the expulsion of one stadholder and the establishment of a free republic; , , guilders' worth of worthless paper money imported by the french soldiers. debit: , , in spot cash and , , in future notes; , , for french requisitions; , , lost through passed english dividends, lost colonies, ruined trade. total gain--q.e.d. iv the provisional the provisional representatives of the people of holland, the provisional representatives of the people of zeeland, the provisional representatives of all the nine provinces (for the old generalities had been proclaimed into provinces), the provisional municipalities and provisional committees on the provisional revolution--the names indicate sufficiently the provisionally of the whole undertaking. curiously enough (but the contemporary of course could not know this) the provisional government worked more and to a better effect than the permanent form of government by which it was followed. it had one great advantage: there was such an insistent demand for immediate action that there was a correspondingly small chance for idle talking. the professional orators, the silver-tongued rhetoricians, had their innings at a later date. for the moment only men of deeds were wanted, and the best elements of the patriotic party cheerfully stepped forward to do their duty. pieter paulus, by right of his ability, was the official and unofficial head. he remained at the hague and ran the national provisional government, while citizen schimmelpenninck stayed in amsterdam and kept that important dynamo of democratic power running smoothly. both leaders had their troubles, but not from foreign enemies. it is true that the young prince of orange was contemplating a wild filibustering scheme and had called for volunteers to compose an army of invasion. the half-pay officers of the former régime had hastened to his colours. but very few soldiers were willing to risk their lives for such an unpopular cause, and with an army composed of two soldiers for each officer no great military operations were possible. wherefore the plan fell through in a most lamentable way, and the prince of orange as a claimant to the dutch government disappeared from further view until many years later. the great bugaboo of the provisional government and its moderate members was the radical brethren of the very same patriotic party. these good people had starved abroad for many years. at the first opportunity they had hastened back to the ancestral hearth-stone. and now they presented enormous claims for damages for the losses which eight years before they had suffered at the hands of the orangeists. but instead of receiving the hoped-for bounties these faithful democrats were snubbed on all sides. the climax was reached when the batavian government offered to pay them twenty-five guilders each (the price of a ticket from paris to amsterdam) and let it go at that. the professional exiles roared indignation, repaired to the nearest coffee-house, and instantly formed a number of clubs which were to see that no further deviations from the genuine path of revolutionary virtue be permitted. and very broadly they hinted that a short session of madame guillotine might do no end of good in this complacent and ungrateful dutch community. let it be said to the everlasting honour of the provisionals that no such thing occurred. nobody was decapitated, no palaces and country houses were delivered to the tender mercies of the jacobin patriots. the possessions of the stadholder, which yielded , livres a year, were taken over by the republic and administered for its own benefit. the regents were permitted to exist, very, very quietly, and were not interfered with in any way. yea, even when old van den spiegel and william's great friend count bentinck were brought to trial for malfeasance committed while in office they were immediately set free. and the citizen who conducted the investigation, valckenaer by name and a most ardent jacobin by profession, openly confessed that there had been no case against these two dignitaries, that the charges against them had been like spinach: "looks like a lot when it is fresh, but does not make much of a dish when it gets boiled down." no, the members of the provisional were good patriots and good democrats, but with all due respect for the doctrine of equality they did not aspire to that particular form of equality which is established by the revolutionary razor. but after the question of the more turbulent members of their party had been decided, there was another problem of the greatest importance. where, in the name of all the depleted treasuries, could the money be found with which to pay the french deliverers, the current expenses of this costly provisional government, the added sums necessary for the war with the enemies of france? the high sea was closed to dutch trade, the colonies did not produce a penny's worth of revenue, dutch industries were dead and buried under unpayable debts. not a cent was coming in from anywhere; but whole streams of valuable guilders were flowing out of the country to everywhere. the final solution of the problem was as simple as it was disastrous. the batavian republic began to live on the capital of the dutch republic. in some provinces the provisional government confiscated all gold and silver with the exception of the plate used in the church service. but this little sum was gobbled up by the hungry treasury before a month was over. then voluntary per cent. loans were tried. they were not taken up. an extraordinary tax of per cent. was levied upon all revenue. the money covered the running expenses for three weeks; and all the time those twenty-five thousand frenchmen, who had to be clothed and fed, ate and ate and ate as if they had never seen a square meal before, which probably was the truth. there was only one way out of the difficulty: the credit of the prodigal son, who for two centuries had regularly paid his bills, is apt to be good. the republic could loan as much as it wanted to, and it now abused this privilege. loans were taken to pay dividends upon other loans, until finally a system was developed of loans within loans upon other loans which ultimately must ruin even the soundest of financial constitutions. meanwhile it poured assignats. all attempts to stop this unwelcome shower at its source were met with the most absolute refusal of the french government. "what! dishonour our pretty greenbacks with their fine mottoes, and accepted everywhere as the true badges of good revolutionary faith?" they could not hear of such a thing. and they printed assignats, and the counterfeiters printed assignats, and every private citizen whose children owned a little private printing press and whose oldest boy knew the rudiments of drawing printed assignats, until the shower caused a deluge, which in due time swamped the whole financial district and brought about that horror of horrors--a national bankruptcy. enters no. upon the program of the provisional's difficulties: the army and the navy. daendels had obtained permission to leave the french service and had assumed command of the dutch troops. a strange conglomeration of troops, by the way, not unlike the mercenary armies of the middle ages: regiments composed of every nationality--swiss grenadiers and saxon cavalry, scotch life guards and mecklenburg chasseurs, a few dutch engineers and some waldeck infantry; the officers partly dutch, but mostly foreign; the higher officers mostly in exile; the lower ones awaiting the day when their friend the prince should return. surely before this army could be reorganized into a national army of , well-equipped men, hot-blooded daendels would have a chance to exercise that swift temper of his. for after a year of drilling there was not even a single company that could be depended upon in a regular skirmish in time of war. with the fleet the government did not experience such very great difficulties. the fifteen millions necessary for reorganization had been quickly collected, and paulus a specialist on this subject, had gone to work with a will. the old officers and men had either left the service, or had surrendered their ships to the english as the allies of their commander-in-chief, the stadholder. but there were enough sailors in the country to man the ships. such of the old ships as had remained in dutch harbours were rebaptized with more appropriate names--the _william the silent_ became the _brutus_, the _estates general_ was renamed the _george washington_, and the _princess wilhelmina_ was delicately changed to the _fury_--and twenty-four new ships of the line and twenty-four frigates were planned for immediate construction. [illustration: capetown captured by the english] after half a year admiral de winter (former second lieutenant of the navy and french general of infantry) was ready to leave texel with the first batavian fleet. he sailed from texel with a couple of ships, and after having been beaten by an english squadron off the coast of norway, he returned to texel with a few ships less. two special squadrons were then equipped and ordered to proceed to the west and east indian colonies; but before they left the republic news was received of the conquest of these colonies by the british, and the auxiliary squadrons were given up as useless. now all these puzzling questions facing untrained politicians took so much of their time that nothing was apparently done toward the great goal of this entire revolution--the establishment of a national assembly to draw up a constitution and put the country upon a definite legitimate basis. the country began to show a certain restlessness. the old orangeists smiled. "they knew what all this desultory business meant. provisional, indeed? provisional for all times." the more extreme patriots, who knew how sedition of this sort was preached all over the land, showed signs of irritation. "it was not good that the opposition could say such things. something must be done and be done at once. would the provisional kindly hurry?" but when the provisional did not hurry, and when nothing was done toward a materialization of the much-heralded constitution, the jacobins bethought themselves of what they had learned in their parisian boarding school and decided to start a lobby--a revolutionary lobby, if you please; not a peaceful one which works in the dark and follows the evil paths of free cigars and free meals and free theatre tickets. no, a lobby with a recognized standing, a clubhouse visible to all, and rules and by-laws and a well-trained army of retainers to be drawn upon whenever noise and threats could influence the passing of a particular bill. on the th of august, , there assembled in the hague more than sixty representatives from different provincial patriotic clubs. the purpose of the meeting was "to obtain a national assembly for the formation of a constitution based upon the immovable rights of men--liberty and equality--and having as its direct purpose the absolute unity of this good land." here at last was a program which sounded like something definite--"the absolute unity of this land." all the revolutionary doings of the last six months, the patriotic turbulences of the past generation, were not as extreme, as anti-nationalistic in their outspoken tendencies, as was this one sentence: "the absolute unity of this land." it meant "finis" to all the exaggerated provincialism of the old republic. it meant an end to all that for many centuries had been held most sacred by the average hollander. it meant that little potentates would no longer be little potentates, but insignificant members of a large central government. it meant that the little petty rights and honours for which whole families had worked during centuries would pale before the lustre of the central government in the capital. it meant that all high and mightinesses would be thrown into one general melting-pot to be changed into fellow citizens of one undivided country. it meant the disappearance of that most delightful of all vices, the small-town prejudice. and all those who had anything to lose, from the highest regent down to the lowest village lamplighter, made ready to offer silent but stubborn resistance. to give up your money and your possessions was one thing, but to be deprived of all your little prerogatives was positively unbearable. and not a single problem with which the provisional, or afterward the national assembly, had to deal, caused as many difficulties as the unyielding opposition of all respectable citizens to the essentially outlandish plan of a single and undivided country. as a matter of fact, the unity was finally forced upon the country by a very small minority. the dutch jacobins were noisy, they were ill-mannered, and on the whole they were not very sympathetic. (jacobins rarely are except on the stage.) but one thing they did, and they did it well. by hook and by crook, by bullying, and upon several occasions by direct threats of violence, they cut the gordian knot of provincialism and established a single nation and a union where formerly disorganization and political chaos had existed. for when their first proposal of the th of august was not at once welcomed by the provisional, the revolutionary lobbyists declared themselves to be a permanent supervisory committee, and as the "central assembly" (of the representatives from among the democratic clubs of the batavian republic) they remained in the hague agitating for their ideas until at last something of positive value had been accomplished. the estates general could refuse to receive communications from this self-appointed advisory body, the estates of a number of provinces could threaten its members with arrest, but here they were and here they stayed (in an excellent hotel, by the way, which still exists and is now known as the vieux doelen), sitting as an unofficial little parliament, and fighting with all legitimate and illegitimate means for the fulfilment of their self-imposed task. and one year and one month after the glorious revolution which we have tried to describe in our previous chapters, the provisional assembly, under the influence of these ardent patriots and their gallery crowd, decided to call together a "national assembly to draw up a constitution and to take the first steps toward changing the fatherland into a united country." and this is the way they went about it: the national assembly should be elected by all hollanders who were twenty years of age. they must be neither paupers nor heretics upon the point of the people's sovereignty. for the purpose of the first election, the provinces were to be divided into districts of , men each, subdivided into sub-districts of . the sub-districts, voting secretly and by majority of votes, were to elect one elector and one substitute elector. the elector must be twenty-five years of age, not a pauper, and a citizen of four years' standing. thirty electors then were to elect one representative and two substitute representatives. these must be thirty years of age and were to represent the people in the national assembly. their pay was to be four dollars a day and mileage. the national convention was to be an executive and legislative body after the fashion of the estates general during those old days when no stadholder had been appointed. within two weeks after its first meeting the national assembly must appoint a suitable commission of twenty-one members (seven from holland, one from drenthe, and two from each of the other provinces). said commission, within six months of date, must draw up a constitution. this constitution then must at once be submitted to the convention for its approval, and within a year it must be brought before the people for their final referendum. the elections actually took place in the last part of february of the year . they took place in perfect order and with great dignity. the system was not exactly simple, but it was something new, and it was rather fun to study out the complicated details and then walk to the polls and exercise your first rights as a full-fledged citizen. on the st of march more than half of the representatives, duly elected, assembled in the hague, ready to go to work. a year had now gone by since the provisional government had been started--a year which had little to show for itself except an ever-increasing number of debts and an ever-decreasing amount of revenue. the time had come for the direct representatives of the sovereign people to indicate the new course which inevitably must bring to the country the definite benefits of its glorious but expensive revolution. exit the provisional assembly and enter the national assembly. v solemn opening of the national assembly the opening ceremonies on the morning of the st of march, , the ever-curious people of the hague had a legitimate reason for taking an extra holiday. for two weeks carpenters, plumbers, and whitewashers, followed by paperhangers and upholsterers, had been at work in the former palace of the stadholder. they had hammered and papered until the former ballroom of prince william v had been changed into a meeting room for the new national assembly. it was an oblong room eighty by thirty-two feet, and extremely high. the members were to sit on benches behind tables covered with the obligatory green baize. their benches were built in long rows, four deep, constructed along three sides of the hall and facing the windows which gave on the courtyard. the centre part of the fourth wall, between the big windows, was taken up by a sort of revolutionary throne, which was to be occupied by the speaker and his secretaries. the chair of the speaker was a ponderous affair, embellished with wooden statues representing liberty and fraternity. the gallery for the people, one of the most important parts of a modern assembly hall, gave room for three hundred citizens. the principle of equality, however, had not been carried to such an extreme as in the french assemblies. there was a separate gallery for the use of the diplomats and the better class of citizens. unfortunately there were but few diplomats left to avail themselves of this opportunity to listen to batavian rhetoric. practically all of the foreign ministers had left the hague soon after the prince had departed. the members of the assembly, after the french fashion, were not to speak from their seats, but when they wished to address their colleagues and the nation they mounted a special little pulpit standing on the right of the speaker's throne and resembling (or trying to resemble) a classical rostrum. now let us tell what the good people of the hague were to see on this memorable st of march. all in all there were ninety-six representatives in town, and they came from seven provinces. friesland and zeeland, neither of which liked the idea of this assembly, which was forced upon them by a revolutionary committee, had purposely delayed their elections--had not even commenced with the preliminaries of the first election. the other provinces, however, especially drenthe and the former generalities, which for the first time in their history acted as independent bodies, had been eager to go to work, and at eleven o'clock of this st of march their representatives and their substitutes, in their sunday best, came walking to their new quarters. slowly they gathered, until at the stroke of noon just ninety members were present. punctually at that moment a delegation appeared from across the way, from the estates general. they were to be the godfathers of the new assembly. nine members of the old estates general, escorted by a guard of honour from among the assembly, filed into the hall and took special seats in front of the speaker's chair. one of them then read the names of the assemblymen whose credentials had been examined and had been passed upon favourably. the new members then drew lots for their seats. this ceremony was to be repeated every two weeks and was to prevent the formation of a mountain and a plain and other dangerous geographical substances fatal to an undisturbed political cosmos. the substitute representatives took their seats on benches behind their masters. then the chairman of the delegation from across the way read a solemn declaration, which took the place of the former oath of allegiance, and the representatives expressed their fidelity to this patriotic pledge. the chairman ended this part of the ceremony with a fine outburst of rhetoric in which the spanish tyranny, king philip the second, alva, the dangerous ambition of william of nassau, and the spirit of liberty of the batavian people passed in review before his delighted hearers. and having dispatched the odious tyrant, william v, across the high seas, he referred to the blessings that were now to flow over the country, and thanked the gentlemen for their kind attention. the next subject on the program was the election of a speaker. at the first vote pieter paulus, with votes against , was elected speaker of the assembly. the chief delegate from the estates general, in his quality of best man at this occasion, put a tricoloured sash across the shoulders of mr. paulus and conducted him to the speaker's chair. profound silence. the galleries, crowded to the last seat, held their breath. the ministers from the french republic and the united states of america, who, with the diplomatic representatives of denmark and portugal, were the only official foreigners present, looked at their watches that they might inform their home governments at what moment exactly the new little sister republic had started upon her career. it was twelve o'clock when citizen paulus arose and with a firm voice declared: "in the name of the people of the netherlands, which has duly delegated us to our present functions, i declare this meeting to be the representative assembly of the people of the netherlands." tremendous applause. a band hidden in a corner struck up a revolutionary hymn. outside a bugle call announced unto the multitudes that the new régime had been officially established. the soldiers presented arms. the populace hastened to embrace the soldiers and to give vent to such expressions of civic joy as were fashionable at that moment. the national flag, the old red, white, and blue with an additional goddess of liberty, was hoisted on the highest available spot, which happened to be a little observatory where the children of the stadholder in happier days had learned to read the wonders of the high heavens. the appearance of this flag was the appointed signal for those who had not been able to find room in the small courtyard, and they now burst forth into cheers. finally the cannon, well placed outside the city limits (to avoid accidents to careless patriotic infants), boomed forth their message, and those who possessed a private blunderbuss fired it to their hearts' content. ere long dispatch riders hastened to all parts of the country and told the glorious news. the committee from the estates general, however, did not wait for this part of the celebration. as soon as paulus had begun his inaugural address (a quiet and dignified document, much to the point) they had unobservedly slipped out of the assembly and had returned to their own meeting hall across the yard. and here, while outside in the streets the people went into frantic joy about the new batavian liberty, their high and mightinesses, who for so many centuries had conducted the destinies of their own country and who so often had decided the fate of europe, who had appointed governors of a colonial empire stretching over many continents, and who, chiefly through their own mistakes, had lost their power--here, their high and mightinesses met for the very last time. the committee which had attended the opening of the representative assembly of the people of the netherlands reported upon what they had done, what they had seen, and what they had heard. then with a few fitting words their speaker closed the meeting. slowly their high and mightinesses packed up their papers and dispersed. outside the town prepared for illumination. [illustration: pieter paulus] vi pieter paulus a year before, the french revolution had come suddenly, and boldly it had struck its brutal bayonet into the industrious ants' nest of the dutch republic. there had been great hurrying to save life and property. after a while order had been reëstablished. and then to its intense surprise, at first with unbelieving astonishment, later with ill-concealed vexation, the political entymologists of the french revolution had discovered that in this little country they had hit upon an entirely new variety of national fabric. against all the rules of well-conducted republics, every little ant and every small combination of ants worked only for its own little selfish ends, disregarded its neighbours, fought most desperately for every small advantage to its own, bit at those who came near, stole the eggs of those who were not looking--in a word, while outwardly the little heap of earth seemed to cover a well-conducted colony of formicidæ, inwardly it appeared to be an ill-conducted, quarrelsome congregation of very selfish little individuals. and with profound common sense, the french, after their first surprise was over, said: "brethren, this will never do. really you must change all this. we will give you a chance to build a new nest, a very superior one. you can upholster it just as you please. you can put in all the extra outside and inside ornaments which you may care to have around you. but you must stop this insane quarrelling among yourselves, this biting at each other, this spoiling of each other's pleasure. in one word, you have got to turn this chaotic establishment of yours into a well-regulated, centralized commonwealth such as is now being constructed by all modern nations." very well. but who was to perform the miracle? william the silent had failed. oldenbarneveldt two hundred years before had told his fellow citizens almost identically the same thing. john de witt had tried to bring about a union by making the whole country subservient to holland, but he had not been successful. william iii had accomplished everything he had set out to do, but he could not establish a centralized government in the republic. the entire eighteenth century had been one prolonged struggle to establish the beginning of a more unified system, and in this struggle much of the strength and energy of the country had been wasted in vain. and now the untrained national assembly (representative assembly of the people of the netherlands was too long a word) was asked to perform a task which was to make it odious to more than half of its own members and to the vast majority of the people of the republic. revolution, sansculottes, assignats, carmagnole, unpowdered hair--the batavians were willing to stand for almost anything, but not one iota of provincial sovereignty must be sacrificed. pieter paulus, wise man of this revolution, knew and understood the difficulties which were awaiting him and his assembly. already, in his inaugural address, he had warned the members of the assembly that they must not forget to be "representatives of the whole people, not mere delegates from some particular town or province." the members had listened very patiently, but when, on the th of the month, the commission for the drawing up of a constitution was elected, the federalists, those who supported the idea of provincial sovereignty as opposed to a greater union, proved to be in the majority. of the twenty-one members who were elected to make a constitution, only one was known as a radical supporter of the idea of union. since zeeland and friesland, even at this advanced date, had not yet sent their delegates, the commission could not commence its labours until the end of april. and when at last they set to work the assembly had suffered an irreparable loss. one week after the opening ceremonies the secretary of the assembly had asked that mr. paulus be excused from presiding that day. a heavy cold had kept him at home. paulus was still a young man, only a little over forty. but during the last fourteen months, almost without support, he had carried the whole weight of the revolutionary government. and as soon as the assembly had met, the disgruntled jacobins, who thought that he was not radical enough, had openly accused him of financial irregularities. it is true the assembly had refused to listen to these charges and the members had expressed their utmost confidence in the speaker; but eighteen hours' work a day, the responsibility for a state on the verge of ruin, and attacks upon his personal honesty, seemed to have been too much for a constitution which never had been of the strongest. the slight cold which had prevented paulus from presiding proved to be the beginning of the end. after the th of march the speaker no longer appeared in the assembly. on the th of the same month he died. the greatest compliment to his abilities can be found in the fact that after his death the national assembly at once degenerated into an endless debating society which, in imitation of the roman senate, deliberated and deliberated until not merely saguntum, but the country itself, the colonies, and the national credit had been lost, and until once more french bayonets had to be called upon to establish the order which the people seemed to be unable to provide for themselves. [illustration: the national assembly] vii national assembly no. i at work the revolutionists in holland had not followed the example of the french in abolishing the lord. all denominations received full freedom of worship, and, faithful to an old tradition, the meetings of the assembly were invariably opened with prayer. as an ideal text for this daily supplication one of the members of the assembly offered the following invocation, short and much to the point: "o lord, from trifling, dilly-dallying, and procrastination save us now and for ever-more. amen." posterity seconds this motion. the temple of national liberty became an elocution institute where beribboned and besashed members idled their time away making heroic speeches for the benefit of some ancestral buncomb county. let us be allowed to use a big word--the psychological moment. the leaders of the revolution had allowed this decisive moment to go by, and the day came when they were to pay dearly for their negligence. if, immediately after the flight of the prince in the first glory of victory, they had dared to declare the old order of things abolished, if they had trusted themselves sufficiently to abrogate the union of utrecht, to annul the provincial sovereignty and destroy the old power of the provincial estates, they could, assisted by the french armies, have transformed the old republic into a new united nation. but a century of vacillation and indecision had ill prepared them for such a decisive step. the amsterdam patriots, trained in the energetic school of a commercial city, wanted to go ahead and draw the consequences of their first act. but the other cities had not dared to go as far as that. and now, after a year of hesitation, it was too late. radicalism was no longer fashionable. the old conservative spirit momentarily subdued, but by no means dead, had had three hundred and sixty-five days in which to regain its hold on the mass of the people. incessantly, although guardedly, the conservatives kept up their agitation against a united country. "unity merely means the leadership of holland." this became the political watchword of all those who were opposed to the patriots. "unity will mean that our dear old sovereign provinces will have to take orders from some indifferent official in the hague. unity will mean that we all shall pay an equal share in the country's expenses and that holland, with its majority of , inhabitants, will pay no more than the smallest province." and with all the stubbornness of people defending a losing cause, the old regents fought this terrible menace of a united country. they fought it in the market-place and in the rustic tavern. they offered resistance in every town hall and in the national assembly. every question which entered the assembly (and questions and bills and decrees entered this legislative body by the basketful) was looked at from this one single point of view, was discussed with this idea uppermost in people's minds, and finally was decided in a way which would work against the unity of the country and the leadership of holland. the acts of the national assembly fill eight large quartos; the decrees issued by the national assembly fill twenty-three. certainly here was no lack of industry. every imaginable question was touched upon by this enthusiastic body of promising young statesmen. every conceivable problem, however difficult, was discussed with ease and eloquence. the separation of church and state, something which has baffled statesmen for many centuries, was number one upon the new program. the sluices of oratory were opened wide. each member in turn came forward with his observations. nor did he confine himself to a few words directed to the speaker of the assembly. no--a speech to the entire nation, to say the very least--a speech divided and subdivided in paragraphs like a puritan sermon and delivered in the most approved pulpit style, sacred gestures, nasal twang, and all. at times, such as when the clown of the assembly (appropriately named citizen chicken) went forth to talk down the rafters of the ancient building, the speaker tried to put a stop to the overflow of eloquence. but the speakership was a movable office. every two weeks the entire assembly changed seats and elected a new speaker. by voting for the right kind of man (from their point of view) the loquacious majority could always arrange matters in such a way that their stream of babbling oratory was kept unchecked. in august, after a lengthy debate, the separation of church and state was made a fact. immediately thereupon a law was passed giving the franchise to the jews. eighty thousand citizens of the hebrew persuasion now obtained the right to vote. another grave problem, agitated for more than fifty years, was the creation of a national militia. theoretically everybody was in favour of it. in practice, however, most hollanders would rather dig ditches than play at soldier. the definite abolition of the uncountable mediæval feudal rights which in the year covered the country in a most complicated maze then came in for prolonged discussion. most painful of all, because most disastrous to the pockets of the people, was the question of what should be done with the east india company. this ancient institution, threatened for several years with bankruptcy, must in some way be provided for. while finally the problem of a new system of national finances, satisfactory to all the provinces, was to engage the discordant attention of the assembly. [illustration: the speaker of the assembly welcoming the french minister] in some of these important matters decisions were actually reached. others were discussed in endless tirades, full of repetition and reiteration. if the point at issue was too obscure to be clearly understood by the majority of the members, it was usually referred to the commission on the constitution, which as some sort of superior being was expected to solve all difficulties satisfactorily at some vague future date. or, better still, it was put upon the table until that happy day when the constitution should actually have become a fact, and when a regular parliament, elected along strictly constitutional lines, should have been called together. this famous committee on the constitution was supposed to meet in executive session, but, not unlike the executive sessions of another renowned body of legislators, the discussions which had taken place during the morning and afternoon were generally known among the newspaper correspondents the same evening. and those among them who had maintained hopes of a united fatherland must have been sorely disappointed when week after week they reported the proceedings of the secret sessions and noticed how the little constitution under the tender care of its federalistic guardian was being clothed with a suit of a most pronounced federal hue, cut after a pattern designed by the most provincial of political tailors. on the th of november, , the little infant constitution was first presented to the admiring gaze of the national assembly. the federalists were delighted. the unionists denounced it as the work of traitors, of disguised orangemen, of reactionaries of the very worst sort. undoubtedly the unionists and the patriots had a right to be angry. this new constitution was a mere variation of the old republican theme of the year , the year of the union of utrecht. the stadholdership was abolished. the executive power was now invested in a council of state consisting of seven members. the old estates general was discontinued. in its place there was to appear an elected parliament consisting of two chambers and provided with legislative powers. the old provinces were abolished, but under the new name of departments they retained their ancient sovereignty and remained in the possession of all their old rights and prerogatives. that was all. the political clubs were furious. the jacobins rattled the knives of imaginary guillotines. the gallery of the assembly became filled with wild-eyed patriots. the assembly, somewhat frightened by the popular storm of disapproval, burst forth into speech and talked for eleven whole days to prove that really and truly this constitution was not a return to the old days, that it was most up-to-date and promised to the country a new and brilliant future. then, when this oratory did not appease the popular anger even after fully two thirds of the members had favoured the occasion with their personal observations, the assembly gave in and solemnly promised to do some more trimming. back the little constitution went to its original guardians, who were reinforced by ten other members and who had special instructions to put the child into a newer and more popular garb. this process of rejuvenation took six months. the committee of twenty-one did its best, but old traditions proved to be too strong. on the th of may, , the national assembly by a large majority adopted the federalistic constitution and at once sent it to the electors for their final decision. two years of work of enormous expense and sore defeat had gone by. as a result the assembly had produced a constitution which did not remove a single one of the faults of the former system of government, but added a few new ones. in august the session of the first national assembly was closed. three weeks later the constitution was presented to the sovereign people for their consideration. of those entitled to vote almost three fourths stayed at home. of the remaining one hundred and thirty thousand voters five out of every six declared themselves against the constitution. the noes had it. viii national assembly no. ii at work there could be no doubt about the views of the majority of the people who took an interest in active politics. in unmistakable tones they had declared in favour of unionism. when the new election came they hastened to the polls and elected into the new assembly a large majority of unionists. such was their enthusiasm that several of the more prominent unionist leaders were elected by seven and twelve electoral colleges at the same time. in this new assembly the moderate party, which had been the centre of the first one and which had counted among its members some of the best-trained political minds, was no longer present. its leaders had not considered it worth the while. the unionists in the first assembly had claimed that the moderates by supporting the federalists had been directly responsible for the failure of the first constitution. "all right," the moderates said, "let the unionists now try for themselves and see what they can do." and the moderates stayed quietly at home and resumed their law practice. for most of these excellent gentlemen were lawyers and had offices needing their attention. on the whole their decision was a wise one. [illustration: batavian republic] when a serious operation has to be performed, philosophic doctors who start upon an academic discussion of the patient's chances of recovery are not wanted. and certainly, since the great day of the abjuration of king philip ii in the year , the country had not passed through any such violent crisis as it was now facing. the big french brother, heartily disgusted with this dilatory business, this trifling away of so much valuable time, hinted more clearly than ever before that something definite must be done and must be done quickly. a new government must be constructed by men who not only strongly believed in themselves but also in the efficacy of their measures and the sacredness of their cause. if no such men could be found it were better indeed if france should import a ready-made constitution and should perform the task for which the hollanders themselves seemed so ill fitted. on september , , the second assembly met. the constitutional committee of twenty-one was duly elected, and the representatives set to work. so did the patriotic clubs. by constant agitation they reminded the representatives in the hague that what the people wanted was a unionistic constitution, not another mild dilution of the old-fashioned rule of the regent. every little outburst of orangeistic sentiment--a drunken sailor hurrahing for the prince, a half-witted peasant mumbling rumours of another prussian restoration--was used as an excuse for new petitions, for ponderous memoranda to be addressed to the national assembly and to be presented by some patriotic member with a few well-chosen and trenchant words. came the defeat of the fleet by the british--discussed in the next chapter--and the inevitable cry of treason to increase the general confusion. the clubs knew all about it. the country was full of traitors who were secretly devoted to the prince and wished to return to william his old dignities and to bring vengeance upon all pure patriots. had not the reformed church--that old stronghold of the house of orange--had not the reformed ministers, with pious zeal, been working upon the religious sentiment of their congregations for weeks and months, and had they not driven their parishioners to the bookstores to sign petitions against the separation of church and state? indeed they had! two hundred thousand men, more than half of the total number of national voters, had signed those petitions which must prevent their beloved ministers from losing their old official salaries. louder and louder the patriotic minority wailed its doleful lamentations of treachery; and more and more firm became the tone of the orangeists and the reactionaries. you see, dear reader, the revolution by this time had proved a terrible disappointment to most people. under the old order of things there had been great economic and political disasters. but then there had been a stadholder to be held responsible and to be made into the official scapegoat. enter the patriot with the advice, "remove the stadholder, establish the sovereignty of the people, and politically, economically, and socially all will be well." very well. the stadholder had been chased into the desert; the sovereignty of the people had been established. then everybody had gone back to his business, trusting that the people's supreme power, like some marvellous patent medicine, would automatically take care of all the necessary improvements. quite naturally nothing of the sort had happened. of all the different systems of government--and even the best of them are but a makeshift--intended to bring comfort to the average majority, there is nothing more difficult to institute or to maintain than a sovereignty of all the people. it needs endless watching. it is a big affair which touches everybody. it is subject to more attacks from without and from within, to more onslaughts from destructive political parasites, than any other form of government. take the case of the batavian republic. first of all, the hungry exiles of the year had descended upon its treasury to still their voracious appetites. then the serious-minded lawyers had interfered and had said: "no, we must go about this work slowly and deliberately. we must first read up on the subject. we must peruse all the books and all the pamphlets written about assemblies and constitutions and natural rights, and then we must draw our own conclusions." next, the federalists, desiring to save what could be saved from the wreck of their beloved government, had tried to undo all the work of the patriots by their own little insiduous methods. no, as a general panacea for all popular ailments the sovereignty of a people had not yet proved itself to be a success. and then, the cost! o ye gods! the bad assignats--the millions of guilders for the requisitions of the french army, the other millions to be paid in taxes for the support of the new government! and the results--the destruction of the fleet, the loss of almost all the colonies, the complete annihilation of trade and commerce! while as the only tangible result of all this effort there were the thirty-one ponderous volumes of the assemblies' speeches and decrees. perhaps, when all was said and done, was it not better to look the facts boldly in the face and return to the old order of things? ahem and aha! perhaps it was. it must not be said too loudly, however, for the patriotic clubs might hear it, and they were a wild lot. "but now look here, brother citizen, what have you as a plain and sensible man gained by this assembly and by all this election business? have you paid a cent less in taxes? no. have your east indian bonds increased in value? no. they are not worth a cent to-day. have you found that your commerce was better protected than before? no. the fleet has never been in a worse condition than it is now." and so on, and so on, _ad infinitum_. the patriotic clubs of course knew that such an agitation was abroad throughout the land. they knew that the trees of liberty had long since been cut into firewood by shivering citizens; they knew that in many an attic the housewife had inspected her old supply of orange ribbons and had hopefully provided them with fresh mothballs. and they knew that with another six months of the present bad government their last chance at power would have gone. therefore, as apt pupils of the french revolution, they bethought themselves of those remedies which the french used to apply on similar occasions. had not the great republic of the south just expurgated her own assembly of all those traitors who under the guise of popular representatives had secretly professed royalism, catholicism, and every sort and variety of anti-revolutionary and reactionary doctrines? was not the new french directory there to prove to all the world that france was still the same old france of five years ago and had no intention of again submitting to the ancient royalistic yoke? and had not the batavian club celebrated this great event with much feasting and toasting, and had it not sent delegates to paris to compliment the directors upon the brilliant success of their great coup? glorious france had given the example. the free batavians could but admire and follow. the french _coup d'état_ of the th of september, , was followed by the dutch _coup d'état_ of the nd of june, . but the dutch one, with all the satisfaction which eventually it caused the patriots, was not to be a home-made dish. the ingredients were those ordinarily used in the best revolutionary kitchens of paris. they were cooked under the supervision of the most skilled french cooks, and they were tasted by the connoisseurs of the french directorate, who had promised to savour the dish personally to make it most palatable to the dutch taste. then, sizzling-hot from the french fire, it was carried to holland and was served to the astonished assembly right in the middle of their endless discussions. why, reader, this appeal to your culinary senses? i want you to stay for the appearance of this famous _râgout à la directoire_. but it will not be ready before another chapter. if now i hold out hope of a fine dinner to be served after five or six more pages, i can perhaps make you stay through the next chapter, which will be as gloomy as a rainy sunday in amsterdam. ix glory abroad there was no glory abroad. naval battles have often been described. sometimes they are inspiring through the suggestion of superior courage or ability. frequently they are very dull. then they belong in a handbook on naval tactics, but not in a popular history. we shall try to make our readers happy by practising the utmost brevity. paulus was dead, and the new leaders of the navy department were inefficient. they did their best, but private citizens are not changed into successful managers of a navy over night. on paper (patient paper of the eighteenth century, which had contained so many imaginary fleets) there were over sixty dutch men-of-war. salaries were officially paid to , sailors and officers. of those not more than a score knew their business. the old higher officers were all gone. they were sailing under a russian flag. they were fighting under the british cross or eking out a penurious half-pay life in little brunswick, near their old commander-in-chief. as for the sailors, they had had no way of escaping their fate. poverty had forced them to stay where they were or starve, and they had been obliged to take the new oath of allegiance to support their families. their quarterdeck now was beautiful with the new legend of fraternity, equality, and liberty painted in big golden letters. their masts still flew the old glorious flag of red, white, and blue, but now adorned with a gaudy picture of the goddess in whose name war was being waged upon the greater part of the civilized world. at times the men could not stand it. many a morning it was discovered that the flag had been ruined over night. a hasty knife had cut the divinity out of her corner and had thrown her overboard. but cloth was cheap. a new flag was soon provided, and the goddess of liberty was sewn in once more. to find the culprit was impossible, for upon such occasions the whole fleet was likely to come forward and confess itself guilty. so there the fleet lay, with mutiny averted by the near presence of a french army, and forced to inactivity by the blockade of the british fleet. the admiral of the dutch squadron was the same brigadier general de winter who the year before had tried in vain to reach the ocean. if you look him up in the french biographical dictionary you will find him as count of huissen and marshal of the empire. in plain dutch, he was just jan willem de winter and an ardent believer in the most extreme revolutionary doctrines. he had had a little experience at sea, but he had never commanded a ship. personally brave beyond suspicion, but not in the least prepared for the work which he had been called to do, he had again assumed the command with the cheerfulness with which revolutionary people will undertake any sort of an impossible task. his instructions were secret, or as secret as anything could be which during a number of weeks had been carefully threshed out in all the leading patriotic clubs. the whole plan of this expedition of which admiral de winter was to be the head was of that fantastic nature so dearly loved by those who are going to change the world over night. england, of course, the stronghold of all anti-revolutionary forces, was to be the enemy. and, by the way, what a provoking enemy this island proved to be! the churches of the kremlin could be made into stables for the french cavalry; the domes of portugal might be turned into pigstys; the palaces of venice could be used as powder magazines; the storehouses of holland might be changed into hospitals for french invalids; where french infantry could march or french cavalry could trot, there the influence of france and the ideas of the french could penetrate; but england, with many miles of broad sea for its protection, was the one country which was impregnable. french engineers could do much, but they could not build a bridge across the channel. french artillery could at times perform wonders of marksmanship, but its guns could not carry across the north sea. french cavalry had captured a frozen dutch fleet, but the sea around england never froze. and french infantry, which held the record for long distance marches, could not swim sixty miles of salt water. the fleet, and the fleet alone, could here do the work. at first there had been talk of a concerted action by the french, the spanish, and the batavian fleets. but the patriots would not hear of this plan. single-handed the dutch fleet must show that the spirit of de ruyter and tromp continued to animate the breasts of all good batavianites. on the th of october, , the fleet sailed proudly away from the roads of texel. the _brutus_ and the _equality_, the _liberty_, the _batavian_, the _mars_, the _jupiter_, the _ajax_, and the _vigilant_, twenty-six ships in all, ranging from eighteen to seventy-four cannon, set sail for the english coast. for five days this mythological squadron was kept near the dutch coast by a western wind. then it met the british fleet under admiral adam duncan. the british fleet was of equal strength--sixteen ships of the line and ten frigates. but whereas the batavian fleet was commanded by new officers and manned by disgruntled sailors, the british had the advantage of superior guns, superior marksmanship, better leadership, and a thorough belief in the cause which their country upheld. off the little village of camperdown, on the coast of the department of north holland, the battle took place. it lasted four hours. after the first fifty minutes the dutch line had been broken. after the second hour the victory of the british was certain. two hours more, for the glory of their reputation, the dutch commanders continued to fight. vice-admiral bloys van treslong, descendant of the man who conducted the victorious water-beggars to the relief of leyden in , lost his arm, but continued to defend the _brutus_ until his ship could only be kept afloat by pumping. captain hingst of the _defender_ was killed on the bridge. the _equality_ suffered sixty killed and seventy wounded out of a total of one hundred and ninety men. the _hercules_, set on fire by grapeshot, continued to fight until her commander had been mortally wounded and the flames had reached the powder-house, forcing the men to throw their ammunition overboard. the _medemblik_, rammed by one of her sister ships, lost fifty men killed and sixty wounded, lost its mast, and was generally shot to pieces before the fight had lasted two hours. and so on through the whole list. personal bravery could avail little against bad equipment and an indifferent spirit. ten vessels fell into british hands. one ship, with all its men, perished during the storm which followed the battle. another one, on the way home, was thrown upon the dutch coast and was pounded to timber by the waves. all in all, men had been killed and wounded. a few ships, after suffering terribly, reached dutch harbours. and for the first time in the history of the dutch navy, a dutch admiral was on board a british ship as a prisoner of war. x coup d'État no. i citizen eykenbroek was in the gin business--an excellent and profitable business which needs close watching, otherwise your workmen will drink the result of their handiwork and all the profits will be lost. citizen eykenbroek had not watched. citizen eykenbroek had failed. wherefore, since he had a wife and children, it behooved him to look for another means of livelihood. citizen eykenbroek became a speculator in army provisions. again a profitable business, but not a success as a course in applied ethics. however that be, or perhaps because of all that, citizen eykenbroek was the appointed man to act as intermediary between the grumbling dutch patriots and the french radicals who held sway in paris. armed with credentials given him by the jacobin club of amsterdam, this honourable citizen, with two fellow-conspirators, hastened to paris. since as a speculator in army requisitions he often made the trip to the french capital, his disappearance caused no surprise; and although the batavian minister in paris heard of one shabby individual's arrival, he saw no occasion to pay any attention to it. citizen eykenbroek, who had not expired when he had told his first lie, did not mind telling a few fibs, and at once he was very successful with the french radicals. his first offer of four hundred thousand good dutch guilders as a reward for a suitable revolution which would bring all power into the hands of the unionists he gradually increased until it reached the sum of eight hundred thousand. since no one in holland had given him the right to offer any monetary reward for the french services, he might easily have made it a few millions. having paved the way by creating such visions of wealth, eykenbroek set to work. the great grief of the dutch jacobins was the french minister in the hague. this dignitary, noel by name, was not in the least a radical. he understood that in this complacent republic little could be gained by decapitational measures, but very much by moderation, the encouragement of trade, the promotion of commerce; and like his friend cochon, a year or so before, he strongly advised against killing the goose that might again lay so many golden eggs. the batavian republic as a thriving commercial commonwealth was a much better asset to the french republic than the same republic playing a game of revolution, which was very distasteful to the richer classes of the nation. and upon several occasions noel had firmly reminded his patriotic dutch friends that, come what may, he would not stand for any works of violence. "remove noel," therefore, was one of the most important instructions which citizen eykenbroek had taken to paris upon his memorable voyage. and behold! the promise of half a million in cash at once did its work. the french directorate suddenly remembered that citizen noel had married a dutch lady. it was not good for france to be represented by a minister who was attached to the republic through such tender bonds of personal affection. therefore, exit citizen noel and his dutch wife. his successor was a former french minister of foreign affairs. this worthy gentleman, delacroix by name, cared little for holland or for its imbecile politics. he regarded his post as a mere stepping-stone to something better (a place in the directorate perhaps), and fully decided not to interfere in dutch politics so long as the republic paid its debts and strictly obeyed the orders which were issued from paris. and since he did not intend to spend too many months in the abominable climate of the low countries, he left madame delacroix at home and merely brought his secretary, an individual by the name of ducagne, who as a spy, a tutor, a newspaper correspondent, and army contractor knew the republic from one end to the other and could help the minister pull the necessary strings. the couple appeared in the hague during the first part of the year , and their arrival meant that the coast was clear and that the patriots could go ahead and perform the somersault which was to land the republic upon a pair of unionistic feet. it is an ill defeat which brings nobody any good. the destruction of the dutch fleet at camperdown had brought a sudden succour to the unionists. "they had predicted this right along." that most delightful remark, profoundest consolation of all commonplace souls, became their war cry. "we have predicted this, of federalists, moderates, and all further enemies of union. we will predict the same thing unless we get one country, one treasury, and one navy," and they told their enemies so, black on white. in a document containing nine articles and signed by forty-three of the members of the assembly, more extreme unionists laid down their political beliefs and indicated the remedies through which they proposed to avert another similar disaster. with the exception of parliament, which they wished to consist of only one chamber, but which at the present moment consists of two, their political program contained the fundamentals upon which (with the addition of a king as executive) the modern kingdom of the netherlands is based. the united patriotic clubs loudly applauded this declaration of unionistic principles. hisses came from the side of the federalistic villains. well-intentioned, moderate gentlemen tried to bring about a cessation of all passions. "citizens, citizens, in the fair name of our great republic, let us go about this matter quietly and deliberately. let both parties exercise a little more patience. the commission on the constitution is now almost ready. only six short weeks more and we may expect to hear from it. just a little more patience." the french minister was greatly entertained by this little human comedy which he could see enacted in front of his comfortable windows. he made no attempt to hide his superior amusement nor to conceal his profound contempt. just as in far-off timbuctoo the french military governor may give broad hints to the native ruler that such and such a thing must be done in such and such a way, so did the french minister upon several occasions at dinners, at his home, and abroad, indicate in the plainest of terms that the assembly must either adopt a constitution after the french pattern or must expect to suffer dire consequences. "this puttering," so his excellency was pleased to say, "this delaying of vital matters, this keeping of a whole country in suspense for so many years, is really unbearable. if the hollanders cannot make a constitution for themselves, they had better leave the whole matter to the care of the french." the assembly, getting knowledge of these rumours (as had been intended by their author), was struck by a sudden wave of patriotism. unanimously gathered around the imaginary altar of liberty, the members solemnly decided and openly declared that come what may they would save the country or die in the attempt. this sounded very well, but since nobody had asked them to defend or to die, it had little sense. all the country asked was that at last a constitution be adopted and that the government be put upon a regular constitutional basis. that, however, was a different matter, and for the moment the assembly preferred to begin a lengthy debate upon the delicate question whether the anniversary of the decapitation of "citizen louis capet should be celebrated by a public oath of hatred against william of nassau or not." the unionists said "yes." the federalists said "no." and so they spent a number of days upon this very unprofitable discussion, which ended in a vote which put citizen capet and citizen william both upon the table. while the assembly was thus agreeably engaged a small number of citizens of a different stamp, but no less interested in the politics of the day, were holding meetings in a little room just around the corner from the assembly. this little group consisted of the secretary of the french embassy, the commander-in-chief of the batavian army, and a number of the leading unionist members of the assembly. right under the nose of the dignified assembly, if we may use so colloquial an expression for so wicked a fact, these conspirators were arranging the last details of their little _coup d'état_. the french directorate had expressed its approval, provided that there was to be no bloodshed. were the promoters of the plan quite sure that the federalists would offer no armed resistance? did the triumphant unionist party contemplate violent retribution? "messieurs," the answer came from the hague, "compared to your own glorious revolutionists of sainted memory, even the most extreme dutch jacobins are like innocent lambs. the little plan which they have originated resembles more a sunday-school frolic than a real and genuine revolutionary coup." "all right," paris reported back, "go ahead and try." the scene of the dark comedy which we are now about to describe was laid in the old princely courtyard. at two o'clock of a cold winter's night (january - , ), a strong detachment of soldiers under command of daendels occupied the buildings where the assembly met. at four o'clock of the morning the six members of the committee on foreign affairs, under suspicion as aristocrats and enemies of the union, were hauled out of their beds and, shivering, were informed that they must consider themselves under arrest and must not leave their homes. thereupon they were allowed to go back to bed. at half-after seven the sleepy town opened its curious shutters, noticed that something unusual was in the air, and decided to take a day off. at quarter to eight of the morning, the fifty extreme unionists who were in the plot met at the hotel which had been formerly occupied by the delegates to the estates from the good town of haarlem. at eight o'clock sharp their procession started upon its way. preceded by two cannon, and accompanied and surrounded by trustworthy civil guards and batavian regulars, the fifty conspirators, the president of the assembly in his official sash at the head of them, walked in state to their meeting hall. at the entrance they were met by general daendels in full gold lace. silently the members entered the building, and immediately guards were posted to refuse admission to all those whose names did not appear upon a specially prepared list. the committee on the constitution, however, was allowed to be present in its entirety. at nine o'clock the speaker of the assembly, middenrigh by name, in executive session, declared that the country was in danger. ("hear! hear!") not an hour was to be lost. (great excitement.) he appealed to all members to do their full duty to their country. whereupon the members of the assembly, or such of them as had not been caught by the guard and according to orders had been locked up in the coatroom, arose from their seats and openly avowed their horror of the stadholdership, of federalism, of anarchy, and of aristocracy. at that moment, however, it was discovered that ten black sheep had strayed into the meeting. they were given the choice between an immediate retraction of their federalist sentiments or leaving the room. they left. at eleven o'clock the executive session was changed into a regular one. the galleries were immediately filled with noisy holiday-makers. the federalist members were released from the coatroom and sadly walked home. they had been informed that from that moment on they had officially ceased to be members of the assembly, that they must not leave the hague until they were permitted to do so by the military authorities, and that they must not enter into any correspondence with their partisans outside of the city. at noon the expurgated assembly set to work. it abolished the old rules of the house which for three years had provided a parliamentary procedure which allowed of no practical progress. it abolished all provincial and county sovereignty. and then it took an even more important step, and on the afternoon of the d of january, of the year of our lord , the roaring of many cannon announced to the batavian people that the republic possessed its first "constitutional assembly"--a gathering of true unionists who would not disperse until the constitution of the republic should have become an established fact. an intermediary body consisting of five members and presided over by a well-known unionist, citizen vreede, was announced to have assumed the executive duties. the assembly approved, and then it appointed a committee of seven to proceed with all haste and make a suitable constitution. it was now well past the lunch hour, when suddenly there resounded a great applause among the members of the eager galleries. enters citizen delacroix, minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary from the republic of france. "long live the glorious french republic!" the real author of our little comedy appears to make a curtain speech. he thanked his audience. really he was greatly touched by such a warm reception. such energy and such resolution as had been shown that night by the true friends of the fatherland deserved his full approbation. "continue, citizens, on this path! the directory will support you, yea, the whole french nation will applaud you and encourage you on your path toward your high destiny." loud cheers from the gallery. the minister sat down. then a speech of thanks by the speaker of the assembly. you can read it if you are so inclined on page of the thirty-fifth volume of wagenaar, but i have not got the courage to repeat it here. there was a great deal in it about the enemies of liberty, the noble and magnanimous french ally, the peoples of europe, and the humble desire of the assembly that the citizen representative would deign to occupy a seat of honour in this noble hall. and then the speaker of the house, having obtained permission to leave the chair, descended to the floor of the assembly and among breathless quiet he pressed upon the noble brow of citizen delacroix the imprint of a brotherly kiss. xi the constitutional the report of this kiss resounded to paris. so greatly did it please the french directorate that they at once increased the number of troops which the republic was obliged to equip and support, and demanded that henceforth the french government might officially dispose over three fourths of the batavian army. let us come down to plain facts. after three years of revolutionary rhetoric the batavian republic for all intents and purposes had become a french province--a province inhabited by rather backwoodsy people (the batavian minister as chief rube in the follies of , an enormous success), people who simply never could make up their minds, whose very political upheavals had to be staged abroad, who had to be guided about like small children, and who only received some respect from their neighbours because they still had a few pennies in their pocketbook. but otherwise, oh lálá! they were so funny! and citizen delacroix, having accepted a nice little gratuity (a golden snuffbox studded with diamonds and filled with gold pieces), wrote back to paris that being minister to the hague was as good fun as an evening at vaudeville. this, however, was merely the beginning. much else was to follow soon. here we have a country becoming every day more like a french department. and what did the thinking part of the nation do? it continued its petty political quarrels as if it consisted of a lot of villagers engaged in the habitual row in the local vestry. the orangeistic party of these years reminds us strongly of those pious supporters of the pope who wish to see the whole kingdom of italy go to smash in order that his holiness may return to govern a city which during many previous centuries of his august rule was turned into a byword for civic mismanagement and municipal corruption. the orangeists sat in their little corner and jeered at everything the patriots did. but they lacked the courage and the conviction to come forward and assist in such constructive work as the revolutionary parties tried to perform. in previous chapters we have had a chance to talk with considerable irritation about much of what the patriots did. do not expect the historian to read through the twenty-three volumes of speeches of the assembly, to study the twelve volumes of wagenaar containing the history of those three years, to wade through the endless documents addressed to free citizens, and not to feel a personal resentment against his ancestors, who, while the country was in such grave danger, talked and talked and talked without any regard to the threatening facts about them. it is true that very much can be said in defense of the patriotic statesmen. they had never enjoyed any political training. for centuries they and their families had been kept out of all governmental institutions. they had not even been allowed to run their own town meeting. there had been no school for parliamentary methods or oratory. and since the death of paulus they had not possessed a leader of sufficient influence to force one single will upon their ill-organized party. for a moment there was some improvement after the first _coup d'état_. the idea of ending political anarchy by establishing an executive body of five members was a curious one, but it was better than the executive body of more than a hundred which had existed before. and under the spur of the moment the committee on the constitution set to work so eagerly that it finished its labours in as many months as the old assemblies had used years. the moderate nature of the dutch people in political matters was again shown after this little upheaval. two or three clubs and coffee-houses which had shown too open a delight at the former difficulties of the unionists were closed until further notice. a few of the expelled members of the old assembly were temporarily lodged in the house in the woods. but otherwise no enemy of the unionists had to suffer a penalty for his acts or for his words. the committee of five went to work at once and tried to reëstablish some semblance of order without bothering about political persecutions, and the committee of seven laboured on the new constitution with an ardour which excluded all active participation in such matters as did not pertain to paragraphs and articles and preambles. the french minister energetically assisted them in their task. he had made many a constitution in his own day and knew of what he was talking. it was a gratifying result that six weeks after the _coup d'état_ the committee reported that it was ready to submit the new constitution to the approval of the assembly. on the th of march it presented a document consisting of five hundred and twenty-seven articles. three days sufficed to discuss these articles thoroughly. on the evening of the th of march the second constitution of the batavian republic was accepted by the entire assembly, and in less than two months after the memorable victory of the unionists the constitution was in such shape that it could be brought before the people. in the place of the old oligarchic republic it established a centralized government. it provided a strong executive power, which was subject to the will of the legislature. the latter was divided into two chambers, which were to work in cooperation. the final source of all power, however, was brought down to the voters. in all religious and personal matters it tried to furnish complete equality and complete liberty, and as the best means of controlling the legislature and the executive it insisted upon absolute freedom for the political press. in the matter of finances the country henceforward would be a union and not a combination of seven contrary-minded pecuniary interests. the provinces, divided according to a new system, retained such local government as was necessary for the proper conduct of their immediate business, but in all matters of any importance the provinces became subject to the higher central powers in the hague. finally it brought about one great improvement for which many men during many centuries had worked in vain. it established a cabinet. eight agents (we would call them ministers) would henceforth handle the general departments of the government. in this way, in the year of grace , disappeared that endless labyrinth of committees and sub-committees and sub-sub-committees within sub-committees in which during former centuries all useful legislation had lost its way and had miserably perished. this time when the constitution was brought before the people the result was very different from that of the year before. of those who took the trouble to walk to the polls, twelve out of every thirteen declared themselves in favour of the new constitution. on the st of may, , the constitutional assembly was informed that the batavian people had, by an overwhelming majority, accepted the constitution, and that its fruitful labours were over. the batavian republic now was a bona-fide modern state and all was well with the world. xii coup d'État no. ii who was the wise man who first said that a little power was a dangerous thing? oh, citizen vreede, who knew more about the price and quality of cloth than of politics; brother van langen, who so dearly loved the little glory and the fine parties to which his exalted rank as one of the five members of the executive gave him admission; rev. mr. fynje, who once used to fill the devout baptist eye with pious tears and who now talked for the benefit of the jacobin gallery--why did ye not disappear from our little stage when your rôle was over, when the curtain dropped upon the constitution which you had just given to an expectant fatherland? it would have been so much better for your own reputation. it would have been so much better for the reputation of the good cause which you had so well defended. it would have been so much better for the country which, at one time, you loved so well. for listen what happened: in an evil hour the constitutional assembly, under pressure of its aforementioned leaders, declared itself to be the representative assembly provided for by their own constitution, and calmly parcelled out the seats of the upper and the lower chambers among its own members. at the same time the intermediary executive of five members was declared to be a permanent body. and of the entire constitutional assembly only six members had the courage to declare themselves openly against this grab, whereupon they were promptly removed from the meeting by the others. indeed this was a very stupid thing to do. for it gave all the enemies of union a most welcome chance to attack the unconstitutional procedure of those who had just made this self-same constitution, the rules of which they now violated. it gave them a chance to talk about graft and to insinuate that not love for the country but love for the twelve thousand a year actuated the five directors when they staged this unlawful affair. it exploded all the noble talk of an unselfish love for a united fatherland when at the very first chance the unionists disregarded their own laws and continued a situation by which they personally were directly profited. furthermore, the glory of their sudden elevation went disastrously to the heads of several of the men who had played a leading rôle during the fight against the federalists. it did not take a long time to show the unionists that their constitution, while theoretically a perfect success, did not bring all the practical results which had been hoped for. a country which has been running in a provincial groove for more than three centuries cannot suddenly forget all its antecedents and become a well-organized, centralized state. the old officials who had to be retained until new ones could be trained for these duties were trained to perform their duties in a certain old-fashioned way. the constitution asked them to do their new work in a very different way. the result was confusion and congestion. the directors and the new secretaries of the different departments worked with great industry. their desks, however, were loaded with new labours. all the thousand and one little items which formerly had been decided in the nearest village or town now had to be referred to the hague. and soon it became clear that the constitution was too good, that it had centralized too much, and that all its energy marred what it tried to do to such an extent that now nothing at all was ever accomplished. the leaders of the unionist party, especially the more ardent of the patriots (for although the name began to disappear the party and its ideals continued), began to suspect bad faith among their opponents. the chaotic condition of internal affairs, according to them, was due to the machinations of their federalist and orangeist opponents. and they began to lose their heads. they wanted to show their power and make clear to their enemies that they were not afraid. first of all, they placed the federalist members who were still detained in the house in the woods under very strict supervision and talked of weird plots of the country's enemies, and dismissed all the ancient clerks who on account of their slowness were suspected of orangeistic inclination, and ended by building a foolish temple of liberty on an open place in the hague, where they wasted much bad rhetoric and told the astonished populace that they, the unionists, would stop at nothing if it came to a defence of what they considered their most holy rights. but when they came to this point the sun of french approbation began to hide itself behind dark clouds of disapproval, and a threatening thunder of discontent began to rumble in far-off paris. and now we come to an amusing episode which better than any lengthy disquisition shows the rapidity with which france was changing from her stormy revolutionary nature to a well-established and well-regulated nation of respectable citizens. a year before delacroix had been sent to the republic to supplant a french minister who no longer seemed to be the right man in the right place. and now m. talleyrand, the estimable french minister of foreign affairs, did not feel that delacroix fully represented the sentiments of the directorate, and decided to get rid of him and fill his place with a more suitable personage. as a preliminary measure he sent to the hague a certain champigny-aubin, whose express duty it was to spy on delacroix, and who was to get into touch with the defeated federalist party, while his chief supported the unionists. for several weeks an entertaining situation followed. delacroix played with the radicals; aubin played with the conservatives. now it so happened that among those who were discontented for one reason or another there was that stormy petrel, general daendels. he had acted an important rôle during the first _coup d'état_, but when it was over he had found the commandership in chief of the batavian forces, momentarily placed into the hands of the french commander, had not been returned to himself. he did not fancy this rôle of second fiddle at all and became an enemy of the dutch directors and the unionistic party. and one fine morning the directors were informed that their general had left without asking their permission and that he had been last seen moving rapidly in the direction of paris. now the directors ought to have taken this hint. they knew all about conspiracies from their own recent experiences, and they should have surmised that daendels did not trot to paris to take in the sights of that interesting city. but, on the other hand, did they not daily meet and confer with his excellency the french minister? was not delacroix their sworn friend and did not the french army support him in his affection for the present batavian government? yes, indeed. but the directors could not know that the home government had secretly disavowed their diplomatic representative and only waited for a suitable occasion to recall him. well, general daendels safely reached paris and saw the french directors. after a few days a request came from the hague for his arrest as a deserter. the directors deposited this request in the official waste-paper basket and quietly finished their arrangements with the batavian general; and when, after a few days, he returned to the hague, all the details for the second _coup d'état_ had been carefully discussed and all plans had been made. daendels came back just in time to be the guest of honour at a large dinner which was given by a number of private gentlemen who called themselves "friends of the constitution." at this banquet he appeared in his habitual rôle of conquering hero, and was the subject of tipsy ovations. indeed, so great was the racket of this patriotic party that the directors who lived nearby could distinctly hear the unholy rumour of these festivities. and since, for the matter of discipline, it is not good that a general who has left his post without official leave shall upon his return be made the subject of a great popular demonstration, they decided that the next morning the general and the leaders of this dinner should be put under arrest. _dis aliter visum._ the very same day upon which daendels should have been put into jail, while the directors were eating their dinner in company with the french minister, who should enter but general daendels and a couple of his grenadiers. general commotion. tables and chairs were overturned, dishes were thrown to the floor, and much excellent wine was spilled. a couple of the directors jumped out of a window and landed in the flowerbeds of the garden. but the garden was surrounded by more soldiers and the escaping directors were captured and put under arrest. the others, not wishing to risk their limbs, appealed to the french minister. but the minister was unceremoniously told to hold his tongue and mind his own business. he was then conducted through the door and deposited in the street. two of the directors who had escaped during the first commotion hid themselves in the attic of the building. there they stayed until all searching parties had failed to discover them, and then managed to make their escape through a back door. this violent attack upon the inviolable directors was but one part of daendels' program. at the head of his troops he now hastened to the assembly. the upper chamber had already adjourned for the day, but in the lower chamber the speaker defied the invading soldiers from his chair and started to make a speech. two of the soldiers took him by the arms, and the chair was vacated. a number of members, led by citizen middenrigh, the same who two months before had conducted that unionist procession which dissolved the constitutional assembly of the federalist majority, heroically defied the soldiers and flatly refused to leave. no violence was used, but a guard was placed in front of the entrance and the assembly was left in darkness to talk and argue and harangue as much as it desired. tired and hungry, the disgusted members gave up fighting the inevitable and slowly left the hall. two dozen of the more prominent unionists were arrested, and quiet settled down once more upon the troubled city. the prisoners were conducted to the house in the woods, and that famous edifice upon this memorable evening resembled one of those absurd clubs which american cartoonists delight to create and to fill with members of their own fancy. for the federalist victims of the rd of january and the unionist victims of the th of june sat close at the same table, and as fellow-jailbirds they partook of the same prison food and slept under the same roof. at nine o'clock the second _coup d'état_ was over and everybody went to bed. in this way ended the most violent day of the dutch struggle for constitutional government. what would mr. carlyle have done with a revolution like that? xiii constitution no. ii at work the election which took place in june of the year brought an entirely new set of men into the assembly. the voters, tiring of experiments which invariably seemed to end in disaster and a parade of daendels at the head of a number of conspiring gentlemen, elected a number of men of whom little could be said but that they were "sound" and not given over to the dreaming of impracticable visions. they could be trusted to run the government in a peaceful way, they would undoubtedly try to reëstablish credit, and they would give the average citizen a chance to pursue his daily vocation without being bothered with eternal elections. in the two chambers which convened on the st of july of the same year the moderates, who had left the first assembly in disgust, were represented by a large majority. a well-known gentleman of very moderate views was elected to the chair and everybody set to work. first of all, the assembly had to consider what ought to be done with the members of the old assemblies who as prisoners of state were running up an enormous bill for board and lodging in the comfortable house in the woods. the french directors in paris dropped the hint that it might be well to let bygones be bygones and release the prisoners. the doors of the prison were accordingly opened, the prisoners made their little bow, and left the stage. a good deal of their work liveth after them. we thank them for their kind services, but the play will be continued by more experienced actors. when this difficulty had thus been settled in a very simple way the assembly was called upon to appoint five new directors. here was a difficult problem. the old, experienced politicians sulked on their sabine farms. and, terrible confession to make, the younger politicians had not yet reached the two-score years which was demanded by the constitution of those who aspired to serve their country as its highest executives. finally, however, five very worthy gentlemen were elected. none of them has left a reputation as either very good or very bad. under the circumstances that was exactly what the country most needed. the new assembly and the new directors went most conscientiously about their duties. they promptly suppressed all attempts at reaction within the chambers and without. they kept the discussions on the narrow path between orangeism, federalism, anarchy, and aristocracy, and for the next three years they made an honest attempt to promote the new order of things to the best of their patient ability and with scrupulous obedience to the provisions of the constitution. according to the law, one of the five directors had to resign each year. these changes occurred without any undue excitement. the sort of men that came to take the vacant places were of the same stamp as their predecessors. as assistant secretaries of some department of public business or as judges of a provincial court they would have been without a rival; but they hardly came up to the qualities of mind and character required of men able to save the poor republic from that perdition toward which the gods were so evidently guiding her. xiv more glory abroad while we have been watching our little domestic puppet show and have seen how the figures were being moved by the dextrous fingers of some hidden french performer, what has been happening upon the large stage of the world? great and wonderful things have happened. a little half-pay lieutenant, of humble parentage, bad manners, ungrammatical language, but inordinate ambition, has hewn his way upward until as commander-in-chief of the french armies he has made all the land surrounding the country of his adoption into little tributary republics, has obliged the sphinx to listen to his oratory, and has caused his frightened enemies to forget their mutual dislike to such an extent that they combine into the second coalition of england, prussia, russia, and turkey. the batavian republic, bound to france by her defensive and offensive treaty, found herself suddenly in war with the greater part of the european continent. now if there was anything which the new assembly of moderates did not wish, it was another outbreak of hostilities. once more a strong british fleet was blockading the dutch coast. the dutch fleet, bottled up in the harbour of texel, was again doomed to inactivity. as for the army, it was supposed to consist of , men, but the majority of the soldiers were raw and untrained recruits and useless for immediate action upon any field of battle. often during the previous years the french had contemplated an invasion of the british isles. this game of invasion is one which two people can play. and on the th of august, , the directors, who were patiently working their way through the mountains of official red tape demanded by the over-centralized batavian government, were informed by courier from helder that a large hostile fleet had been sighted near the dutch coast. frantic orders were given to daendels to take his army and prepare for defense. but the general, in no mild temper, reported that he had neither "clothes for his men, nor horses for his cavalry, nor straw for his horses." and before he had obtained the money with which to buy part of these necessaries the british fleet had captured the dutch one and had thrown , men, english and russian, upon the dutch coast. a week later these were followed by more men, until half a hundred thousand foreign soldiers were upon the territory of the batavian republic and within two days' march from amsterdam. [illustration: de landing der engelschen. invasion of the british] daendels, with such men as he could muster, bravely marched to the front, and from behind dikes and in the narrow streets of ancient villages opened a guerilla warfare upon the invaders. french troops were reported to be on their way to help the batavians, but could not arrive before a couple of days. the country was in a dangerous position, and yet the british-russian invasion petered out completely, and, full of promise, was changed into a complete failure. this was due partly to the dilatoriness of the english commander and to the bad understanding between englishman and russian. but worst of all, the allies, for the second time, committed the blunder which had cost them so dearly just before the battle of verdun. the young prince of orange had joined this expedition, and some enthusiast (if not he himself) had thought to improve the occasion by the issuing of a high-sounding proclamation. this document treated the entire revolution as so much personal wickedness, as the machinations of vicious and ambitious people who desired to change the country's government merely for the benefit of their own pockets. it called upon all fatherlanders to drive the french usurpers out and to return to their old allegiance to what the proclamation was pleased to call their "sovereign ruler." this sovereign ruler was none less than old william v. but if there was anything which the people as a whole did not desire, it was a return to the days of that now forgotten stadholder. federalists and unionists were bad enough, but the comparative liberty of the present moment was too agreeable to make the citizens desire a repetition of those old times when all the voters and assemblymen of the present hour were merely silent actors in a drama which was not of their making and not of their approval. and with quite rare unanimity the batavians rejected this proclamation of their loving stadholder and made ready to defend the country against the invader who came under the guise of a deliverer. the hereditary prince settled down in the little town of alkmaar of famous memory and waited. he waited a week, but nothing happened except that the troops of the allies, badly provisioned by their commissary departments, began to steal and plunder among the dutch farmers. and when another week had passed it had become manifestly clear that the prince and his army could not count upon the smallest support from the batavians. by that time, too, the french army had been greatly strengthened. commanded by the french jacobin brune, who loved a fight as well as he did brandy, the defences of the republic were speedily put into excellent shape. krayenhoff, our friend of the revolution of amsterdam, now a very capable brigadier general of engineers, inundated the country around amsterdam, while the english, under their slow and ponderous commander yorke, were still debating as to the best ways and means of attack. when finally the allies went over to that attack they found themselves with the sea behind them, with sand dunes and impassable swamps on both sides, and with a strong french and a smaller batavian army in front of them. and when they tried to drive this army out of its position they were badly defeated in a number of small fights; and a month after they had marched from helder to alkmaar they marched back from alkmaar to helder, shipped their enormous number of sick and wounded on board the fleet, and departed, cursing a country where even the drinking water had to be transported across the north sea, where it always rained, and where, even if it did not rain, the water sprang from the soil and turned camps and hospitals and trenches into uninhabitable puddles. [illustration: dutch troops rushing to the defence of the coast] the batavian army was proud of itself and was praised by others. the men had stood the test of the war much better than people had dared to hope. but what good, apart from a little glory, had all their bravery done them? on land they had beaten the english, but in far-away asia the british fleet had taken one dutch colony after the other, until of the large colonial empire there remained but the little island of decima, in japan. upon a strip of territory of a few hundred square feet the old red, white, and blue flag of holland continued to fly. everywhere else it had been hauled down. xv constitution no. iii on the th of november, , citizen bonaparte, the successful commander-in-chief of the armies of the directorate of france, decided that his employers had done enough talking and that the time had come to send them about their business. the jacobin rabble in the street protested. citizen bonaparte put up two cannon. the rabble jeered at his toy guns. citizen bonaparte fired. the rabble fled whence it came. the next day the legislative body was summarily dismissed. the french revolution was over. biologically speaking, citizen bonaparte was the second son of madame laetitia bonaparte, née ramolino, the wife of a corsican lawyer of some small local importance. his spiritual mother, however, sat on the place de la concorde, knitted worsted stockings, and counted the heads which the guillotine chopped off. when his day of glory came, bonaparte did not forget his faithful mother, and surrounded her with his signs of love and affection. but the foster-mother who had helped him directly to his glory, without whom he never might have been anything but the husband of the attractive madame josephine, he neglected, and when she seemed to stand between him and his success he dispatched her into the desert of oblivion, a region which during revolutionary times is never very far distant from the scene of momentary action. what napoleon bonaparte knew about holland cannot have been very much. geography, in a general sense, was not his strong point. like everybody else in paris, he must have known something about the batavian republic, and, like everybody else, he must have received vague notions of the dilatory methods, the insignificant acts, and the clumsiness of the different batavian missions which sporadically appeared in paris. ginstokers who prepared parliamentary revolutions as delegates from private political clubs, generals who left their posts and went trotting to paris to arrange another upheaval in the assembly of their native country, were not the type of men in whom the future emperor delighted. of any sentiment or liking for the dutch trait and character we find no vestige in napoleon. there were one or two dutch generals who won his favour, and one admiral even gained his friendship. he appreciated dutch engineers because they could build good fortifications and excellent pontoon bridges. in general, however, the slow and deliberate hollander greatly annoyed the man of impulsive deeds, and the tenacity with which these futile people defended their petty little rights and prerogatives, when actual and immense honours were in store for all men with devotion and energy, filled napoleon with an irritation and a contempt which he never tried to conceal. the french dictator felt but one interest in the dutch republic--a material one. in the first place, he wanted the dutch gold to use for his expeditions against all his near and distant neighbours. in the second place, he contemplated using the strategic position of the republic in his great war upon the british kingdom. and as soon as he had been elected first consul he approached the republic with demands for loans and voluntary donations, which were both flatly refused. the amsterdam bankers were not willing to consider any french loan just then, and the dutch assembly declared that it could not produce the , , guilders which the consul wanted. it was simply impossible. the consul retaliated by a very strict enforcement of the terms of the french treaty by which the republic was bound to equip and maintain , french soldiers. this, in turn, so greatly increased the expenses of the republic that many citizens paid more than half of their income in taxes. it was indeed a very unfortunate moment for such an experiment. the second constitution was by no means a success. of the many promised reorganizations of the internal government not a single one had as yet been instituted. the reform of the financial system existed on paper but had not yet come nearer to realization than had the proposed reorganization of the militia. the new system of legal procedure was still untried, and the new national courts had not yet been established. the codification of civil and penal law had not yet been begun. public instruction was under a minister of its own, but it remained as primitive as ever before. the reform of the municipal government had not yet been attempted. the central government of the different departments had been put into somewhat better shape than before, but everything about it was still in the first stages of development. the constitution which had promised to be all things to all men was nothing to any one. the system of government which it provided was too complicated. it looked as if there must be a third change in the management of the batavian republic. general bonaparte was asked for his opinion. general bonaparte at that moment was going through one of the sporadic changes in his nature. he began to have his hair cut and pay attention to the state of his linen. he commenced to understand that a revolution might be all very well, but that a firm and stable government had enormous advantages. and if the rich people in holland wished to drop some of their former revolutionary notions and make their government more conservative, they certainly were welcome to the change. this time there was not even a _coup d'état_. the legislative assembly--the combined meeting of both houses--convened solemnly, like a house of bishops, and proposed a revision of the constitution. on the th of march, , a committee was appointed to draw up a more practical constitution, one more in accord with the historical development of the people. the committee went to work with eagerness, and with the french ambassador as their constant adviser. general bonaparte was kept informed of all the proceedings, and everything went along as nicely as could be desired. but when the work was done the legislative assembly, after a very complicated discussion, suddenly rejected the new constitution five to one. what the assembly could not do, the dutch directors could do. yes, but the difficulty was that two of the five directors seemed to be against revision. "three directors are better than five," came back from paris. the two opposing directors were informed that their opinion would no longer be asked for, and the three others hired a second-class newspaper man who had seen better days and ordered him to draw up a new constitution. our distinguished colleague, who used to make a living writing political speeches for the members of the different assemblies, set to work to earn his extra pennies, and in less than the time which had been allowed him, his constitution, neatly copied, was in the hands of the three directors. they sent it to paris. napoleon changed a few minor articles, but approved of the document as a whole. now, according to the rules of the old constitution, the document should have been sent to the members of the assembly for their approval. the directors, however, did not bother about such small details, and had the constitution printed and sent directly to the voters. the two discarded directors and the assembly protested. but this time there was not even a chance for defiance or for a heroic stand in parliament. the doors of the assembly were locked and were kept locked. the assemblymen could protest in the street, but for all practical purposes they had ceased to exist. on the st of october, , the vote of the people was taken. it appeared that there were five times as many nays as yeas. therefore the nays had it? not while consul bonaparte resides in the tuilleries. how many voters were there in the republic? , . how many had voted in all? , . well, count all those who did not vote among the yeas and see how the sum will come out then? a very ingenious method. the count was made, and then the yeas had it. xvi the third constitution at work he new constitution was reduced to only articles. the sovereign people, with all due respect for their votes, were deprived of most of their former power. the chief executive and legislative power was vested in a body of twelve men. they were appointed by the different provinces, which were reëstablished in their old form, with their old borders, and with most of their former local sovereignty. the two chambers were reduced to one legislative body of thirty-five members. it had the power of veto over the laws proposed by the executive, but could not originate laws nor propose changes. the individual ministers were abolished, but a cabinet was formed out of a council of many members, from three to six for each department. there was to be municipal autonomy. all religious denominations regained those possessions which they had had at the beginning of the revolution of . all other matters of government, the exact form and mode of voting, and such other insignificant details were left to some future date when the executive would decide upon them. on the same day, when the absent votes of the batavian republic saved the third constitution, the preliminaries of the peace between france and england were signed. after seven years of stagnation, the ocean once more was open to dutch ships, and dutch commerce once more could visit the furthermost corners of the globe. the country again could go to work. [illustration: armed bark of the year ] xvii economic condition here was a splendid dream of a rejuvenated country eagerly striving to regain its lost importance. but a milkman who comes around once in every seven years will lose his customers. and the dutch trader, who as the common carrier and the middleman had been for many centuries as regular in the performances of his duties as the useful baker and butcher and grocer of our own domestic acquaintance, found when he came back after half a dozen years that his customers, tired of waiting for him, had gone for their daily needs to a rival and did not contemplate a return to a tradesman who had neglected them during so many years. and when the ships which for seven years had been rotting in the harbours had been sufficiently repaired to venture forth upon the seas, and when they had gathered a cargo of sorts, there was no one to whom they could go to sell their wares. in the fall of the dutch republic we have tried to describe how, gradually, the hollander lost his markets. this chapter upon our economic condition during the batavian republic can be very short. we shall have to describe how, driven out of the legitimate trade, the dutch shipper entered the wide field of illegitimate business enterprises until at last he disappeared entirely from a field of endeavour in which honesty is not only the best policy but is also the only policy which sooner or later does not lead to ruin. the large commercial houses, of course, could stand several years of depression, but the smaller fry, the humbler brethren who had always kept themselves going on a little floating capital, these were soon obliged either to go out of existence altogether or to enter upon some illicit affair. quite naturally they chose the latter course, and soon they found themselves in that vast borderland of commerce where honesty merely consists in not being found out. [illustration: the executive council of the east india company] at first they traded under neutral flags and with neutral papers. but the british during the prolonged war with france did not stick too closely to international law, and every ship that was under suspicion of not being a bona-fide foreign ship, but a dutch ship under disguise, was confiscated, taken to england, and there publicly sold. every variation upon the wide subject of fake papers, fake passports, and counterfeit sailing-orders was tried, but invariably these ingenious schemes were discovered by the british policemen who controlled the high seas, and finally this commerce had to be given up entirely as being too risky. then all sorts of even more wonderful plans were developed by the diligent dutch traders. here is a scheme at once so brilliant and so simple that we must relate it: messrs. a. and b., honourable merchants from amsterdam, enter into a partnership. a. goes to london and as an englishman enters business. b. stays at home. a. equips a privateer. b. loads a ship and gets as much insurance as he possibly can. the ship of b. leaves the dutch harbour and is captured by the ship of a. it is taken to england and ship and cargo are publicly sold. a. gets the profits of his buccaneering expedition. b. collects the insurance. the partners have in this way made twice the amount of their original investment, minus the insignificant loss on the ship. at the end of the year the two merchants divide the spoils and both get rich. this method had the disadvantage of being too easy. a deadly competition set in. finally the insurance companies discovered the swindle and refused to insure. that stopped the business. from that moment on the only way of doing business across the water was to take the risk of capture, to try to run the blockade of the british fleet in the north seas and reach some safe foreign port. when the year came hardly a dozen ships which flew the dutch flag dared to cross the ocean. not a single whaler was seen off the coast of greenland; the dutch fishermen had deserted the north sea; the channel was closed to dutch trade; the mediterranean, where once dutch had been a commonly understood language, did not see any dutch ships for many years; the baltic, the scene of the first dutch commercial triumphs, no longer witnessed the appearance of the dutch grain carrier who during so many centuries had provided the daily bread for millions of people. this disappearance of the commercial fleet meant the absolute ruin of many industries which up to that time had been kept alive by such demand as there was for planed wood, nets, rope, tar, and the countless things which went into the making of the old sailing-ship. the eighteenth century had been a bad period for these industries. the beginning nineteenth century killed them. the great manufacturing centres like leiden and haarlem became the famous _villes mortes_ about which we like to read, but in which we do not care to live. hollow streets, grass growing between the cobblestones, a few old families slowly dwindling away and using up the funds of former generations; a population ill fed and badly housed, physically degenerating and morally perishing under the load of philanthropy by which it was kept alive; the whole life of the city, once exuberant and open, retiring to the back room where the sinful world cannot be seen; where, around the family tea table, and with the patriarchal pipe, dull resignation is found in that same bible which once, and not so many years before, had inspired their ancestors to a display of vitality and of energetic enterprise which has been unsurpassed in european history. all optimism gone to make place for a leaden despondency and a feeling that no attempt of the individual can avail against the higher decrees of a cruel providence. it is a terrible picture. it remained true for almost three generations. let us be grateful that we in our own day have seen the last of it. [illustration: dutch ships frozen in the ice] in the colonies, as has been said before, the same state of ruin existed as at home. the west india company had been bankrupt for almost a score of years. the colonies in south america, the rich sugar plantations for which once we sacrificed the unprofitable harbour of new york, were in the year being worked for the benefit of the british conqueror. holland had lost them and had lost their profits. in the year , by article of the first constitution, the east india company had been suspended. this enormous commercial institution, which with a minimum of effort had produced a maximum of results, went out of existence like a candle. her loss was a terrible blow to amsterdam. during the last years, when the affairs of the company were going from bad to worse, many loans had been taken up to meet the current expenses. amsterdam, which had the greatest interest in hiding the actual condition of the company, had invariably provided these loans. its city bank still had an inexhaustible supply of cash, but with her trade in foreign securities ruined by the long wars, and her trade in domestic securities destroyed by the demise of dutch manufacturing and dutch shipping, with the enormous international banking business made impossible by the unsettled conditions of the revolutionary wars, the bank could only be maintained by very doubtful financial expedients. and when this pillar of dutch society began to tremble upon its foundations, which were no longer sound, what was to become of the dutch banks? failures of large commercial houses became disastrously frequent. each failure in turn affected larger circles of business institutions. even the expedient of using some of the ancestral capital became difficult where there was no market for the securities which the people wished to sell. dividends upon foreign securities were passed year after year; taxes went up higher every six months. such a long siege upon its prosperity no country could stand. and while the people were thus being impoverished, what did the government and what did the french allies do to bring about some improvement? france did nothing at all. the dutch government sometimes sent a mild protest to london and asked the british government not to confiscate ships under a neutral flag, protestations which of course remained unanswered. [illustration: batavia--the fashionable quarter] here is another little sum in arithmetic which will explain more than a lengthy disputation upon the subject of our national ruin. it is a list of the current expenses and revenues for a number of years: guilders in the expenses were , , revenue , , deficit , , ---------- in expenses and revenue were the same. in the expenses were , , revenue , , deficit , , ---------- in the expenses were , , revenue , , deficit , , ---------- but when in the english and russians invaded the country and the revenues were appropriated according to the new style provided, the expenses were , , , the revenue was , , , and the deficit was , , . and these deficits, year after year, had to be covered by extra loans, until at last a heavy loan was carried to pay the dividends upon the original loan. even with the three billions which the republic was reported to have gathered during former centuries, there is but one possible end to such a system of finance: that end is called national bankruptcy. [illustration: a country place] xviii social life whether man is merely a chemical compound driven by economic energies or something higher and more sublime is a question which from the inexperience of our youth we dare not decide. but that something in human society is apt to go wrong the moment the _homo sapiens_ leaves the straight path between the economic too much and too little is a truth which we are willing to defend against all comers. the trouble during revolutionary times is that the well-worn, old-fashioned, narrow road is no longer visible. the old beacons of proper conduct have been removed, new ones have not yet been provided, and people wander hither and thither, and tumble from one extreme into the other. in the batavian republic in , as the dutch expression has it, the locks were opened wide. everybody could do what he pleased. the old rules of polite society were discarded. batavians were no longer to be slaves neither to certain prescribed masters nor of certain well-defined manners. of course when almost two million people, rigidly divided into innumerable classes, are suddenly transformed into so many equal citizens, a terrible social cataclysm must take place. during the joyful hysteria of the first few months this was not noticed. the people seemed to forget that all social questions are the result of historical compromises and have a historical growth--that they are not allowed to exist for the benefit of a single class of citizens. a batavian republic without titles and official ranks, without coats-of-arms and distinguishing uniforms, was no doubt very desirable and very noble and very highly humane. but the change was too sudden and too abrupt, and in the end it did an enormous amount of harm. [illustration: skating on the river maas at rotterdam] during the fifty years that had gone before, the patriotic press had shrieked contumelies upon the regents, who had refused to commit political suicide for a class which they, however, considered to be their inferiors. in this fight all good manners had finally disappeared. it had become a guerilla warfare of violent pamphlets--a muddy battle of mutual vituperation. the regents, however, although a degenerating class, had maintained until the very end a certain ideal of personal manners which had set a standard for all classes. the political upheaval of brought a number of men to the front who did not possess these outward advantages of a polished demeanour, and therefore despised them. according to them, the country needed men of pure principles (their principles) and not men who could merely bow and scrape. any intelligent man could hold an office provided he was sound in doctrine (their doctrine). with the ideal of a cultivated man violently thrown out of the community the standard of the schools had at once suffered. it was no longer necessary to possess a general education to be eligible for a higher position. as a result, the universities had not been able to insist upon the old high standards, and when the universities weakened in their demands the other schools had immediately followed suit. this disintegration soon made itself apparent in all sorts of ways. why write good books or good poetry when the people asked for and were contented with the cheaper variety? why keep up an artistic ideal when the people wanted vulgar and cheap prints? the few good novelists of the eighteenth century were no longer read. their place was taken by a number of scribblers, who, by flattering the commonest preferences and by appealing to the worst taste of the large army of voters, made themselves rich and their books popular. they gave the public what it liked. and the public thought them very famous men indeed. it was the same thing in art. we cannot remember ever having seen or ever having heard any one who had ever seen a single good picture painted during the batavian days. the prints which commemorated the current events are so bad as to be altogether hopeless. the sovereign people were flattered with a persistency and a lack of delicacy which would have incensed even the worst and most astute of tyrants. the masses, however, did not notice it, and bought the complimentary pictures with great pride in their own virtue. posterity has thought differently about it, and whereas the prints of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries are carefully collected, the prints of the batavian republic are usually left as food to the industrious domestic mouse. but aside from these merely ideal considerations (for a nation may be great and prosperous and yet lack entirely in artistic perception) the ordinary daily life of the community suffered a worse blow than it experienced through the loss of the colonies. during the old commercial days there had been a great many slippery customers who had managed to make their living in very questionable ways. on the whole, however, the leading merchants had maintained a fairly high standard of commercial integrity from which no one dared to avert too openly. now, in the year , all this changed. the new men were not bound to these iron rules of conduct. a good many of the old unwritten rules and regulations of trade were thrown overboard as being antiquated. army contractors and questionable speculators entered into the field of dutch politics and introduced the dangerous standards of people who have managed to get rich overnight. nobody likes to see his neighbour eating a better dinner than he can afford himself. if a purveyor of army shoes could suddenly keep a carriage and pair and yet be respected by the men with whom he associated, why, the people asked, should we criticise his methods? he is not punished by social contempt. he is treated with great respect because he can entertain in such a very handsome way. and soon the young boy next door tried the same trick of speculation and began to feel a deep contempt for the old-fashioned and slow ways of his immediate ancestors. [illustration: trades] the better element of the community in the general disorganization which followed the revolution found itself deserted, laughed at for its high standards, looked at with the pathetic interest which enterprising young men feel for old fogies who are behind the times. "the poor old people simply would not look facts in the face. why insist on living in utopia? utopia was such a very dreary place." until, finally, these excellent people either succumbed, which was very rare, or retired from active life, and within the circle of their own home waited for better days and more ideal times. and the general tone of batavian society was indicated by a class to whom riches meant an indulgence in all the material things of which they had dreamed during their former days of poverty. easy come, easy go--in money matters as well as in morals. the new class of rich people, living without any restraint, followed its own inclinations, but obeyed no set rules of conduct. the sudden influx of ten thousand french officers, and heaven knows how many foreign soldiers, also brought a dangerous element into a single community. it is true that the discipline of the french soldiers had been exemplary, but the men trained in the happy-go-lucky school of the paris which had followed the puritanical days of the sainted maximilian robespierre did not assist in establishing a deeper respect for good morals. the old days of parsimonious living and respect for one's betters were gone forever. under the new dispensation no one was anybody else's better, and everybody lived as well as his purse or his credit allowed him to. during the first years of the republic a number of men had suddenly grown rich. these vulgar personages threw their money out of the windows in the form of empty champagne bottles. outside of their house of mirth a motley congregation of hungry people hovered. they drank what was left in the discarded bottles; they feasted on the remains of the uneaten pastry; they dreamed of the golden days when luck should turn and they should be inside with the worshippers of the fleshpots. the best part of the nation, however, disgusted with these vulgar doings, retired from all active life. it preferred a dull existence of simple honesty to a roisterous feast on the brink of a moral and financial abyss. and quietly the good people waited for the great change that was certain to come, when the nation once more should return to a sound mode of living, and when the resplendent adventurers of the moment should have been relegated back into that obscurity from which they never ought to have emerged. xix peace what can we say of the next five years--of the five years during which the batavian republic lived under her third constitution and outwardly exercised all the functions of a normal, independent state? very little, indeed. of course there is material enough. there rarely was a time when so much ink was wasted on decrees and bills and pamphlets discussing the decrees. everything of any importance was referred to the voters, and therefore had to be printed. but of what value is all this material? some day it may be used for a learned doctor's thesis. to the general historical reader it is without any interest. in name the republic was still a free commonwealth. in practice --we have repeatedly stated this before--it was a french province. the first consul ruled her and gave his orders either through the batavian minister in paris or the french minister in the hague. that such orders were ever disobeyed we do not find recorded. at times there was a little grumbling, but even if the noise thereof ever penetrated to paris it was dismissed as the silly complaint of a lot of tradespeople who were always kicking. that was part of their business. the best answer to their remonstrances was an increase in the taxes-- per cent. on this, per cent. more on that, per cent. on another article. income, windows, light, air, newspapers, bread, tobacco, cheese--there was not an item that did not contribute toward making napoleon's rule a success. for five years the republic, with its twelve executive gentlemen, ambled along. the better elements no longer appeared either in the assembly or in the colleges of the voters. the government gradually was left entirely to professional politicians of the lowest sort. the legislative body at once reflected this attitude of the more intelligent people to abstain from participation in the political life of their country. it is true that the peace of amiens made a momentary end to the french wars and brought about peace between england and the republic. but before the dutch ships had been able to reach the indian island war had again broken out, the colonies were once more captured by the british, and the dutch coast was again blockaded. bound to france by its disastrous treaty of , the republic must follow the fate of the great sister republic. the people (we are now in ) had since the beginning of the revolution produced , , guilders in taxes. they tried to convince the first consul that they could not go on doing this forever. he, however, was able to suggest quite a wonderful remedy for their difficulties. the batavian republic must strengthen her fleet until she could defeat england and take back the colonies which that perfidious country had stolen. very well! but the fleet could not be improved without further millions, and so the republic moved in a vicious circle which led to nowhere in particular but cost money all along that eternal line. for a change, and to remind them of their duty, the consul sent urgent demands for honorary dotations, for extraordinary dotations, for special dotations, or whatever names he chose to give to those official thefts. the exchange upon such occasions would fly into a panic. couriers would race madly along the roads between the hague and paris. but invariably the end of all this commotion was a new command for the republic to pay up and be very quick about it, too. continually during those five years do we hear napoleon's warning: "if the republic refuses to pay, and refuses to obey my orders in general, i shall turn it into a french department." schimmelpenninck, very moderate in his views, not too enthusiastic about the batavian form of government, and rather in favour of the american system, during those very difficult days represented his country in paris as its diplomatic agent. he had to carry the brunt of those wordy battles about the increased taxes. napoleon may not have been able to speak french grammatically; but he certainly did have at his command a varied and choice collection of parisian and corsican billingsgate. continually in his correspondence with the batavian republic the consul flew into a rage, called everybody very unpolite names, insulted the persons and the families of the members of the executive, told everybody indiscriminately what he thought of them or what he would do to their worthless persons. the browbeaten executives could do nothing but bow very low, accept the insults in an humble spirit, and express their invariable loyalty to the man who called them a bunch of sneaking grafters devoid of honour, energy, and patriotism. this policy after a while had a very bad influence upon the batavian government. people lost all hope for the future. all desire to start upon new enterprises was killed. what was the use? the fruits of one's industry were taken away for the benefit of the french armies. and any day might be the last. the consul might have had a bad night, he might be out of temper, and "finis" then for the republic of the free batavians. the year came, and with it a demand for , , guilders to be given as a loan, returnable in four years. fortunately it was before the battle of jena had shown the weakness of prussia, and napoleon did not dare to attack the republic too openly. but he had made up his mind that the present weak form of government could not continue. the large executive must be abolished, and a single man, be he a french general or a member of the house of bonaparte, must be made the head of the republic. the republic alone seemed unable to walk. napoleon would give her somebody for her support. unfortunately there was no general available, and all the consular brethren were engaged elsewhere. for lack of a frenchman a hollander must take the job. there was only one hollander whom the consul (the emperor since a few months) could trust and for whom he had some personal liking. that was the batavian minister, schimmelpenninck. the latter, however, had no ambitions of this sort and refused the offer to become proconsul of the republic. he pleaded ill health, a weakening eyesight. napoleon refused to listen to his excuses. if schimmelpenninck were unwilling to accept, then france must annex the republic. whereupon the batavian minister, inspired by the unselfish interest which he took in his fatherland, agreed to accept the difficult position. he sadly drove to the hague along the heavy roads of a very severe winter, and he informed the twelve citizens of the executive body what the emperor intended to do with him and with them and with the batavian republic. the executive must resign at once. as an executive body it had proved itself to be too large and too ineffective. as a legislative body it had done nothing of any importance. it must go. a new constitution (a fourth one, if you please), more centralized and more after the french pattern, must be adopted. the executive, mild as lambs, approved of everything, said yea and amen to all the proposals of the emperor. it informed the legislative body of the contemplated changes and advised the legislators that the appointment of schimmelpenninck as proconsul was the only way out of the difficulty. the legislative body, just to keep up appearances, deliberated for six whole days. then it expressed its full approval of everything the emperor proposed to do with them and for them. the new constitution, made in paris, was forwarded to the hague by parcels post, was put into type, and was brought before the electorate. the voters by this time did not care what happened or who governed them so long as they themselves were only left in peace. and when the time came for them to express their opinion men out of a total of , , took the trouble to say no, while less than one-twenty-fifth of the voting part of the population took the trouble of expressing an affirmative opinion. out of every hundred voters, ninety-six stayed quietly at home. it saved trouble. [illustration: schimmelpenninck] xx schimmelpenninck schimmelpenninck made himself no false ideals about his high office, which placed him, a simple man, in the palace of the noordeinde (the present royal palace of the kings of the netherlands), which surrounded him with a lifeguard of , men, gave him the title of raadpensionaris, encompassed him with an iron circle of regal etiquette, and provided him with many things which were quite as much against the essential character of the hollanders as against his own personal tastes. for himself, the new raadpensionaris asked for very little. he was careful not to appoint a single one of his relatives to any public office, and tried in the most impartial way to gather all the more able elements of every party around himself. he appointed his cabinet and selected his advisers from the unionists and the federalists, but most of all from among the moderates. the raadpensionaris in this new commonwealth of napoleon's making was a complete autocrat. provisions had been made for a legislative body of nineteen men, to be appointed by the different provinces; but this legislature, which was to meet twice a year and had resumed the old title of their high and mightinesses, the estates general, amounted to nothing at all. at the very best it was an official gallery which applauded the acts of the raadpensionaris. this dignitary and his ministers worked meanwhile with the greatest energy. a most capable man was appointed to be secretary of the treasury. he actually managed to reduce the deficit by several millions, and began to take steps to put the country upon a sound financial basis. napoleon, however, did not fancy the idea of the republic getting out of debt too completely. if anything were to be done in this line he proposed an immediate reduction of the public debt. in the end, so he reasoned, such a reduction would be a benefit. at the present moment, as far as the emperor could make out, the people through their taxes paid the money which at the end of the year came back to them through their investments in public funds. reduce the national debt and you will reduce taxation. but however much his majesty might advocate his pet plans, the commercial soul of the republic refused to listen to these proposals of such dangerous financial sleight-of-hand and the people rather suffered a high taxation than submit to an open confession of inability to manage their own treasury. the army, for which the raadpensionaris personally had very little love, was developed into a small but very efficient corps. this had to be done. unless the army were well looked after, napoleon threatened to introduce conscription in the republic, and to avert this national calamity people were willing to make further sacrifices and support an army consisting of volunteers. the navy, too, was put into good shape. a new man was at work in this department, a certain verhuell, an ardent revolutionist, and the hollander who seems to have had the greatest influence over the emperor. during all the events between and verhuell acted as the unofficial intermediary between the republic and the emperor. he was a good sailor. in a number of engagements with the british his ships ably held their own water. but the dutch fleet alone was far too small to tackle england, and the french fleet was soon lost sight of through the battle of trafalgar. came the year and the defeat of the coalition. ulm and austerlitz were not only disasters to the austrians; they had their effect upon the republic. napoleon, complete master of the european continent, parcelled out its territory in new states and created new kingdoms and duchies without any regard to the personal wishes of the subjects of these artificial nations. the batavian republic had been spared through the sentimentality of the french revolutionists. for several years it had been left alone because napoleon still had to respect the wishes of prussia and austria. now prussia and austria had been reduced to third-class powers, and the emperor could treat the republic as he wished to. he sent for his dutch man friday, verhuell, and talked about his plans. "had the admiral noticed that during the war with the european coalition the french armies in the republic had been under command of his majesty's brother, the prince louis napoleon?" mr. verhuell had noticed the presence of the young member of the house of bonaparte. so had everybody else. "did mr. verhuell know what this presence meant?" mr. verhuell could guess. so could everybody else. very well! mr. verhuell could go to the hague and inform his fellow-citizens that they might choose between asking for the prince louis bonaparte as their king or becoming a french department. with this cheerful message mr. verhuell repaired to the hague, just a year after the raadpensionaris had travelled that same road to assume the consulship of the republic. the batavians were obliged to accept their fate with christian resignation. opposition of ten thousand dutch recruits against half a million well-trained french soldiers was impossible. furthermore, it is a doubtful question whether the people would have fought for their independence. there had been too many years full of disaster. the spirit of the people had been broken. they were now willing to accept anything. the only question to decide was how to get through this new comedy with some semblance of the old dignity. schimmelpenninck, who was a very constitutional person, called together the grand council, consisting of the legislative body, the council of state, and a number of high dignitaries, and proposed that the new plan be submitted to the voters. the grand council voted him down directly. as it was, there had been too many elections already. the people must be left out of this affair. no good would come from their interference, anyway. [illustration: schimmelpenninck arrives at the hague] and forthwith the council resorted to the old dutch expedient of procrastination. it sent a delegation to paris to see the emperor. meanwhile, something might turn up. it did turn up--in the form of an ultimatum from his majesty. he refused to receive the delegation, but sent word by verhuell that the republic was given just eight days in which to repair to paris and ask the emperor for the favour of his brother as their king. if they were a day late the country would be turned into a french department. on the rd of may, , the grand council in the hague agreed to all the french demands. the ex-bishop of autun, the rev. mr. talleyrand, had been appointed by napoleon to draw up a constitution for the new kingdom. that was easy enough. after two weeks he could send the finished article to the grand council for its approval. the council approved; but schimmelpenninck denounced the whole proceeding as being unconstitutional, and refused to sign the document. the council signed it over his head, and returned the paper to paris. then schimmelpenninck protested to the french minister, and told him that he could not possibly justify the actions of the council. the minister said that he was sorry, but that nothing could be done about it, since the document was back in paris. whereupon schimmelpenninck resigned and retired to his country place, declining all further participation in his country's political affairs. he lived until the year , long enough to see his beloved land regain its independence and finally benefit by many of the reforms which he himself had helped to bring about. the speaker of the legislative body was selected to succeed the raadpensionaris. together with his colleagues of the grand council he now had the dishonour of arranging the last details of the farce which had been ordered by paris. on the th of june, of the year , the emperor napoleon graciously deigned to receive a deputation from among the batavian people who had come to paris to ask his majesty to present them with a king. the reason for this request, according to the delegates themselves, was the weakness of their country, which did not allow them to defend themselves against their enemies. his majesty, from a high tower of condescension, agreed to honour the petitioners with a favourable reply. his majesty's own brother would be appointed king of the batavians. the new king, an amiable man, but not in the least desirous to be made king of holland (having such difficulties in governing his own wife that he could not well bother about the additional duties of an entire kingdom), was then asked to step forward. he humbly listened to his brother's admonition never to "cease being a frenchman," and answered that he would accept the crown and do his best, "since his majesty had been pleased to order it so." that was all. the batavian delegation was dismissed. the new king retired, to go to his unhappy home; but before he left the hall m. talleyrand called him back and handed him a copy of the constitution of his new kingdom. would his majesty kindly peruse the document at his own leisure and make such suggestions as might occur to him? his majesty took the document. he was sure that it was all right. his brother had approved of it. a few days later louis packed his wife and his children in the royal coach and slowly rolled to his new domains. the people in the cities through which he passed gazed at this ready-made monarch with a dull curiosity. they wondered what this experiment would bring them. [illustration: louis napoleon] xxi king louis of holland the new king was twenty-eight years old, not especially good looking, kind-hearted, not specially clever, a little vain (as who would not be who was made a king overnight), filled with the best of intentions toward his new subjects, and none too fond of his brother. the difference between the two bonapartes was great. louis was a gentleman, napoleon tried to be. the wife of the new king, whose morals were diametrically opposed to her looks (she was very handsome), was a stepdaughter of the emperor. she hated her new country and its unelegant inhabitants. she was thoroughly indifferent about her husband's fortunes, and she spent most of her time in paris and far away from her husband's court. the new king made a tour of inspection of his possessions, and then settled down to rule. first of all, he tried to learn a little dutch and to understand something of the history of his adopted country. these attempts were not brilliantly successful, but the patient people heard of them and were happy. "at last," so they said, "we have a nice, good man to be our king, and his brother will leave us alone." the regents, meanwhile, who had been invisible as long as they were governed by one of their own people, now began to appear out of their hiding-places. they accepted this new imported majesty with much better grace than they had received plain mr. schimmelpenninck. the son of an obscure lawyer and notary public in a little semi-barbarous island, of royal blood by the grace of his brother, could command the respect which had been refused the member of an old and honourable dutch family. the palace of his majesty king louis became the centre to which flocked all those who desired to become groom of the bedchamber or assistant master of the horse. louis was not averse to gold lace, and encouraged these high aspirations, created nobles, gave orders, and filled his brother's heart with amusement, mixed with contemptible scorn, by the creation of dutch marshals. a few among the old families, notably our former friend van hogendorp, preferred obscurity to the reflected splendour of a bonapartistic throne. but they were the exceptions, not the rule. the new constitution which king louis had brought along with him somewhere in his luggage was unpacked and was put into practice. it proved to be a concise little document, written with napoleonic brevity. it contained only seventy-nine articles. all power was invested in the king, who was assisted by a cabinet consisting of a council of state and a number of ministers. the legislative chamber of thirty-eight members was to convene once a year for two months, and, like its predecessors, it could only veto or accept bills. it could not propose or amend the laws. schimmelpenninck was offered the speakership of the assembly for life, but he refused. van hogendorp was offered a seat in the council of state, but he declined. the members of the council and the ministers were then elected from among the able men belonging to the different parties. they were called upon to forget all former partisanship and to unite in one common cause, the resurrection of the poverty-stricken fatherland. theoretically, king louis was much in favour of rigid economy. in practice, however, he proved to be a very costly monarch. it is true that he gave the people their money's worth. there were parades and elaborate coaches and gorgeous uniforms and fine outriders and all the other paraphernalia so dear to the heart of the gaping multitude. but soon the restlessness of a man who is miserably unhappy at home, and who will give anything for diversion, took hold of the poor king. he began to dislike his palace in the hague, and moved to the house in the woods. then he moved to haarlem. then he discovered that haarlem was not central enough, and he moved to utrecht. but utrecht was too small and too dull, and he tried amsterdam. now all this moving on a regal scale cost enormous sums of money. besides that, the king wished to furnish his palaces with costly furniture, hang splendid tapestries upon the walls, surround himself with fine works of art. but these thousands were insignificant compared to the millions which were being spent upon the army and the navy. verhuell, the man after napoleon's heart, had received orders to make the navy into a good one. he had obeyed his orders promptly, but it had cost a pretty penny. and the army, now that napoleon was fighting everybody on the european continent, had to be kept up to an ever-increasing standard of efficiency. the revenues, on the other hand, fell below the disheartening average of former years. for holland, as a dependency of france, had to obey the absurd rules against english goods with which napoleon hoped to starve great britain into submission. together with king louis there had appeared in the republic a veritable army of french spies. they were under orders to prevent smuggling, and to see that the laws against british goods be strictly enforced. rotterdam and several cities which had prolonged their economic existence through wholesale smuggling were now ruined. every year it became more difficult to raise the extraordinary taxes for the army and navy. the secretary of the treasury at his first audience with king louis had been able to inform the monarch that the state of the country's finances was as follows: in cash, , guilders. deficit on this year's debt, , , . the secretary of the treasury thereafter became a nightmare to the poor king. every month he appeared with a more doleful story. every so many weeks he approached the king with new and involved plans to bring about some improvements in the finances of the kingdom. louis, who shared his brother's dislike for economics, was terribly bored. at last, in self-defence, he dismissed his minister of finances, the very capable gogel, who had begun life as a clerk in a bookstore and had worked his way up through sheer ability. the new secretary of the treasury was less of a persistent bore, but the economic condition of the country grew worse instead of better. [illustration: . kingdom of holland.] what more can we say of the rule of this well-meaning monarch? he was the receiver appointed in a bankrupt business. it was a wonder that he could maintain himself for four whole years. he was not a man who made friends easily. a rapidly developing sense of his own dignity gradually isolated him from those men who meant well with the king and the country. he tried to improve the arts and sciences by founding an academy. but painters and poets cannot be made to order, and his academy did not flourish. agriculture and commerce were encouraged by the construction of a number of excellent roads and the making of several important polders. but with all foreign markets, except the french, closed to them, the products of the farmer and the manufacturer could not be exported. the good intentions were all there, but the adverse circumstances were too powerful. the king was tender-hearted. when there was a national calamity, a fire, or an inundation, the king might be seen on the nearest dike trying to fish people out of the flood. but with christian charity alone a nation cannot be made prosperous. the king tried to get rid of the french influence. his wife, who intrigued against him with her cousin, the french minister, opposed his independent plans. the king then tried to get rid of his wife; but brother napoleon, who contemplated divorcing his own wife, in order to marry into a better family, did not like the idea of two separations in the family at the same time, and louis was obliged to stay married. he then tried to get rid of the french minister, but napoleon supported his envoy and refused to recall so devoted and useful a servant. it was england which finally spoiled king louis' last chances. after a long preparation, during which napoleon had frequently taken occasion to warn his brother, the english fleet crossed the north sea and attacked the dutch island of walcheren preparatory to an assault upon antwerp, napoleon's great naval base. the strong town of flushing, after a bombardment which incidentally destroyed every house in that city, was taken by the british forces, and the advance against antwerp was begun. the french, however, had been able to make full preparations for defence. bernadotte had inundated the country surrounding the belgian fortress, and the british were obliged to stay where they were, on the zeeland islands. as usual, holland paid the expenses. when finally the malarial fever had driven the english out of the country, the plundered provinces had to be kept alive by public charity. napoleon was furious. his pet scheme, the glorious harbour of antwerp, had almost fallen into english hands. why had not his brother taken measures to prevent such a thing? "holland was merely a british dependency where the english deposited of their wares in perfect safety. the emperor's own brother was an ally of england. why does he not equip an army strong enough to resist such british aggressions? the kingdom of holland says that it is too poor to pay more for an army. lies, all lies. holland is rich. it is the richest nation on the continent. but every time the pockets of their high and mightinesses are touched they make a terrible noise and plead poverty. don't listen to their complaints. make them pay! do you hear? make them pay!" and so on, and so on. there exists an entire correspondence to this effect. louis answered as best he could. the emperor was not satisfied. he sent for his brother to come to paris. louis went. when he arrived, napoleon scolded him openly before his entire court, before the new wife which his armies had obtained for him in vienna. the humiliation was great, but still louis refused to resign and deliver the country of which he had grown fond to the tender mercies of his august brother. even when, in march of the year , napoleon, by a sudden decree, annexed part of the south of the kingdom, louis refused to give in and depart. for a while he contemplated armed resistance to the french armies. krayenhoff worked on a plan for the inundation of amsterdam. a number of generals who were suspected of french sentiments were dismissed. the idea, however, was given up as altogether too impossible. the dutch ministers would not follow their king. the council of state refused to give him money for such purposes. and napoleon gathered a large army and began to move his troops in the direction of amsterdam. louis, despairing of everything for the future of himself and his country, would not continue to rule under such circumstances. on the st of july, , he abdicated in favour of his small son. the child, just seven years old, was to be king under the guardianship of his mother, the admiral, verhuell, and a number of the leading members of the cabinet. on the night of the nd of june louis, under the incognito of a count of leu, left his palace in haarlem and departed forever from his kingdom. in the year he died in livorno. six years later his son ascended the french throne as napoleon iii. news of the abdication reached paris at the very moment that the troops of napoleon took possession of amsterdam. one week later, on the th of july, napoleon signed the decree of annexation. the little bit of mud deposited upon the shores of the north sea by the french rivers, and for some years known as the dutch republic, ceased to be an independent state and became a minor french province. [illustration: napoleon visits amsterdam] xxii the department formerly called holland for the next three years the hollanders went to the french school. the teachers were severe masters, but the pupils learned a lot. the batavian republic, and even the kingdom of louis napoleon, had been but continuations of the old partisan struggles of the former republics. the new state of affairs wiped the slate clean. the government came into the hands of french superiors who trained the lower dutch officials in the new methods of governmental administration, who insisted upon running the state as they would a business firm, and to whom the petty considerations of former partisanship meant absolutely nothing. uniform laws for the entire country, which the different assemblies had not been able to institute, were drawn up and were enforced upon all hollanders with equal severity. the old system of jurisprudence, different for every little province, town, or village, was replaced by one single system. the code napoleon became the law for all. the old trouble with the armed forces which had put the republic under the obligation of hiring mercenaries was now done away with. the new conscription took in all able-bodied citizens, put them all in the same uniform, and gave them all the same chance to serve their country and be killed for its glory. [illustration: . holland annexed by france.] [illustration: reproduced from author's sketch.] but, best of all, that old atmosphere in which a man from one village had looked upon his nearest neighbour from another village as his worst enemy was at last cleared away. a man might have been an orangeist or a federalist or a jacobin, he might have believed in the supreme right of the state or the divine right of his own family--before the new ruler this made no difference. napoleon asked no questions about the past. he insisted upon duties toward the future. before that capital n all men became equal, because they all were inferiors. promotion could be won only by ability and through faithful service. family influence no longer counted. humble names were suddenly elevated if their possessors showed themselves worthy of the emperor's confidence. the whole country was thrown into one gigantic melting-pot of foreign make and stirred by a foreign master without any respect for the separate ingredients out of which he was trying to brew his one and indivisible french empire. the new french province was arbitrarily divided into departments. the old provincial names and frontiers were discontinued. each little department was called after some river or brook which happened to flow through it. at its head came a prefect, invariably a frenchman. a french governor-general resided in the hague to exercise the supreme command. fortunately the first governor-general, the french general lebrun, duke of plaisance, was a decent old man who did his best to make the sudden change from hollander into frenchman as little painful to the subject as possible. and his subjects, if they did not actually love the old gentleman, always treated him with respect and deference. but the same thing cannot be said of a majority of the french prefects. they were insolent adventurers who had fought their way up from among the ranks, but who had neither understanding nor affection for the despised hollanders over whom they were called to rule. a large french army came to holland and french garrisons were placed in all of the more important cities. churches and hospitals were hastily turned into barracks, and the soldiers made themselves entirely at home. french customs officers were placed in all the villages along the coast. they watched all harbours. a french soldier sailed on every fishing smack to prevent smuggling. the entire village was responsible for his safe return. french police spies made their entry into dutch society and kept a control over all dutch families. the french language was officially introduced into all schools, theatres, and newspapers. the universities, except the one in leiden, were abolished or changed into secondary schools. what gradually made the french rule so unpopular, and what finally made it so universally hated, was not the introduction of an entirely new form of government. the political innovations were hailed by the thinking part of the nation with considerable joy. foreign influence brought about improvements which the people themselves, with their age-old political prejudices, could not have instituted. it was not the ever-increasing severity of the taxes nor the unpleasant presence of a large french army which made the people regard napoleon as the incarnation of antichrist. the opposition to everything french began the moment napoleon started to interfere with those undefinable parts of daily life which we call the national character, or, still shorter, the "nationality." napoleon, himself an italian ruling over frenchmen, does not seem to have understood this sentiment at all. under different circumstances he would just as happily have made his career in russia or in china. his failures in every country date from the moment when he attacked the nationality of his enemies. the dutch or the spanish or the german child could be made to speak french in school, but the soldiers of the emperor could not force the mother of the child to teach it french when first it began to prattle. the dutch citizen could be forced to read a newspaper printed in french and to attend a church where the sermon was preached in french, but he could not be made to think in that language. dutch nationality, driven violently from the public places, hid itself in the home, and there entrenched itself behind impregnable barriers. at home the nation suffered, and in the proscribed language talked of the future and the better times which must certainly follow. for when the year came the nation had reached a depth of misery so very low that things simply could not be worse. the most despondent pessimist by the very hopeless condition of affairs was turned into an optimist. trade and commerce were gone; smuggling was impossible; factories stood empty and deserted; no dividends were paid. by imperial decree the national debt had been reduced to one third of its actual size. families whose income had been three thousand guilders now received one thousand. those who had had one thousand became paupers. one fourth of the people of amsterdam were kept alive by public charities, until finally the charities themselves had no more to give, and had to go into bankruptcy. another fourth of the population, while not absolutely dependent, received partial support. the other half of the people were obliged to give up everything that was not absolutely necessary for just simple existence. they dismissed their servants, they sold their horses, they refrained from buying books and articles of luxury. [illustration: departure of gardes d'honneur from amsterdam] then came the sudden blow of the conscription. first of all, the young men of twenty-one years of age were taken into the army. then the conscription was extended upward and downward. finally, those who had celebrated their nineteenth birthday in the year were forced to take up arms. the few boys who drew a high lot and were free if they belonged to the higher classes were honoured with a patent of a sub-altern in his majesty's personal bodyguard. if they were poor they were used for some extra duty, as hospital soldiers, or were enlisted under some flimsy pretext. in short, there was no way of escape. after a while there was not a family in the land, be it rich or poor, whose sons or brothers were not serving the emperor in his armies, and in far-away countries were risking their lives for a cause as vile as any that has ever been fought for. came the year and the preparations for the expedition against russia. fifteen thousand dutch troops were divided among the french armies as hussars, infantry, artillery, or engineers. they were not allowed to form one dutch contingent for fear of possible mutiny. as a minor part of the enormous army of invasion they marched across the russian plains. a few of the men managed to desert and to join the english troops or the irregular bands which were beginning to operate in germany. the others were frozen to death or were killed in battle. the fourth dutch hussars charged a russian battery and was reduced to forty-six men. this was at the beginning of september. a month later the third grenadiers was decimated until only forty men were left. of the four regiments of infantry of the line only one came back as such. the others, shot to pieces, reduced by cold and starvation, gradually wandered home as part of that endless stream of starving men who early in began to beg for bread along the roads of eastern prussia. of the second lancers only two men ever saw their fatherland again. the thirty-third light infantry was practically annihilated, until only twenty-five men survived, and they as prisoners in russia. of two hundred hollanders serving in the one hundred and twenty-fourth infantry not a single one ever returned. it was a terrible story, but it did not affect the emperor. his answer to the catastrophe was a demand for more troops. the sailors were taken from the fleet. young boys and old men were mustered into the army. here and there dutch farmers, first robbed of their money, then of their possessions, finally deprived of their sons, resisted, took pitchforks and killed a few gendarmes. immediate reprisals followed. the culprits were stood against the nearest trees and shot, the sons were marched off to the army, and the farms were confiscated. one hundred years ago, at the moment we are writing this chapter, on the th of november, , old man bluecher, cursing and swearing at the corsican blackguard, whirled his cavalry against the left flank of the french army, smashed it to pieces, and changed napoleon's victory of leipzig into a defeat. after a week the first news of the emperor's defeat reached the republic. officially it was not announced until some months later. even then it made little impression. the people were too dejected to rejoice. they had heard of such defeats before, and invariably the announcement had been followed by a masterstroke on the part of the terrible emperor and a rehabilitation of his military prestige. here and there in the universities and in the schools some teachers began to whisper that the days of slavery might be soon over. but nobody dared to listen. only a fool or a college professor could believe in the final victory of the allies. it was now near the middle of november. most of the french troops had been called to the frontiers. a few regiments of custom-house men had been left behind, and a few companies of either very old or very young men. it was a dangerous moment. in the east the allies were rapidly approaching the dutch frontiers. the possession of the dutch harbours would mean direct communication with england and an open road to the british goods and the british money of which the allies were in such desperate need. that holland on this occasion was not conquered by the allies as french territory was entirely due to the energy of one man, bravely supported by a small number of able friends. [illustration: gysbert karel van hogendorp] xxiii liberation the name of van hogendorp has been frequently mentioned before. first of all as the adviser of the princess wilhelmina during her attempt to cause some spontaneous enthusiasm for her husband, who had been driven out of his province of holland by the patriots. after the year we have been able to call attention repeatedly to the conduct of this excellent gentleman, who was most obstinate in his fidelity to his given word and refused to consider himself freed from the oath of allegiance which he once had sworn to the stadholder. he simply refused all overtures from the side of the revolution, and later from king louis, and lived a forgotten existence in a big and dignified house. he had a brother, charles, who thought him to be altogether too idealistic, and who had accepted a position under the emperor and was at this time a well-known general. for the rest, and outside of his own family, van hogendorp for many years did not associate intimately with a great number of people. the last years had been very dangerous to those who engaged conspicuously in social life. french spies might have wondered why mr. so and so was so very fond of the company of his neighbour, and some fine night both gentlemen might have been lifted out of their beds, their correspondence confiscated, and for weeks or even months they might have been kept in jail. it was one of the measures of the emperor himself which directly drove a number of prominent dutch families into a closer union. the creation of the so-called guards of honour meant that all the boys of the higher classes, who formerly had been often allowed to send substitutes, now had to enter the army personally. there had been very great opposition. the police had had to interfere and had been obliged to drag many of the recruits to the barracks. arrests had been made and fines had been imposed, and out of sheer misery many families who had not been intimate before now came to know each other more closely. it was among those unfortunate people that van hogendorp first seems to have looked for associates and confederates in his plans for a revolution against the french government. of course, of a revolution which even in the smallest degree shall resemble the rebellion against spain, we shall see nothing. everything in holland during those years was on a small scale. the nation was old and weakened and tottered around with difficulty. not for a moment must we imagine a situation where enthusiastic patriots rush to the standard of rebellion. all in all we shall see perhaps a dozen men who are willing to take the slightest personal risk and who by sheer force of their character shall compel the rest of the nation to follow their example. it was a revolution in spite of the dutch people, not through them. it is not merely for convenience sake that we take van hogendorp as the centre. he was really the man of imagination who, long before the french had been beaten, understood that this napoleonic empire, built upon violence and deceit, could not survive--must inevitably perish, and that soon the time would come for his own country to regain its independence. he had studied the situation with such care that he was able to time his uprising very precisely. when the news came of the battle of leipzig, van hogendorp was engaged upon a rough draft of a new constitution for the benefit of the independent republic which he felt must soon materialize. now the expected had happened. napoleon had been beaten and was in full flight. the allies were marching upon the french and dutch frontiers. the next weeks would decide everything. it was a period of the greatest confusion. the emperor, engaged in creating new armies out of almost impossible material, had no time to give orders to his outposts. the french army in the department formerly called holland must help itself. the result of this ignorance about the general affairs in france and germany was a hopeless diversity in false rumours. every single hour, almost, the prefects in the provinces and the governor-general in the hague were surprised by some new and terrible story. one moment a report was spread throughout the town that the emperor was dead. the next day it was contradicted: the emperor had merely gone crazy. the next day he was in his right mind again, but had been taken prisoner by the cossacks, and the french had crossed the rhine. after a while, however, some definite orders came from paris. the french army must concentrate and try to defend the frontiers of france. here was news indeed. on the evening of the th of november, , the french troops in amsterdam were packed in a number of boats and rowed away in a southern direction. amsterdam was without a garrison. immediately there followed a terrific explosion. the poor people, after so many years of misery and hunger, after so many months in which they had tasted neither coffee nor sugar, not to speak of tobacco, burst forth to take their revenge. the french soldiers were gone. the only visible sign of the hated foreign domination was the little wooden houses which up to that day had been occupied by the french douaniers. half an hour after the last frenchman had disappeared the air was red with the flames of those buildings, and the infuriated populace was dancing a wild gallop of joy around the cheerful bonfire. but right here we come to one of the saddest parts of the year . these insurgents, rebels, hoodlums, or whatever you wish to call them, received no support from above. the old spirit of the regents was still too strong. the higher classes saw this wild carousal, but instead of guiding it into an organized movement to be used against the french, they were terribly scared, thinking only of danger to their own property, and decided to stop the violent outbreak before further harm could be done. with promises of the splendid things that might happen to-morrow they got the people back into their slums. then they quickly organized a volunteer police corps and made ready to keep the people in their proper place, and actually prevent further outbreaks. that the time had come to throw off the french yoke does not seem to have been apparent to the majority of the former regents, who hastened back to the town hall the moment the french burgomasters had left. they were scared, and they refused to budge. the french flag was kept flying on the public buildings. napoleon might come back, and the regents were not going to be caught standing on a patriotic barricade waving orange banners. the fame for the first open outbreak goes to the poor people of amsterdam. but the old conservative classes of the city prevented the town from actually becoming the leader of this great movement for holland's independence. late in the evening of the th of november the news of the burning of the french custom-houses in amsterdam reached the hague. a few hours before the french governor had left the residence and had gone to utrecht to be nearer the centre of the country. but several french troops and policemen had been left behind to keep order. at three o'clock of the night of the th, while the town was asleep, van hogendorp sent a messenger to the dutch commander of the civic militia. the commander came, but regretted to report that his militia had been left entirely without arms by the french authorities, who suspected them of treason. the mayor was then appealed to. he was told of the danger that might occur should the common people attack the french troops. the militia must have arms to keep order. the mayor, who was a hollander, readily gave the required permission. just before sunrise the town guards were assembled in front of the old palace of the stadholders. they were given arms and were told to keep themselves in readiness. that was the moment for which van hogendorp had waited. with a large orange-coloured bow upon his hat, general leopold van limburg stirum, the friend and chief fellow-conspirator of van hogendorp, suddenly appeared upon the public street. slowly, with a crowd of admiring citizens behind him, he walked to the place where the militia waited. there he read a proclamation which van hogendorp had prepared beforehand: "holland is free. long live the house of orange. the french rule has come to an end. the sea is open, commerce revives, the past is forgotten. all old partisanship has ceased to be, and everything has been forgiven." [illustration: proclamation of the new government] then the proclamation went on to indicate the new form of government. there would be founded a state in which all men of some importance would be able to take part, under the high leadership of the prince of orange. the militia listened with approval, then with beating drums and waving the orange colours, which had not been seen for almost a generation, the soldiers marched through the excited town directly to the city hall. the old flag of the republic was hoisted on the tower of the church nearby. within an hour the news of this wonderful event had spread throughout the town. on all sides, from doors and windows and upon roofs, the old red, white, and blue colours mixed with orange appeared. orange ribbons, still disseminating a smell of the moth-chest in which they had lain hidden for so many years, appeared upon hats and around sleeves, were waved on canes, and put around the collars of the domestic canines. spontaneous parades of orange-covered citizens began to wander through the streets. the house of van hogendorp became the centre of all activity. in the afternoon of the same day van hogendorp and a number of his friends assumed the provisional government, to handle the affairs of the state until the prince of orange should come to assume the highest leadership. so far, the conspirators had been successful. the french soldiers showed no desire to oppose this popular movement, but they were still present in their barracks and constituted an element of grave danger. but in the afternoon the fisherfolk of scheveningen, ultra-orangeists, began to hear of the great doings in the hague and enthusiastically made up their minds to join. and when the influx of this proverbially hard-fisted tribe became known to the french they decided that their number of five hundred was not sufficient to suppress the popular excitement. hastily they packed their belongings and marched away in the direction of utrecht. but before they had been gone half an hour, some two hundred prussian grenadiers deserted and returned to the hague, where they were received with open arms, and where they joined the populace with loud hoorays for the prince of orange and the hospitable dutch nation. mere shouting, however, although a very necessary part of a revolution, has never yet brought about a victory. it was necessary to do some more substantial work than to cause a popular outbreak of enthusiasm. there must be order and a foundation upon which the new authorities should be able to construct a stable form of government. van hogendorp, therefore, took the next necessary step and hastily called upon all the former regents who could be reached to come and deliberate with him upon the establishment of a legitimate provisional form of government. right there his difficulties began. the regents refused to come. they, like their brethren in amsterdam, were afraid. napoleon was invincible. they knew it. he was certain to regain the lost ground, and then he would come and take his revenge. and as far as they were concerned, the regents intended to stay at home. only a few of them dared to come forward. amsterdam at this first meeting was represented by one man. his name was falck. he was a _homo novus_, but by far the most capable of those who appeared at the house of van hogendorp, and he was at once selected to be the secretary of the meeting. falck understood that such a poor beginning was worse than no revolution at all. the country must not return to the old bad conditions. the former regents had shown their lack of interest. a meeting must be called together of men from among all parties. accordingly, on the th of november, a general meeting of notabilities from among all the former political parties was called together. it was not much more successful than the first one. the people distrusted it profoundly. they thought that there was to be a repetition of the old estates general and that the conservative elements would again be in the majority. what was worse, the members of this informal convention had no confidence in themselves. half a dozen were willing to go ahead. the others hesitated. they wanted to proceed slowly until they should know what would happen to the allies and what would become of napoleon. the country had no army, it had no money, it had no credit. in vain did van hogendorp talk to each member individually, in vain did he and his friends try every possible means of personal persuasion. the conservative elements were still too strong. the regents preached against more revolution. the french had been bad enough, but they did not wish to come once more under the domination of their own common people. in this emergency all sorts of desperate remedies were resorted to. a british merchantman appeared before the coast near scheveningen. at once van hogendorp sent word to the captain and asked him to put on his full uniform as a british militia officer and with a few of his men parade the streets of the hague and rotterdam. in this way the report would become current that a british auxiliary squadron had appeared before the coast. the captain did his best, and put on all his spangles. he did some good, but not so very much. next, the leaders in the hague asked for volunteers to form a dutch army. six hundred and thirty men answered the summons. badly equipped and armed, they were marched to amsterdam, where they were joined by a company of militia under the ever-active falck. they arrived just in time. the next day the first advance guard of the army of the allies, a company of cossacks, appeared before the gates of the town, and it was by the merest piece of luck that amsterdam could welcome them as friends and need not open her gates to them as conquerors. but withal, the situation was most precarious. in the north verhuell held the fleet and threatened the dutch coast. in the south all the principal cities were in french hands. in the centre of the country the french had fortified themselves considerably and even made frequent sallies upon the territory of the rebels, which cost the latter considerably in men and money. finally, in the far east, bluecher was preparing to invade the republic and make her territory the scene of his battles. for a moment it seemed that all the trouble had been for no purpose. only one thing could save the situation. the prince of orange must come, must inspire the people with greater diligence for the good cause, and must take command of the disorganized forces. question: where is the prince? nobody knew. he might be in england, but then, again, he might be with the allies somewhere along the rhine. messengers had been sent to london and to frankfort. those who went to frankfort did not find the prince, but they found the commanders of the allies and had the good sense to tell a fine yarn--how holland had freed itself, and how the french had been ignominiously driven out. as a matter of fact, the prince was in england, and in london, on the st of november, he heard how his arrival was eagerly awaited and how he must cross the north sea at once. five days later, well provided with men and money, he left the british coast on the frigate _warrior_. an easterly wind, which nineteen years before had driven his father safely across the waters, delayed his voyage. for four whole days his ship tacked against this breeze. one british ship with marines landed on the dutch coast on the th, but nothing was heard of the prince. the anxiety in holland grew. the fisher fleet of scheveningen was sent out cruising in front of the coast to try to get in touch with the british fleet. but the days came and the days went by and no news was reported which might appease the general anxiety. finally, on the morning of the th of november, the rumour spread suddenly through the hague that the british fleet had been sighted. the prince was coming! then the people went forth to meet their old beloved prince of orange. everything else was now forgotten. along the same road where almost twenty years before they had gone to bid farewell to the father whom they had driven away, they now went to hail the son as their saviour. at noon of friday, the th, the _warrior_ came in sight. the same fisherman who eighteen years before had taken william to the ship which was to conduct him into his exile was now chosen to carry the new sovereign through the surf. with orange ribbons on his horses, with his coat covered with the same faithful colour, the old man drove through the waves. at four o'clock of the afternoon a sloop carrying the prince left the british man-of-war. half an hour later william landed. [illustration: arrival of william i in scheveningen] the shore once more was black with people. the old road to the hague was again lined with thousands of people. little boys had climbed up into trees. small children were lifted high by their mothers that they might get a glimpse of the hallowed person of a member of the house of orange. a few people, from sheer excitement, shrieked their welcome. they were at once commanded to be silent. the moment was too solemn for such an expression of personal feeling. here a nation in utter despair welcomed the one person upon whom it had fixed its hope of salvation. in this way did the house of orange come back into its own--with a promise of a new and happier future--after the terrible days of foreign domination and national ruin. xxiv the restoration van hogendorp did not witness this triumphal entry. he was sick and had to keep to his room. thither the prince drove at once, and together the old man and the young man had a prolonged conference. what was to be the exact position of the prince, and what form of government must be adopted by the country? on the road from scheveningen the cry of "long live the king!" had been occasionally heard. was william to be a king or was he merely to continue the office of stadholder which his fathers had held? van hogendorp's first plan to revive the old oligarchic republic had failed at once. the regents had played their rôle for all time. they had showed that they could not come back. they had lost those abilities which for several centuries had kept them at the head of affairs. the plan of falck to create a government on the half and half principle--half regent, half patriot--had not been a success, either. the patriots as a party had been too directly responsible for the mistakes of the last twenty years to be longer popular as a ruling class. a new system must be found which could unite all the best elements of the entire country. surely here was a difficult task to be performed. the country to which prince william was restored consisted at that moment of exactly two provinces. the army numbered , infantry and cavalry. the available cash counted just a little under , guilders. the only thing that was plentiful was the national debt. to start a new nation and a new government upon such a slender basis was the agreeable task which awaited the prince, and yet, after all, the solution of the problem proved to be more simple than had been expected. the old administrative machinery of the napoleonic empire was bodily taken over into the new state and was continued under the command of the prince. the higher french dignitaries disappeared and their places were taken by hollanders trained in the napoleonic school. the army of well-drilled lower officials was retained in its posts. except for the fact that dutch was once more made the official language, there was little change in the internal form of government. the modern edifice of state which had been constructed by napoleon for the unwilling hollanders was cleaned of all frenchmen and all french influence, but the building itself was not touched, and after the original architect had moved out, the impoverished dutch state continued to live in it with the utmost satisfaction. but now came the question of the title and the position of the new head of the household. was it possible to place the state, which for so many years had recognized an outlandish adventurer as its emperor, under the leadership of a mere stadholder? was it fair that the prince of orange should rule in his own country as a mere stadholder where the country had just recognized a member of a foreign family as its legitimate king? the higher classes might have their doubts and might spend their days in clever academic disputations; the mass of the people, however, instinctively felt that the only right way out of the difficulty was to make the son of the last stadholder the first king of the resurrected nation. before this popular demand, william, who himself in many ways was conservative, and might have preferred to return merely as stadholder, had to give way. with much show of popular approbation he set to work to reorganize the country as its sovereign ruler and no longer as the subordinate executive of its parliament. the first task of the sovereign, when on the th of december he took the government into his own hands, was to abolish the most unpopular of the old french taxes. the government monopoly of tobacco was at once suppressed and joyous clouds of smoke spread heavenward. the press was freed from the supervision of the police, under which it had so severely suffered. the law which confiscated the goods of political prisoners and which had been so greatly abused by the french authorities disappeared, to the general satisfaction of the former victims. the clergy, which for many years had received no salary at all and had been supported by public charity, saw itself reinstated in its old revenues. but the time had not yet come in which william could devote himself exclusively to internal problems. the question of the moment was the military one. the french still occupied many dutch fortifications. they must first of all be driven out. for this purpose the three thousand odd men were not sufficient. but no further volunteers announced themselves. the first two weeks of enthusiasm had been followed by the old apathy. neither men nor money was forthcoming. everything was once more left to an allwise providence and to the allies. during eighteen years the people had paid taxes. now they kept their money at home. for almost ten years their sons had been in the army. they were not going to send them to be slaughtered for yet another king. the allies might do the fighting if they liked. and it was impossible to get dutch soldiers. not until the old government had begun to enforce the former french law upon the conscription was it possible to lay the foundations of a national army. after a year , infantrymen and , cavalrymen were ready to join the allies. then, however, they were no longer needed. napoleon was drilling his hundred rustics on the island of elba, and the congress of vienna had started upon that round of dinners and gayeties which was to decide the future destinies of the european continent. after the army came the question of a constitution. this problem was settled in the following way: a committee of fourteen members was appointed to make a constitution. these fourteen gentlemen represented all the old parties. a concept-constitution, drawn up by van hogendorp long before the revolution took place, was to be the basis for their discussions. on the nd of march this committee presented the sovereign with a constitution which made him practically autocratic. there was to be a sort of parliament of fifty-five members elected by the provincial estates. but except for the futile right of veto and the exceptional right of proposing an occasional bill, this parliament could exercise no control over the executive or the finances. this was exactly what most people wanted. they had had enough and to spare of popular government. they were quite willing to leave everything to an able king who would know best what was good for them. on all sides the men of were surrounded by the ruins of the failures of their inexperienced political schemes. the most energetic leaders among them were dead or had been forced out of politics long ago. of the younger generation all over europe the best elements had been shot to pieces for the benefit of the emperor napoleon. the people that remained when this scourge left europe were the less active ones, the less energetic ones, those who by nature were most fit to be humble subjects. on the th of march six hundred of the most prominent men of the country were called together at amsterdam to examine the new constitution and to express their opinion upon the document. only four hundred and forty-eight appeared. they accepted the constitution between breakfast and luncheon. they did not care to go into details. nobody cared. people wanted to be left in peace. political housekeeping had been too much trouble. they went to board with their new king, gave him a million and a half a year, and told him to look after all details of the management, but under no circumstances to bother them. and the new king, whose nature at bottom was most autocratic, assumed this new duty with the greatest pleasure and prepared to show his subjects how well fitted he was for such a worthy task. xxv william i on the th of july, , russia, austria, and prussia, together with england, agreed to recognize and support the new kingdom of holland and to add to the territory of the old republic the former austrian possessions in belgium. this meant the revival of a state which greatly resembled the old burgundian kingdom. the allies did not found this new country out of any sentimental love for the dutch people. england wanted to have a sentinel in europe against another french outbreak, and therefore the northern frontier of france must be guarded by a strong nation. to further strengthen this country england returned most of the colonies which during the last eighteen years had been captured by her fleet. but before the new kingdom could start upon its career general bonaparte had tired of the monotony of his island principality and had started upon his well-known trip to waterloo. the new dutch army upon this occasion fought well and at quatre bras rendered valuable services. [illustration: kingdom of the netherlands] general bonaparte was dispatched to st. helena, a fate which of late has inspired many sentimental folk to the point of writing books, and the kingdom of holland-belgium could begin its independent existence in all seriousness. king william, in this new country, remained the absolute ruler. instead of one there were to be two chambers in his new domains. but the executive and legislative power was all vested in the hands of his majesty. he, on the whole, made use of them for the very best purposes. in a material way he attempted every possible remedy for the poverty of the country. as far as dollars and cents go he was an excellent king. canals were dug all over the country; commerce was encouraged in every possible way; the colonies were exploited with energy; factories were built with and without support of the state, and the mineral riches of belgium were fully developed. a plan for a panama, or, rather, a nicaraguan canal was seriously discussed. and yet william failed. the task to which he had been called was an impossible one. belgium and holland had nothing in common but their mutual dislike of each other. protestant holland, proud of its history, had no sympathy for catholic belgium, where the middle ages had peacefully continued while the rest of the world had moved forward. catholic belgium returned these uncordial sentiments most heartily, and with the worst of prejudices awaited the things which must be inflicted upon it by a protestant king. a man of such pronounced views as king william was certain to have many and sincere enemies. furthermore, the french part of belgium, following the example of its esteemed neighbours, enjoyed a noisy opposition to the powers that were as a sort of inspiring political picnic. but the real difficulties of william's reign began when he got into a quarrel with the catholic church. this well-organized institution, which will provide all things to all men, under all conditions and circumstances, was directly responsible for the ultimate break between the two countries. we are not discussing the church as an establishment for the propagation of a certain sort of religious ethics; but we must regretfully state that the entrance of the church upon the field of practical politics has invariably been followed by trouble in the most all-around sense of the word. william as king of the netherlands felt his responsibility and felt it heavily. he and he only (make it capitals) was the head of the nation. and when it appeared that the bishop of rome or the bishop of liège or any other bishop aspired to the rôle of the power above the throne he found in william a most determined and most sincere enemy. the church, assured of her power in a country which for so many centuries had been under her absolute influence, became very aggressive, and her leaders became very bold. william promptly landed the boldest among the bishops in jail. and that was the beginning of a quarrel which lasted until catholics and liberals, water and fire, had been forced to make common cause against their mutual enemy and started a secret revolution against william's rule, which broke forth in the open in the year . [illustration: lieutenant van speyck blows up his ship] the northern part of the country, for the first time in almost thirty years, began to take an interest in politics and commenced showing hopeful signs of life. and when in february, , the commander of a small dutch gunboat, lieutenant van speyck, blew his ship and all his sailors into the kingdom of brave men rather than surrender to the belgian rabble which had climbed on board his disabled craft, such an unexpected enthusiasm broke loose that it took holland just ten days in which to reconquer most of the rebellious provinces. this, however, was not to the liking of france. in the first place, france was under the influence of a strong catholic reaction and felt compelled to help the suffering brethren in belgium. in the second place, france did not like the idea of a sentinel of england and hastened to recognize and support the prince of saxe-coburg, who was called upon to mount the newly founded throne of the independent state of belgium. a large french army marched north to oppose a further advance of the hollanders. william had to give up all idea of reuniting the two countries. since when, divorced from their incompatible companions, the two nations have gone their different ways in excellent friendship and have established great mutual respect and understanding. to king william, however, who had devoted his time and strength quite as much to belgium as to holland, the separation came as a terrible blow. william was one of those sovereigns who take a cup of coffee and a bun at five in the morning and then set to work to do everything for everybody. he could not understand that mere devotion to duty was not sufficient to make all his subjects love him. perhaps he had not always shown great tact in dealing with religious matters. but, then, look at his material results. the prince, who seventeen years before had been hailed as the saviour of his country, now began to suffer under the undeserved slights of his discontented citizens and was made a subject for attacks which were wholly unwarranted. that the conditions in the kingdom were in many ways quite unsatisfactory, is true; but it was not so entirely the fault of the king as his contemporaries were so eager to believe. they themselves had at first given him too much power. they had without examination accepted a constitution which allowed their parliament no control over monetary matters. the result of this state of affairs had been a wholesale system of thefts and graft. the king knew nothing of this, could not have known it. there were private individuals who thought that they could prove it, but the ministers of state were not responsible to the parliament, and there was no legitimate way of bringing these unsound conditions to the attention of the sovereign. and so the discontented elements started upon a campaign of calumny and of silent disapproval, until finally william, who strongly felt that he had done his duty to the best of his ability, became so thoroughly disgusted with the ingratitude of his subjects that he resigned in favour of his son, who, as william ii, came to the throne in . william then left the country and never returned. [illustration: king william ii] what must we say of william ii? we are not trying to write a detailed history of the kingdom of the netherlands. this little book merely tries to fill out the mysterious and unexplored space between the end of the old dutch republic and the modern kingdom. even these twenty years it does not try to describe too minutely, because on the whole (except for the people themselves) the period was so absolutely uninteresting to the outside world that we would not be warranted in asking the attention of the intelligent reader for more than a limited number of pages. william ii was a good king in that he was a constitutional king. the year did not see the erection of barricades in the quiet dutch cities. if the people, or, rather, the few liberals who had begun to develop out of the mass of indifferent material--if these gentlemen wanted another and a more liberal constitution very badly, they could have it as far as william ii was concerned. and without revolution or undue noise the absolute kingdom which the men of had constructed to keep the men of in check was quietly changed into an absolutely constitutional monarchy after the british pattern, with responsible ministers and a parliament ruled by the different political parties. the budget now became a public institution, openly discussed every year by the whole people through their chosen representatives and their newspapers. the king in this way became the hereditary president of a constitutional republic. there can be no doubt that the system was personally disagreeable to william ii as well as to his son william iii, who succeeded him in . but neither of them for a moment thought of deviating from the narrow road which alone guaranteed safety to themselves and to their subjects. however much they may have liked or disliked certain individuals who as the result of a change in party had to be appointed to be ministers of the government, they never allowed their own personal feelings to interfere with the provisions of the constitution to which at their ascension to the throne they had sworn allegiance. this policy they continued with such excellent success that whatever strength the socialistic party or the other parties of economic discontent may at present be able to develop, those who would actually like to see the monarchy changed into a republic are so very rare and form such an insignificant part of the total population that a continuation of the present system seems assured for an indefinite length of time, which is saying a great deal in our day of democratic unrest. as we write these final words a hundred years have gone by since the days of the french domination and of the many revolutionary upheavals; the nation of the year , broken down under the hopeless feeling of failure, and the people, despairing of the future and indifferent to everything of the present which did not touch their bread and butter, have disappeared. one after the other they travelled the road to those open air cemeteries which they had so much detested as a revolutionary innovation, their ancestors all slept under their own church-pews, and their place was taken by younger blood. but it was not until the year that we could notice a more hopeful attitude in the point of view of the dutch nation. then, at last, it recovered from the blows of the first twelve years of the century. then it regained the courage of its own individual convictions and once more was ready to take up the burden of nationality. once more the low countries aspired to that place among the nations to which their favourable geographical position, the thrift of their population, and the enterprise of their leading merchants so fully entitled them. the revival, when it came, was along all lines. scholarship in many branches of learning compared very favourably with the best days of the old republic. the arts revived and brought back glimpses of the seventeenth century. social legislation gave the country an honourable place among those states which earnestly endeavour to mitigate the disadvantages of our present capitalistic development and by direct interference of the legislature aim for a higher type of society in which the many shall not spend their lives in a daily drudgery for the benefit of the few. the feeling that colonies were merely an agreeable asset to the merchants of the country and called for no special obligations upon their part gradually gave way to the modern view that the colonies are a trust which for many a year to come must stay in the hands of european men before they shall be able to render them to the natives for a rule of their own people. finally that most awful and most despondent of all sentimental meditations, that "we have been a great country once," that "we have had our time," has begun to make place for the conviction that at this very moment no other nation of such a small area and insignificant number of people is capable of performing such valuable service in so many fields of human endeavour as is the modern dutch nation. the failure of the men of , who dreamed their honest but ineffectual dream of a prosperous and united fatherland, the apparent failure of the first dutch king who in the true belief of his own direct responsibility still belonged to a bygone age, have at last made place for a healthy and modern state capable of normal development. out of the ruins of the old divided republic--a selfish commercial body--there has risen, after a hundred years of experimenting and suffering, a new and honourable country--a single nation, not merely an indifferent confederacy of independent little sovereignties--a civic body managing its own household affairs without interference from abroad and without disastrous partisanship at home--a people who again dare to see visions beyond the direct interests of their daily bread, and who are given the fullest scope for the pursuit of prosperity and individual happiness under a government of their own choice and under the gracious leadership of her majesty queen wilhelmina. _brussels._ _christmas, ._ the end a comparison of the four constitutions of holland constitution of constitution of the representative assembly: a council of state (executive the highest power in the state, council, in dutch: staatsbewind) to which all other governmental consisting of twelve members. bodies are responsible. a legislative assembly. the executive council of five national syndicate consisting directors. of three judicial officers to the representative assembly control all officials of the state has the right of legislation, state and all departments of the of making alliances and treaties, government. of declaring war, of discussing the legislative assembly accepting the yearly budget, discusses all laws proposed by the of appointing the directors of council of state. it discusses and the executive council. it can gives its final approval to all grant pensions and has the right treaties (except certain articles of pardon, and will decide in of such treaties). it has to give all such questions which are not its approval to any declaration of explicitly provided for by the war. it discusses and approves the constitution. annual budget. the executive council must the council of state see to the strict execution of (staatsbewind) makes up the annual of all the laws of the budget and proposes new laws to representative assembly. it the legislative assembly. it sees makes up a yearly budget which to the execution of the laws which must be submitted to the the legislative body has accepted. representative assembly. it has it declares war (after it has the right to appoint diplomatic obtained the approval of the and consular representatives. legislative assembly). it is the it negotiates treaties and highest power in all affairs of alliances, subject, however, to army and navy, and it has the approval of the representative right of appointment of the body. principal state officers. the the representative assembly the legislative assembly shall consist of one member for consists of one single chamber of every , inhabitants. every thirty-five members. year the representative body the members of the legislative shall be divided into a second assembly are for the first time to chamber of thirty members and be appointed by the council of a first chamber containing all state. afterward their election the others. (there were will be regulated by law. ninety-four members in all.) to be entitled to vote one must the representative assembly is be either a hollander who has to be elected in the following lived in the country for one year way: the country shall be divided or a foreigner who has lived in into ninety-four districts of the country for six whole years. , people each. these the declaration of abhorrence of districts are again divided the stadholder, aristocracy, etc., into forty sub-districts is no longer insisted upon. a (grondvergadering) of people single promise to "remain faithful stadholder, aristocracy, etc., to the constitution" is now each. each subdistrict elects one sufficient. candidate and one elector. if the the council of state is composed same candidate was elected in of twelve members. the first seven twenty-one sub-districts he members are appointed by "the became a representative. present executive council" (this otherwise forty electors choose meant the three authors of the a representative from among the constitution of the year ). three candidates who had the these seven were to appoint their largest number of votes. five colleagues. each year one of each year one third of the the twelve members was supposed to members of the representative resign. a vacancy was filled as assembly must resign, and a follows: the departmental circles new election for their places proposed four people. out of those must be held. four the legislative assembly to be entitled to vote one elected two. from among those two must be either a hollander who the council of state then selected during the last two years has their new colleague. lived in the country or a the agents are replaced by foreigner who has resided in small advisory councils of three the republic during the last ten members. they are responsible years. the voter must be able to the council of state. to read and write the dutch the legislative assembly meets language, and must have passed twice a year: april to june , the age of twenty. to qualify and october to december . as a voter one must swear a the council of state, however, can solemn oath to the effect that call together the legislative one abhors the stadholder, assembly as often as it pleases. anarchy, aristocracy, and the council of state proposes federalism, and that one never all laws. twelve members of the shall vote for any person whose legislative assembly appointed by opinions upon these subjects are this body discuss the laws. the not entirely above suspicion. legislative assembly then accepts the executive council is the law or vetoes it. no further appointed by the representative discussion allowed in the assembly, but the members of the legislative assembly. council may not be members of the the country is divided into executive. the first chamber eight departments. the provincial proposes three candidates. the frontiers of the old republic are second chamber elects the member reëstablished. drenthe comes to from among those three. each year overysel and brabant becomes the one new member of the council is new, the eighth, department. to be elected. after his local government remains as resignation he is not reëligible before, but each city is allowed until five years later. greater liberty in civic affairs, the executive council appoints provided the city does not try to eight agents to act as heads of change the original idea of a different departments (as democratic, representative ministers more or less). these government. the cities in this agents are responsible and way regain a great deal of their subordinate to the council. old autonomy. the old interstate the representative assembly tariff scheme of the former meets the whole year round. republic is not allowed. but new laws are proposed in and otherwise the cities regain most discussed by the first chamber. of their former power. then they are submitted to the second chamber, which has the right of approval or veto, but not the right of discussion. the executive council must see to the execution of these laws. the country is divided into eight departments with new names: the department of the eems, of the old ysel, of the rhine, of the amstel, of texel, of the delf, of the dommel, and of the scheldt and maas. their former boundaries are given up and arbitrary boundaries are made. each department is divided into seven circles and the circles are divided into communes. each department has a local governmental body somewhat resembling the old provential estates. each circle is represented in this by one member. these seven members are elected by the voters. the officials of the commune are elected in the same way. these local, departmental, and civic bodies are responsible to the executive council. constitution of constitution of a raadpensionaris. a king. a legislative assembly. (the a legislative assembly. old title of their high and the king is assisted by a mightinesses is revived for the council of state of thirteen members of this body.) members, to be appointed by the raadpensionaris is himself. assisted by an advisory council the legislative body has the of state of five to nine members, same rights as in the year . to be selected by himself. the king has the same executive the powers of the legislative power as the raadpensionaris, but body remain the same. may "upon certain occasions act the raadpensionaris has all directly without consulting the the executive and legislative legislative body at all." power of the council of state the legislative body consists of (staatsbewind) of , but he thirty-eight members. holland has at his disposal a secret appoints seventeen. the other budget to be used "for the good departments two or four; drenth, of the country" at his own one. when a department increases discretion. in territory the number of the legislative assembly representatives may be increased, consists of nineteen members: too. holland sends seven; zeeland for the first time nineteen new sends one; utrecht sends one; all members proposed by the the other departments send two legislative body itself and members. confirmed by the king were added the first legislative assembly to the old legislative assembly of is to be appointed by the the year . raadpensionaris. afterward the the next year ( ) the king departmental government proposes appointed the new members from four names. the raadpensionaris among a list of candidates, half selects two out of the four and of which list was proposed by the returns the names to the legislative assembly, the other departmental government, which half of which was made up by a then votes for one of those two. number of notabilities who were qualifications for franchise selected by the king from a list remain the same as in . of names proposed by departmental the raadpensionaris is officers. appointed by the legislative the constitution refers the assembly for a period of five question of the qualifications for years. the constitution of the franchise to the future. as a lasted only for a year. the only matter of fact the franchise was raadpensionaris was practically abolished after the schimmelpenninck. institution of the kingdom. the raadpensionaris appoints the king appoints four five secretaries of state and a secretaries of state (ministers). council of finance, consisting the legislative body meets at of three advisory members. the pleasure of the king. it is the legislative assembly meets supposed to meet regularly during twice a year for a period of six two months of the year. weeks: april to june , and the king proposes the laws. the december to january . legislative assembly has no right all laws are proposed by the of discussion. can accept a law or raadpensionaris. the legislative veto it. assembly does not have the right the country is divided into nine of debate, but has the right of departments. drenthe is revived as veto. a separate department. the same division of the the old departmental estates, are country as before. brought immediately under the the cities continue to regain influence of the king, who appoints their old sovereign rights. his own officers (land-drost). the autonomy of the cities is again lost. bibliography giving the details of the resurrection of holland in for this period we have, as may be seen from the following list of books, very few memoirs, only a limited number of newspapers, and no books which show us in detail the inside work of the big and little political events of the day. the rôle which the batavian republic played was so little flattering that the chief participants in the drama of national decadence preferred not to chronicle their own adventures between the years and and expose their private conduct to the public judgment of their children and grandchildren. the batavian republic van der aa, biographisch woordenboek, the only source of information for the lives of many of the men of this period. appelius, j.h., de staatsomwenteling van in haren aard, loop en gevolgen beschouwd. leiden, . d'auzon de boisminart w.p., gedenkschriften, - . the hague, - . bas, f. de, de overgave van de bataafsche vloot in . utrecht, . berkhey, j. le francq van, de bataafsche menschelykheid enz. leiden, . beynen, g.j.w. koolemans, het terugtrekken van daendels in uit de zype naar de schermer. leiden, . blok, p.j., geschiedenis van het nederlandsche volk. the new standard history in eight volumes. translated into english. the part treating of the last hundred years of the dutch republic has not been translated as fully as the earlier history. bouwens, r.l., aan zyne committenten over het politiek en finantieel gedrag der ministers van het vorige bewind. amsterdam, . brauw, w.m. de, de departmenten van algemeen bestuur in nederland sedert de omwenteling van . utrecht, . brougham, henry lord, life and times, written by himself. edinburgh, . this book contains a description of a voyage through the batavian republic in the year . byleveld, h.j.j., de geschillen met frankryk betreffende vlissingen sedert tot . the hague, . castlereagh, memoirs and correspondence of viscount castlereagh, london, , contains the diplomatic correspondence upon many subjects concerning the batavian republic and the kingdom of holland. colenbrander, gedenkschriften der algemeene geschiedenis van nederland. collection of official documents. - , - ( vols.); - ( vols.), ( vols.), - ( vols.) the standard work of sources for this period. courant, de bataafsche binnenlandsche, a newspaper with some news but little of any value. covens c. beknopte staatsbeschryving der bataafsche republiek. amsterdam, . dagverhaal der handelingen van de eerste en tweede nationale and constitueerende vergadering representeerende het volk van nederland. the hague, - . a sort of congressional record in twenty-two volumes. decreeten der nationale vergadering, march, to january, . twenty-three volumes. an enormous mass of state papers of the national assembly. decreeten, register der, van de vergadering van het provintiaal bestuur van holland. march , to january , . the records of the provincial government of holland, which succeeded the estates of holland. doorninck, j. van, het alliantie tractaat met frankryk van mei . deventer, . galdi m. quadro politico delle rivoluzioni delle provincie unite e della republica batava e dello stato attuale del regno di olande. milan, . groen van prinsterer. handboek der geschiedenis van het vaderland. standard work written from point of view opposed to the french revolution. hall, m.c. van, rutger jan schimmelpenninck, voornamelyk als bataafsch afgezant op het vredescongres te amiens in . amsterdam, . hartog, j., de joden in het eerste jaar der bataafsche vryheid. amsterdam, . a discussion of the emancipation of the jews in the batavian republic. herzeele p. van and j. goldberg, rapport der commissie tot het onderzoek naar den staat der finantien op januari, . the hague, . hingman, j.h., stukken betreffende het voorstel tot deportatie van van de spiegel, bentinck, rhoon en repelaer, - . utrecht, . jaarboeken der bataafsche republiek. amsterdam - . thirteen volumes. a continuation of the old year books of the dutch republic. minute record of official acts, documents, etc. kesman, j.h., receuil van den zakelyken inhoud van alle sedert, gestelde orders van den lande, de armée betreffende. the hague, . kluit, w.p. sautyn, studies over de nederlandsche journalistiek, - . the hague, - . a discussion of the gazette de hollande, the "nationaale en bataafsche couranten," and the official newspaper of the state before the restoration of . krayenhoff, geschiedkundige beschouwing van den oorlog op het grondgebied der bataafsche republiek in . nymwegen, . langres, lonbard de, byzonderheden uit de tyden der onwenteling en betrekkingen van nederland in . the hague, . langres was french minister between and . nothing much of importance. legrand, l., la révolution française en hollande; la république batave. paris, . naber, j.a., journal van het gepasseerede gedurende het verblyf der nationale trouppen in s'gravenhage. january to april , . the hague, . notulen van het staatsbewind der bataafsche republiek. october , to april , . twelve volumes of records of the proceedings of the batavian executive. paulus, aanspraak by de opening van de vergadering der nationale vergadering. march , . the hague, . a report of this speech is found in wagenaar. rogge c., tafereel van de geschiedenis der jongste omwenteling in de vereenigde nederlanden. amsterdam, . rogge c., geschiedenis der staatsregeling voor het bataafsche volk. amsterdam, . rogge c., schaduwbeelden der leden van de nationale vergadering. schimmelpenninck, g., rutger jan schimmelpenninck en eenige gebeurtenissen van zyn tyd. the hague, . see also under m.c. van hall. staatsbesluiten der bataafsche republiek, april to december , . three volumes of official decrees. staatscourant, bataafsche. see kluit. swildens, j.h., godsdienstig staatsboek. amsterdam, . discussion of the revolution from an orthodox protestant point of view. vitringa, c.l., staatkundige geschiedenis der bataafsche republiek. arnhem, - . vitringa, h.h., advisen over de eenheid der bataafsche republiek, den godsdienst, de verandering der constitutie, de vermeniging der oude provincieele schulden, etc. amsterdam, . vonk l.c., geschiedenis der landing van het engelsch russisch leger in noord holland. haarlem, . vreede, g.w., bydragen tot de geschiedenis der omwenteling van - . amsterdam, - . vreede g.w., geschiedenis der diplomatie van de bataafsche republiek. three volumes of diplomatic history of the batavian republic. vreede, p., verantwoording. leyden, . explanation of his official acts as member of the executive. wagenaar. vaderlandsche historie. see the three volumes of vervolg written by loosjes and his forty-eight volumes of vervolg which bring wagenaar down to the year . stuart in wrote four more volumes which continue the historie until the year is reached. the same tendency to endless reports of facts without any comment, except from the revolutionary point of view, is met in this vervolg, which is only useful as a book of information. for the pamphlets of this period see the last column of the catalogue of knuttel, catalogus van de pamphletten verzameling berustende in de koninklyke bibliotheek. the hague. the kingdom of holland blik op holland of schildery van dat koninkryk in . amsterdam, . bonaparte, l., documents historiques et réflexions sur le gouvernement de la hollande. bruxelles, . translated into dutch in the same year. cour, la de hollande sous le règne de louis bonaparte. paris, . dykshoorn, j., van de landing der engelschen in zeeland. vlissingen, . fruin, r., twee nieuwe bydragen tot de kennis van het tydvak van koning lodewyk. the hague, . geslachts--levens--en karakterschets van louis napoleon bonaparte. schiedam, . hoek, s. van, landing en inval der engelschen in zeeland, . haarlem, . hortense de beauharnais, mémoires sur madame la duchesse de st. leu, ex-reine de hollande. london, . hugenpoth d'aerdt g.j.j.a., notes historiques sur le règne de louis napoleon. the hague, . jorissen th., napoleon i et le roi de hollande, - . the hague, . jorissen th., de ondergang van het koninkryk holland. arnhem, . jorissen th., de commissie van juli te parys. maaskamp. e., reis door holland in . amsterdam, . rocqain f., napoléon premier et le roi louis. paris, , with original documents. roel, w.f., verslag van het verblyf des konings te parys - . amsterdam, . wichers l., de regeering van koning lodewyk napoleon, - . utrecht, . the best book upon the subject which has as yet appeared. see colenbrander's gedenkstukken, blok, groen, and wagenaar. french occupation bas, f. de and snouckaert van schauburg, het de hollandsche regiment huzaren. breda, . story of the adventures of the eleventh regiment french hussars. daendels, staat van nederlandsch oost indie onder het bestuur van h.w. daendels. the hague, . the same subject treated by n. engelhard. about daendels, see his life by i. mendels. for the colonial history of this period see also m.l. van deventer. het nederlandsch gezag over java. the hague, . hogendorp d. van (brother of gysbrecht karel), memoirs, - . the hague, . hogendorp, gysbrecht karel van, brieven en gedenkschriften. the hague, - . kanter j. de, de franschen in walcheren. middelburg, . krayenhoff. bydragen tot de vaderlandsche geschiedenis van de jaren, en . nymegen, . see colenbrander's gedenkstukken, blok, groen en wagenaar. the restoration during the centenary celebration of the revival of the dutch independence the events of the years and were made the subject of numerous publications large of volume and dreary of reading. the art of reproduction having been greatly perfected during those last years, every single scrap of document was dutifully copied and royal battles were fought about the exact wording of long-forgotten proclamations. most of these works of history appeared in serials and many have not approached any further than the dreary works of . in the second edition of this book it will perhaps be possible to give a complete bibliography for the years - . transcriber's note: italic text is denoted by _underscores_. small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. the carat character (^) indicates that the following letter is superscripted (example: ^e). minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed. * * * * * anglo-dutch rivalry during the first half of the seventeenth century being the ford lectures delivered at oxford in by the rev. george edmundson, m.a. f.r.g.s. f.r. hist. s. late fellow and tutor of brasenose college honorary member of the dutch historical society (utrecht) foreign member of the society of netherlands literature (leyden) oxford at the clarendon press henry frowde, m.a. publisher to the university of oxford london, edinburgh, new york toronto and melbourne preface the varying fortunes of the obstinate and fiercely contested struggles with the dutch for maritime and commercial supremacy in the days of the commonwealth and the restoration are familiar to all readers of english history, and especially of english naval history. never did english seamen fight better than in these dutch wars, and never did they meet more redoubtable foes. the details of the many dogged contests marked by alternate victory and defeat are now more or less unintelligible save to the expert in the naval strategy and tactics of the times, but legends have grown round the story of martin tromp sailing down the channel with a broom at his mast-head, and of the exploit of michael de ruyter in burning the english ships at chatham, which are never likely to be forgotten. the names of these two famous seamen are probably better known to englishmen than those of any of the contemporary english admirals save that of robert blake alone. this fact should bespeak for the attempt that is here made to trace the causes and the growth of the anglo-dutch rivalry at sea and in commerce, which culminated in the collision between blake and tromp off dover on may , , and the declaration of war that followed. it has been my object in these ford lectures to treat of the relations between england and the united provinces during the half-century that preceded the first outbreak of hostilities, and to make it clear that these wars of - , - , - were the inevitable outcome of a long-continued clashing of interests, which were of fundamental importance and indeed vital to the welfare of both nations. the first half of the seventeenth century was one of the most critical periods in english history. in any account of the reigns of the first two sovereigns of the house of stewart political and religious questions of primary significance thrust themselves into the foreground of a picture full of deepening dramatic interest, with the result that other questions, apparently subordinate but in reality closely bound up with the national destinies, have been either relegated to the background or wholly overlooked and neglected. it has been so in regard to the questions dealt with in these pages. the history of the revolt of the netherlands and of the rise of the dutch republic shows to us englishmen and dutchmen united by bonds of sympathy and fighting side by side against a common foe. to both alike the spaniard and the inquisition were hateful, and in shedding their blood freely for the cause of dutch freedom englishmen were in fact acting in their own self-defence against the ambitious projects of philip ii. at first sight then it appears strange that the conclusion of the truce for twelve years in should have been followed by a coolness and growing estrangement in the relations between the two countries, and by a series of endless bickerings, grievances, and disputes which all the resources of diplomacy in protracted negotiations proved unable to settle amicably to the satisfaction of both parties. the truth is that the very points of resemblance in the racial characteristics of the english and the dutch brought them into collision in almost every part of the world. born colonizers, traders, and explorers, each people was instinctively conscious that its destiny was upon the water, and that mastery of the seas was a necessity of national existence. hence a rivalry which was unavoidable, inexorable, a rivalry which could eventually have only one of two issues, either the voluntary submission of one of the rivals to the other, or a trial of strength by ordeal of battle. james i and charles i, whatever the deficiencies and mistakes of their foreign policies, were not blind to the significance of the appearance of this new sea-power on the other side of the 'narrow seas', and were quick to recognize that the dutch menace to the essential interests of their island kingdom was at least as formidable as the spanish menace had ever been. the diplomacy of both these kings was on the face of it vacillating, uncertain, and opportunist, but it is unjust to attribute this wholly to constitutional infirmity of purpose, or to an innate propensity to carry through their schemes by tortuous by-ways and dubious intrigues. there was no lack of steadfast determination on the part either of james or charles in their resolute attempts to conduct the government and administration of their kingdoms autocratically without that adequate financial aid which parliament alone could grant. but in consequence their treasury was generally empty, and it is therefore not surprising that, confronted with the constant fear of imminent bankruptcy, they were compelled to be shifty in their dealings with foreign powers, and to work for the achievement of their ends by the processes of a devious diplomacy rather than risk the costly charges of an appeal to arms. nevertheless it will be seen that in their negotiations with the united provinces never for a single moment would either james or charles make the slightest concession in regard to the claims of the british crown to undisputed sovereignty 'in the narrow seas', and they insisted that every foreign vessel should recognize that sovereignty by striking its flag when meeting a british war-ship in those waters. the period with which i am dealing was one of chartered companies, of trade monopolies, and of commercial protection in its most aggressive form. probably at that stage in the world's history no other economical system was conceivable or would have proved workable. in any case most of the disputes and differences between the english and the dutch at this time arose from questions connected with trading privileges, and these lectures contain much concerning them. it is still, however, extremely interesting and not without instruction to read the arguments that were used and the principles that were upheld by these statesmen and diplomatists of former days. economical questions are always with us, and men's opinions differ now as to their right solution as much as they did three centuries ago. george edmundson. sumner place, s.w. _may , ._ table of contents i: - the elizabethan spirit of enterprise. elizabeth and the revolt of the netherlands. mission of leicester. rise of the dutch republic. its cumbrous form of government. oldenbarneveldt and maurice of nassau. character of elizabeth's policy. treaty of . attitude of james i to the dutch. negotiations for the twelve years' truce. intrigues of the spaniards to gain james's support. the venetian, nicolo molin's review of the situation. conclusion of the truce. changed relations between england and the states. royal proclamation of restricting liberty of fishing in the british seas. indignation in holland. dutch embassy sent to london. the states-general promise protection to their fishermen. winwood's interview with oldenbarneveldt. the fisheries question. _magnus intercursus._ treaty of binche. the great (or herring) fishery. its importance. the basis of dutch trade. the proclamation popular in england. james's motives. grotius's _mare liberum_. conferences with the dutch envoys. the jülich-cleves succession. siege of jülich. execution of fisheries proclamation postponed. the spanish marriage question. situation in as reported by the venetian, marcantonio correr pages - . ii: - growing rivalry between the english and dutch. english public opinion expresses itself in pamphlets. ralegh's _observations_. _england's way to win wealth_, by tobias gentleman. _the trades' increase_, by j. r. views of the venetian, pietro contarini. gondomar, spanish ambassador in london. his influence with james. deaths of robert cecil and prince henry. effect on english policy. rapid progress of the united provinces in trade and wealth. oldenbarneveldt ransoms the cautionary towns. sir dudley carleton, ambassador in holland. the greenland (or spitzbergen) fishery dispute. monopoly granted to the muscovy company. dutch opposition. the rival claims. sir h. wotton's mission. armed collision of . history of the cloth trade between england and the netherlands. the merchant adventurers. alva expels them from antwerp. their settlement at middelburg, . revocation of charter by james, . patent granted to cockayne's company. dutch prohibition. failure of cockayne. adventurers' charter restored. anger of james. attempt to levy a toll on the dutch fishing busses. the john browne affair. browne arrested. english reprisals. satisfaction given by the states. fishing dispute remains an open sore. rivalry of the two east india companies. the spice trade. situation acute. carleton demands that a special embassy be sent to london to discuss all points of difference pages - . iii: - civil discord in the united provinces. the embassy of to england. its powers limited to the greenland and east indian questions. the herring fishery and cloth disputes not to be discussed. james demands peremptory settlement of fishery question. reply of the states' envoys. difficulties insuperable. james grants a brief delay. long discussions upon the greenland and east indian differences. no agreement arrived at. outbreak of the thirty years' war. disasters of the elector palatine in bohemia. confronted by a common danger, english and dutch negotiators become more amenable. temporary _modus vivendi_ agreed upon. james's spanish proclivities feared in holland. dutch embassy of . presses for an alliance for mutual defence and recovery of the palatinate. james's difficulties with his parliament and financial straits. strong influence of gondomar with the king. james demands settlement of disputes as the preliminary to an alliance. embassy returns without result. the merchant adventurers set up their court and staple at delft. another dutch embassy in . francis aerssen van sommelsdijk at its head. its instructions. conferences in london. testiness and ill-humour of the king. an east indian accord. after fourteen months in england the embassy returns, leaving all other points of dispute unsettled pages - . iv: - prince charles and buckingham at madrid. the english and scottish regiments in the dutch service. the dutch west india company. conciliatory policy of the states general. effect of the failure of the spanish marriage project. james's hand forced. interview of carleton with maurice of nassau. mission of aerssen and joachimi, february, . defensive alliance concluded, june . english levies for the netherlands. negotiations interrupted. death of caron, december ; james i, march ; maurice of nassau, april . albert joachimi succeeds noel caron as dutch resident minister in england. francis van aerssen and rienck van burmania, with joachimi, sent (june, ) on special embassy to charles i on his accession. treaty of southampton (an offensive and defensive alliance) signed september . a dutch squadron takes part in the ill-fated expedition to cadiz. the old differences between the two countries revive. states-general refuse to give the english resident a seat on the council of state. complaints of the merchant adventurers. right of search for contraband. jacob cats goes to london, . the massacre of amboina, and fishery questions. dutch policy of delay. no settlement reached. comment of aitzema on the cats' mission. difficulties of charles i. the disastrous expedition to la rochelle. lord carleton sent as envoy extraordinary to the hague. his secret instructions and attempts at negotiation. another dutch embassy dispatched to england, january, . lord carlisle sent to join carleton at the hague with further instructions (may). small results of so much diplomacy. assassination of buckingham. final breach of charles with his parliament. dutch mediation brings about peace with france, april , pages - . v: - vacillating foreign policy of charles i. alliance between france and the united provinces, . cornelis van beveren sent by the states-general (march, ) to try in conjunction with the french ambassador at whitehall to draw england into a triple alliance. charles issues a proclamation (april), prohibiting fishing upon his majesty's coasts and seas without a licence and payment of a toll. john selden's _mare clausum seu dominium maris_. joachimi summoned to the hague. an english fleet sails north to enforce payment of the toll. instructions given to joachimi. he returns and meets the king at woodstock, september . the king obdurate. dutch squadron sent to protect the fishermen. no collision between the rival fleets. the toll uncollected. van beveren renews negotiations. offers dutch co-operation in the palatinate for withdrawal of fishing proclamation. charles undertakes not to enforce the licence, but will not yield on question of the sovereignty of the seas. conference arranged at hamburg for conclusion of a quadruple protestant alliance. insincerity of charles. suspicions of the dutch. difficulties, delays and intrigues. failure of the conference. the king turns again to spain. sailing of spanish armada under admiral oquendo in . encounter with a dutch squadron, september . driven to seek refuge in english waters. battle of the downs, october . total destruction of the spanish fleet by tromp. infringement of english neutrality. indignation of charles. aerssen sent over on a mission of conciliation. his diplomatic skill and tact. the matter hushed up. the king has no alternative. his bankrupt state. compelled to summon parliament. his domestic complications and difficulties. meeting of the long parliament. evidence to show that the king did not invite the spaniards to take refuge in english waters. they arrived unexpectedly and as unwelcome guests. heenvliet arrives in london to negotiate a marriage between william, the only son of the stadholder, and mary, princess royal of england. his overtures successful. the marriage takes place amidst public rejoicings, may , pages - . vi: - ominous political state of england at the time of the marriage of william and mary. confidential relations of heenvliet with henrietta maria. visit of the queen to holland. her efforts to secure help for the royalist cause. goodwill of frederick henry. the dutch people generally anti-royalist. mission of walter strickland from the parliament. the states-general refuse to receive him. under pressure from holland they declare for strict neutrality. they send two envoys in to offer mediation between the king and the parliament. after more than a year of futile effort they return. death of frederick henry, march, . peace of munster, january, . character and ambitions of william ii, prince of orange. his affection for and generosity to his english relatives. mission of dr. doreslaar. the states-general will not grant him audience. adrian pauw and albert joachimi commissioned to intercede for the life of charles i. the news of the king's execution excites universal horror and detestation in the states. condolences are officially offered to king charles ii. the english council of state send over isaac doreslaar and walter strickland to propose closer relations between the two republics. doreslaar is assassinated. recall of strickland. joachimi ordered to leave london. the province of holland takes independent action. the states of holland send gerard schaep to london to bring about a better understanding, january, . the prince of orange engages in a struggle for supremacy with the states of holland. supported by the states-general, he compels the submission of the hollanders by armed force. his ultimate aim with the aid of france to attempt a stewart restoration. his sudden death by small-pox, november , . his death followed by revolution. the stadholderate is abolished. the great gathering. holland supreme in the state. the commonwealth recognized. joachimi returns to london. st. john and strickland make a state entry into the hague. hostile reception. negotiations for 'a more strict and intimate alliance and union'. divergence of views. no prospect of agreement. the english envoys leave the hague, july, . bitterness in england against the dutch. all the old grievances raked up. navigation act. deadly blow to dutch commerce. mission of cats, schaep, and perre, december , . both sides arming. exorbitant english demands. refusal of the dutch to accept them. conflict between tromp and blake off dover, may . final negotiations. dutch envoys leave england, june . war declared pages - . appendix pages a. the great or herring fishery - b. the narrow seas - c. the jÜlich-cleves succession question - d. the origin and early history of the merchant adventurers - e. the interlopers f. the english and scottish regiments in the dutch service - g. king charles's proclamation on the restraint of fishing, - bibliography i: - the last two decades of the sixteenth century hold a place apart in english history. the exploits of the great elizabethan seamen helped to shatter the supremacy of spain upon the sea, but they did more than this. they aroused in the english people the instinct of their true destiny, as a maritime, trading, and colonizing power. the granting of charters to the eastland (baltic) company ( ), to the levant company ( ), to the guinea company ( ), the foundation of the great east india company ( ), the opening out by the muscovy company of a new trade route to persia by way of astrachan, the daring efforts to discover a north-west and a north-east passage to cathay and the indies, the first attempts to erect colonies in virginia and newfoundland, all testify to the spirit of enterprise which animated the nation, a spirit whose many-sided activity never failed to command the queen's sympathy and encouragement. in thus entering, however, upon that path of colonial and commercial expansion which in later times was to become world-wide, the englishman found himself in the first half of the seventeenth century confronted by a more formidable rival than the spaniard. the defeat of the invincible armada was followed[ ] by the rise of a new sea-power. at the opening of the seventeenth century the dutch republic had not only succeeded in resisting all the efforts made for its subjugation to spanish rule, but, after more than thirty years of continuous and desperate struggle, was thriving in the midst of war. in the course of that struggle much help had been given, both in money and men, by elizabeth. but the english queen was not for many years whole-hearted in her support. she saw in the revolt of the netherlands a means for draining the resources of a dangerous adversary. it was no small relief to her that the coast lying opposite to the mouth of the thames, with its many ports and hardy sea-faring population, should no longer be at the disposal of the master of the strongest navy in the world. she felt a certain amount of sympathy with the dutch on religious grounds, but a sympathy tempered by political considerations, and strictly subordinated to them. to support the rebellion of subjects against their legitimate ruler was to the instincts of the tudor queen a course which only necessity could justify. hence her repeated refusal of the proffered sovereignty, her niggardly aid, her temporizing and apparently capricious attitude. as a matter of fact, throughout this critical period of her reign the policy of elizabeth was not governed either by sentiment or by caprice. she always kept steadily in view the welfare and the security of england, with whose interests those of her own throne were identified, and she held aloof from entanglements which might be dangerous to the safety of her kingdom. not until after the assassination of william the silent, followed by the success of parma in capturing antwerp, august, , did she make reply to the threatening attitude of spain by openly taking sides with the rebel provinces. still refusing the sovereignty, she sent leicester at the head of a strong body of english troops to act in her name, as governor-general, at the same time characteristically bargaining that the seaports flushing and brill with the fort of rammekens should be delivered to her in pledge for the repayment of her costs. the mission of leicester was a failure, whether it be regarded from the military or the political standpoint, but it gave the dutch at a transition period of disorganization and pressing peril a disciplined force to assist in their defence, and a breathing space for recuperation. [ ] see the admirable monograph on the subject by the late professor robert fruin, _tien jaren uit de tachtigjarigen oorlog, - _. the resignation of his post by leicester (april, ) may be taken as the date at which the history of the united netherlands as a self-governing state really begins. the treaty with england still subsisted by the terms of which the commander of the english auxiliary troops with two colleagues had seats in the council of state, but the council of state ceased ere long to have any but executive functions. the conduct of affairs affecting the whole union was vested in the states-general as representing the states of the seven sovereign provinces from which its authority was derived. a more cumbrous system of government than that under which the united provinces were now to develop rapidly into a powerful and flourishing state, probably never existed. that it was workable was due to two facts. the voices of the provinces were nominally of equal weight in the states-general, in reality that of holland was dominant. holland contributed per cent. of the general expenses and contained about one-half of the entire population of the union. with zeeland she furnished almost the whole of the navy and was already becoming one of the most thriving centres of commerce in the world. at this time the influence of an exceptionally able statesman, john van oldenbarneveldt, who filled the office of advocate of holland, was supreme in the states of that province, and as their representative and spokesman he was able to exercise an authority in the states-general which placed for thirty years in his hands the general administration of the country and the control of foreign affairs. by his side stood maurice of nassau, respected and honoured as the son of william the silent, wielding as captain and admiral-general authority over all the armed forces of the republic, and exercising as stadholder of five provinces large executive powers. a consummate general but no politician, maurice was content to leave the business of administration and the conduct of diplomacy in the hands of the statesman who had been his father's friend. thus by the efforts of these two men, each eminent in his separate sphere, the youthful republic, despite the inherent weaknesses of a confederacy so loosely compacted as that of the united provinces, was able to carry out a wise and consistent foreign policy, to defend its borders, and meanwhile to thrive and flourish. the relations between england and the states required the most careful handling during the whole of the period that intervened between the return of leicester and the death of elizabeth. the assistance given by the english queen had not been without a return: it had been fully repaid by the services rendered by the dutch fleet during the spring and summer of in blockading the ports in which lay the transports collected by the duke of parma for the invasion of england. when the armada entered the channel, parma with his splendid veteran army was thus compelled to remain a helpless spectator of events, unable to take any part in promoting the success of the great enterprise which philip had been so long preparing. but elizabeth had been piqued by the opposition that leicester had encountered, and by the evident determination of the states, under the leadership of holland, not to permit any interference on the part of the representative of a foreign power with their provincial rights and privileges. she did not withdraw her help, but it was given from motives of pure self-interest rather than from any love for the cause she was supporting, and in a huckstering spirit. with her it was a question of give and take, and the military successes of maurice, accompanied as they were by the rapid growth of commercial prosperity in holland and zeeland, only encouraged her to drive a harder bargain in her negotiations and to press for repayment of the loans she had advanced. in these circumstances friction in the relations between england and the republic was at times inevitable, but the community of interests was so strong that friendly co-operation never ceased. an english contingent took part in the campaigns of maurice; a powerful dutch squadron sailed with the fleet of essex to the sack of cadiz in . the conclusion of peace between france and spain in may, , brought about a fresh treaty between england and the united provinces, the terms of which point clearly to the great change which had taken place in the relative position of the two states since the time of leicester's mission. the dutch were now in a position to promise the repayment of their debt to elizabeth by equal annual instalments[ ] and to undertake in case of a spanish attack upon england to come to the assistance of their allies with thirty ships of war and a force of , infantry and five cornets of cavalry. on the other hand, only one englishman henceforth was to have a seat upon the council of state, and the english auxiliary troops in the netherlands were transferred to the service of the states as their paymasters and were required to take an oath of allegiance to them. this english brigade in the dutch service, now first formed, was to have a long and honourable career. it was speedily to prove its worth and gain immortal fame by the share that it took in winning the great victory of nieuwport (july , ), and in the heroic defence of ostend ( - ). [ ] the towns of flushing and brill and the fort of rammekens were delivered into the hands of elizabeth, as security for repayment. such was the state of things when james i ascended the english throne. from him the netherlands could hope for little active aid. the chief aim of james's policy from the first was to live on friendly terms with spain, and in he concluded a treaty of peace with philip iii and with the archdukes, as sovereigns of the netherlands. his attitude to the united provinces was not indeed unfriendly. he still retained the cautionary towns, as a pledge for the debt, and his representative sat in the council of state, but as one of the conditions of peace he promised to lend no assistance to the dutch. the privilege of recruiting in england for the regiments in their service was not withdrawn, but in return a like privilege was extended to the spaniards. thus there were occasions on which englishmen were found fighting against one another on opposite sides. the court of madrid on their part, exhausted by the long and costly struggle, were already in making tentative proposals to the rebel provinces for the conclusion of a peace or truce, and meanwhile spared no efforts to prejudice the mind of james against a people for whose cause as a stanch protestant it was feared he might have secret leanings, and at the same time to secure his benevolent support in the coming negotiations. the arguments that were used and their effect upon the king are well summed up in the words of the keen-eyed venetian ambassador, nicolò molin, who in thus reports:-- 'the spaniards are ceaselessly urging upon the king that for his own interests he ought to use his utmost endeavours in this negotiation in order to bring it to some conclusion, since by continuance of the war the dutch might come to make themselves masters of those seas. having their fleets ordinarily of a hundred or more ships, and these widely scattered in different places, they can thus say, and with truth, that they are masters of those seas for the possession of which the ancient kings of england have made very long and very costly wars against the princes of europe. the king knows all this to be true, but is likewise of opinion that at a single nod of his the dutch would yield to him all that dominion that they have gained; which without doubt would follow so long as the war with the spaniards lasted, since they are not able at one and the same time to contend with two of the greatest princes of christendom. but if with time that ripens affairs peace should be effected between them and the crown of spain, i do not know if they would be so ready to yield as the king of england promises himself; since just as this profession of the sea is manifestly more and more on the wane in england, so more and more is it increasing and acquiring force and vigour among the dutch.' the perspicacity of this review of the situation was completely justified by the events. on april , , after prolonged and acrimonious negotiations, a treaty for a truce of twelve years between the belligerents was signed, but on conditions imposed by the dutch. to the spaniards the terrible drain on their resources made a respite from war a matter not of choice, but of necessity. to obtain it they had to treat with the united provinces 'as if they were an independent state', and, worst of all, they had by a secret clause to concede liberty of trading in the indies. from this moment the relations of the states with england were sensibly changed. the attitude of king james had hitherto been a mixture of condescension and aloofness, and he had not troubled himself to consider seriously the question of dutch rivalry upon the seas and in commerce, which had so profoundly impressed the venetian envoy. nicolò molin was in undoubtedly correct in his supposition that at that date james still looked upon the dutch as dependents on his favour, who would not venture to run counter to any expression of his will. the course of the negotiations for the truce must have gradually undeceived him, and their issue left him face to face with a power compelled to maintain to the utmost the interests of the extensive commerce on the proceeds of which its very existence as a state depended. no sooner were the signatures appended to the treaty than james took a step which exposed to a very severe strain his relations with the people whose emancipation from spanish rule he had, ostensibly at least, worked hard to accomplish. many indeed in holland had been suspicious of the real friendliness of his attitude during the negotiations, but very few probably imagined that he was preparing, as soon as they were ended, to put to the test their sense of the value of his services and of his alliance by striking a deadly blow at the most important of their industries. on may , , the king issued a proclamation, in which, after stating that though he had hitherto tolerated the promiscuous liberty that had been granted to foreigners to fish in the british seas, he has now determined, seeing that this liberty 'hath not only given occasion of over great encroachments upon our regalities, or rather questioning of our right, but hath been a means of daily wrongs to our own people that exercise the trade of fishing ... to give notice to all the world that our express pleasure is, that from the beginning of the month of august next coming, no person of what nation or quality soever, be permitted to fish upon any of our coasts and seas of great britain, ireland and the rest of the isles adjacent, until they have orderly demanded and obtain'd licences from us....' the news of the publication of this edict caused in holland no small surprise, not unmingled with indignation. on june the matter was discussed in the states of that province, and it was resolved[ ] that the states-general be requested to adopt measures for the vigorous defence of the land's rights as based upon the treaties. the states-general on their part resolved[ ] that a full inquiry should be made into the question of treaty rights and a special embassy be sent to london, and as early as july , king james agreed[ ] to receive such a deputation, and to appoint commissioners to enter into conference with it on the subject of the privileges and immunities for freedom of commerce claimed in virtue of ancient treaties. meanwhile the states-general promised the fishermen their protection, at the same time bidding them to be very careful not to give any cause for new complaints on the part of the king. so far indeed were the dutch from yielding immediate submission to the demand of james, or from admitting its justice, that sir ralph winwood (the resident english ambassador at the hague), reporting to the secretary of state, lord salisbury, the results of an interview he had had with oldenbarneveldt september , , informs him:-- 'the states do write expressly to their ambassador [noel caron] urging him to advertise his majesty their purpose to send to beseech him upon the necessity of this affair [i.e. liberty of fishing] in the meantime to have patience with their people trading upon his coast that without impeachment they may use _their accustomed liberty and antient privelidges_; which he [oldenbarneveldt] said they were so far from fear that his majesty upon due consideration will abridge, as that they hope he will be pleased to inlarge and increase into new ones.'[ ] [ ] res. holl. june , . [ ] res. st.-gen. june , . [ ] art. of the treaty between james and the states, july (june , , o.s.). [ ] winwood, _memorials_, vol. iii. for a right understanding of the importance of the fisheries question and of the reasons which led king james at this particular time to issue his proclamation, a short retrospect is necessary. special rights of free fishing in english waters had been granted to the hollanders and zeelanders, as early as , by king edward i, and afterwards renewed by several of his successors. finally a treaty was concluded, dated february , , known as the _magnus intercursus_, between henry vii and philip the fair, duke of burgundy, which was destined to regulate the commercial relations between england and the netherlands during the whole of the tudor period, and was still in force in . article xiv of this treaty ran as follows:-- 'conventum, concordatum et conclusum est quod piscatores utriusque partis partium praedictarum (cujuscunque conditionis existant) poterunt ubique ire, navigare per mare, secure piscari absque aliquo impedimento, licentia, seu salvo conductu.' nothing could be more explicit or complete, and it was to this clause of the _magnus intercursus_ and the rights it had so long recognized that oldenbarneveldt referred when he spoke to winwood of the dutch fishermen's 'accustomed liberty and antient privelidges.' the rights of the netherlanders to trade and navigate in scottish waters, 'sine aliquo salvo conductu aut licentia generali aut speciali', were guaranteed by the treaty of binche, dated december , , which had been confirmed by james himself, as king of scotland, in . but neither in this treaty of , nor in an earlier treaty of to which it expressly refers, '_circa piscationem et liberum usum maris, ea quae per tractatum anno _ ... inita, conclusa ac conventa fuerint debite ac sincere observari debebunt', is there any definite statement that the free use of the sea carried with it the right to fish without payment, though undoubtedly that right seems to be implied, and was certainly exercised without let or hindrance before . the question at issue was of vital consequence to the dutch. it may be asserted without any exaggeration that the commerce and prosperity of holland and zeeland had been built upon the herring fishery, and rested upon it. the discovering of the art of curing the herring by willem beukelsz at the close of the fourteenth century had transformed a perishable article of local consumption into a commodity for traffic and exchange. soon the 'great fishery', as it was called, afforded, directly or indirectly, occupation and a means of livelihood to a large part of the entire population of the province of holland.[ ] not only did many thousands of hollanders put out to sea to follow the track of the herring shoals along the british coasts, but thousands more found employment on shore in building the busses, pinks, and other boats engaged in the lucrative industry, and in providing them with ropes, nets, and other necessaries. the profit from the fishery alone before the outbreak of the revolt was estimated by guicciardini at , flemish pounds. but such an estimate was far from representing the real value of what was styled by the states-general in an official document 'one of the chiefest mines of the united netherlands'.[ ] salt was required for the curing. it was brought in dutch bottoms in its rough state from french and spanish ports, or direct from punta del rey on the coast of venezuela, and salt-refineries quickly sprang up at enkhuysen, hoorn, and other fishing centres. in a land which had no natural products, the cured herrings and the refined salt which were not required for home use served as articles of commerce, and freights were dispatched to the neighbouring lands but specially to the baltic to be exchanged for corn, timber, hemp, and other 'eastland' commodities. the enterprising hollanders and zeelanders, at first competed with the hanse towns in the baltic ports, but long before the opening of the seventeenth century had practically driven their rivals from the field, and at the time with which we are dealing it has been computed that no less than , dutch vessels were engaged in the 'eastland' traffic through the sound. the corn in its turn brought by so vast a fleet far more than sufficed even for the needs of a country where no corn was grown. some thousands of other ships laden with grain voyaged along the coast of france, the peninsula and the western mediterranean, discharging their cargoes and returning with freights of wine, silk, olive oil, and other staple products of the south. the spaniards and portuguese were in fact largely dependent upon the hollanders for their necessary food supplies, and these keen traders had no scruples in enriching themselves at the cost of their foes. an abundance of timber and hemp also came from the baltic and furnished the raw material for flourishing shipbuilding and ropemaking industries. sawmills sprang up on the banks of the zaan, and before long zaandam became the chief centre of the timber trade of europe. it will thus be seen at once how many dutch interests were involved in the full maintenance of the rights to free fishing on the british coasts guaranteed by treaty, and why it was that the states-general under pressure from the states of holland should have determined to send a special embassy to protest strongly and firmly against the edict of king james, and should have meantime promised the fishermen their protection in case of any attempt being made to compel them by armed force to pay the licences. [ ] the zeelanders in the seventeenth century, though they sent out many fishermen to the dogger bank, to greenland and spitzbergen, did not take much part in the herring fishery. see note. [ ] groot placaet-boek (july , ). the step taken by king james had, however, from the english point of view much to recommend it. the english people saw the growing maritime strength and rapidly increasing commercial prosperity of the dutch with jealous eyes. their practical monopoly of the british fisheries was deeply resented. pamphlets were written lamenting the decadence of english shipping and trade.[ ] it was felt that the ancient claim of england to the sovereignty and dominion of the narrow seas was being challenged, and that its maintenance depended upon the numbers and the experience of the sea-faring population, for whom the fisheries were the best and most practical school. a petition is extant from the fishermen of the cinque ports to the king, showing that the netherlanders drive them from their fishing, and sell fresh fish contrary to the laws, and beseeching his majesty to impose on them a tax of fifteen shillings upon every last of fish, the same as they imposed on the english.[ ] james was far from indisposed to listen to their complaints. early in his reign, in , an attempt had been made to enforce the eating of fish in england on fast-days, and the motive of it was plainly stated. it had little to do with religious observances. it was 'for the better increase of seamen, to be readie at all times to serve in the kings majesties navie, of which the fishermen of england have euer been the chiefest seminarie and nurserie.'[ ] the suggestion that licences should be required for which a tax or toll should be paid naturally presented itself to the king, at this time in sore straits for money and at his wit's end how to obtain it, as a welcome expedient. it also afforded a means by which the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the british king in the british seas could be asserted and his regalities safeguarded.[ ] the large revenue derived by christian iv of denmark from the tolls in the sound had no doubt often made the impecunious james envious of his brother-in-law, whose right to levy such an import in danish waters differed in no way from the right, which as king of great britain and ireland he was now asserting, to demand a licence from all foreigners who desired to fish on the british coasts. his decision to issue the proclamation was confirmed by the appearance in march, , of the famous treatise of hugo grotius, entitled _mare liberum_. the argument in this work seemed to be directed against the principle of a _dominium maris_ such as the english kings had claimed for centuries in the 'narrow seas', and its publication at this time aroused the resentment of james, always tenaciously jealous of any infringement of his sovereign prerogatives. as a matter of fact, as has been shown by the late professor robert fruin[ ], the _mare liberum_ was originally a chapter of a larger unpublished work of grotius, written to prove that the portuguese had no exclusive rights in the indian ocean but that the eastern seas and all others were open to the traders of every nation. the most burning question in the negotiations for the twelve years' truce, then just drawing to a close, had been that of the liberty to trade in the indies, demanded with insistence by the dutch, refused up to the very last peremptorily by the spanish king, and conceded by him finally not directly but by a kind of subterfuge. the _mare liberum_ of grotius saw the light at a time when it was hoped that his learned arguments might tend to allay the acuteness of the dispute by showing the reasonableness and legality of the position taken up by the dutch. it is clear now that these arguments, though their application was general, had their special reference to portuguese and not to british pretensions. curiously enough, as will be seen later, it was in the long succession of anglo-dutch negotiations over the fisheries in the seas over which the crown of england claimed paramount sovereignty and jurisdiction that the thesis put forward by the author of the _mare liberum_ was destined to be the source of embittered controversy. the acute mind of king james was quick in grasping its importance. [ ] _a pollitique platt_, by robert hitchcock, . _observations made upon the dutch fishery about the year _, by john keymer. ralegh, _works_, i. . sir thomas overbury's observations in his travels in : _harleian misc._ viii. . discourse addressed to the king by sir nicholas hales, on the benefit derived by the dutch from english fisheries. terms suggested for granting them a licence to fish for twenty-one years. _calendar of state papers, dom. ser., - _, p. . [ ] _cal. state papers, dom. ser., - _, p. . [ ] _statutes of the realm_, iv. , p. . [ ] letter of salisbury to cornwallis, june , . winwood's _state papers_, iii. - . [ ] fruin's _verspreide geschriften_, vol. iii, pp. - . delayed by various causes, it was not till april , , that the embassy from the states set sail from brill for england. the object of the mission was ostensibly a complimentary one--to thank the king for the active part he had taken, as a mediator, in bringing the truce negotiations to a favourable issue. the two matters which called for serious discussion were: ( ) the critical situation which had arisen in the jülich-cleves duchies owing to a disputed succession; ( ) the proclamation about the fisheries. the importance of the last question was revealed by the fact that all the five envoys originally selected were representatives of the two maritime provinces. one of the five died at brill just before starting. the four who actually sailed (april ) were: johan berck, pensionary of dort; albert de veer, pensionary of amsterdam; elias van oldenbarneveldt, pensionary of rotterdam; and a zeelander, albert joachimi, who was later to show himself a skilful diplomatist during the twenty-five years that he was resident dutch ambassador in london. elias van oldenbarneveldt was the brother of the advocate of holland. according to a letter from sir ralph winwood[ ] to lord salisbury he had special charge of the fishery question, a proof of the peculiar interest felt by the advocate in the issue raised. with them was joined the resident ambassador, noel caron. their instructions required them to seek from his majesty an explanation of his intentions in the proclamation, 'since their high mightinesses the states-general could not believe that he meant to include the inhabitants of the united netherlands among those who were bidden to pay for a licence to fish, since this was contrary to the ancient treaties subsisting between them and the crowns of england and scotland. after audiences with the king (april ) and with the privy council (may ), it was arranged that a conference on the fisheries question should be held, with a committee of the council, two of whose members were sir julius caesar, chancellor of the exchequer, and sir thomas parry, chancellor of the duchy of lancaster. the conference opened on may , and the points in dispute were argued at length. the dutch case was presented in a memorandum drawn up with much skill, probably by the hand of hugo grotius himself. the freedom of fishing was claimed on two grounds: ( ) that of the privileges granted by ancient treaties still in force; ( ) that of abstract right, because the sea, like the air, is for the common use of all and cannot be private property. the weak point of the case lay in the fact that these two grounds, that of treaty right and that of the _mare liberum_, seemed to be in a certain sense contradictory. the english, however, would not admit that the question of the immemorial claim of the kings of england to sovereignty and jurisdiction in the seas adjoining the british coasts was open to discussion, and seizing upon the argument placed in their hands by the dutch memorandum itself, pleaded with great force that the granting of privileges implied the power to take them away or modify them, should the king deem such a step necessary to protect the interests of his own subjects. the conference therefore effected nothing more than the bringing out in relief of the differences of view of the two parties. but reflection brought wisdom. there was no wish on either side to press matters to extremities. already on may the states-general, unwilling to run the risk of making james an enemy, at a time when they were very anxious to secure his help in the settlement of the jülich-cleves succession question[ ], had sent instructions to their ambassadors not to make difficulties or unpleasantness about the fisheries, but rather to propose that the execution of the proclamation should be postponed for two years, in order that the question might be thoroughly investigated. there were several claimants to the jülich-cleves inheritance, protestant and catholic, and it was of vital importance to the states, and also to a lesser extent to all protestant princes in germany and to james, that this frontier territory on the rhine should not fall under the rule of a catholic sovereign. but the archduke leopold had seized the fortress of jülich, and henry iv of france, jealous of the power of the house of habsburg in europe, had put himself at the head of a coalition to secure the succession to the elector of brandenburg, and william, count palatine of neuburg, as joint possessors. there was a general desire to avoid hostilities, but henry iv had pushed forward his preparations for a great campaign, and war seemed inevitable. at this moment the assassination of the french king at the very time the conference was being held in london changed the whole aspect of affairs. the new french government was favourably disposed to spain. the dutch therefore were left face to face with the task of expelling the archduke from jülich, and they felt that all other matters were for the moment of secondary importance to that of having the friendly co-operation of james in case of the outbreak of war. their attitude to the fisheries question was therefore considerably modified. it became much more conciliatory, and for precisely similar reasons a like change took place in the attitude of the english king. he too felt that the friendship of the dutch was essential to him at such a critical juncture, and at a meeting with the earls of salisbury and northampton, may , the dutch envoys were agreeably surprised to find that the king, while not formally abating one jot of his sovereign rights in the matter of issuing licences for fishing, was willing to postpone the execution of his edict for two years. the ambassadors took leave of the king the same day and started on their return journey. of this audience the lords of the council, in a letter to winwood, dated may , (o.s.), write: 'for the states ambassadors, his majesty is now dismissing them with sufficient assurance of his inward affections towards them and the preservation of their state, which next to his own he holdeth most dear above all other respects in the world. and as for the matter of fishing and reglement of commerce, his majesty thinketh not fit now to spend any more time in it, but to refer the one and the other to some better season; and in the meanwhile that things may remain in the same state as now they are. so as we conceive these deputies will return with good contentment, having no other cause either for the public or for the private; and his majesty having also been careful to give them the rights that appertain to their title, and all other external courtesy and honour in their reception.' [ ] winwood's _memorials_, march , (o.s.), . see also letter of april (o.s.). [ ] see note c. this good understanding was to bear good fruit. the army, which maurice of nassau led into the duchy in june, contained a fine body of english troops under the command of sir edward cecil. jülich was besieged and surrendered to the dutch on september , and the archduke leopold was compelled to leave the territory. of this achievement sir ralph winwood, writing to lord salisbury from dusseldorf, august (o.s.), says: 'the honor of the conduct of this seige no man will detract from the count maurice, who is the _maistre-ouvrier_ in that _mestier_. but that this seige hath had so happy an end, himself will and doth attribute it to the diligence and judgement of sir edward cecil.' the capture of jülich did not indeed end this thorny little dispute. anglo-dutch and spanish-imperial armies, under maurice and spinola respectively, manoeuvred within a short distance of one another. but the quarrel was localized, no further hostilities took place, and finally by the treaty of xanten, november , , an arrangement was arrived at. during all this time the relations between james and the states were friendly. the king, however, had quarrelled with his parliament, and even had he wished to take a stronger line in foreign politics, lack of funds compelled him to temporize. the english contingent in maurice's army was recruited indeed in england, but the troops were in the pay of the states. moreover, james was all the time hankering after a spanish marriage for the prince of wales, from mixed motives doubtless, but chiefly from a misguided notion that such an alliance between the leading catholic and the leading protestant state would enable him to play the part of arbiter in the religious differences which were dividing europe into two hostile camps, and by his influence to prevent an actual breach of the peace. this was the underlying motive which prompted all the apparent fluctuations of his policy. hence the persistence with which for so many years he pursued the _chimaera_ of a spanish match, while at the same time he allowed his only daughter to marry the elector palatine, the head of the protestant union in germany, and endeavoured to maintain good relations with the united provinces, notwithstanding the continual friction between his subjects and the dutch regarding the increasing monopoly by the latter of the fisheries and of sea-borne trade. the situation in is thus described by the venetian, marcantonio correr[ ]:-- 'with the lords of the united provinces of the low countries, there exists at present perfect friendship and union; formerly he [james] used to despise them, as rebels, but now he loves and esteems them, as princes of valour and quality, an effect of the truce made with the catholic king.... now h.m. desires and procures the preservation of the dutch, but not a further increase of their greatness, since their forces on sea are not inferior to those of any potentate whatsoever, because that in time of war necessity has been their best mistress. of these forces the english are not without some jealousy, seeing their own diminished, and the dominion of the sea, that they have been accustomed to hold in that part of the ocean transferred to others.... in the herring fishery alone they [the dutch] send out every year to the east coast of the kingdom of england , vessels, in which perhaps , men are employed.[ ] after the truce the king made a proclamation, that no one was allowed to fish in those parts without licence, perhaps incited by the great sums of money, that formerly the spaniards offered queen elizabeth to have the user of it; but just as at that time that scheming did not succeed in despoiling the dutch, so now these with two special ambassadors have not obtained any promise of an alteration, as he [the king] is always intent upon the conservation of his jurisdiction and the increase of the royal incomings. the king at present regards the possession of such great sea power as being in itself of great moment for the needs of england, and united with his own it could with difficulty be resisted. he holds further that these same provinces are a barrier rampart of his kingdoms, and he is interested in them through the debt of a million and a half of gold that remains to him of the sum of more than two millions already lent by queen elizabeth, the repayment of which is at present spread over a number of years, a portion every year. meanwhile three principal places are pledges in the hands of his majesty....' [ ] _relazioni venete_, _inghilterra_, serie iv, p. . [ ] see note a. the possession of these fortresses was indeed at this time placing king james in a position of no small advantage in his dealings with the states, and he was well aware of it. on the other hand, it was galling to the dutch, now that they had compelled the spaniard to treat with the united provinces as if it were an independent state, to feel that two chief doors of entrance into their land were in the hands of foreign garrisons. james professed to be their good friend, and it appeared to be his interest to cultivate their alliance, but it was inevitable that his assiduous advances to gain the goodwill of spain and to obtain the hand of an infanta for his son should render him suspect. ii: - the resolve of the king in to postpone any action in the matter of his proclamation on the fisheries question seems not to have aroused any popular expression of disapproval. the english people were from the political and religious standpoint well disposed to the dutch. what they suspected and dreaded was the king's obvious leaning to spain. their intense dislike to the spanish marriage, concerning which it was common knowledge that negotiations were on foot, led them to favour a good understanding with the united provinces. but the spectacle of the growing dutch monopoly of the carrying trade, and the decline of english commerce in the face of these formidable rivals, could not fail before long to stir public opinion. a succession of noteworthy pamphlets drew attention to the subject. foremost among these, from the personality of the writer, was ralegh's[ ] _observations touching trade and commerce with the hollanders and others, wherein is proved that our sea and land commodities serve to enrich and strengthen other countries than our own_. these _observations_ were, as the title page informs us, presented to king james, and there are indications that the date of their presentation was about the time of the dutch embassy of . their object was to show how dutch trade was prospering at the expense of that of england. ralegh pointed out in particular the immense profit derived by the hollanders from their fishing in the british seas, and he asks why 'this great sea-business of fishing' should not be kept in english hands, and suggests that the king should appoint commissioners to inquire into the matter, and 'forthwith set forward some scheme for preventing foreigners from reaping all the fruits of this lucrative industry on his majesty's coasts.' he warns the king that 'the hollanders possess already as many ships as eleven kingdoms, england being one of them', and expresses his conviction that 'they [the hollanders] hoped to get the whole trade and shipping of christendom into their own hands, as well for transportation, as otherwise for the command and mastery of the seas.' [ ] ralegh's _works_, viii. - . ralegh's pamphlet did not affect the king's decision to defer, for political reasons, taking any active steps concerning the fisheries, but we may well believe that the hint about 'the command and mastery of the seas' would not pass unheeded. it touched a question about which james was peculiarly sensitive. that question, though for a few years apparently dormant, was one that neither king nor people could afford to disregard. the command of the sea--then as at all times--was vital to an island power. the english were beginning to see in the dutch not merely competitors in trade, who were ousting them from every market, but possible rivals for the dominion even of those 'narrow seas[ ]' in which the kings of england had so long claimed to have paramount sovereignty and jurisdiction. thus a feeling of dissatisfaction and resentment gathered head which found vent, as was the custom of those days, in political pamphlet-writing. two of these pamphlets[ ], no less than that of ralegh, call for particular notice, for they are full of material bearing upon the subject of the relations between the english and dutch at the time of their publication, and throwing light upon the causes of the growing estrangement between the two people. [ ] see note b. [ ] see note. _england's way to win wealth_, by tobias gentleman, fisherman and mariner, bears the date . the purpose of the writer is thoroughly practical. he sets out in great detail the statistics of the fisheries on the british coasts, and of the immense profits derived by the hollanders from the pursuit of this industry, and he then proceeds to urge upon his countrymen to take a lesson from the foreigners, and not to neglect, as they are doing, a source of wealth which lies at their very doors. the following quotation is a good specimen of the homely vigour and directness of gentleman's arguments; it will be seen that here, as throughout the pamphlet, they profess to be based on his own personal experience:-- 'what their [the hollanders] chiefest trade is, or their principal gold mine is well known to all merchants, that have used those parts, and to myself and all fishermen; namely, that his majesty's seas is their chiefest, principal, and only rich treasury whereby they have so long maintained their wars, and have so greatly prospered and enriched themselves. if their little country of the united provinces can do this (as is most manifest before our eyes they do) then what may we, his majesty's subjects, do, if this trade of fishing were once erected among us, we having, in our own countries, sufficient store of all necessaries to accomplish the like business?... and shall we neglect so great blessings, o slothful england and careless countrymen! look but on these fellows, that we call the plump hollanders, behold their diligence in fishing and our own careless negligence.'[ ] [ ] _harleian misc._ iii, pp. - . another pamphlet, _the trades increase_[ ], was of wider scope. it was directly inspired, as its anonymous author j. r. informs us, by the reading of _england's way to win wealth_. it deals not only with the question of the fisheries, but of shipping and trade generally, and rightly with shipping first of all. 'as concerning ships,' j. r. writes--and how true do his words ring in an englishman's ears to-day--'by these in a manner we live, the kingdom is, the king reigneth.... if we want ships, we are dissolved.' as gentleman's pamphlet is valuable for its detailed statistics of the fishing industry of the hollanders, even more so is that of j. r. for its broad survey of and comparison between the dutch and english trade in every part of the world. from country to country and sea to sea in all branches of commerce he shows how the english are being driven out by their more enterprising competitors. [ ] _ibid._ iv, pp. - . 'in consequence want of employment is breeding discontents and miseries, while the means for remedying threatened disaster are in our own hands, the place our own seas and within his majesty's dominions.' nor is j. r. content with mere assertion. basing his arguments on those of gentleman, he proceeds to set forth how by the encouragement of english fishing 'we shall repair our navy, breed seamen abundantly, enrich the subject, advance the king's custom, and assure the kingdom, and all this out of fishing and especially out of herrings.' as to the hollanders, he remarks significantly:-- 'howsoever it pleaseth his majesty to allow of his royal predecessor's bounty, in tolerating the neighbour nations to fish in his streams, yet other princes take more straight courses.' this powerful and reasoned summary of a condition of affairs so threatening to england's supremacy as a maritime power, and to the welfare of her people, testifies to the mixture of indignation and alarm with which the english people regarded the rapid progress in commerce and wealth of 'their neighbours the new sea-herrs', as j. r. names the dutch. if further evidence were wanting as to the state of feeling in the country, it is furnished by the striking language of the venetian envoy, pietro contarini ( / ). according to the report of this impartial observer[ ]:-- 'loud praises of past times and the worthy deeds of forefathers form the topic of conversation. i have heard great lords with tears of the deepest affliction lamenting the present state of things and grieving how england has already fallen in reputation with all the world, england whose name and whose forces were feared by foes and esteemed by friends. now the memory of past glory lost, as it were fallen into forgetfulness of herself, she abandons not only the interests of others, but even her own.' [ ] _relazioni venete_, _inghilterra_, iv. . such was the result of the forciful feeble policy of james, striving to pose as the keeper of the peace of europe, and to hold the balance between the rival forces of catholicism and protestantism already arming for the terrible struggle of the thirty years' war. after the marriage of his only daughter with the head of the protestant union in germany, he was soon once more in eager pursuit of the phantasmal spanish match, which was for so many years to make him follow a vacillating policy. the skilful diplomacy of diego sarmiento d'acuña, count of gondomar, who represented philip iii in london after , enabled him at this time to acquire a great ascendancy over james, which with brief intervals he maintained for some years. the spanish envoy left no steps untried in the course of the disputes which arose with the united provinces to prejudice the king's mind against the dutch. he found the moment peculiarly favourable for making his influence felt, and he used his opportunities to the utmost. it must be remembered that the year , in which first robert cecil, lord salisbury, died, and then six months later henry, prince of wales, a youth of great promise and popularity, whose strong personality must have impressed itself on the history of his times, is a critical dividing point in the reign of james i. ranke has in his account of this period laid considerable stress on this fact:-- 'in the first years of his reign in england', he writes, 'so long as robert cecil lived, king james exercised no great influence. the privy council possessed to the full the authority, which belonged to it of old custom. james used simply to confirm the resolutions, which were adopted in the bosom of the council under the influence of the treasurer. he appears in the reports of ambassadors as a phantom king, and the minister as the real ruler of the country. after the death of cecil all this was changed. the king knew the party divisions which prevailed in the council; he knew how to hold the balance between them, and in the midst of their divisions to carry out his views.... great affairs were generally transacted between the king and the favourite in the ascendant at the time in conferences to which only a few others were admitted, and sometimes not even these. the king himself decided, and the resolutions that were taken were communicated to the privy council, which gradually became accustomed to do nothing more than invest them with the customary forms.'[ ] [ ] ranke, _hist. of england_ (oxf. trans.), i. . it was at this very time, when king james, yielding himself more and more to the persuasive blandishments of gondomar, began to take a more markedly personal part in the direction of foreign policy, that a succession of fresh difficulties with the dutch arose. the execution of the proclamation, which had been deferred for two years in , actually remained a dead letter until . not that there had been any removal of the causes which had originally called it forth. on the contrary, the first years of the truce were a period of marked activity and vigorous forward policy in the united provinces. in every direction, through the energetic and vigilant statesmanship of oldenbarneveldt, the commercial enterprise of the people was enabled to open out fresh outlets for trade, and finally to secure the recognition of the young republic as an influential member of the european family of nations. diplomatic missions were dispatched to venice in and to constantinople in , which prepared the way for a great extension of dutch trade in the eastern mediterranean. even more important were the close relations established with sweden and russia. göteburg became after virtually a dutch town, and before the middle of the century all swedish industries and swedish commerce had passed more or less into dutch management or under dutch control. in the reign of elizabeth the friendliest relations had subsisted with the tsar, ivan the terrible and his successors, so that for some years the english muscovy company had almost a monopoly of russian trade by the white sea. but all this was now changed. a famous dutch merchant, balthazar de moncheron, established a factory at archangel in , and from that time forward the dutch, at first vigorous competitors with the english for the russian market, gradually gained the supremacy. the appearance of a russian embassy at the hague in was the mark of the triumph of dutch diplomacy at moscow: henceforth russia was practically closed to all but netherlanders. in a treaty with the hanse towns placed the baltic trade even more completely than it had been in dutch hands. in the east indies the english company could not compete with its far wealthier and more thoroughly organized rival. there was, however, one element of weakness in the position of the united provinces on which the english were never weary of insisting. by his possession of the cautionary towns the king of england appeared in the eyes of the world to be recognized as a protector of the dutch republic, who had certain rights over it. oldenbarneveldt in his negotiations had doubtless been hampered by the plain evidence which the presence of english garrisons in flushing, brill, and rammekens afforded, that the states did not exercise full sovereign authority within their own borders. in these circumstances he (oldenbarneveldt) knowing full well the financial straits to which king james was reduced through the long-standing disagreement between him and his parliament, made overtures in through the resident ambassador caron to redeem the towns by the payment of a sum of ready money. the annual charge of £ , received from the states was barely more than sufficient for the maintenance of the garrisons. the total amount claimed by the english government was £ , ; the dutch offered £ , in cash, and three further sums of £ , in half-yearly instalments, or £ , in all. the offer was accepted and in june, , the cautionary towns were transferred into the hands of the dutch. it was, however, agreed that, for the sake of maintaining good relations between the two countries, the new english ambassador, sir dudley carleton, should like his predecessor, sir ralph winwood, retain his seat in the council of state. this was the more important, as the king had (as already stated) for the past three years been steadily moving towards a spanish alliance. what were his precise aims and what his ultimate purpose it was difficult even for the practised and penetrating insight of a statesman of oldenbarneveldt's experience to discover. perhaps james scarcely knew himself. but the retention of fortresses like flushing and brill at the mouths of two most important dutch waterways by a foreign sovereign, who was intriguing to win the favour of the spanish foe, was for the republic a most serious danger. their redemption therefore at so trifling a cost was a stroke of policy by which the aged advocate did a great service to his country. certain it is that james felt a grudge against oldenbarneveldt, and that, when shortly afterwards civil strife broke out in the united provinces, sir d. carleton, acting on the king's instructions, did his utmost to bring about the great statesman's downfall and to support his enemies in compassing his death. but to return. sir dudley carleton, when entering upon his duties at the hague in january, , found, in addition to the negotiations for the 'reddition' of the cautionary towns, several thorny questions requiring delicate handling. in his instructions[ ] the following somewhat enigmatical passage occurs:-- 'some two years since there did arise between the company of our muscovy merchants and the merchants of amsterdam a great difference concerning the navigation of greenland[ ] and the fishing of whales in those parts. our desire is that all good correspondence may be maintained, as between our crowns and their provinces, so between our and their subjects. therefore, whenever the subject shall fall into discourse, either in public or in private, you may confidently relate, when this question was debated before the lords of the council, between sir noel caron their embassador and the governor of our muscovian company, it was evidently proved, and in a manner without contradiction, that our subjects were first discoverers of that negotiation and that trade of fishing; that privately they were possessed of that island, and there had planted and erected our standard, thereby to signify and notify to the world the property, which we challenge; which our subjects, by their industries, having appropriated to themselves, did not hold it reasonable they should be forced to communicate to others the fruits of their labours.' [ ] dated jan. / . letters to and from sir dudley carleton during his embassy in holland from january / , to december . london, . [ ] greenland here stands for spitzbergen. all through these disputes, owing to geographical ignorance, the two terms are used almost interchangeably. the origin and cause of this new fishery dispute requires to be briefly told, as it is characteristic of the times and of the way in which, in almost every part of the world, the english trader and the dutch trader met in rivalry, and with the inevitable result that their interests clashed and bad feeling arose. certain english fishing vessels as early as made their way to the arctic ocean to fish for whales off the shores of spitzbergen. the adventure was successful, and was repeated. the news of it attracted some biscayans, then other foreigners, and in two dutch ships to try their fortune in the same waters. but king james in the following year ( ) granted to the muscovy company an exclusive monopoly of the greenland, meaning thereby the spitzbergen, whale fishery. he claimed these northern waters as the property of the british crown, because, so it was averred, hugh willoughby had in discovered spitzbergen. the conferring of this monopoly caused in a numerous fishing fleet, some of the vessels strongly armed, to set sail from england for spitzbergen. a landing was made, and the whole archipelago formally annexed and named king james' newland. the next step of the muscovy company's fleet was to clear the ground of intruders, whether foreigners or english 'interlopers.' among the foreigners were several dutch boats. these were attacked, boarded, plundered, and then sent home. such an act of violence naturally aroused resentment in holland. the states-general took the matter up, and refused to admit the right of james to interfere with the fishermen. they denied that hugh willoughby had sighted spitzbergen at all in , and confidently affirmed that the discovery of the island was made by jacob van heemskerk in , who named it spitzbergen, planted the dutch flag upon it, and spent the winter on its shores. if, then, any people had preferential rights in the waters surrounding spitzbergen, it was the dutch, but the states did not claim or admit any such rights. they held that the sea was open to all to navigate and to fish in without let or hindrance. to winwood, who in august, , quitted the hague to become secretary of state in london, was entrusted the mission of bringing the complaints and the protest of the states to the notice of james, and further, of asking for reparation to the amsterdammers, whose vessels had been seized and plundered. the king at this time was anxious to be on friendly terms with the dutch, and an answer was returned (october ) that 'not only reparation should be made, but that steps should be taken to prevent a recurrence of such disorders.' the states were not satisfied, however, with so general a reply, and wished that the english claim to exclusive rights in the fisheries should be abandoned. the ambassador caron was instructed to present to the king an argument from the pen of the geographer plancius, in which this claim was shown to be without foundation. it produced no effect upon james, always unwilling to yield in a matter affecting his sovereign prerogatives, however shadowy. but the states were equally determined. their reply to the _non-possumus_ attitude of the king was the granting of a charter, early in (january ), to a company, generally known as the northern (sometimes as the greenland) company, which conferred on a group of merchants the exclusive privilege of fishing for whales and walrus, and of trading and exploring in the northern seas between the limits of nova zembla and davis's straits; spitzbergen, bear island, and greenland therein included.[ ] the states-general likewise consented that warships at the charges of the company should be allowed to accompany the fishing fleet for their protection (april ). the effect of these strong measures was seen in the changed attitude of the muscovy company, who in the summer of (july ) made an agreement with their rivals, that they should each of them use a portion of the island as a basis for their fishery, and should unite in keeping out all intruders. the extraordinary mission of sir henry wotton in february, , to the hague to treat for a settlement of the jülich-cleves question, gave an opportunity for proposing that he should, while in the netherlands, meet commissioners of the states to discuss also other important matters, and among these the dispute about the so-called 'greenland' fisheries. in april the conference took place. the dutch, while laying stress upon their primary rights as discoverers, disclaimed any desire to exclude the english; on the contrary, they endeavoured to arrive at a friendly arrangement by which the two nations should share the fishery 'in unity and security' together. nothing, however, was effected. the language of king james in his ambassador's instructions, in which mention is made of the differences that had arisen 'on account of the fishery in the north sea, near the shores of greenland, of right solely belonging to us and our people, but interrupted by the hollanders', showed that he approached the subject in an irreconcilable spirit. all that wotton could say was that he would report the matter to the king, who would inform caron later of his decision. the affair was, in other words, hung up, and the dangerous spectacle was again witnessed of two fishing fleets carrying on their trade in close proximity, each under the protection of warships. [ ] aitzema _saken van staet en oorlog_, ii. . the dutch force in was, however, far stronger, and no hostilities took place. for the same reason an armed peace was maintained in , but in the following year acts of aggression were committed, and loud complaints were raised on both sides. an attempt was now made by the king to strengthen the hands of the muscovy company by sanctioning for the purposes of the whale fishery an alliance with the east india company. the two companies were, as far as regards the spitzbergen enterprise, to be regarded as one, thus making a larger amount of capital available for the outfit of the fishing fleet and for the maintenance of the storage huts and so-called 'cookeries' on shore. thirteen well-equipped ships sailed for spitzbergen in , and an even superior number from holland and zeeland, accompanied by two war vessels. neither the english nor the dutch sailors were in the mood to brook interference, and from the outset it was almost certain that if they met there would be mischief. the english were the first aggressors, but were in their turn attacked by the dutch with the result that their fleet was dispersed and many of their vessels plundered. the 'greenland' fisheries question had reached an acute stage. such a condition of things could not continue, and sir dudley carleton, the english ambassador, appeared in person before the states-general (october , ) to utter a strong remonstrance and to urge the states, if they wished to remain on good terms with the king, to dispatch a special embassy to deal with the disputes that had arisen between the two countries, not only concerning the 'greenland' fishing, but in the east indies, and about the herring fishery and the cloth trade also. at this point, before giving an account of the embassy of , we must turn back and bring up to date the history of the herring fishery question from , when the execution of the proclamation requiring a licence from the fishermen was postponed, and also briefly touch upon the two other causes of grievance in regard to the cloth trade and the disputes between the two east india companies. for several years after the return of the embassy of the dutch herring fishery appears to have been quietly carried on as usual without let or hindrance from the english government. no attempt was made to enforce the proclamation until . the cause of the alteration of james's policy at that date was due to the refusal of the states-general to admit english dyed cloths into the united provinces. the manufacture of woollen cloth had long been the chief of english industries, and the monopoly of the trade in wool and woollen goods in the netherlands, northern france and western germany had been in the hands of one of the oldest of english chartered companies, the fellowship of merchant adventurers[ ], whose first charter was granted by henry vi in . the adventurer's court and staple were for many years placed at antwerp. but in they were driven away from the netherlands by alva, and forced to settle elsewhere. they went first to emden, then to hamburg. but the hanse towns were jealous of their trade and prosperity, and the emperor was induced in to banish them from germany. at this date the authority of spain was no longer recognized north of the scheldt. the adventurers accordingly in moved to middelburg in zeeland, and extensive privileges were conferred upon them by the states-general, the states of zeeland, and the town of middelburg, including freedom from duties on imports or exports, as well as from charges for staple rights and harbour dues, and the right to be tried in their own courts. [ ] see note d. the trade of the adventurers consisted entirely in undyed cloths. the english, though the best weavers of woollen cloth in the world, had not learnt as yet the art of dyeing, and the unfinished cloths were imported into the netherlands, there to be dressed and dyed for the continental markets. the consequence was that a great industry sprang up in the provinces, especially in holland, and many thousands of skilled hands were employed in this work. when james i came to the throne, he listened eagerly to every one who could point out to him any means of raising money by the sale of monopolies or patents. among the proposals that attracted him was one made by alderman sir william cockayne, who represented to his majesty the great profit which might be derived from finishing and dyeing english cloth before exportation. the merchant adventurers naturally used their utmost influence on the one hand to persuade the king not to grant to cockayne a patent, which would be subversive of the rights granted to their company under their charter, and on the other to obtain the help of the states in preventing such a breach of existing privilege to the injury of the dutch dyers and finishers. the monopoly of the adventurers had, however, many enemies among the english merchants who did not belong to the fellowship, and who already, under the name of 'interlopers'[ ], carried on an extensive illegitimate trade through the ports of amsterdam and flushing. cockayne and his adherents prevailed. a patent was granted to him in , his majesty reserving to himself the monopoly of the sale of all home-dyed goods. it was clear, however, that the existence of the two monopolies side by side could not continue. after much friction and constant complaints, james, in , took decisive action. he forbade the export of undyed and unfinished cloth from england, and commanded the merchant adventurers to return their charter. cockayne immediately formed a company, but his hopes of creating a new and lucrative english industry were speedily dashed to the ground. the states of holland passed a resolution forbidding the importation of dyed cloths into their province, and their example was followed by the other provinces separately, and by the states-general. the english woollen trade was stricken fatally by such a prohibition, cockayne's company failed, and james was at last compelled in to renew the charter of the adventurers. [ ] see note e. it is needless to say that the king, who had hoped to replenish his empty treasury through his active promotion of cockayne's scheme, was sorely disappointed at the issue, and deeply resented the strong measures taken by holland and the united provinces generally to checkmate his plan for the creation of a new english industry to their injury. baulked in this direction, james, on his side, turned his thoughts to reprisals, and in so doing had on this occasion the full approval of his subjects. secretary winwood wrote, september , , to sir dudley carleton, at the hague:-- 'it is in the mouth of every true-hearted englishman that as a reprisal for the publication of the rigorous placard against english dyed and dressed cloths, that his majesty with justice and equity and in reason of state ought to forbid the hollanders, by a fresh revival of former proclamations, to continue their yearly fishing on our coast.' but winwood had had long personal knowledge of the dutch, and he did not like the prospect of the two nations, so long and closely bound together by ties of friendship and alliance, thus drifting apart through trade rivalries into enmity. 'if we come', he writes, 'to these extremities i know both we and they shall suffer and smart for it'. and then he continues in words rendered weighty by the experience which lay behind them: 'i know well the nature of that people and the humour of those masters, who sit at the stern of that state. they will not be willingly crossed in their courses--_et quod volunt, valde volunt_. yet it is never too late to be wise, and no counsel is evil but that which cannot be changed. i profess unto you i am in great anguish of spirit, how to accommodate these differences to the full contentment of all parties. this is most certain--_couste que couste_--and though _coelum terris misceatur_, his majesty is resolved not to swallow, much less to digest, these indignities. as before i have said, only the spaniards have cause to triumph and to make bonfires of joy and gladness.' he requests carleton to see oldenbarneveldt and urge accommodation for the mutual good of both countries. 'if the states', he adds, 'do persist in their resolutions, _actum est de amicitia_.'[ ] [ ] carleton's letters during his embassy in holland, january / , to december , p. . but although winwood speaks in this letter, dated september , as if the king was only considering the question of a revival of the proclamation of , steps had already been taken (apparently with his knowledge) to levy a toll upon the fishers on the scottish coast. as early as june , the duke of lennox, in his capacity as admiral of scotland, had received instructions from the scottish council to take from every fishing 'buss' a payment either in money (an angelot) or in kind (one ton of herring and twelve codfish). accordingly, on august , a vessel appeared in the midst of the fishing fleet, having on board a certain john browne, the duke's secretary. the dutch envoy (caron) had been induced, under a misconception of the purpose for which it was required, to write a commendatory letter for this man to show to the captains of the dutch convoy-ships. browne demanded in the name of the king from the skippers of each 'buss' the above-named toll or excise, and he proceeded to make a list of all their names and the names of the boats, giving receipts to those who paid, and informing those who did not do so that they would have to pay double the following year. the greater part paid without opposition, until the two convoy-ships arrived on the scene. browne was seized and requested to produce his commission. at the sight of caron's letter, however, they dismissed him, as he had used no violence, but they would not allow him to collect any more toll. the two captains, as in duty bound, reported the matter at once to the home authorities. great was the surprise and indignation at enkhuysen and other centres of the fishing industry at the reception of the news. on august it was discussed by the states-general, who denounced the attempt to levy a toll as 'an unheard-of and unendurable novelty, conflicting with previous treaties'. two dispatches were sent, one to caron telling him 'that the states had taken the matter extremely to heart, and desired him to seek for redress by every possible means'; the other to the captains of the convoy bidding them 'not to permit any toll to be exacted'. in obedience to his instructions caron made repeated representations to the king, to lennox, to the scottish council, but his arguments and remonstrances fell on deaf ears, and his efforts to obtain satisfaction proved fruitless. in these circumstances the opening of the fishing season of was awaited in holland with anxiety, and by those acquainted with the temper of the dutch seamen, with apprehension. their fears were justified. browne again visited the fishing fleet, and began his task of levying toll, which according to all testimony he carried out in a tactful and considerate manner. arriving at the rotterdam convoy-ship he met with a flat refusal from the captain, andries tlieff of rotterdam, in his own name and that of the other dutch fishermen. after having received this refusal in writing, browne was preparing quietly to go away to visit the other fishing boats, mostly french, when jan albertsz, captain of the enkhuysen convoy-ship, stepped on board. he was one of the two captains who had in the previous year forcibly compelled browne to stop his collection of toll. albertsz now declared that he had orders to arrest browne, and, despite his protests, the scottish official was made a prisoner and carried to holland. the indignation of james, when he heard of what had taken place, knew no bounds. two captains of dutch vessels in the thames were seized, as hostages, and carleton was instructed to go in person to the states-general and demand satisfaction for the insult and injury done to his majesty's honour by the 'exemplary punishment and in a public and open fashion of those, who had committed such an act: a satisfaction such as may hold a just proportion unto the insolency of the grievance.'[ ] on august , carleton, describing the result of an interview with the advocate, spoke of 'barneveldt not knowing what to say, but that the taking of browne was ill-done, and desiring me with his hat in his hand (much differing from his use) to make report thereof to his majesty.' both he and also maurice disavowed albertsz's action, and the states-general in their turn declared that the captains had acted without instructions, and ordered browne to be released. at the same time they respectfully insisted that their fishermen were specially exempted from paying any toll for their fishing. they ask carleton to beg james, as browne had been set free, to release the hostages that he had seized. but winwood peremptorily informed carleton (august , o.s.), 'his majesty will take no satisfaction, but to have the captains and chief officers of the ships sent over prisoners to england.' this demand, however, was most unpalatable in holland. the states of that province stood upon their privileges. the captains should be tried, they said, but only by their own courts and laws. james, however, would not give way. in winwood's words 'he insisted, _fort et ferme_, on the offenders being delivered into his hands'. thus for many months the obstinate dispute continued. at last (february ) the states of holland, the opposition of the towns of rotterdam and enkhuysen to deliver up their citizens having been overcome, consented that albertsz and tlieff should be sent to noel caron to submit themselves to his majesty's mercy, 'for which,' says carleton,[ ] 'in a letter they sue, and' he adds 'they also ask for the freedom of fishing on the coast of scotland, to which they lay claim, without molestation.' not till april did tlieff actually set sail for england, and then without the worse offender, albertsz, who was very ill, and in fact died shortly afterwards. james now, however, professed himself satisfied, the hostages were set free, and the browne incident closed without a breach of the peace. [ ] carleton's _letters_, pp. - . report of the lords of the council with the king in scotland, to the lords of the council in england, aug. / , . [ ] carleton's _letters_, october . the fishery dispute meanwhile remained an open sore. loud complaints were made by the scottish council that the dutch not only claimed the right to fish free from any toll, but they under the protection of their armed convoy hindered the scottish boats from fishing, and took away their nets and otherwise treated them 'with daily outrages and insolences'. this was the state of affairs in . carleton made many and strong remonstrances, but in the complaints of the scotch that they were driven away from the fishing grounds by acts of violence were louder than ever. instructions had been given to carleton (april , ) that, as a means for avoiding these disputes and encounters, he should request the states to order their fishermen to ply their trade out of sight of land, as had been, so he averred, their former custom. after a delay of two months the states, while promising to punish severely all who could be shown to have committed such acts as those complained of, declared that after examination of witnesses on oath they could not discover that any offences such as those spoken of by the king had taken place. as to the netherlanders fishing out of sight of land, they denied any knowledge of such a custom, and prayed the king not to disturb their countrymen in the exercise of that right of free fishing granted them from time immemorial by a succession of treaties. thus in the summer of we have seen that no less than three burning questions--the greenland or spitzbergen fishery, the great or herring fishery, and the refusal to admit english dyed or dressed cloths into the netherlands--were causing the relations between england and the united provinces to be very strained. a fourth question, that of the disputes of the rival east india companies as to trading rights in the banda islands, amboyna, and the moluccas, where the dutch, being in far stronger force, prevented the english from sharing in the lucrative commerce in spices, was also becoming acute. several islands--among them one named pulo run, which the english, by the consent of the natives, had occupied--were seized by the dutch, and actual hostilities between the fleets representing the two nations in those waters were only avoided because the english were not in a position to offer effective resistance to their superior adversaries. negotiations had therefore been set on foot as early as to effect a friendly understanding by which the english should be allowed a fair share in the spice trade, and the companies co-operate for their common interest. so far, however, in , were matters from being arranged, that a strong fleet had been dispatched from london in that year under sir thomas dale to restore the balance of power in the bunda archipelago. when, therefore, as has been already related, carleton on october appeared in the states-general to protest in the strongest possible language against the acts of hostility committed against the fishing fleet of the muscovy company off spitzbergen, he did not confine himself to this one cause of embittered dispute, but demanded that the states should send at once, promptly and without delay, the special embassy, which had been often spoken of but never taken seriously in hand, to discuss in london all the points of difference between the two nations--the east indian spice trade, the herring fishery, and the dyed cloth question--and to strive to arrive at a friendly arrangement. otherwise, he warned them that the king, though he had shown himself willing to bear much at their hands, had now reached the limit of his endurance. iii: - in the netherlands the minds of all men were throughout the year preoccupied with the fierce political and religious discords that had brought civil strife into the land. the sword of maurice had, in the name of the states-general of the union, overthrown the power of the provincial oligarchies, and despite the strenuous opposition of the states of holland under the leadership of oldenbarneveldt, had made good the claim of the states-general to sovereign authority in the republic. the aged advocate of holland, so long supreme in the administration of public affairs, with his chief adherents, lay in prison awaiting trial and condemnation. anxious, therefore, at such a crisis, to avoid a breach with king james, or to provoke on his part measures of reprisal (especially in view of the approaching meeting of the synod of dort, at which james was to be officially represented), the states announced their readiness (october ) to accede to carleton's request for the speedy dispatch of a special embassy. but they wished to confine the subjects of discussion to the east indian and greenland disputes. in vain carleton pressed upon the states the urgency of including the great (herring) fishery and dyed cloth questions in the instruction. the reply was that it would be dangerous in the disturbed condition of the country to touch matters of such great importance affecting the interests of so large a portion of the population of the maritime provinces. a clear indication was moreover given that on these two points there was little possibility of concession. the ambassadors arrived in england (december ) accompanied by five commissioners of the east india company. the king received them with expressions of friendliness (december ), but the examination of their instructions by the privy council at once revealed that the subject of the great fisheries, which had most interest for the english, was omitted. the dutch envoys accordingly were informed that the king was very astonished that the warnings of carleton had been without effect, and that their mission would be fruitless unless this point, which concerned the king's sovereign rights, were placed in the forefront of the negotiations. james, indeed, refused to proceed unless the instructions were altered, and held out the threat of an alliance with spain if his wishes were not complied with. carleton, indeed, in a long and angry representation made to the states-general, january , , practically demanded, not only that the ambassadors should be instructed to deal with the great fishery question, but to admit that their rights under ancient treaties and their contention as to the freedom of the sea were claims that could not be sustained in face of the king's 'lawful title and exclusive sovereign rights and property in the fisheries upon the coasts of his three kingdoms'. in case of delay, england would maintain her rights with the armed hand. the king was resolved that the grievances of which his subjects complained must cease. the states-general, however, dared not in the midst of the crisis through which the country was passing, interfere with the fishery question. maurice, as captain-general of the union, had by military force overpowered the resistance of the province of holland to the will of the states-general. its leaders had been incarcerated, and the town magistracies throughout holland changed. feelings were very embittered, and the position of the new magistrates would have been seriously endangered had the dominant party consented to yield to english threats the rights of free fishing, an industry on which some , persons in holland depended for their livelihood. both maurice and his cousin and trusted adviser, william lewis of nassau, stadholder of friesland, were agreed that such a course was at the moment unwise, if not impracticable. these considerations were laid before james, who had throughout the discussions in the republic strongly sympathized with the triumphant contra-remonstrant party. the result was a modification in his unbending attitude. the king agreed to defer the discussion of the 'great fishery' question until the internal state of the netherlands had become more settled, and to proceed with the greenland fishery and east indian matters first, on condition that the delay was to be as short as possible and not to extend beyond the end of the year. indeed, september was named as the actual limit of time. the states were quickly informed (january ) of the english concession, and now that the tension was relieved, took more than three weeks in which to consider carefully the terms of their answer to carleton. they were in a difficult position, and they finally (february ) gave in general terms a non-committal undertaking that 'so soon as the affairs of this land, political and religious, shall be brought into a better state--if possible within a year', they will send ambassadors to treat of the great fishery, the cloth trade, and other points, as a preliminary to the revision of the treaties of intercourse. meanwhile they trusted that all should go on as before, and that the english would make no innovation in contravention of the ancient customs and treaties. so the matter rested, the states being warned that the king demanded that the placard of june , , forbidding the dutch fishermen to commit further outrages and excesses 'on pain of severe penalties', or to approach within sight (the english said within miles, but to this the dutch objected) of the scottish coast, should be rigidly enforced during the intermediate period of delay. the efforts of the dutch ambassadors to settle the two questions which according to their instructions were the chief object of their mission nevertheless encountered serious difficulties, and it was soon apparent that the views of the two parties were almost irreconcilable. the scheme for a working union of the two east india companies was speedily given up. for months, however, the rights and wrongs of the two nations with regard to the greenland (spitzbergen) fisheries were the subject of many conferences and interchanges of notes. the english maintained that they, on the ground of first discovery and of being the first to fish in the spitzbergen waters, had exclusive rights of sovereignty both on the land and the seas that surrounded it. the dutch set up the counter-claim that they had not only first discovered, but first occupied the land, and they held firmly that the sea was free to all nations. for the damages suffered by the english fishing fleet at the hands of the netherlanders in an indemnity was demanded by the english government amounting to £ , , and this did not include the amounts due to private ship-owners for the loss of their trade, and to the relatives of those who had been killed or wounded. the dutch replied by pointing to the repeated provocations the hollanders and zeelanders had had year by year to endure, and to the losses they on their side had suffered not only through being hindered in their fishing, but through actual plundering of their goods. the ambassadors promised to give reparation, if the english would do the same. tired at last of fruitless discussions, prolonged month after month, the dutch envoys sought a personal interview with the king, july , at greenwich, to see if any _modus vivendi_ could be arrived at. all the old arguments on both sides were repeated, and neither would yield on the point of their several 'rights'; the utmost the king would concede was a suggestion that, as a favour, he might connive at the netherlanders fishing in his waters. this did not satisfy the ambassadors, and they fell back on the familiar device of asking that the question should be put off for later settlement. to this finally james agreed, and it was arranged that the matter should be deferred for further negotiations for a period of three years, and that meanwhile the english and dutch were to fish peaceably together. the king insisted that restitution should be made for the damage done by the armed attack on the english fleet in within three months, and for all other losses inflicted by the dutch within the three years. as soon as the full english claims were settled (such was the ultimatum), the question of the satisfaction due to the netherlanders should be considered. with this decision, however unpalatable to them, the envoys had perforce to be content. they sailed from gravesend, on august , without having really effected anything but a postponement of disputes, which mere delay was more likely to aggravate than to appease. the results then of the embassy of were disappointing to both parties. the english resented the continued presence of the dutch fishermen both in the home waters and in the northern seas, for they not only carried off the profits from what were regarded as british industries, but behaved with overbearing arrogance as if in their own domain. the hollanders found themselves permitted, as it were on sufferance, to continue an occupation which supplied a large part of their population with sustenance and was the basis of their prosperity. the states-general, though they were committed by their envoys to send a fresh embassy to deal with the question of the great fisheries, as soon as the internal troubles of the country were settled, were in no hurry to move in the matter. it was in vain that carleton in the early months of reminded them of their undertaking. the general opinion in holland, and in this prince maurice himself shared, was that there could be no surrender of the treaty right to free fishing, even though it should be at the cost of war. their position was greatly strengthened by the momentous events that had been occurring in germany. the elector palatine, frederick--king james's son-in-law--had accepted the crown of bohemia (november, ) but a year later his forces were crushed by the imperial army at the white hill near prague (november ). meanwhile his hereditary dominions had been invaded and conquered by a spanish force under spinola. frederick was head of the protestant union, but the forces of the union were disunited (indeed it was soon afterwards dissolved), and although sir horace vere, at the head of a fine body of , english volunteers, escorted by a strong dutch force, made his way to the scene of conflict, he was unable to prevent the spanish conquest of the lower palatinate. the unfortunate king of bohemia, a homeless fugitive, was compelled with his wife, elizabeth of england, to seek refuge with his uncle, the prince of orange, at the hague. the dutch were greatly disturbed, as the twelve years' truce was drawing to an end, at the prospect of the spaniards being able through their alliance with the emperor to march from their post of vantage on the rhine straight upon the netherlands, and were therefore anxious to secure the goodwill and help of england in the serious struggle which they saw before them. they felt confident that, despite his love of peace, james would be forced to take active steps to defend his son-in-law's lands from conquest, and the cause of protestantism in germany from ruin. the news of the complete defeat of frederick at the white hill therefore, together with the necessity of renewing the treaty between the two countries, which expired in april, , at the end of the truce, had more effect than carleton's remonstrances and threats in hastening a renewal of negotiations. the english ambassador was instructed to assure the states that james would lend assistance for the recovery of the palatinate, and it was resolved by them that a special mission should be dispatched as soon as possible. it was well known that the king was still on the most confidential terms with gondomar, and that the spanish envoy continued to exercise a strong influence upon the royal policy, and that the project of a spanish marriage had not been abandoned. it was felt therefore that a strong effort should be made to counteract this secret leaning of james to listen to the subtle counsels of the spaniard, and to persuade him to break with spain and to take decisively the protestant side in the war against the allied forces of the house of habsburg. the ambassadors set sail from veere, january , , and arrived in london on february . they were six in number, representing the three maritime provinces of holland, zeeland, and friesland, in itself a proof that though the affairs of the palatinate were the principal subject that filled their instructions, the fishery questions, for the moment placed in the background, had in reality lost none of their importance. the names of the special envoys were jonkheer jacobus van wijngaerden, johan camerling, albert sonck, albert bruyninck, jacobus schotte, and jonkheer frederik van vervou tot martenahuys, and with them was associated the resident in london, noel caron. at their first audience with the king (february ) the situation in germany was almost exclusively referred to. they laid stress upon the extent of the spanish conquests on the rhine, and after pointing out that the states had been paying monthly subsidies to certain of the protestant princes and had collected a great army on the frontier, expressed their gratification at the information that had been received through sir dudley carleton to the effect that the king would, if diplomacy failed, restore his children in the possessions by force. should he indeed be prepared to take steps for military intervention, they were commissioned to assure him that the states would be ready to second his action and to go to war. the embassy had arrived at a critical moment in the reign of james i, and after some words of friendly compliment their conference with the privy council was deferred until february . in the interval james's third parliament had met (february ). the king's financial necessities had forced him to summon a parliament, and the session was to prove a very stormy one. the leaders of the commons at once demanded the redress of many grievances and proceeded to attack those whom they charged with being the cause of the abuses they denounced, more especially the omnipotent favourite, buckingham himself. the sojourn of the dutch mission therefore coincided with a period of political stress and anxiety. but the envoys had the satisfaction of knowing that the english parliament, which in this was thoroughly representative of public opinion in the country, was enthusiastically in favour of active support being given to the king of bohemia for the recovery of the palatinate. subsidies were without delay voted for that purpose, and the vote was accompanied by a petition urging the king to make war with spain and to break off the negotiations for the spanish marriage. but gondomar found no difficulty in trading upon james's habitual preference for peaceful methods. according to the testimony of the venetian, girolamo lando, the spanish ambassador 'had access to the king at any hour, and found all doors open to him which were accustomed to be shut to others', and he is described as 'with ever-increasing boldness carrying on a campaign against these kingdoms with unspeakable intrigues and corruption.' through his counsels the king entered upon a series of negotiations with the courts of madrid and vienna in the interests of frederick, which were perfectly futile and merely afforded the catholic powers time to strengthen their position upon the rhine. at the same time james, by opposing himself to the expressed wishes of his parliament and people in this matter of the palatinate, only heightened the determination of the house of commons to assert their privileges and insist upon their demand for a redress of grievances. in foreign no less than in domestic affairs, the views of the king and those of the representatives of his people proved to be diametrically opposed. in december accordingly, no compromise being possible, parliament was dissolved, and james, left in desperate financial straits, was unable to carry out any policy that involved expenditure. in considering the course of the negotiations with the dutch, these facts must be borne in mind, for they are vitally important for a right understanding of the situation. the embassy, delayed by the opening of parliament, had a conference with the privy council on february . once more they impressed upon their audience the seriousness of the dangers which threatened both the united provinces and england from the war in germany, and urged, now that the truce with spain was almost expired, the renewal of the treaty of alliance between the two countries to defend the protestant cause against a common enemy. in the words of the contemporary historian aitzema, 'they laid strong emphasis upon this last point as if it were the only object and aim of the embassy.' but the council had no desire, so immediately after the meeting of parliament, to commit themselves on the subject of military intervention, for they were well aware of the king's disinclination to break with spain. the question was accordingly put to the dutchmen as to whether there were no other points in their instructions, mention being specially made of the fisheries, the cloth, and the east indian disputes. the reply was that in the present critical condition of european affairs the interest of both states required that secondary questions should be allowed to rest and continue on the same footing as before in the presence of the grave danger (now the truce was drawing to an end) from a mighty enemy. some lesser differences which had arisen about the 'tare' in the cloth trade, and the 'mint', they were ready to discuss, but nothing more. the matter was referred to the king, and on march the envoys had a second conference with the council, when it was made clear to them that the fisheries questions must be settled as a preliminary to any treaty of alliance. the dutch could only answer (march ) that they had received no powers to negotiate upon the fisheries, but in accordance with their instructions they pointed out the difficulty and the danger of trying to interfere with an industry in which so large a part of the population were interested, while civil discords were scarcely appeased and a renewal of the war with spain was on the point of breaking out. so much was this the case that though the value of the fishing (so they said) was steadily decreasing, the states were granting large subsidies for convoys in order to provide the means of sustenance for so large a number of their subjects. the smallest toll or charge, they argued, would either cause 'their fishery to be entirely destroyed and ruined, or possibly stir up this rude sea-faring population to fresh commotions to the manifest peril of the repose of the republic, scarcely cured of the wounds of its late infirmity.' they begged therefore that the consideration of the matter might be put off to a more fitting time, and meanwhile that the old privileges should continue in force. as to the greenland fishery, it was pleaded that the three years' delay that had been granted in was not yet expired. similarly in the east indian disputes, which continued with no less frequency and bitterness, although an accord between the two companies had been agreed upon in june, , the netherlanders met the complaints of the representatives of the english company with excuses and counter-protests. there was much talking, but practically no progress made. after several interviews with the council and the king himself it was finally arranged that things should remain as they were for a short time longer, but the king insisted (april ) that 'the fishery questions concerned his right and his honour and that he could not allow them to be any longer in debate and suspense', and that a special commission must be sent by the states to deal with these disputes, and further, that he would not wait longer than may . he also demanded a settlement of the quarrels in the east indies, and a withdrawal of the 'tare' edict, which was declared to be the ruin of the cloth industry in england. so soon as these matters were satisfactorily arranged, he promised that he would conclude an alliance with the states. the dutch envoys left london on their return journey on april . as a proof of the very close relations subsisting at this time between england and the united provinces, it may be mentioned that in the very same months that the wijngaerden embassy was thus holding ineffectual conferences in london with the king of england and his privy council, the fellowship of the merchant adventurers were transferring their court to the prinsenhof at delft. driven from antwerp in the adventurers had, as already related, set up their great court first at emden, then at hamburg and stade. but in the enmity of the hanse towns compelled them to leave stade, and to establish themselves at middelburg in zeeland. until the suppression of the adventurers' charter in , this town was the staple for english cloth and wool in the netherlands, though the 'interlopers' as they were called, succeeded in carrying on an active smuggling trade through amsterdam and flushing. after the renewal of the charter in the adventurers returned to middelburg, but on account of the unhealthiness of the place, and other reasons, they determined to remove to delft. to effect this involved elaborate negotiations with the town corporation, with the states of holland, and with the states-general. moreover, the consent of the king was necessary as a preliminary step. sir dudley carleton was largely instrumental in bringing the matter to a successful issue. james gave his consent that the court should move from zeeland within the borders of holland, 'to show his majesty's great affection for that province'. on april , , the contract with delft was signed, just as the dutch envoys were leaving england. but amsterdam, with whose cloth merchants the 'interlopers' had been engaged in a profitable trade, sent in to the states of holland a very strongly worded remonstrance. they objected to the privileges which the delft corporation had granted to the adventurers as injurious to themselves and the interests of the province. the states of holland on receiving this remonstrance resolved that the contract made by delft and the monopoly of the adventurers should be examined by a commission. against this delft and a number of other towns sent in a counter-remonstrance, but the influence of amsterdam outweighed theirs in the provincial states, who by a majority of votes persisted in their determination. the merchant adventurers, however, appealed from the provincial authorities to the states-general, who had always been their protectors. and now began one of those curious struggles so common in dutch history between the town of delft, the states of holland, and the states-general, all of them claiming independent authority to deal with the matter. the corporation of delft refused to hand over their contract with the merchant adventurers to be examined by the commission of the states of holland. at last, however, it was agreed by both parties that it should be placed in the hands of prince maurice and some impartial persons, who should then confer with the states, and draw 'a good regulation for the preserving of the common industries'. maurice appointed a commission on which the ten towns interested in the cloth trade (of which naturally delft was one) were represented, to take the matter in hand, and on june , , the 'regulation' was drawn up which defined the privileges and conditions under which the adventurers henceforth for many years carried on their trade in holland. its terms therefore deserve to be briefly indicated. the old privileges giving freedom from import and export duties, harbour and market tolls, &c., originally granted in , were not revoked, but defined afresh and modified. art. i gave the fellowship permission to have their court at delft, but only with the licences 'which we [the states of holland] and the states-general shall be pleased to accord, in trust that the netherlanders shall enjoy their old privileges in england.' this last clause clearly referred to the fishing rights, with which at that very moment the english government were proposing to interfere. art. ii reminded the adventurers that when residing in holland 'they would be subject to all our edicts and enactments made or still to make.' art. iii dealt with the excise recently imposed on foreign woollen cloth. on this no concession was made; it must be promptly paid. art. iv insisted on the strict carrying out of the edict of forbidding the importation of dyed or prepared cloth, and also of the edict on the 'tare', which had been renewed in . both these edicts were regarded as grievances by the english, and had in and in been among the subjects on which negotiations had proved fruitless. before this 'regulation' of june , , had come into force the time fixed by king james for the dispatch of another embassy to settle all outstanding disputes had passed by. through the representations of carleton at the hague, and the letters of their own ambassador caron from london, it was made clear, however, to the states that a temporizing policy was no longer possible. indefinite delay would not be brooked. steps were accordingly taken to approach certain of those who claimed damages against the greenland company with an offer to compound with them by a cash payment. nor did the states confine themselves to words, but gave practical proof of their desire for peace, for when the greenland company applied for a convoy of warships to accompany the whale-fishing fleet to spitzbergen, the states-general, after consultation with the states of holland, declined to grant the request, april . the determined attitude of carleton, who threatened reprisals in the channel upon the ships returning from the east indies had its effect, and the slow-moving netherlanders were at last stirred to action. the new envoys were appointed early in october, and though even after their nomination there was further delay while the instructions were being drawn up, within two months all preliminaries were completed, and the embassy finally arrived in london, december , . its arrival coincided with the final rupture between james and his parliament, and the situation was far from favourable to a really friendly settlement. the king was in bad health, worried and embittered in temper by the affronts which he had just been enduring from what he regarded as the insolent demands of a house of commons which neither by threats nor by persuasion had he been able to bend to his will. both philip iii of spain and the archduke albert of the netherlands had recently died. a young king reigned in madrid, but his favourite, the count of olivares, held the reins of power, a man filled with the ambition of raising spain once again to her old position of ascendancy in europe. his policy, as stated in the cortes of castile, was to assist the emperor to crush the protestant cause in bohemia and in germany, to attack the dutch rebels now that the truce was expired, and to defend with all the power of the monarchy 'the sacred catholic faith and the authority of the holy see'. yet in spite of so clear a declaration james fell more and more under the spell exercised over him by gondomar, who had buckingham and other english councillors in his pay, and who continued to dangle before the eyes of the infatuated king, still dreaming of a spanish match for his son, the hope that by the friendly intervention of philip iv at vienna, he might be able to secure without hostilities good terms for his son-in-law, and a settlement of the dutch and other questions in a manner satisfactory to all parties. it was, of course, a purely visionary project, nevertheless it is probable that james was sincere in his aims, and thought that he was acting nobly in playing the part of arbiter of peace and war. but he was really a puppet in the hands of those who were far more astute than himself, and who, while he was negotiating, were grimly preparing for the prosecution in real earnest of the longest and most cruel war europe has ever seen. it was well known moreover to the statesmen, who treated him as their dupe, that the breach between james and his parliament effectually prevented him, even if he wished it, from serious intervention. the dutch embassy, which was accompanied by three commissioners on behalf of the east india company, had at its head francis van aerssen, lord of sommelsdijk. aerssen, already distinguished as a diplomatist and noted for the prominent part he had taken in the recent overthrow of oldenbarneveldt, was for many years to be the trusted councillor of the stadholders maurice and frederick henry. richelieu, at a later time, spoke of him as one of the three ablest statesmen of his time. he had now before him a long and difficult task. aitzema lays special emphasis on the duration and the expense of this special mission. it lasted, he tells us, days, and cost , guilders. 'in the course of it', he further remarks, 'king james at the audiences made very particular and most remarkable discourses, which were replied to by the lord of sommelsdijk with exceptional prudence, he being a man of great sharp-sightedness, eloquence, and experience.' the skill of aerssen is shown in the instructions for the embassy, which, once more according to aitzema, were drawn up by himself. the following are the important points. art. vii deals with the 'questions which have arisen on the whale fishery between the english nation and the greenland company of their lands and their differences concerning the pretended losses suffered on either side.' the envoys are instructed, if possible, to come to a friendly understanding, 'if not, by authoritative decision to draw up for the future a regulation of the aforesaid fishery' on the lines of the previous negotiations, but 'not so as to cause any disadvantage to the land's service or to the rights of the privileged company,' above all, nothing is to be concluded on this matter without awaiting the orders of the states-general, should time and opportunity permit. the next five articles treat of the affairs of the two east india companies, which were, in fact, the main object of the mission. the cloth trade disputes are next dealt with. if complaints should be made about the raising by the states of holland of the duty on foreign woollen goods, the lines of defence are laid down in arts. xiv and xv. in art. xvi the envoys are bidden to avoid any reopening of the 'tare' question, but should the placard enforcing an examination of the goods by the tare-masters be denounced, it must be shown to be necessary in the interests of the cloth trade, and for the prevention of fraud. if english subjects pretend to suffer any injury through the 'tare', let them bring their grievances before their high mightinesses, who will see that justice is done. likewise on the subject of the 'interlopers' (art. xvii) silence is enjoined. the reply, however, to any complaint is that his majesty has the remedy in his own hands by forbidding the 'interlopers' to trade. it would be far easier to prevent their egress from england than their ingress into the united provinces. art. xviii deals with the question of the mint. last of all, the instructions arrive at the great fisheries difficulty. the envoys are carefully to avoid any reference to this matter. if compelled to speak about it, they are to say that they have received no instructions thereon, 'as their high mightinesses had hoped that the king would leave this matter untouched, as his majesty had thought good to delay this whole question for a further period still and a more fitting season. in any case this industry is necessary for the subsistence of many thousands of the sea-faring folk of their lands, and to consent to a course that would ruin them is _impossible_, and there is no hope that such consent would be given either now or hereafter.' conferences were held with the privy council on january , february , and march , the dutch trying to concentrate attention on the east indian differences, about which public opinion in england as well as in holland had been much stirred, and about the renewal of the treaty of alliance, urging that the king should take sides with his old allies against the spaniards and active steps to recover the palatinate for his son-in-law. buckingham's efforts to discuss the alleged acts of violence by the dutch fishermen to the king's scottish subjects only led to the reply that the states had issued a strong edict against such acts and would punish them if proved. as no progress to any agreement was being reached, the envoys suggested a personal audience with the king. this was granted on april . james was far from well, and in a very irritable humour. he received them alone, and, contrary to his habit, sat in his chair during the interview with his hat on, while the ambassadors stood the whole time with uncovered heads. aerssen, after the usual compliments, spoke at considerable length, in accordance with the terms of his instructions, upon the east indian and other matters on which the states desired to treat. the effect of this speech is best told in the words of the original report of the proceedings:-- 'they [the envoys] noted that his majesty was entirely prejudiced and prepared by his council to set his heart against them. to their compliments he gave no reply, letting them pass unnoticed. when they (through their spokesman aerssen) were entering into the business, he said, "make an end of your long harangue. i will give a short and good answer. you are a good orator, i know it well; when i was younger, so was i also; now my memory fails me." six times with great discourtesy did he interrupt them.' the violence of the 'short and good answer' in which he finally poured forth the pent-up vials of his wrath upon the dutchmen is at least a proof that james, despite his age and infirmities, still possessed considerable powers of invective. speaking of the east indian disputes, he exclaimed:-- 'you have taken away the goods of my subjects, have made war on, murdered and mishandled them, without once thinking of what you have enjoyed from this crown, which has made you and maintained you. you must give them satisfaction.... i hold that you ought to show respect to my nation. you are speaking of the accord (of ), i decline to treat with you on equal terms. you have in the indies a man[ ] who well deserves to be hanged. your people over there represent everywhere your prince of orange as a great king and lord, and hold me up as a little kinglet, as if i stood under him, thus misleading the barbarian kings. * * * * * tell me what you are thinking of doing, whether you will take action and give me satisfaction or not? will you do it, then do it the sooner the better; it will be best for you; when will you begin? surely you are like leeches, bloodsuckers of my realm, you draw the blood from my subjects and seek to ruin me; there are six points that show it clearly; take _the great fishery_--you come here to land against the will of my subjects, you do them damage, you injure them, you desecrate the churches, doing filthy acts in them, you hinder them from fishing; the greenland whale fishery you wish to dispute with me, without making good the loss; france and spain have ceded it to me, with denmark i have come to an agreement, you alone wish to maintain it against me. i would not endure it either from france or from spain, do you think i either can or will bear it from you? in the cloths you are playing at _passe-passe_, as if you were laying a burden on your inhabitants, and yet this is the cause; these (the cloths) are no more carried, therefrom as you may have heard a mutiny and wellnigh a rebellion exists in my realm.' [ ] the governor-general, jan pietersz coen. having mentioned these three points, the other three appear to have escaped his majesty's memory. after this outburst the negotiations were renewed, the east indian questions being taken first. this admirably suited the dutch, who knew they had the upper hand in the indies and were anxious to shelve the fishery dispute as long as possible. for months the weary negotiations proceeded, until in august there was once more a deadlock. the king again granted an audience (august ), was again angry, and with small result. an event now occurred which gave rise to fresh complaint. the dutch fishermen off the scottish coast had encountered an ostend vessel with some dutch prisoners on board. the ostender was attacked and an attempt made to set the captives free. a conference was held on the matter in the king's presence, september , and the hollanders were accused of a breach of neutrality. the envoys rejoined that it was the ostender which had committed a breach of neutrality by bringing prisoners into scottish waters, and pointed out 'that no one had so great an interest as his majesty to prevent spain from sharing the sovereignty of the sea on which his majesty was so mighty and whereon his chief security lay'. this reference to james's relations with spain was more than the testy king could brook. 'it is you', he said, 'who are masters of the sea, far and wide, you do just what you like, you hinder my own subjects from fishing on my coasts, who at any rate according to all rights ought to enjoy the first benefit, but when i raise the question, and urge you to observe my rights, to listen to what i have to say, you will not agree to a single word being spoken about it; yes, my ambassador writes to me that he might just as well speak to you of the rights of my fishery, as of a declaration of war with you. when you are at war, you say that your government has not yet been granted time for your community to get on its legs. in peace, you have other excuses. the long and the short is, you don't want to enter into it.' the ambassadors were, however, not to be entrapped into a discussion of the great fisheries; remarking that his majesty had agreed to defer speaking about this question, they skilfully turned his attention to other subjects. one result of this conference was the resolve of the privy council to make a serious effort to accommodate the greenland fishery dispute. a formal statement of the english grievances was set forth in a letter to the ambassadors, and they were requested, now that far more than the three months' delay which the king had conceded was past, to pay up the indemnity of £ , for the losses that had been suffered. the netherlanders at once replied that they were ready to consider the greenland differences as soon as the east indian were settled, but not before. unless the east indian negotiations were pushed on, they threatened to return home (october ). for some two months accordingly the indies held the field. when, however, the middle of december had arrived the council once more repeated their demand that the indemnity, which had been promised in , should now be handed over. the envoys denied having any knowledge of such a promise. they would make inquiries about it, meanwhile their instructions only allowed them to discuss the greenland question as a whole and without prejudice. they asked for proofs of the alleged promise. none were forthcoming. so by raising this side-issue the dutch achieved their object of gaining time. an accord at last having been reached on east indian affairs, the envoys announced that after fourteen months' sojourn in london they were unable to remain longer. caron, they said, would have full powers to carry on negotiations about the greenland matter. so far as any real settlement of disputes was concerned, the embassy was again a complete failure. even the accord in the east was a sham. the english company had obtained a nominal position of equality with its dutch rival in the indies, and a definite share of the coveted trade in the spice islands. but all the power was in the hands of the dutch, and such an artificial arrangement was more likely, as events were speedily to show, to breed fresh discords than to allay the old ones. iv: - the embassy of returned to the netherlands early in february, . a few weeks later prince charles, accompanied by the duke of buckingham, was on his way to madrid to woo in person his prospective spanish bride. no more conclusive proof could have been shown of the lack of success of aerssen in obtaining any assurance of armed support from king james for the states in their renewed war with spain or for the recovery of the palatinate. yet, strangely enough, at this very time of increasing political alienation, four english and two scottish regiments formed (as indeed was the case throughout the remainder of the eighty years' war) the very kernel of the states army, and campaign after campaign bore the brunt of the fighting. when the spaniards laid siege to bergen-op-zoom in july, , maurice had reinforced the garrison by fourteen english and scottish companies. the gallant defence of the town first by colonel henderson, then, after this officer fell mortally wounded, by sir charles morgan, excited general admiration in europe. in october, spinola, after making repeated and desperate efforts to capture the place, was compelled to raise the siege. these troops were recruited by royal permission in england and scotland, remained british subjects, and were distinguished by their national uniforms and colours, by the beat of the drum and the march. they were, however, in dutch pay, and took an oath of allegiance to the states-general, from whom the officers received their commissions.[ ] [ ] see special note f. this same period saw also the beginnings of rivalry in the west as well as in the east. in a charter was granted to the dutch west india company. this charter was framed on the model of that of the east india company, and it was hoped that the new venture might be attended by the same good fortune and phenomenal success as had followed dutch enterprise in java and the malayan archipelago. far from being a mere commercial undertaking, it was intended from the first that the west india company should be required to equip considerable armed forces, naval and military, wherewith to strike a blow at the spanish power in america, and cut off those sources of revenue which supplied king philip with the sinews of war. in carrying out such projects of aggression in the spanish main there was less risk of disputes arising between the dutch and english than had been the case in the east indies. nevertheless, the colonists and traders of the two nationalities were in america also rivals and competitors in the same localities. netherlanders and englishmen had already for some years before been carrying on traffic with the natives and setting up trading posts side by side in the estuary of the amazon, and in the various river mouths along the coast of guiana. in , by letters patent, a grant was made by james i to robert harcourt, of stanton harcourt, in the county of oxford, for the planting and inhabiting of the whole coast of guiana between the rivers amazon and essequibo, and this grant was renewed to roger north in , and again by charles i to the duke of buckingham in . yet within the limits of these grants the dutch in established themselves permanently on the river essequibo, and in on the river berbice, while a number of abortive attempts were made to set up trading posts and colonies at other points of this coast. more important than any of these, a settlement had been made in on the island of manhattan at the mouth of the hudson river, a grant having been given at that date by the states-general to a body of amsterdam merchants of all unoccupied land between chesapeake bay and newfoundland. this settlement and those in guiana were in taken over by the newly erected west india company. thus in north america the dutch took possession of the best harbour on the coast, and their colony of new netherland with its capital new amsterdam (afterwards new york) was thrust in like a wedge between the english colonies of virginia and new england. in the west indian islands and on the gold coast of west africa the keen traders of the two nations also found themselves side by side, with the result in almost all cases, as has been well said, that the dutch extracted the marrow, leaving the english the bone.[ ] it will at once be seen therefore that the activities of the dutch west india company, though it came into being primarily for the purpose of 'bearding the king of spain in his treasure house', were certain, sooner or later, to come into conflict with english enterprise and to enlarge the area within which their respective interests and claims were divergent. [ ] _cambridge modern history_, iv. . but to return to my immediate subject. the ill-success of the embassy of in effecting any settlement except the accord relating to the east indies, an accord which was not regarded in holland with much favour and which was speedily to prove a failure, caused considerable disquietude to the states. it was resolved therefore to make another real effort to accommodate the old grievances of the english in regard to the acts of violence charged against the dutch fishermen both on the coast of scotland and off spitzbergen. it was hoped that by so doing, any further raising of the question of fishing rights might be avoided. the news of the journey of prince charles to madrid changed disquietude into genuine alarm, lest james, irritated as he was by a succession of fruitless negotiations and long-protracted disputes, might be tempted to cement the spanish marriage by an alliance with the hereditary foe, and to seek redress against the united provinces by force of arms. steps were accordingly taken to enforce strictly the placards by which the skippers of the herring-busses were forbidden under heavy pains and penalties to interfere with or to disturb the scottish fisherfolk in their industry (april , , may , ), and they were also warned not to approach too near to the coast. caron was requested to inform the english council of these measures of precaution. the states-general were likewise anxious in their desire to arrive at a friendly understanding that the claims for damages against the greenland (northern) company should be paid. but the old difficulties supervened. the directors of the greenland company reminded them of the counterclaim for damages suffered at the hands of the english. to pay therefore the english claim before demanding from the muscovy company a simultaneous settlement of dutch grievances would be, they pointed out, playing into king james's hands. it would be regarded as an admission of his exclusive and particular rights in the spitzbergen fishery, rights which the greenland company and the states had repeatedly refused to acknowledge. so, despite pressure both from carleton and caron, the matter dragged on. at last, december , a letter was sent to caron, denying that any promise had been given by the embassy of - of a one-sided payment of damages, as stated by the english, but expressing the willingness of the dutch to make a mutual settlement. as, however, so often before in these negotiations, delay had served its purpose. when this letter reached caron, a dramatic change in the english policy had taken place to the advantage of the netherlands. the negotiations with spain for the restitution of the palatinate had broken down. philip iv and olivares had never intended to purchase the friendship of england at such a price, and the marriage prospect, on which for so many years his heart had been set, had to be reluctantly abandoned by king james. 'i like not', he said, 'to marry my son with a portion of my daughter's tears.' the return of the prince of wales and the duke of buckingham, october , angry at the treatment accorded to them at madrid, led to the overthrow of the party at court which had favoured a spanish alliance. parliament was summoned, and buckingham in advocating an anti-spanish policy found himself for once a popular favourite. pressed by his son, by buckingham, by parliament, and by public opinion, the aged king with a heavy heart saw himself compelled to abandon his cherished scheme of recovering the palatinate by peaceful negotiations, and to take steps for armed intervention. the states-general, on seeing the turn that events were taking, wisely determined to send another embassy to london to take advantage of the opportunity for concluding the wished-for offensive and defensive alliance between england and the united provinces. there was this time no delay in drawing up the instructions, and aerssen and joachimi, the two best men they could have chosen, departed on their mission february . there can be little question that the moving cause for the sending of this embassy with such unusual dispatch is to be found in an interview between sir dudley carleton and prince maurice, which the former records in a letter to the duke of buckingham dated december , . 'i have thought fit', wrote the ambassador, 'to set down at large (whilst it is fresh in my memory) an opportunity as properly given unto me this day by the prince of orange (who is the only person of power and confidence we have here to treat withal) as i hope your grace will think it seasonably taken.' some business at the council of state, at which both were present, having been got through more quickly than was expected, maurice, so carleton informed his correspondent, 'gave me a long hour's leisure afterwards in his garden, which he himself desired of me ... he asked me bluntly (after his manner) _qui at'il de vostre mariage?_[ ] i told him it was now at a stay upon this point, that the restitution of the palatinate must be first concluded. and that the queen of bohemia was not only well comforted with this assurance, but pleased herself with a further conceit that the opportunity was never fairer for this state to regain the king her father's favour, and return to the ancient support of his crowns, which by way of gratitude for her good usage, since she had her refuge into these parts, she could not but admonish his excellency of and advise him not to let it slip. here i took occasion to play my own part, and to remember unto him how things had passed within the compass of my experience from the beginning, letting him know what friendship his majesty had shewed this state in making their truce; what sincerity in rendering their cautionary towns according to contract when they were demanded; what affection in supporting their affairs during their late domestic disputes; what care in settling our east-indian differences; finally, what patience in conniving at all the misdemeanours and insolences of their seamen without seeking revenge.' [ ] the orthography of the original. carleton then proceeds to defend the king's attitude to the dutch, 'whose ill course, pursued through some years' continuance, bred a deserved distaste in his majesty'; and his listening on the part of spain to 'fair overtures of friendship, being continually made and confirmed by the tender of a match.... but (he is careful to add) now the cause is removed, the effect may possibly cease in like manner.' the reply of maurice was 'that nothing could be more certain than the affection of this state to a prince embracing their cause of opposition to spain. and if his majesty could take that resolution, he might dispose of these their lives and fortunes.' a further discussion led finally to the prince's declaration, 'when the king would be to this state as queen elizabeth was, this state would be to him as it was to queen elizabeth.' the advice of carleton to the duke is to seize the chance of effecting a good understanding with the netherlands. 'the present opportunity [to quote the actual words] of the prince of orange's good affection, and strength of these provinces both by sea and land as it yet stands, but not possible so long to continue, being seasonably laid hold of, his majesty may have with this state a firm and fruitful alliance.' the embassy then, which reached england on february , , had a comparatively easy task before it. it was received by the populace with acclamations, and by the king, now completely under the influence of buckingham, with friendliness and distinction. even the news of the (so-called) massacre of amboina in the far east, which was to arouse in england for many years a bitter feeling of resentment against the dutch, did not now lead to any delay in the negotiations, which proceeded smoothly from the first. aerssen and joachimi had english public opinion with them, and a treaty for a defensive alliance between the two countries was signed on june . by this treaty james allowed an additional force of , men to be raised in england, the pay to be at his charges, the states undertaking to refund the amount advanced on the conclusion of a peace or truce. so quickly was the enlistment carried out, that four regiments of , men each, commanded by the earls of oxford, essex, and southampton and lord willoughby de eresby, landed in holland ready for service on july . the contingent arrived at an opportune moment, as spinola had just invaded dutch brabant at the head of an army of , foot and , horse, and had laid siege to breda. this treaty of alliance of june , , was followed as a matter of course, by negotiations for a settlement of the long-standing disputes about the greenland fisheries indemnity and other questions, but despite the efforts of the states-general and the two residents carleton and caron, but little progress was made. the directors of the greenland (northern) company had the powerful influence of amsterdam behind them, and they raised, with the same obstinacy as on previous occasions, strong opposition to making any payment for damages, unless the english agreed to satisfy their counter-claim for losses sustained in and . matters were still further delayed by the illness and death of noel caron, december , . caron was a real loss at this moment, for he had during fourteen difficult and anxious years filled the post of ambassador of the united provinces in london with conspicuous industry, ability, and tact. the selection of albert joachimi, lord of ostend, as his successor was probably the best that could have been made, and met with general approval. he was a man of proved experience, and had been recently in england with aerssen with the mission that so successfully concluded the treaty. it was intended that he should at once enter upon his duties and take with him to england instructions for a prompt settlement of the greenland indemnity, if possible by a friendly agreement; if not, in any case 'decisively and authoritatively', and in their turn the other pending disputes and complaints. events, however, occurred which effected so complete a change in the political situation that his departure was perforce delayed. on march , , james i died. a month later, maurice, prince of orange, breathed his last, april , . charles i ascended the throne of england, and it was hoped this would mean a more decisive intervention of england in foreign politics. the new king was embittered against spain, and it was known that the duke of buckingham, who at this time professed friendship for holland, and through private pique was even more hostile to the spaniards than his master, held an influence over him greater even than that which he had exercised over his father. it was largely through his efforts that, after the rupture of the spanish match, a marriage had been arranged between the prince of wales and the sister of louis xiii. the accomplishment of this union was one of the very first acts of the new reign. charles and henrietta maria were married at paris by proxy, may , and at canterbury, june , with anglican rites. richelieu was now firmly established in power, and in his hands henry iv's policy of hostility to the ascendancy in europe of the house of habsburg was revived. charles was therefore not without hopes of obtaining armed assistance from france in that war with spain for the recovery of the palatinate on which his heart was set. in the united provinces, frederick henry, prince of orange, succeeded to all the posts and to more than the influence of his brother. he was, as a general, the equal of maurice, and was far superior to him as a statesman. during his stadholderate, strong in the support and affection of all parties and classes, frederick henry was able for many years, despite the cumbersome and intricate machinery of government in the dutch republic, to exercise a control over the conduct of foreign affairs that was practically undisputed. he, as the son of louise de coligny, had throughout his life strong french leanings, and the aim of his diplomacy was from the first to secure the goodwill of richelieu and the help of french troops and subsidies for the netherlands. to send joachimi at such a juncture to london to discuss the settlement of a fishery indemnity was clearly inadequate. it was resolved accordingly that with the newly appointed resident ambassador a special embassy should go to england to congratulate the king upon his accession and his marriage, and, in view of the strained relations between charles and spain, to negotiate a treaty between the two countries on the basis of an offensive and defensive alliance. francis van aerssen and rienck van burmania were chosen as envoys extraordinary for this mission. they set sail, accompanied by joachimi, on june . all the circumstances were favourable to the success of their mission, no difficulties supervened, and on september the treaty of southampton was signed. by this time a great expedition was being prepared in england for the destruction of the port of cadiz and the capture of the plate fleet. already, efforts had been made by buckingham to persuade the states to allow , seasoned english troops in their pay to serve on the great fleet he was equipping, in exchange for , recruits. but although the , recruits were sent over (june ) to rotterdam, the states-general would not part with their veterans, whose services they sorely needed. sickness carried off numbers of the raw levies, who were not allowed to land, and the remains had to return in miserable plight to plymouth at the end of august. being without pay, these unhappy men had lived during the interval at the personal charges of sir dudley carleton. in a letter to sir f. nethersole, secretary to the queen of bohemia, dated august , the ambassador wrote: 'i have had no small trouble with , soldiers sent hither out of the north of england to be exchanged with the states for so many old musquettiers, which the weakness of the states' army, especially in the english nation, could not admit, and, having understood his majesty's intention to use these , in the service of the fleet, i caused them three weeks since to be embarqued at rotterdam, where they have layn ever since, attending the wind, but i hope they will now get away.' charles, having already quarrelled with his first parliament, which was dissolved august , had failed to obtain the subsidies he required for carrying out his ambitious foreign policy. the states, however, consented to allow general sir edward cecil and several other officers of experience in their service to absent themselves for three months and take part in the expedition against spain, provided that they took none of their soldiers with them. cecil, although a land soldier without any naval experience, was induced by buckingham to take command of the great armada, a post for which he was quite unfitted. the fleet, after many delays, at last set sail october , badly equipped, with victuals only for six weeks, foredoomed to failure. in accordance with the terms of the treaty, a squadron of twenty dutch ships under william of nassau, a natural son of maurice, took part in the expedition. there is no need to follow its fortunes further here. 'one by one,' says dr. gardiner, 'all through the winter months the shattered remains of the once powerful fleet came staggering home, to seek refuge in whatever port the winds and waves would allow.' such an ignominious issue to this great enterprise was of evil omen to the new reign. it was wounding to english pride and roused public indignation against buckingham to a high pitch. in these circumstances it is not to be wondered at that the alliance between great britain and the united provinces did not prevent a fresh crop of differences arising between them. the massacre of amboina rankled in the mind of charles, and it had not been forgotten or forgiven by his people. the right of the english ambassador at the hague to a seat on the council of state had strictly ceased when the treaty which granted it came to an end with the close of the truce in . but dudley carleton had continued without gainsaying, so long as maurice lived, to enjoy his former privileges. by a resolution of the states, june , , however, he was informed that henceforth he was permitted to take part in the deliberations of the council not as a right, but simply by courtesy. carleton attempted to obtain a withdrawal of the resolution, but in vain. as the most important affairs were at this time no longer transacted in the council of state but in the states-general, the loss of influence was not really great, nevertheless the mere passing of such a resolution when the treaty of southampton was not yet a year old was resented by the english as a slight. difficulties had also arisen over the restrictions placed and the duties levied upon the merchant adventurers, who had the staple of the english cloth trade at delft. worse than all, a number of dutch merchant vessels had been seized and searched on the ground that they were carrying contraband and trading with the spanish enemy. the hollanders throughout the war of independence had always insisted on the right to freedom of commerce even with their foes, and by supplying the spaniards not only with food but with arms and munitions, had made immense profits, which helped largely to fill the rebel war-chest. it was the attempt of leicester to stop this commerce, which chiefly caused his unpopularity in the netherlands. the treaty of southampton (arts. - ) had forbidden all such traffic, but the keen traders of amsterdam could not be restrained from the secret evasion of a restriction, to which they had so long refused to submit. hence acts of reprisal on the part of the english government, and bitter complaints on both sides. once again it was necessary to send a special envoy to london. the chosen ambassador this time was jacob cats, better known as the people's poet of the netherlands than as a statesman, though he was far from being undistinguished in the latter capacity, seeing that he was to fill for a number of years the important post of grand pensionary of holland. he departed upon his mission march , . his object was to negotiate a navigation treaty (_traité de marine_) dealing with the various thorny questions regarding contraband of war and right of search at sea which had been causing so much trouble. but no sooner had the conferences with the privy council begun than the dutch envoy was confronted with complaints that the old outstanding disputes, the indemnities claimed in reparation for the amboina massacre, and for the acts of violence committed by the herring fishers off the coast of scotland, and by the whale fishers at spitzbergen, had never been settled. cats had to plead that these matters were not included in his instructions, and after some controversy he succeeded in securing the postponement of these obtrusive and troublesome matters. they were at the first suitable opportunity to be discussed with the resident ambassador, joachimi, who would be furnished with special instructions from the states. the policy of delay, which had proved so successful in the past, once more gained for the netherlanders all that they required. the fisheries went on, under protest indeed, but undisturbed. the indemnities continued to be claimed, but remained unpaid. the main purpose of cats's mission was, however, not achieved. no agreement about contraband and right of search and seizure was reached. the comment of aitzema upon the negotiations is worth reproducing; it is scarcely possible to describe what took place more pithily or with greater acuteness: 'with these and such-like proposals, with plaints and counterplaints, was the time spent, without either the one or the other being made any the wiser. each one thinks that he is most in the right; everybody looks outwards, nobody homewards, and for much of the time each was taxing the other with offences in which they themselves were the more guilty. the big fishes eat the small ones. he who has the might uses it; every one speaks merely of uprightness, of sincerity, of affection, and there is nothing but deception and hypocrisy on all sides. the english thought also (as was quite true) that they had done much for the common cause and for the reformed religion: and that it behoved this state likewise to suffer some inconvenience in their commerce; because otherwise all business which was in england, would find its way to the united provinces, if these with too great and undisturbed freedom should use the sea, and not the english. thus the ministers of this state did not accomplish much. to heer cats, however, an honourable farewell was accorded with the usual present, and the dignity of knighthood. he returned to the hague august .' the spring of had found the government of charles i involved in so many difficulties that it is not surprising that the king should not have found it possible to take any decisive line in his negotiations with the dutch. he had quarrelled with his parliament, and knew not where to turn to raise the money to meet the heavy liabilities in which he had involved himself. the attack on cadiz had utterly miscarried, and had failed to give any help to the cause of the palatinate. at this moment of sore disappointment he had seen with misgiving that the new stadholder, frederick henry, and his minister aerssen, had turned to france with friendly overtures, and had found richelieu willing to receive them. france had promised to the states a yearly subsidy, and a loan of troops on condition that the dutch would send a squadron to assist in the blockade of la rochelle, and would undertake not to conclude a peace or truce with spain without the knowledge and consent of the french king. charles felt that his strenuous efforts to increase his fleet and render it more efficient, with the aim of making the english navy supreme in the channel and the north sea, were directly threatened by such an alliance. it was known that it was the policy of richelieu to strengthen the position of france as a maritime power, and the traditional english jealousy of french aggrandizement was increased rather than diminished by the close bond which united the royal families. the french marriage had always been unpopular in england, great resentment being felt at the concessions that had been made with regard to the public performance of roman catholic rites. charles himself found the position of things at court so difficult that he was obliged finally to take the strong step of sending back the french attendants of the young queen. this gave great offence at paris, and the soreness between the two countries was aggravated by the high-handed action of the english on the sea during the spanish war. french ships had been searched and seized, and in reprisals an embargo had been laid upon english vessels and goods at la rochelle and other places. finally, the countries drifted into war. charles hoped that he might secure the friendly neutrality of spain, but his efforts failed, and spain allied herself with france. in june a great expedition sailed under the command of buckingham to relieve la rochelle. to meet its cost without the help of his parliament, charles had been compelled to have recourse to forced loans and other unpopular expedients, and the issue was to be a disaster even more humiliating than that of cadiz. in these circumstances, while this fleet in the spring of was being prepared, but its destiny still unknown, it was necessary for the king to keep on good terms with the united provinces, and to pursue a temporizing policy with regard to the grievances that he had against them. while therefore jacob cats, as special ambassador from the states, was busily engaged in negotiations with the english government in london, charles sent on his part an envoy extraordinary to the hague, nominally for the presentation of the order of the garter to the prince of orange, in reality to sound the disposition of the dutch statesmen and to make proposals to them. the man selected to carry out this commission was the former ambassador at the hague, sir dudley (now lord) carleton, who had returned to london in the previous year. in his secret instructions (dated may, ) are several interesting passages.[ ] the document opens thus:-- 'the mayne scope of your imployment consisting of two points; the one to prevent the practices of the french, who seeke by presentation of new treatyes, and profers of summes of money, to make, as it were, a purchase of the affection of that state, and to gaine it from us; the other, to provide that no misunderstanding growe upon such overtures of pacification as are made unto us by the spanyard; we may well consider that in cases of this nature, with people so composed as they are, there is required a very cautious proceeding.... we would have you begin with declaration of our purpose constantly to continue our preparations against spayne, as against a common enemie, in conformity to the league, offensive and defensive, betwixt us and that state, and to make the same more manifest, you shall have a list of the shipping now sett out under our high admiral, the duke of buckingham, with such as we are now further preparing for the security of these seas; and hereupon you are to require them to arme, in like manner extraordinarely to sea, according to treaty....' [ ] sir dudley carleton's _state letters_, , pp. - . thus was carleton to attempt to blind the dutch statesmen as to the overtures that had been made to spain and as to the purpose of the fleet gathered at portsmouth. with regard to the second point, the instructions proceed:-- 'we would have you take knowledge of such griefs and discontentments, as their resident ambassador joachimi, and catz their extraordinary deputy, have complained of against our seamen, and thereupon make knowen the charge (wherewith you are well acquainted) we have given certaine select persons of our council to treate with them, of all due and reasonable satisfaction for what is past, and a reglement for the future; but with all you are to remember unto them, that, as we are to have a care of their contentments, so we are not to neglect the protection we owe to our own subjects.' and then follows a setting out of the old grievances, the amboina affair and the differences between the east india companies generally, and the exactions upon the merchant adventurers now having their court in the staple town of delft under the title of tare. there is no mention here of the fisheries. as regards the choice of friendship with france or with england, the instruction, after a recitation of all that the republic has owed to english goodwill in the past, thus presents the alternative:-- 'therefore, as things may growe to greate extremity betwixt us and the french king, in case you find no disposition in the states to joyne with us in assistance, as their enemys do with france, we like well you should persuade them to hold themselves neutrall, whereby to reserve to themselves the liberty of mediation of attonement, to which we shall be at all times ready to lend a willing ear to them, as common friends. and as they may apprehend danger to their state, by want of such pecuniary ayde as is verbally presented to them by the french king as the price of their affections; or may be prest to the renewing of the triennial treaty of compiegne, let them in their wisdomes, waigh what is the less of evils, in forbearing for a while the acceptation of the weak and faltering friendship of france, which, being in warre with england, cannot have meanes to assist them, though never so willing and constant; or provoking england to the necessity of conjoyning with their enemies, for which they cannot but know the doore is allways open to us; and then consider that when the flame betwixt france and us hath no such fewell from this country as is ministered to the french from spayne, it will be the sooner extinguished and these crownes may be quickly reunited, not only to their ayde as formerly, but likewise to the support and restitution of such friends in germany, in whose welfare they, with us, have common interest....' finally, carleton is requested to remonstrate with the states for the difficulties they had raised to the admission of his successor at the hague--a nephew, named dudley carleton like himself--to a seat in the council of state, which had always hitherto been granted to all english ambassadors and agents since . carleton had his first audience in the assembly of the states-general, june / , and a second five days later. in the first he read an address setting forth the various objects of his diplomatic mission; in the second he asked permission of the states for the prince of orange to accept the garter. in a letter dated june (o.s.), to lord killultagh, the ambassador gives an account of a conference that he had with a deputation of the states-general, consisting of one member representing each province. 'he laid open to them', he writes, 'all that had passed from the beginning to the end', and tried to persuade them of the advantage of clinging to the english in preference to the french alliance. he found it, however, a difficult task to remove the apprehensions that were felt that charles's quarrel with france meant a drawing nearer to spain. carleton, at the same time, does not scruple to point out that the fact that he has gone to holland without any money to pay even interest on the expenses that had been incurred by the states for the maintenance of mansfeld's english levies in , or for the creditors of the queen of bohemia, or for preventing the forfeiture of 'his majesty's jewells, which are in pawn at amsterdam', would be ruinous to his mission, and begs for the necessary cash to be sent. the money, it is needless to say, was not forthcoming, and such was the suspicion against england that, despite carleton's efforts to secure for the english resident ambassador a seat on the council of state, the proposal was rejected by the vote of every province separately. nevertheless there was genuine alarm in the netherlands that the continuance of the war between france and england would be injurious to their interests by forcing one of the combatants to seek the alliance of spain. the missions of cats to england and of carleton to the hague, though they failed in bringing about any real settlement of the differences between the two powers, at least effected an understanding that, for a time at any rate, grievances were not to be pressed. the interests of dutch trade rendered the undisturbed passage of the channel, free from interference by hostile fleets or cruisers, a consideration of the very utmost importance. it was resolved, therefore, to send yet another special embassy to england to offer the mediation of the states between the belligerent powers, and to negotiate for the release of the many dutch ships which had been seized on the high seas and kept in english harbours. the lord of randwijk and adrian pauw, pensionary of amsterdam, were accordingly sent. they arrived in london, january , , and stayed in england some fourteen months. carleton meantime remained at the hague. in may of this same year the earl of carlisle joined him, bringing further instructions from the king. by these instructions he was bidden to assist carleton in pressing upon the states the advantages of friendship with england in preference to france, and the necessity, if they wished to obtain it, of forbidding the construction of french war-vessels in the dutch ports, and of punishing adequately the perpetrators of 'the foule and bloody fact' of amboina. it will thus be seen that diplomacy during these years and was indeed busy, so busy that it is by no means easy to see light clearly amidst such a tangled web of negotiations. this is certain, that they had small result. the prince of orange, and his chief adviser francis van aerssen, had made the french alliance the sheet-anchor of their policy. they wished to be on friendly terms with england, and to bring the war, which was so injurious to dutch interests, to a speedy conclusion, but they distrusted the intentions of charles i, and knew that the breach with his parliament in any case must deprive him of the resources for carrying out any bold and active intervention in the german war. they suspected, moreover, that it was not unlikely that charles might follow in his father's footsteps and strive to help his relatives in the palatinate by means of negotiations with spain rather than by hostilities against that power. the efforts of carleton and carlisle met therefore with little or no success. the influence of amsterdam in the states of holland was too strong for any steps to be taken to punish those who had been concerned in the amboina tragedy, and the english demands were met by evasion and delay. but though carleton was unsuccessful, the envoys in london, in carrying out their task as mediators between england and france, were helped by the pressure upon charles of the financial difficulties in which, after the assassination of buckingham (august , ), he was becoming more and more involved. the dissolution of march, , was a final breach with his parliament. the king had therefore little or no alternative but to bring his war with france to a speedy conclusion. the dutch envoys, on their part, did their best to remove the obstacles to an anglo-french understanding, and peace was signed april , . v: - the foreign policy of charles i during the eleven years of autocratic rule which followed the dissolution of parliament in , was conditioned by his lack of money. his schemes were ambitious and were obstinately pursued, and the charge that has frequently been preferred against him of inconstancy and fickleness, though it has a basis of truth, is on the whole unjust. charles's projects had to be frequently modified, because he found himself without the means for carrying them out. in november, , peace was concluded with spain. it was his dearest desire to see the palatinate restored to the elector frederick, and his sister, to whom he was much attached, freed from the necessity of living as an exile in holland; but the cost of a military expedition to the aid of the protestants in germany was prohibitive. he was also suspicious of french motives and of the policy underlying their alliance with the dutch. perhaps at this time the predominant idea before charles's mind was the restoration of the navy to a position of supremacy in the british seas. his most earnest endeavours were for some years directed to this end, but its attainment was seriously threatened by the close bonds which united the powerful fleets of the dutch republic with the growing naval strength of france. in these circumstances, he attempted to pursue his father's policy of seeking to counterbalance the franco-dutch alliance by a good understanding with spain, through whose intervention with the emperor he hoped he might be able to secure for frederick v some portion at any rate of his ancestral possessions. in a treaty with spain for the partition of the netherlands was actually drawn up, but it came to nothing, and its failure was followed by negotiations with gustavus adolphus. these also were fruitless, for charles was unable to offer the swedish king the military assistance without which the proffered alliance had no value. hopes, however, no doubt lingered in charles's mind that the phenomenal success of gustavus would lead to the restoration of the elector palatine to his rights, but gustavus was slain at lützen (november, ), and the disastrous defeat of the swedes and their protestant allies at nördlingen (august, ) gave a decisive superiority in germany to the hispano-imperialist forces. the habsburg family alliance had for the time completely gained the upper hand. charles, who had been tentatively making overtures to france, now turned once more to spain (october, ) with a fresh scheme for the partition of the netherlands, and though the time was now past for any real change in spanish policy, a treaty was actually signed (may , ) by which the english king agreed to assist the spaniards with a naval force against the dutch. he had been impelled to take this step from fear of french designs. the battle of nördlingen had had the effect of drawing the french and dutch nearer together in the common dread of a habsburg predominance. a treaty of subsidies was at once agreed upon, and it was followed (february, ) by an offensive and defensive alliance between the two powers. both france and the united provinces bound themselves not to make a separate peace, and it was provided that the spanish netherlands--the southern provinces, by the death of the archduchess isabel, had in reverted to spain--should be conquered and partitioned between the two contracting parties. charles had therefore looked to a spanish alliance as a counterpoise to a franco-dutch supremacy in the 'narrow seas'. he hoped also that he might at the same time secure favourable terms for his nephew--frederick v had died in november, --in the palatinate. he was soon to learn by the publication of the treaty of prague (may , ) that the emperor had transferred the territory and the electoral dignity of the palatinate to the duke of bavaria. direct negotiations with vienna, backed, as they were, by no force, were barren, and charles was compelled to see in the aid of france, who had concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with the swedes, two months after that with the states, his only hope for the furtherance of his nephew's interests. richelieu had now definitely ranged himself with the two leading protestant powers in a league against the house of austria, and had pledged all the military and financial resources of france to the task of carrying out the policy of henry iv, which a quarter of a century before had been rendered abortive by the dagger of ravaillac. the states judged this to be a fitting time to send over to england a special envoy, and cornelis van beveren, lord of strevelshoek, was selected for the post. he set out for london, march , . his instructions were to act in concert with joachimi and the french ambassador de senneterre, in urging charles to join in a triple bond with the united provinces and france for the purpose of making a combined attack upon spain. van beveren was to point out that only by such a course could he lend any effectual assistance to his nephew. it was hoped that charles lewis, who was now residing at the english court, would use all his influence in forwarding the objects of the mission. the negotiations, however, were doomed to take a very different direction from what had been intended. on april the secretaries of state, windebank and coke, came to van beveren with a communication from the king. it was to the effect that charles was preparing to send out a fleet 'to preserve and maintain his sovereignty and hereditary rights over the sea, and for the preservation and protection of commerce', and the dutch envoy was informed that no one would in future be allowed 'to fish in the king's seas without express licence and suitable acknowledgement.' so long a time had elapsed since the last attempt at interference with the dutch fishing that all mention of it had been omitted from the instructions of van beveren; it was hoped, indeed, that the question would not be revived. on van beveren expressing his astonishment at this sudden change of policy, and asking for the reasons which had prompted it, he was referred to the recently published _mare clausum seu dominium maris_, by john selden, in which he would find a complete exposition of the king's rights and of the object he had in asserting them. this famous work, written originally, as the author himself tells us, at the command of james i, to establish the claims of the king to the exclusive sovereignty of the british seas, had for some years remained unprinted. the attention of charles having been drawn to it, he read it carefully, and immediately commanded its publication. its appearance in december, , had thus an official character, for its principles and policy were henceforth adopted by charles, as matters demonstrated by irrefutable proofs, and they were endorsed by english public opinion wherever selden's treatise, which rapidly passed through two editions, was read. van beveren, seriously disturbed, at once wrote home for further instructions, and his fears were not allayed when at an audience, april , the king declined the proffered alliance, and expressed his wish for a discussion of the question of maritime rights. his dispatch at this very time of thomas howard, earl of arundel, on a special mission to vienna, showed indeed that he still trusted to the result of direct negotiations with the emperor. arundel had to pass through holland, where his presence on such an errand warned the dutch that the attitude of charles was anything but friendly, and that grave dangers might be threatening them. in these circumstances the states-general, leaving van beveren to continue his negotiations in england, summoned joachimi to the hague to consult with them as to the course it was best to take should charles persist in his purpose. they had need of his advice, for may / , , a proclamation was issued by the king--'for restraint of fishing upon his majesty's seas and coasts without licence'--which plainly stated the king's intention 'to keepe such a competent strength of shipping upon our seas, as may by god's blessing be sufficient, both to hinder further encroachments on our regalities, and assist and protect those our good friends and allies, who shall, henceforth, by vertue of our licences (to be first obtained) endeavour to take the benefit of fishing upon our coasts and seas, in the places accustomed.'[ ] [ ] see note g. for some weeks no steps were taken to enforce the proclamation, but on july news reached van beveren that an english fleet of fifteen vessels was ready to sail to the fishing-grounds with orders to seize as prizes any boats that refused to pay the toll. to plead for delay was the only course open to the dutch envoy. he had an interview with the king in person at windsor, july , but was able to effect nothing. charles assured him that the object of the fleet, so far from being hostile, was intended for the protection of the fisher-folk especially against the dunkirk pirates (from whose daring attacks they had as a matter of fact suffered much during the past few years), and that the payment of a small toll was but a recognition of the benefit they would receive. with this doubtful assurance he had perforce to rest content. on july twelve ships under vice-admiral pennington actually sailed northwards, and compelled the fishermen that they encountered--most of the boats had already returned home, it being late in the season--to pay the toll. no opposition was made. one of the captains of the dutch guard-ships had, however, in consequence of his protest against these proceedings, been taken prisoner. the dutch government on hearing this news took decided action. joachimi was ordered at once to return to england, and as soon as possible to seek an audience with the king. armed with instructions, joachimi accordingly left holland, august , convoyed by a fleet under lieutenant-admiral van dorp. he landed at southwold, and finding that charles was at woodstock he made his way at once to that place. the interview took place september . in accordance with his instructions the ambassador expressed their high mightinesses astonishment that an armada should have appeared in the midst 'of the poor fishers and herring-catchers of these lands', and had seized one of the captains of the guard-ships and caused such terror among the fisher-folk that the larger part of them had fled and dared no longer pursue their avocation. his majesty was courteously requested to withdraw his demand for a licence and to allow the fishers to ply their trade as heretofore, and it was proposed that a conference should be held to consider the fishery question in its entirety. joachimi did not neglect the opportunity of pointing out how closely the questions of the fisheries and of the palatinate hung together. charles was unmoved by these representations, and finally, september , declined the proposal of a conference. 'there could be no debating', he said, 'about his majesty's rights already confirmed publickly before all the world'. the recognition of his rights was a condition which must precede negotiation. after discussion with van beveren, seeing that the situation was serious, joachimi determined to return to the hague. his start was, however, delayed by various causes, and he did not make his appearance before the states-general until november . meanwhile the aspect of affairs had not improved. admiral van dorp, who had in the middle of august convoyed joachimi to england, also had his instructions. he was first to sail with his fleet to the fishing grounds to prevent any injury being done to the fishermen. this accomplished, he was to blockade dunkirk, and to destroy any privateers or spanish ships cruising in the channel. his orders were strict, that he was not to allow his ships to be visited or searched, and during his blockade of dunkirk he was to keep a watchful eye upon the fisheries of the land and to protect them against the spaniards or any others who should wish to molest them. these instructions were in fact a direct reply and challenge to the proclamation of king charles. the dutch herring fleet having recovered from their alarm had ventured out, as was their custom, about the middle of september, to the english coasts for a second catch of fish. the earl of northumberland had been charged with the collection of the toll from them. he had, however, at this time but three ships with him, and learning that a dutch squadron of sixteen sail was near at hand he promptly sent for reinforcements. in response, twelve vessels were dispatched from the thames, october . actual hostilities, however, did not take place. one large detachment of 'busses', not having a sufficient convoy, was made to pay, the rest were left unmolested. the english commander finding himself in the presence of thirteen dutch war-ships did not venture to attack them. both sides showed in fact more caution than aggressiveness. the authorities in holland, however, did not approve van dorp's attitude and conduct, and he was requested to resign his command. the course of events was fortunately to relieve a strain that was rapidly approaching the breaking point. charles's negotiations with the emperor had led to no satisfactory result. it was at last made clear to him that by this means there was no hope of obtaining a restoration of the palatinate. van beveren seized the opportunity of placing himself in communication with charles lewis, at this time residing in london, with the hope of securing through his aid a better understanding between england and the states. charles lewis was only too willing in his own interests to act as intermediatory, and his influence with his uncle was great. his mother, the queen of bohemia, was at this time writing pressing letters to her brother begging for his active intervention, and it was urged upon king charles that the assistance of the dutch army and navy would be far more valuable to him than any sum of money that could be extracted in the shape of toll from the fisher fleet. on the point of the toll the king showed himself not unwilling to yield, but not one inch would he concede of his claims to the undisputed sovereignty of the sea. if he withdrew his proclamation and allowed the dutch, as heretofore, freedom of fishing without licence, it would be in compensation for services rendered in the cause of the palatinate, not as a right based upon ancient treaties and long usage. the dutch, on the other hand, were keenly alive to all that was involved in any admission of such a dominion of the sea as that claimed by the english king, and were determined not to grant it. on charles's side, however, financial difficulties at this time rendered any straightforward course impracticable. the king had not the means to fit out an expedition for the help of his nephew, and he hovered hither and thither between divergent policies in the vain hope that without recourse to a parliament he could find some way of furthering the cause of charles lewis, without involving himself in an outlay that he was unable to meet. scheme after scheme floated before his mind, all of them equally visionary when confronted with the stern realities of impecuniousness. from ferdinand and philip he turned to richelieu. the french armies were advancing in lorraine and elsass, and were co-operating with the dutch in the netherlands, and with the swedes and their protestant allies in germany. for awhile it appeared as if richelieu were inclined to an english alliance. in february and march, , a treaty was indeed actually drawn up. it is strongly suspected, however, that the cardinal was never in real earnest, and only wished to amuse the english king with negotiations, and thus at any rate keep him back from purchasing spain's goodwill on the rhine by an offer to take part in a joint naval attack upon the united provinces. charles was quite aware of the solidarity of the bond which united france and the states, and that a french alliance implied friendly relations with the dutch. on february therefore he sent the secretary of state, coke, to van beveren, who was still in london, to reopen direct negotiations. it was now proposed that there should be a combined anglo-dutch naval expedition in which a french squadron should be invited to participate, which, after driving the spanish fleets from the sea, should effect a landing in the peninsula and dictate terms to philip iv. meanwhile the king expressed his willingness to allow the dutch fishermen to pursue their industry along the coasts of his kingdoms freely and without hindrance. during the following season the english fleet would blockade the flemish ports, but would not appear on the fishing grounds nor make any demands for licences. but with this latter concession the states were not satisfied. such an act of toleration implied that charles maintained to the full his claim to the undisputed sovereignty of the sea. he would not during the time of the allied operations press his rights to issue licences and exact toll, he only waived them as a favour. further than this he could not go. on the question of the _dominium maris_, despite the earnest entreaties of charles lewis, he refused any compromise. but on the other side there was no less obstinacy. the prince of orange himself wrote (march ) to van beveren, that he was on no account to commit himself or assent to any terms unless the proclamation concerning the fishing licences was first withdrawn. with france the negotiations for an alliance appeared to be proceeding smoothly, the treaty lay ready for signature, and on march charles sent full powers to his ambassador at paris to conclude the matter. on the rd came the news that difficulties had arisen, and that france also required that the proclamation should be withdrawn, at least during the period of the treaty. but charles, though the negotiations still dragged on, absolutely declined to discuss a question which concerned his rights and honour, and so he now once more lent a not unwilling ear to the tempting offers made to him by the spanish ambassador. spain was willing in return for an offensive and defensive alliance against the united provinces to recognize the king's sovereign rights on the seas, and to hand over at once the lower palatinate. they even went so far as to promise the surrender of certain towns in flanders as pledges for the ultimate restitution of the upper palatinate and the electoral dignity to charles lewis. it is extremely doubtful whether these proposals were serious, in any case they were not seriously entertained. the mere prospect of an anglo-spanish agreement had, however, the effect which charles probably intended it to have in making the french and dutch more conciliatory. negotiations were resumed, and the fishery question by mutual consent was relegated to the background. it was finally arranged that a conference should be held at hamburg at the end of june to settle the terms of a quadruple alliance between france, england, the united provinces, and sweden. terms of peace were to be laid before the emperor by the four powers conjointly. in case of their rejection the king of england was to declare war against austria and spain. everything now seemed to be working smoothly, and no one doubted that the conference would meet and that its issue would be favourable. the dutch fishermen had not been interfered with, and such was the confidence in the states that england had now finally thrown in her lot with the coalition against the house of austria, that instructions were sent to van beveren to return home where his presence was required. nevertheless the dutch after his recall did not show any eagerness to proceed. reflection made them doubtful about charles's bona fides. they misliked the high pretensions of the english to the sovereignty of the seas, for in his insistence on this point the king was but voicing the sentiment of his people. it was becoming a really grave issue of practical politics. with astonishment the dutch learnt that charles had even given a patent granting exclusive rights of fishing off the shores of newfoundland, and had forbidden foreigners to fish in those waters without his licence, april, . if he claimed the right to do this, where was the line to be drawn? under pressure from their french allies, charles van cracauw, the ambassador of the states in denmark, was at length appointed to represent the united provinces at the hamburg conference, but his instructions were not drawn up, and he continued to reside for some time longer in copenhagen. throughout the whole of the dutch could not be moved to take any further steps in the matter. in the letters of hugo grotius (at this time swedish resident ambassador at paris) to the chancellor axel oxenstierna many interesting references are made to the attitude of the states, and it must be remembered that grotius not only had access to the best sources of information, but had an unrivalled acquaintance with the question which was uppermost in the minds of all dutch statesmen, the freedom of the sea and of the fisheries. on june , the very day after the nomination of cracauw as delegate for the conference, grotius writes:-- 'the ambassador of the states in england informs me that the spaniards there have great power--that they wish that the restitution of the palatinate should be regarded as a certain thing; that they promise aid for the safeguarding of the possession of the sea against the dutch. would that these things were not true! the same adds that proposals were made by the spaniards that after the death of this bavarian the electoral law should be altered, conditions were even offered by the spaniard to the english, if they could be dragged into war against the dutch republic, which however i do not fear. for i see that the action of the english is principally directed to the aim of having their commerce into all nations free and to deprive others of theirs. the dutch had formed a hope that the contest about the fishery would this year be at rest; but i see that the english envoys, who are here [at paris] hold that for uncertain.' a fortnight later (june ) occurs the following passage:-- 'after i had written this there came to me the english envoy extraordinary, lord leicester.... he says, that northumberland (to whom he is nearly related) is again about to disturb the dutch in their liberty of using the sea, unless the dutch purchase it by great services to the palatine house and by declarations not injurious to english rights. i, restraining myself from a definite declaration about the controversy, have been content to demonstrate, how necessary liberty of fishing was to that republic and how necessary the republic itself to the security of all europe.[ ] [ ] _rikskansleren axel oxenstierna's skrifter och brefvexling, hugo grotii bref_, ii. - , pp. - . such being the feelings and the relations subsisting between the two countries, it can excite no astonishment that the states were exceedingly cautious before committing themselves to an alliance, which might entail further sacrifice upon them, and tie their hands in a matter of primary importance to their welfare. according to grotius, proposals were made for holding the conference at the hague instead of hamburg, in order to make sure of dutch co-operation. but they came to nothing. charles, however, in the spring of appears to have been really in earnest. again and again the english resident at the hague appeared before the states-general to urge them to send a representative to the conference. not, however, until fresh pressure had been put upon them in the name of france and sweden by the french ambassador, d'estampes, were definite orders sent to van cracauw to go to hamburg, april . even now he did not have any powers given to him to negotiate as plenipotentiary, but was required to refer all matters to the states-general for their decision. already, on march , a new treaty had been concluded between france and sweden for the joint prosecution of the war, but the quadruple alliance was never accomplished. difficulties and intrigues prevented the ratification either of the anglo-french or anglo-swedish treaties, and the states were more than half-hearted in the business. the ill success of the young elector palatine, who had taken the field in the spring of this year at the head of a force raised by the help of his uncle charles i, virtually brought the conference to an end. charles lewis's army was completely defeated at lemco on october . differences, which had been for some little time endangering the friendly relations of england and france, now came to a head.[ ] the representatives of the powers gathered at hamburg, only to disperse without result. the long drawn out negotiations gave birth to nothing but sterile discussions. the outbreak, indeed, of the troubles in scotland regarding 'laud's liturgy', and the resistance that was being offered to the collection of ship-money, effectually crippled charles's efforts on behalf of his nephew in germany. richelieu no longer saw any advantage in tying his hands by entering into an alliance which promised so little. he preferred therefore to cut himself adrift from the english connexion, and to trust to his alliances with sweden and the united provinces[ ] for pushing on the war vigorously. it was not for protestantism that he was fighting, but for the aggrandizement of france at the cost of the house of habsburg. [ ] _grotii bref_, april , , p. , 'video cum dolore inter anglos et gallos veteres recrudescere inimicitias.' [ ] _grotii bref_, april , , p. , 'haud equidem affirmaverim, quod suspicantur angli, gallicis pecuniis sustentari scoticam factionem pauperiorem ceteroqui quam ut bello diu sufficiat. creduntur autem id facere galli, non tantum ex aemulatu vetere, verum etiam quod cum batavi nunc consilia socient ad capienda flandriae oppida maritima, quod cum solus prohibere possit anglus, domestico ob id negotio distinendus sit.' this failure of his efforts to bring about, in conjunction with france, a coalition of the protestant powers for the reconquest of the palatinate and the restoration of his nephew to his electoral dignity and possessions, made charles turn his eyes once more to spain. the presence at the english court of mary de medicis and the duchess de chevreuse in gave fresh life to that party, who had always favoured a spanish alliance. the news that the spaniards were making great preparations for a determined attack upon the united provinces led the king to hope that, despite previous disappointments, he might be able to forward by friendly negotiations with spain the cause of charles lewis. the help of the english fleet could not but be serviceable to a spanish naval expedition, and possibly charles had visions of being able to attain through this means that undisputed sovereignty of the british seas which, since the publication of selden's book, he had set before himself, as we have seen, as one of the chief and unchangeable objects of his policy, and at the same time, perhaps, the pecuniary assistance he so much needed for the suppression of the scottish rebellion against his authority. with characteristic uncertainty and wavering, however, while negotiating with spain, the king did not cease his endeavours to gain french support for his nephew. the spanish preparations caused uneasiness in paris, as well as at the hague, and the english fleet was an asset not to be despised in the event of a spanish armada threatening to dominate the channel. the death of duke bernhard of saxe-weimar in july, , left the powerful force of mercenaries which he had commanded without a leader. charles wished to buy their services for the elector palatine, but he could only do this through the good offices of richelieu, who was already offering good terms to the 'bernardines' to enter the french service. a treaty between the french government and the chief officers of the 'bernardine' army was in fact on the point of being concluded, when charles lewis made his appearance at the head-quarters with a supply of english money and tried to induce the leaders to place themselves under his command, as an independent force. the result was his immediate arrest by richelieu's command, october, . he was imprisoned at vincennes for several months. this act was a final breach of good relations between france and england. meanwhile charles's approaches to spain had been equally unfortunate. the cardinal infant, ferdinand, the victor of nördlingen, had, as governor-general of the netherlands, been successful in the conduct of the war against the dutch and french in the years and . in the latter year olivares determined to dispatch a powerful spanish reinforcement by sea to the netherlands to take part in the next campaign. accordingly, early in september, a fleet left the spanish ports consisting of seventy-seven vessels, many of them of the largest size, commanded by a veteran admiral who had seen much service, antonio de oquendo. its object was to disembark at dunkirk an expeditionary force of , men. a dutch squadron had been cruising in the channel all the summer, keenly on the look-out for the spaniards, under the command of lieutenant-admiral martin harpertzoon tromp. on september he sighted the armada. he had with him at the moment only thirteen ships. but without hesitation he fiercely attacked the spaniards, and after a tremendous fight he forced oquendo to fly for refuge to the english coast. oquendo, after passing through the straits of dover, anchored under the lee of the downs, side by side with an english squadron of ten ships under vice-admiral pennington. tromp sent at once urgent messages to holland for reinforcements. with a squadron that joined him from dunkirk he lay in the offing blockading the spanish fleet in the downs. in all the harbours of holland and zeeland the greatest efforts were now made to send every available ship to sea at the earliest moment. day by day tromp's fleet increased in number. his orders were uncompromising. he was to attack the spaniards wherever he found them, as soon as he was in a position to do so with success. accordingly, on october , being now at the head of a fleet of sail with fireships, the dutch admiral, although the spaniards still lay in english waters, resolved to take the offensive. detaching thirty ships under vice-admiral de with to watch pennington, he sailed straight for the enemy's galleons as they sheltered under the cliffs between dover and deal. the contest was sharp, but decisive. under cover of a fog, oquendo himself with seven vessels made his way to dunkirk. all the rest were captured or destroyed. some , spaniards perished, about , were taken prisoners. the dutch only lost two ships and about killed and wounded. tromp had won one of the most crushing of naval victories, and had annihilated the power of spain upon the sea. this daring infringement of english neutrality could not but give deep offence to king charles, and be hurtful to the feelings of the english people. it was at once felt in the states that an explanation must be offered for the instructions given to tromp, which had been so successfully carried out. it was accordingly resolved to dispatch a special envoy to london, and francis van aerssen (now generally known as lord of sommelsdijk) was himself chosen to undertake the difficult mission. his instructions were that he should complain of the help frequently afforded to the spaniards by the english, and plead that the attack of tromp at the downs was a necessary sequel to the previous encounter from which the spanish fleet had fled to seek refuge in english waters, and that it was justified by art. of the treaty of southampton. he was further to express the readiness of the states to conclude with the king a fresh treaty of alliance. sommelsdijk found everything against him. the king was very angry at the gross affront to his honour and his sovereignty of the seas, and the most influential of his counsellors, among them strafford and laud, were strongly anti-dutch. the affair was made an excuse for pressing forward the collection of ship-money, and the spanish party continually gained strength. the queen-mother of france and madame chevreuse, who were then at the english court, did their utmost to further the cause of spain, and there was talk of cementing an alliance by the marriage of the princess royal with the heir to the spanish crown. sommelsdijk, finding he could effect no good result, asked permission to return to holland.[ ] he probably knew that charles was anxious not to break with the states, for his request brought about a change in the king's demeanour. charles requested him to remain, and showed himself more friendly. on january the ambassador, whose correspondence with frederick henry at this time is of great interest, wrote to the stadholder that he was not without some hopes now of soothing the resentment of the king by abstaining as far as possible from the irritating topic of the downs, and letting it fall into oblivion by drawing his attention to other subjects of discussion. sommelsdijk had persuasive manners, and by the exercise of patience, tact, and conciliation, he did succeed to a large extent in his aim. he was much helped in his task by another negotiation which was now set on foot. frederick henry, in this same month of january, , sent over a secret envoy, jan van der kerkhoven, lord of heenvliet, to propose a marriage between his only son and an english princess. the matter had been first suggested by marie de medicis during a visit to the hague in . the proposal was favourably received, and became the ground for a long-continued struggle between the spanish and the franco-dutch factions at court. in the meantime, gradually 'the bitterness of the pill' of the downs was 'sweetened' by marriage negotiations, and the 'scandal' of the infringement of the king's sovereignty over his own waters was, if not forgiven, at least overlooked. [ ] _archives de la maison d'orange-nassau_, nd ser., iii. , 'dès aussitôt que j'auray endormi le faict des duyns, qui est le seul object de ma commission.' the king saw in fact that it was wiser to keep silence. spain was clearly a broken reed, and the dutch had given a signal proof of their possession of a naval strength that it would be dangerous to challenge. sommelsdijk was quite content on his part to let the matter drop. on february , , he wrote to the stadholder[ ]:-- 'the scandal of the downs has been so thoroughly justified, that the greater part of the council, in the presence of the king, has sustained that we both could and were obliged to do it; so it is sufficiently lulled to sleep, seeing that up to now there has not been made any further complaint. as long as i remain i will take good care that neither on one occasion nor another shall it be revived.'[ ] [ ] _archives de la maison d'orange-nassau_, nd ser., iii. , . and two days later (february ) he wrote again:-- 'it is not our business to stir up again the affair of the downs. if we were to press for an answer, it could be none other than condemnation after so much noise and menaces; silence then must suffice us, as a kind of answer, in place of an open approval, which neither the state of the time or of men's minds permits one to hope.' sommelsdijk had judged rightly that his mission, so far as the matter of the downs was concerned, had achieved all the success that was necessary. the truth is that charles, though his pride had been so deeply hurt by the destruction of the spanish fleet in the presence of an english squadron close to the english shore, was secretly displeased with the spaniards for having, so to speak, forced his hands in the matter. it was generally assumed at the time, and the statement has frequently been made in histories since, that charles was aware of the intention of the spanish admiral to make use of the anchorage at the downs, should it be necessary for him to seek a place of refuge either from storms or hostile attacks, and that he had previously given permission for him to do so before the fleet left the spanish harbours. this was not the case. a dispatch[ ] from the secretary of state, windebank, to sir arthur hopton, the english ambassador at madrid, dated september (o.s.), that is nearly three weeks after the arrival of oquendo at the downs, is conclusive testimony to the contrary. it runs as follows:-- 'your lordship's dispatch of the / september gives account of a message delivered to you by the secretary of the council of war in the king's [philip iv] name, that he was resolved to put his great fleet to sea for the transportation of his forces to dunkirk, with intention to chastise the insolences of the french and hollanders; and thereupon desired his majesty to afford the fleet a good passage in his seas and accommodations in his harbours, with supplies of the necessary commodities, if it should happen to put into any of them. these letters though they came in extraordinary diligence, yet they arrived not until the fleet had been here in the downs some days. now that so great a force of near seventy vessels should put into any of his majesty's ports, with such numbers of men of war, without his majesty's leave at all, or so much as his knowledge until they were actually in the ports, besides the neglect and disrespect, is beyond the articles of the peace, and gives occasion enough of jealousy, and would no question be taken highly by them, had his majesty done the like within their dominions. i am sure it has cast his majesty into some difficulties and jealousies with the french and hollanders, and what prejudice it may bring upon his treaties with them is much to be apprehended. it is very true that don alonso [the spanish ambassador, de cardenas] gave some intimation when his majesty was in the north that some vessels were preparing in spain for the transportation of forces into flanders, and desired his majesty would not take apprehension at it, but that they might have a friendly reception and treatment in his ports, as occasion should be presented. but he spoke not of so great a number nor such a strength; and it was to be presumed he had meant no other than those english merchant ships that first transported the , or , soldiers, and were intercepted and visited by the hollanders.... when the fleet was come in, notwithstanding they were in distress, having been shrewdly torn and beaten by only seventeen of the holland ships in their first encounter (a shameful thing, considering the number of the spanish ships and their vastness, and their ostentation before to chastise both the french and the hollanders), they refused to do the usual duties by striking to the king's ships; insomuch as sir john pennington, our vice-admiral, was enforced to threaten to shoot them, if they did it not, and then, after some dispute and much unwillingness, it was yielded to.' [ ] _clarendon state papers_, ii. . nothing can be more clear from this whole statement of the situation than the two facts that the spaniards were not expected, and that they were unwelcome guests. why then, it may well be asked, did charles endure their presence so long in english waters, when it was known that the dutch were collecting a great fleet in the offing? or why, having endured, did he not take steps to secure his guests from attack by a plain declaration that any breach of neutrality would be treated as a declaration of war and would be resisted by the english admiral? it was because he hoped to be paid for his protection. 'it must be money that must carry the business', wrote windebank to hopton. charles in fact asked for £ , sterling, of which £ , was to be paid at once; and the cardinal infant was busily engaged in obtaining the required sum from the antwerp money-lenders, when the blow fell and there ceased to be any longer a spanish fleet to protect. as a striking instance, however, of the diplomatic double-dealing of the times, and one peculiarly characteristic of stuart policy, it may be mentioned that a dispatch of the french ambassador, bellievre, dated october , testifies to the fact that the queen was at this very time in the name of the king promising the french government that, if they would consent to the palatine prince assuming command of the late duke bernhard's army, 'le roi feroit tout ce que nous et les hollandois pourrons souhaiter en leur faveur contre la flotte d'espagne, sans néanmoins se déclarer ennemi, en sorte toutefois que les hollandois auroient lieu d'entreprendre et de faire tout ce que bon leur sembleroit.'[ ] hence the explanation of pennington's inactivity. charles was in reality far more angry that tromp had marred his prospects of striking a good bargain with one or other of the belligerents than at his venturing to infringe a neutrality which was actually in the market. he had not reckoned on the dutch being able to put so formidable a fleet to sea in so short a time, or bold enough to strike home with such tremendous energy and effect. [ ] ranke, _englische geschichte_, ii. . charles, however, should not be altogether blamed for not pursuing at this crisis of his reign a firmer and more consistent policy. scotland was in rebellion, and he had no funds to raise an army strong enough to restore order. he was face to face with seething disaffection in england. in april, , he found himself compelled, after an interval of ten years, to summon a parliament in the hopes of obtaining a grant of supplies. supplies were refused until grievances were amended, and the short parliament, as it was called, was dissolved after sitting three weeks. the long parliament was to meet in november. it is no wonder that in such circumstances the king became a pure opportunist in his conduct of foreign policy. his domestic troubles and his financial bankruptcy made it exceedingly difficult for him to steer a straightforward course. the bitter pill of the battle of the downs had to be swallowed, however disagreeable it might be. it was an accomplished fact, the results of which could not be undone save by war against france and the states, which was in absolutely impossible. his high pretensions to the sovereignty of the seas, and his claims to demand licences for the fisheries could no longer be insisted upon, his whole interest and attention henceforward were concentrated on the struggle with his own subjects and the maintenance of his sovereign rights within his own kingdoms. the proposal therefore for a marriage between the young prince william of nassau and one of the english princesses was not unwelcome. the princes of orange were not of royal rank, but they filled a position of so much dignity and influence in the united provinces, that it was felt that a union between the families might be advantageous to charles in securing to him the goodwill of the dutch in the dangers and difficulties which were thickening round his throne. william was only fifteen years of age, and at first the hand of the younger princess elizabeth was proposed, that of the princess royal being assigned to a spanish infant. but elizabeth was only five years old, the prospect of a spanish match fell through, and at last in february, , it was arranged that mary the princess royal should be the bride. the greater part of one of the volumes of the archives of the house of orange-nassau, edited by groen van prinsterer, is filled with the negotiations concerning this marriage, and the study of the endless notes and dispatches on the subject is replete with interest both for the student of the manners of the times, and because they contain many passages giving lifelike and charming touches concerning the court of charles i and henrietta maria, and their intimate domestic life. here it is not possible to treat the subject in greater detail. the proposed marriage was very popular in england, whose people saw in it the definite adhesion of the king, after many tergiversations, to the protestant cause. on may , prince william disembarked at gravesend and proceeded to london in great state to meet his _fiancée_. he was convoyed from holland by a strong squadron under the command of admiral tromp; and was accompanied by the special envoys, brederode, aerssen van sommelsdijk, heenvliet, and the resident ambassador, joachimi. in their report to the stadholder of the reception (may , ), the envoys write: 'we had to pass through so many people, it was almost impossible to reach the court, except for the good order which was kept from street to street. your highness could not imagine with what blessings and acclamations his highness was received, and we would venture to say that not for a century has a reception taken place in which great and small have testified so much joy and satisfaction.' it was to be the last glimmer of brightness in the life of charles and henrietta maria. the boy and girl, aged respectively fifteen and ten years, were married in state on may , , in the chapel at whitehall--a marriage destined to sorrow, but which was to have such important results upon the future relations of england and the united provinces. nine years later william was suddenly cut off by an attack of small-pox in the midst of a promising career. a week after his death mary gave birth to a son, who was to be famous in history as william iii, prince of orange and king of england. vi: - the marriage of the princess royal with the son of frederick henry, prince of orange, on may , , took place at an ominous time. ten days later strafford was executed. there can be little or no doubt, that the eagerness of the king and queen for the accomplishment of this union was due to the desire to secure the goodwill of the stadholder, and through him of the states, in the troublous times which they saw before them. it fulfilled two objects. it gave satisfaction to the puritan party in england as being a protestant alliance, and it was accompanied by secret assurances on the part of frederick henry of friendly support to the king in his coming conflict with his subjects. these assurances, we may well believe, were very guarded and strictly personal, for no one knew better than the stadholder the limitations of his actual power. the following passage from a letter in the hand of sommelsdijk, written march in the name of the envoys to frederick henry, puts the matter very clearly: 'we have found so much frankness and affection on the part of the king and queen for the furtherance of the marriage, that we have no fear in recommending your highness to hasten the departure of monseigneur the prince your son, as much as possible, so as to put everything in security; for their majesties have resolved to push forward without allowing themselves to be stopped by any machinations to the contrary from whatever part they come, and whatever they write to you, upon the good faith and confidence of mr. de heenvliet, remains secret without anything of it escaping either here or there, for fear lest the cognizance of it should come to the knowledge of the parliament.'[ ] [ ] _archives_, nd series, iii. . william returned to holland at the end of may alone, leaving his child-bride for awhile in her parents' home. but the grand remonstrance, the impeachment of the five members, and other events now followed in rapid succession, and soon it was seen that the issues which divided king and parliament admitted of no accommodation by peaceful means. heenvliet, who was still in england, became the trusted confidant of the distracted king and queen, and his letters to frederick henry at this time show how anxious charles was to avoid a civil war, if by any concessions that did not utterly despoil him--'le dèpouiller tout-à-fait'--he could come to terms with the parliament. in private interviews henrietta maria was urgent with heenvliet to use his good offices, and many times expressed the hope that should matters come to an extremity 'the prince would not allow the king to perish'. in reply the stadholder impressed upon their majesties not to have recourse to arms, for victory was uncertain. a reconciliation on whatever terms could not but be to the profit and advantage of the king. unfortunately such advice was already too late to be of any avail (february, ). at the beginning of march henrietta maria accompanied the princess royal to holland. her real object was to collect funds and to secure, if possible, the active assistance of the prince of orange. she was received with much distinction and magnificence, but her thoughts were not upon the shows of state. letter upon letter passed from her to the stadholder in his camp, begging him to help her in procuring supplies of money, arms, men, and munitions of war for her husband's service. she tried to borrow upon her jewels, but the jews would give her nothing without the guarantee of the prince. lords jermyn and digby hurried backwards and forwards upon her confidential missions, and she had many interviews with heenvliet, with whom she had become so intimate during his sojourn in london. what a picture of the feverish state of anxiety to which her troubles had brought the once gay and buoyant henrietta maria, is contained in a report of one of her conversations with him sent by heenvliet to the prince of orange. 'i confess that this interview has troubled me not a little. the queen did not speak to me on the subject without trembling, and she kept asking me so piteously, if there were not any hope that by any means your highness could be persuaded to assist her, that i am still troubled at it.' frederick henry did his very best to give all the help he could, both in his private and official capacity. he allowed the english officers serving in his army to return home and join the king's forces, where their services were of great value. he gave the guarantee she required for a loan upon the crown jewels, he advanced a considerable sum of money out of his private purse, and he connived at arms and ammunition being secretly bought and sent to england from dutch ports; but he was unable to promise any assistance from the states, nor indeed could he venture even to suggest it. the bulk of the dutch people in the opening stages of the civil war took the side of the parliament, more especially the hollanders. the prince's influence could still command the support of a majority in the states-general, but he, like all the stadholders of his house, had constantly to struggle with the opposition of the aristocratic burgher-regents of the towns of holland, who controlled the states of that dominant province. maurice had crushed by force in the attempt of oldenbarneveldt to claim for each province of the union independent sovereign rights, but the spirit of oldenbarneveldt survived, and the hollanders, conscious of the power of the purse that they possessed, were ready to thwart the plans and policy of the stadholders, though these were supported by the other provinces, and indeed did thwart them by raising difficulties in the way of obtaining supplies. frederick henry, during the first decade of his stadholderate, exercised a larger personal authority in the direction of the affairs of the republic than any of his predecessors or successors. but during the last years of his life, prematurely worn out by constant campaigning, he had continually to confront the bitter opposition of the town corporations of holland to that vigorous prosecution of the war that he desired. the prince of orange then was not his own master, and could not in face of the strong leanings of a large part of the population, in holland particularly, towards the parliamentary cause in the civil war give effect to his own inclination to lend the king active support in his efforts to suppress rebellion by armed force. matters came to a crisis when, at the end of august, a special envoy from the parliament, walter strickland, appeared at the hague with instructions to protest against the dispatch of warlike stores to the king from dutch ports, and the permitting of officers in the dutch service to join his army. the queen was highly indignant. the english resident ambassador, boswell, at her bidding immediately presented himself before the states-general to protest and demand that strickland should not be received or acknowledged. to the prince she wrote, september , , begging him to prevent such an affront being offered to the king, 'for assuredly', to quote her actual words, 'it would be so great, that he could never have any friendship with these states after this; and, god be thanked, he is not yet in such a state as to be despised.' but although the majority of the states-general were ready to refuse strickland any audience, they were forced by the insistance of the states of holland to make a compromise. they would not admit him to the assembly of the states-general, but they agreed to send two deputies to confer with him. the result was, again by the pressure of holland, that the states-general declared for strict neutrality, and forbade the export to either side in the civil war of arms or munitions of war. despite this prohibition, by the connivance of the stadholder, friends of the royal cause contrived to dispatch ammunition and other stores to dunkirk, and from thence to ship it to england. strickland, having heard of this, ventured to make a written complaint to the states-general of the prince's conduct. frederick henry thereupon declared that such an aspersion was an insult to his person and demanded satisfaction. the states-general, may , , declared thereupon the accusation of strickland to be false, and broke off all relations with him. henrietta maria had returned to england the previous february, never ceasing to the end her tireless efforts on her husband's behalf. before leaving she had broached the project of a second alliance between the families, that of the prince of wales with the eldest daughter of the stadholder. it was not a mere ephemeral project, for the following year a certain dr. goff, who had been chaplain to one of the english regiments in the dutch service, was sent over by the queen, with a letter in which she says 'from me you will only know that the king my lord has given me full and authentic powers to negotiate and to conclude the marriage of my son the prince of wales with mademoiselle d'orange.' with these powers dr. goff was entrusted. in his instructions were contained the onerous conditions, which must be the price paid for the honour of such a match. the states were to break with france unless the latter would consent to give armed assistance to the king, or in default of this to make peace with spain, one of the conditions of such a peace being a promise of help to charles. it is needless to say that the proposal was not acceptable, for the simple reason that frederick henry had no power to comply with the conditions, even if he had wished. the negotiations, however, went on all through , although the desperate state of the king's affairs after the battle of naseby rendered any successful issue impossible. louise of nassau became shortly afterwards the wife of the great elector. in two envoys, william boreel and jan van rheede, were sent to england to attempt to mediate between the king and the parliament. their instructions, containing fifty-seven articles, are dated october , , but they did not actually set out until january following. they had interviews with lord denbigh, sir harry mildemay, and sir william strickland, representing the parliament, and afterwards, february , an audience with the king in the hall of christ church at oxford. during the whole of the year they remained in england, and took part in the abortive negotiations of uxbridge, which came to an end february , . it became now evident to the ambassadors that they could do no further good, more especially as the parliament more and more showed a disinclination to accept foreign mediation. after farewell audiences they reached the hague again, may , , and made their report to the states-general. it was unfavourable to the attitude of the parliament. on being informed of this by their representative, strickland, who was again at the hague, the parliament requested him to appear before the states-general and offer a justification on their behalf in reply to boreel and van rheede. the states-general, by the votes of utrecht, groningen, zeeland, and overyssel against holland, gelderland, and friesland, refused him admission, while at the same time they permitted the king's resident, boswell, to appear in their assembly and address them. the parliament on this had their justification printed in english and dutch, and secretly distributed throughout the provinces. it was eagerly read, the mass of the people being in favour of what they regarded as the cause of civil and religious freedom against despotic rule, especially as there were many points of resemblance between the struggle in england and their own long drawn out struggle against spanish tyranny. this marked division of opinion in the netherlands effectually prevented any further steps being taken to interfere in english affairs during the two next years. events, however, had been moving fast during that interval. on march , , frederick henry died. at the very end of his life he had deserted the french alliance, of which he had so long been a strong advocate, and had joined his great influence to that of the province of holland in bringing about a separate peace with spain. with the increasing growth of the military strength of france, the project of a division of the spanish netherlands with that power ceased to have attractions for him. at the time of his death all the conditions of peace with spain had been practically settled, the terms being virtually those dictated by the dutch. by the treaty which was actually signed at munster, january , , spain, after eighty years of strife, was at last compelled to recognize the independence of the united provinces, and all the conquests made by frederick henry in flanders, brabant, and limburg remained in the hands of the dutch, as prizes of war. at this proud moment in commerce, in sea-borne trade, in finance, in colonial expansion and enterprise, in arts and in letters, the dutch republic had reached the zenith of its prosperity. the civil war in england had paralysed the energies of its chief rival upon the seas, and left the way clear for the united provinces to step into the very first rank of maritime powers. frederick henry was succeeded in his posts and dignities by his son. william ii, prince of orange, had only reached his twenty-second year at the time of his father's death, but he was full of talent and energy, fired with ambition, eager to emulate the great deeds of his ancestors, and, if possible, to excel them. his wife, mary of england, was still a girl. haughty in manner, and exceedingly tenacious of her royal rank, she preferred always to be styled the princess royal, rather than princess of orange. the relations between the youthful pair were, however, thoroughly sympathetic, and william was ever ready to lend a helping hand to his english relations and never made any secret of his zeal in their cause. his hospitality to them was unbounded, and his purse open. first, the duke of york made his escape from england to holland, april, , and he was followed by the prince of wales in july. as the queen of bohemia was still residing at the hague with her daughters, quite a family party were assembled at the court of william and mary. the prince of wales, who was courteously received by a deputation of the states-general, found a loyal squadron assembled at hellevoetsluys, of which he assumed command. he also raised some troops for his service in the islands of borkum and juist. there was at one time danger of a collision in dutch waters between the royal ships and a parliamentary squadron under the earl of warwick. the parliament dispatched an envoy, dr. doreslaar, a native of enkhuysen, who had settled in england and had become professor of history at cambridge, to protest against the protection and assistance accorded to the royalists. the states-general refused to grant him an audience. towards the close of the year, walter strickland was again sent to the hague, furnished with fresh credentials, to join dr. doreslaar and demand in the name of the parliament that the royal fleet should not be furnished with arms and stores in dutch harbours. he was escorted by lord warwick, with a fleet of twenty-one ships. the states-general took steps to prevent a hostile encounter between the rival fleets, but could not be moved even to give a hearing to the parliament's request. the states of holland, however, received doreslaar, and passed a resolution forbidding the royal ships and stores to remain in the harbours of that province. the news of the impending trial of charles i for high-treason caused consternation in the states, and especially in orangist circles. the prince of wales himself, who had now handed over the command of his fleet to prince rupert and was residing with his brother-in-law at the hague, appeared in person before the states-general to ask them to intercede for his father. all parties concurred in granting his request, and it was unanimously resolved that an extraordinary embassy should be sent to london, and in order to strip it of any appearance of partisanship, the chosen envoy was not an orangist, but adrian pauw, lord of heemstede, the veteran leader of the aristocratic-hollander party. with him was associated albert joachimi, who through the whole of the civil war had remained at his post, as resident ambassador in london. besides his credentials, pauw carried with him letters for fairfax, cromwell, and other parliamentary leaders. the embassy was received with courtesy feb. /jan. , , and pauw pressed for an immediate audience. it was too late. on the following day the death sentence was pronounced. the envoys now approached, sunday, feb. /jan. , fairfax, cromwell, and others privately, asking for a respite of the sentence, but failed to get any definite answer. on the monday they were granted an audience at a special sitting of the house of commons, and in the name of the states-general, pauw and joachimi read an address interceding for the king's life, and setting out the reasons for the course for which they were pleading. a general answer was given, that what they had said should be considered. in reality the decision had already been taken for the public execution of the king the next morning, tuesday, feb. /jan. . the ambassadors had their address translated from french into english, and on seeing the preparations in whitehall, again made an effort to obtain an immediate audience, but they found the way barred by troops, and knew that the object of their mission could no longer be achieved. not till february / was an official answer given to pauw and joachimi, in which, after thanking the states for their friendly intentions, the parliament declined to discuss the question of the king's execution. but at the same time an earnest desire was expressed for the establishment of a firm peace, a right understanding and good correspondence between the governments of the two countries, which had so many common interests. 'we shall', they said, 'be ever ready not only to hear but to contribute with them all good means and offices to fulfil such works as shall be necessary for the general good of christendom, as well as our own.' there can be no doubt that cromwell's influence may be seen in this friendly overture. cromwell had already given pauw an assurance in a private interview of his wish for the establishment of close relations of friendship with the dutch, and had spoken of a proposal being made for giving the netherlanders the same commercial privileges in england as the inhabitants of the country. already there was floating before his eyes that idea, which he was afterwards in a position to try and realize, of effecting such a close union between the two republics as would make them into one state. in any thought of such a thing was a mere dream. the news of the king's execution caused a wave of horror and indignation to sweep over the netherlands without distinction of class or party. the states-general decided unanimously to offer their condolences to the prince of wales and also to congratulate him on his accession. the orangists would have liked his full title to have been given to him of king of great britain and ireland, but the states of holland and zeeland, who were the most interested in trade and shipping, opposed this, as they were afraid of the resentment of the new government in england. so it was agreed that he should be addressed simply as king charles ii. to this title he had an undoubted right, as he had been proclaimed king in scotland on his father's death. the states of holland separately also sent a deputation to him for the same purpose. the number of broadsheets and pamphlets that issued from the press are a proof of how deeply moved the whole country was at the tragic death of the english king. what was most remarkable was the fact recorded by clarendon[ ] as to the change of attitude among the preachers, who had hitherto been strongly on the side of the parliament. 'the body of the clergy', he writes, 'in a latin oration delivered by the chief preacher of the hague, lamented the misfortune in terms of as much asperity, and detestation of the actors, as unworthy the name of christians, as could be expressed.' nevertheless, in order to avoid an open breach with the commonwealth, as it was now styled, joachimi was allowed to remain, as the states' resident ambassador in london. [ ] _history of the rebellion_, v. . the english council of state, on their part, determined to send over once more dr. isaac doreslaar to join strickland at the hague, with instructions to propose to the states-general the knitting together in closer relations of the common interests of the two countries. he arrived may . doreslaar was especially hateful to the royalists, who were gathered at that time in large numbers in the dutch capital, as he had taken part in the king's trial, and rumour had even designated him as the masked headsman. it was an unhappy choice, which had serious consequences. three days after his arrival, doreslaar, as he sat at table in his hotel, was attacked by five or six men, and assassinated. the assassins, their work accomplished, walked off undisturbed. the body was sent back to england, and was honoured with a public interment in westminster abbey. 'though all who were engaged in this enterprise', writes clarendon, 'went quietly away, and so out of the town, insomuch as no one of them was ever apprehended or called in question, yet they kept not their own counsel so well (believing they had done a very heroic act) but that it was generally known that they were all scottish men, and most of them servants or dependents upon the marquis of montrose.' the states of holland, as soon as news reached them of what had happened, made great efforts to track the murderers, but in vain, and joachimi was commissioned to express their horror at the act, and to try and appease the parliament. the parliament, on their side, did not feel themselves sufficiently secure to take decisive action, and strickland was instructed to approach the states-general once more with offers of friendship. but the influence of the prince of orange in the states-general was paramount, and strickland was refused an audience. on the other hand, despite strickland's protest, the scottish envoy, macdowell, sent by charles ii to announce his accession to the throne of the northern kingdom, was received by them. the english council of state were unable to regard this conduct in any other light than as a deliberate insult to them and their representative. strickland was recalled, and joachimi was informed that unless he was provided with fresh letters of credit to the republican government within a fixed time he must leave the land. strickland left holland, july , . joachimi received orders to quit london, september . all this time the states of holland had been doing their utmost to effect an accommodation. the trade interests of the province with england were so great that they were most anxious to avoid a breach with the new commonwealth. they on their own authority received strickland in a public audience, and even ventured so far as to send a commissary, gerard schaep by name, to london, january . this high-handed act of independence only had the effect, however, of stiffening the backs of the states-general. all the efforts of holland to change their attitude towards england failed. the acute differences of view in regard to this particular line of policy between the self-willed province and the stadholder were but the signs of a general estrangement; and the struggle for predominance was destined to come to a head at the very time of the return of joachimi. the prince of orange had been altogether opposed to the abandonment of the french alliance and the conclusion of a separate treaty with spain in . the peace of munster had carried into effect the policy of the states of holland, and william ii was determined, as soon as he got the reins of power firmly into his hands, to reverse it. he entered into secret negotiations with mazarin for a renewal of a french alliance against spain, with the aim of conquering and partitioning the spanish netherlands. devotedly attached to the stuart cause, it was his intention with french help to try to overthrow the english commonwealth and establish charles ii on his father's throne. his generosity to his wife's exiled relations was so great that he impoverished himself and had to raise large loans on his estates. with ambitious schemes of war and conquest filling his brain, he found himself speedily in disagreement with the merchant burghers of the province of holland. the chief interest of the hollanders was peace, which would reduce taxation and increase commerce. they had long grudged the heavy charges of the war, and the provincial states, as soon as peace was concluded, clamoured for the disbanding of a large number of the regiments, which, though they formed part of the federal army, were in the pay of the province of holland. william, as captain-general of the union, opposed this, and was supported by the states-general. into the details of this contest for supremacy it is needless to enter here. it was to a certain extent a repetition of that between maurice and oldenbarneveldt. armed with the authority of the states-general, william in the summer of , at the head of a strong body of troops, forced the states of holland to submission. in the previous year charles, on his departure for scotland, had begged the support of the states-general, and had promised in return to settle favourably the long-standing differences about amboina and pulo run in the east indies, and other questions, but owing to the opposition of holland and zeeland no active assistance was given. the states-general, however, as a mark of sympathy and goodwill, assembled in a body to bid him farewell. the royal cause had at first prospered in scotland, until september / , , when the battle of dunbar shattered charles's fair prospects. but at this very time his brother-in-law had just brought his contest with the province of holland to a triumphant issue. william ii was now in a position to bring about that active intervention of the states in alliance with france in support of the stuart cause, and for the expulsion of the spaniards from the southern netherlands, on which his heart was set. to the prince of orange therefore the eyes of the english royalist party were turned, as their chief hope in the hour when it seemed as if nothing could stem the tide of cromwell's victories. they were doomed to a terrible disappointment. william, in the very midst of secret negotiations with france, suddenly fell sick of the small-pox, and after a week's illness died, november , . he was but twenty-four, and in him charles ii lost a chivalrous and true-hearted friend. eager for fame, gifted with uncommon abilities, william, had he lived, was undoubtedly prepared to have put his far-reaching plans into execution, and to have risked much for the upholding of his kinsman's rights. his decease brought about a revolution in the united provinces. he left no one of his family to take his place. his only child was not born until a week after his death. the province of holland straightway seized the opportunity to assert that predominance in the union for which it had been striving so long. its leaders at once took steps to call an extraordinary assembly, known as the 'great gathering', to take into consideration the state of the union, of religion, and military affairs. the great gathering met at the hague, january , . the office of stadholder was abolished, in all the provinces but friesland, as were also the posts of captain-general and admiral-general of the union. the population and the wealth of holland gave henceforth to the states of that province a position of supremacy in the federation, and, as in the days of oldenbarneveldt, all the threads of administration and the conduct of foreign affairs passed during the stadholderless period into the hands of its chief functionary, the _raad-pensionaris_ or grand pensionary. this complete change in the system of government of the united provinces caused much satisfaction in london. the aristocratic burgher oligarchy, who were now in power at the hague, had no special sympathy for charles ii. indeed it was embittered against him at this time, since prince rupert's ships from their head-quarters in the scilly islands had been plundering dutch merchantmen in their passage up channel. the parliament therefore determined to send a special embassy to propose that close alliance between the two neighbouring republics, almost amounting to a political union, which cromwell had already set before him as an end to be aimed at for the mutual advantage of both states. the states-general on their side had, on the proposal of the states of holland, determined, january , , to recognize the english commonwealth as a free republic, and to receive its envoys, and joachimi again went to london to take up his old post as the resident ambassador of the states. the english ambassadors were oliver st. john and walter strickland, the latter of whom, as we have seen, had spent many years in holland without being able to obtain an audience with the states-general. the parliament were now determined that their representatives should make their state entry into the hague with a splendour befitting the envoys of so mighty a power. they were accompanied by a suite of some persons in brilliant uniforms and liveries, and travelled in twenty-five state coaches. on march , , the solemn entry took place. the ambassadors were, however, to pass through the ordeal of an unpleasant experience. as the procession made its way through the crowded streets, st. john and strickland were greeted with loud cries of 'regicides', 'executioners', 'cromwell's bastards', and other abusive epithets. no doubt there were many royalist refugees in the hague, but though these may have given the lead to the mob, there can be little question of the general hostility at this time of the masses of the people, even in holland itself, to the parliament. it is a common mistake to suppose that the orangist was the aristocratic, the republican, or so-called 'states' party, the popular party in the united provinces. the states of holland, which was the stronghold of the republican party, was entirely in the hands of the close oligarchic corporations of the chief towns of the province. in each town a few aristocratic burgher families monopolized all offices and authority, the rest of the townsmen had no votes or representation, and the country people were ignored altogether. the great influence and executive powers of the stadholders of the house of orange were therefore a check upon the domination of these burgher oligarchies, and so by them resented accordingly. on the other hand, the princes of orange were loved and respected by the people, alike for their high qualities and the great services they had rendered to the country, and there was scarcely any time when they had not the enthusiastic support of the great majority of those classes, the bulk of the population, who were excluded from any share in the government of the state. a knowledge of these facts is absolutely necessary to a right understanding of what the 'stadholderless' régime in the time of john de witt really meant. the parliamentary ambassadors were really alarmed, remembering the fate of doreslaar, at this hostile reception. neither they nor their attendants dared to venture into the streets but in parties of five or six and sword in hand; and everywhere they were followed by the cry of 'regicides'. on march , st. john and strickland presented their credentials before the 'great gathering', and in a long speech expressed the desire of the english government for the establishment of good relations of enduring friendship between the two republics. 'it is the wish of the parliament to conclude', they said, 'a closer union of the two states, which would be for both more advantageous than heretofore, since it would not be dependent upon the life and will and private interests of a single individual.' six commissioners were appointed by the assembly to discuss their proposals, and a conference was opened on april . the grounds on which the english proposed to the netherlanders that 'a more strict and intimate alliance and union bee entred into by them, whereby there may bee a more intrinsecall and mutual interest of each other, than hath hitherto beene for the good of both', were: ( ) community of religion, ( ) community of political liberty, ( ) community of interest in freedom of trade and navigation. the dutch, however, showed themselves very wary. they had no intention of giving their consent to any general propositions before informing themselves of their precise meaning. there was considerable variety of opinion in the different provinces and much indecision. on april , the commissioners were only empowered to reply, that the states were willing 'not only to renew the ancient friendship between the two nations, but also to conclude a treaty for common interests'. this response did not satisfy the english envoys, who rejoined that 'the union for common interests' they had in view 'was one closer than at any previous time'. these words required explanation, but it seemed that they could only point to an alliance so intimate and binding as to be another term for coalition. such was indeed its meaning in the minds of those who proposed it, and so the dutch interpreted it. to them, however, not unnaturally, the only idea suggested by a coalition with the english commonwealth was the loss by the smaller republic of its independence, and its practical absorption in the larger. such an idea was simply unthinkable to men who had just won the recognition of their independence after eighty years of heroic struggle. the reply of the assembly was not hurriedly given. at last, on april , it came, and was so far unsatisfactory that, while expressing their readiness for a closer union, the reservation was made that it must be one 'in which both states could better promote their interests for themselves and for the common welfare'. st. john and strickland now went a step further, and gave a hint that if an offensive and defensive confederation such as they had in mind could be accomplished, it would be accompanied by many advantageous concessions to the dutch. at this point the negotiations came to an end. the parliament did not believe that in the present temper of the dutch their proposals were likely to be received in the spirit in which they were offered, and the ambassadors were recalled. they and their attendants were constantly insulted by royalists and orangists whenever they showed themselves out of doors, and though the provincial authorities strictly forbade such outrages on pain of severe penalties, and urged the citizens to assist in the protection of the representatives of a foreign power, they effected little. some of the offenders were of high rank[ ], and they openly braved the threats of the magistracy and remained unpunished. earnest representations were now made to the english parliament on behalf of the states of holland by their agent, gerard schaep, who was still residing in london, that they would allow the envoys of the commonwealth to remain awhile longer and continue the negotiations. the parliament, however, would only consent to do this on condition that full satisfaction be made to st. john and strickland for all that they had endured, and that the attacks upon them should cease. the states of holland promised to do this. prince edward of the palatine and other prominent offenders were summoned before a court of justice, and warned; some of their servants were punished. it was a sorry piece of business. but it was an index to the real feeling of the populace that such a state of things should have been possible in a town like the hague. [ ] among them prince edward, son of the queen of bohemia. the negotiations were accordingly renewed by the presentation of fresh proposals, may , by st. john and strickland. there was now no mention of coalition, only of an offensive and defensive alliance, but there was an ominous addition: both states were required to bind themselves severally not to permit the sojourn on their soil of declared enemies of the other. this was especially directed against the adherents of the stuarts and the members of the orange and palatinate families. the great desire of the party now in power in the netherlands was the maintenance of peace. the hollanders were willing to conclude a treaty extending their trade privileges, but they were anxious not to be drawn into the war in scotland, and in face of the popular affection for the house of orange they dared not venture at the dictation of a foreign power to treat the young prince and his mother harshly. they responded therefore, after some delay, by counter proposals for the renewal of the treaty of , the _magnus intercursus_, but revised in favour of the dutch to suit present-day conditions. complete freedom of trade, navigation, and fishery without pass, toll, or other hindrances in each other's domains was what was aimed at. no mention was made of the english proposal to banish from the netherlands those who gave help to the stuart cause. with such differences of view there was of course no prospect of any agreement being reached. the english embassy accordingly left the hague, july , , and returned home. the report made to parliament created a bad impression in england, and led to all the old complaints against the dutch being raked up once more: the massacre of amboina, the seizure of pulo run and other high-handed acts in the east indies, their monopoly of the fisheries on the british coasts, their attacks on the english whalers off spitzbergen, and their attempts to drive out english trade from the baltic, from russia, and elsewhere. then on the top of this the shameful treatment to which the parliamentary envoys had been persistently exposed was angrily recalled, the refusal of the states-general for years to admit strickland to an audience, the murder of doreslaar, and lastly the insults offered to the latest embassy. all these things formed a formidable bill of indictment. as the efforts of the parliament to effect a close union between the republics for their common interest had failed, it became the clear duty of the english government to take measures to protect the national interests against unscrupulous rivals. there was no delay in taking drastic action. on october , , the famous navigation act was passed, which forbade the importation of foreign goods and products into english harbours save in english bottoms, or those of the countries from whence the goods and products came. a deadly blow was thus struck at the netherlanders, who had at that time almost a monopoly of the most important branches of sea-borne trade and were the carriers of the world. scarcely less serious was the prohibition to foreigners to fish in british waters. every infringement of this edict would be punished by the confiscation of the offending vessels. it has already been seen in previous lectures of what vital importance these fisheries were to the welfare of holland. the states-general now determined to make a serious effort to resume the negotiations which had been broken off, and jacob cats, gerard schaep, and paulus van der perre were sent on a special embassy to england. they reached london, december . their task was a difficult one. they pressed for the revocation of the navigation act and of the embargo upon fishing, and for the release of the confiscated ships, and proposed that negotiations should again be set on foot for the conclusion of a treaty based upon the _magnus intercursus_. the news at this critical moment that the dutch were fitting out new war vessels for the protection of free navigation did not tend to smooth the way to an understanding. it was regarded in england as a threat. the english now formulated their demands. these were such as they must have known would never be conceded. they required the payment of the arrears of toll due for the fishing on the british coasts, the surrender of the spice islands, the punishment of the survivors of those concerned in the amboina massacre, satisfaction for the murder of doreslaar, and the payment of the indemnities due for losses sustained by englishmen at the hands of the dutch in various parts of the world. it is clear that these demands were practically an ultimatum. the netherlanders were required to choose between coalition or humiliation, and in case neither were accepted, war. both sides were, however, averse to taking the final step, and conferences and negotiations still dragged on for some months, while strenuous preparations were at the same time being made on both sides of the channel for hostilities. it was a dangerous situation, and was made wellnigh desperate by a conflict which took place off folkestone, may , , between the dutch fleet under tromp and an english squadron under blake, through a misunderstanding about the question of striking the flag. this event excited public opinion in england to fever pitch, and made war practically inevitable. the dutch government, however, knew that they were not prepared for such a mighty conflict. the peace party in holland had insisted on the disbanding of a large part of the land forces after the death of william, and the navy had been neglected and was far from being as formidable as a few years before. in all haste therefore the experienced adrian pauw, now holding the important post of grand pensionary of holland, was sent over to london to join cats, schaep, and van perre, and endeavour even at the last moment to avoid a final breach between the two nations. his efforts proved vain, for the english would not give way in their demands for conditions too humiliating for the netherlanders to accept. the 'states' party in power had, in fact, not a free hand, even had they been inclined to preserve peace at the cost of submission to english dictation, for the orangists were delighted at the thought of trying conclusions with the hated commonwealth, and they had strong support throughout the country. the fear of a revolution compelled the states-general to refuse the only terms by which war could be avoided. the die was cast. the dutch ambassadors left england, june , and the struggle between the two maritime powers for supremacy, which had been so frequently imminent but so long delayed, at last began. appendix a. the great or herring fishery. from the nature of the land, holland and zeeland were always the home of fisher-folk. the herring fishery off the coast of great britain was from early times an industry pursued by many hollanders and zeelanders, but it was comparatively limited, until the invention of 'curing' made by willem beukelsz of biervliet in the latter part of the fourteenth century (he probably died in ) converted a perishable article of food into a commercial commodity. the method of beukelsz, which remained practically unchanged for some five centuries, without going into minute particulars, consisted in the following processes. immediately after the hauling in of the nets the guts were in a particular manner removed from the fish, which were then packed in layers in barrels with salt between the layers. in the brine or pickle that was formed they were allowed to lie some time, fresh salt being added every fortnight. at first the zeelanders were the chief herring fishers, but afterwards the towns on the zuyder zee and on the maas became the head-quarters of the industry. during the burgundian period many laws were enacted regulating the herring fisheries, but the edict[ ] of charles v, may , , which extended and codified all previous enactments, remained the permanent basis of future legislation on the subject. the chief regulations concerned the branding of the barrels, the sorting of the fish, and the date of the beginning of the fishing. this date was originally august (st. bartholomew), but was afterwards changed first to july (st. james), and finally to june (st. john the baptist). it is possible that some change in the habits of the herring shoals may have led to this considerable shifting of the date. after there were many fresh enactments made, referring particularly to matters concerning convoys and their cost, the duties levied, and many details in regard to the boats, tackle, and crews, and again a codification of all laws was carried out by a series of edicts in , , and . these edicts of and (groot placaetboek van holland en west vriesland, tom i., - , - , - , - ), continued to regulate the fisheries during the period with which these lectures deal; i.e. the first half of the seventeenth century. especial attention was given in these regulations to the branding of the barrels in which the herrings were packed. each fishing town had its official inspectors, who themselves branded the barrels with the mark of the cooper and that of the town, and no others were allowed to be used. the kind of salt for the curing was rigorously prescribed, and careful precautions taken that no other kind or damaged salt was smuggled on board. not less minute were the regulations to ensure that the quality of the fish which came to the market should be guaranteed. all fish had to be sorted. such as were caught before july (st. james), being not fully developed, had to be kept apart. such as were caught after july had to be divided according to technical categories, 'full and sweet', 'empty', 'undersized or damaged'; and the skipper was enjoined under oath to place his own mark upon each barrel and to be personally responsible for the quality assigned, and not only so, the fisherman who packed the fish in the barrel was required to place his mark upon it. the most stringent rules were laid down as the correct method of curing. in fact, everything was done to show the importance of the industry, and the necessity of securing that the market was supplied with no counterfeit article, but only with herrings prepared in dutch fashion by dutch hands. in order to keep a fast hold upon the monopoly, the fishermen were forbidden under heavy penalties to sell their fish in foreign ports. in the seventeenth century, the interests of those engaged in this profitable trade were vigilantly looked after by a body known as the 'college of the great fishery', which met at delft. the college consisted of five deputies from the towns of enkhuysen, schiedam, delft, rotterdam, and brill, and so exclusive were they that during the period with which we are concerned other towns, even such important places as amsterdam, dordrecht, and hoorn, were refused admission. one of the chief tasks of the college was to enforce the carrying out of the regulations. [ ] 'placaet ende ordonnantie op 't stuk van den haring-vaert, 't branden van de tonnen en 't soorten van den haringh.' _derde memoriael boek 's hof v. holland._ during the reigns of the two first stuarts, the dutch fishing fleet was accustomed to sail out for the scottish waters between the shetlands and cape buchan ness in the middle of june, so as to begin their fishing operations on st. john's day, june . from june to july , the fishing was wholly in the north; from july to september to the south of buchan ness, but still along the scottish coast; from september to november in the neighbourhood of yarmouth; from november to january off the mouth of the thames and the kentish coast. the fleet sailed out twice only, in june and again in the autumn, the task of conveying the barrels of fish from the fishing 'busses' to the dutch harbours being carried out by a number of light vessels called 'ventjagers.' the herring fleet was always accompanied by an armed convoy, to the upkeep of which the state contributed , florins annually. in war time a small naval squadron was also detached to keep watch and ward against the attacks of spanish cruisers and dunkirk pirates. the herring or great fishery was compulsorily closed on january . during the spring months the fishermen occupied themselves with fishing by hook on the dogger bank, for cod, soles, and other fish. this was named 'the small fishery'. b. the narrow seas. the expression 'the narrow sea', or 'the narrow seas', which so often appears in seventeenth-century diplomatic dispatches and controversial writings, is a term upon whose exact signification geographically there has been much dispute. the english kings from ancient times claimed 'sovereignty'--_dominium maris_--in the 'narrow seas' or _mare britannicum_. evidence is fairly conclusive that the term under the tudors and until the friction with the dutch arose on the questions of free fishery and the striking of the flag in the reign of james i, was confined to the channel, the narrow sea between england and france. lord salisbury, as late as , writing to sir r. winwood at the hague (winwood, _mem._ iii, p. ), speaks of 'his majesty's narrow seas between england and france, where the whole appertayneth to him in right, and hath been possessed tyme out of mind by his progenitors.' it soon, however, became the accepted interpretation of english statesmen, jurists, and writers that the 'narrow seas' meant the two seas between england and france, and england and the netherlands; thus rapin (_hist. d'angleterre_ vii, p. ), 'la domination des deux mers, c'est-à-dire, des deux bras de mer qui se trouvent entre l'angleterre et la france et entre l'allemagne et la grande-bretagne.' this extension of the term was vigorously contested by the dutch. in the peace negotiations at cologne in the dutch protested that no treaty between england and any other power 'n'ait meslé la mer britannique avec celle du septentrion' (_verbaal der amb._ / ). the english popular view of the question appears clearly in an anonymous pamphlet, _the dutch drawn to the life_, published in , just before the outbreak of the second dutch war. the writer speaks of 'the command of the narrow sea, the dutch coast and ours' (p. ); and again, referring to the action taken by king charles i in (p. ), 'when our neighbours the dutchmen minded their interest and were almost masters at sea in the northern fishing ... upon our fishmongers' complaint the king encouraged several overtures and projects concerning busses for our own coasts service, the prevention of strangers, and the improvement of the narrow seas, &c.' c. the jÜlich-cleves succession question. the death of john william (march , ), the mad duke of jülich-cleves, without issue, raised the important question of the succession to his territory, which lay astride the rhine on the eastern frontier of the united provinces. it was felt to be essential for the protection of protestant interests in germany and the netherlands that the duchies should not fall into the hands of a partisan of the house of habsburg. duke john william had four sisters, but only the claims of the descendants of the two eldest really counted. maria eleanora had married duke albert frederick of prussia. all her sons, however, had died young, but it was held that her claims had passed to the son of her daughter anna, who had married john sigismund, elector of brandenburg. this was disputed by the count palatine, philip lewis of neuburg, who had married the second sister of the deceased duke, also named anna. eventually the elector and the count palatine agreed to occupy the disputed territory jointly, and were known as 'the possessors'. the dutch recognized the title of 'the possessors', but the emperor rudolph refused to do so, and with his sanction the archduke leopold, bishop of passau, at the head of an armed force, made his way into the duchies and seized the fortress of jülich. henry iv of france, who had been meditating an expedition for the overthrow of the habsburg power, seized the opportunity for planning a great alliance with the dutch, james i of england, and the protestant princes of germany for the expulsion of the archduke and the recovering of jülich. his assassination, may , , put an end to his ambitious schemes, but though deprived of the help of a great french army, maurice of nassau, at the head of a considerable force of dutch and english troops, entered the duchies and was joined by the troops of the 'possessing' princes. on september , jülich surrendered, and archduke leopold left the territory. the troubles were not, however, yet over. the 'possessors', as perhaps might have been expected, quarrelled. john sigismund of brandenburg became a calvinist, wolfgang william of neuburg married the sister of the duke of bavaria, and announced his conversion to catholicism. in september, , maurice of nassau, with dutch troops, and spinola at the head of a spanish force, both entered the duchies, and a hostile encounter seemed inevitable. hostilities were, however, avoided, and by the treaty of xanten (november ) the two rivals agreed to a partition of the territory. d. the origin and early history of the fellowship of the merchant adventurers. the fellowship of merchant adventurers has the distinction of holding the first place, not only in england, but in western and central europe, as the pioneer of great trading corporations. the gilds of the middle ages were municipal and local institutions. the hansa league in germany was a bond, not between merchants dealing in particular wares, but between a group of towns. england in the fourteenth century had no manufactures. her only industries were cattle-breeding and agriculture; her exports were raw materials, chiefly wool. english wool was famed for its quality, and was much sought after by the cloth weavers of the netherlands, germany, and italy. the trade was almost entirely in the hands of the hansa and of italians, who sent over agents to england to buy up the wool and export it to the continent. in england itself, before a.d. , the sale of the best wool, that of the royal flocks and of the great landowners, was conducted under the royal licence by an official body or group of merchants, known as 'merchants of the staple'. a staple (_stabile emporium_) was a place set apart for the export and import of certain articles; and there were ten or a dozen english towns, known as staple towns--among them newcastle, york, norwich, westminster, and bristol--where alone the wool traffic could be carried on. also on the continent there was a staple town, which was the recognized centre of the foreign trade, having exclusive rights. no wool could legally be shipped from england to any other port. during almost the whole of the fourteenth century the staple was at bruges. the institution by philip the good, duke of burgundy, of the famous order of the golden fleece, at bruges in , had a direct reference to the english wool, which had so much contributed to the town's prosperity. by that date, however, a change had already taken place in england. flemish refugees had, during the troubled times of the arteveldes, fled across the channel, taking with them their skill in the textile industries. many of them settled at norwich, then one of the staple towns, and introduced the art of cloth-weaving. only the coarser fabrics, rough white cloths, baize, and kersey, were produced, and these were sent over to ghent, bruges, ypres, and other places, to be finished and dyed. to a monopoly of this trade the staple company, which had in removed from bruges to calais, had no claim, and the exporting of cloth fell into other hands. enterprising english traders, under the name of merchant adventurers, had already begun to visit foreign countries with their wares, the pioneers of a commerce which was one day to encircle the world. their first official recognition came from the kings of the house of lancaster. by a letter patent of henry iv, , they were granted the privilege of appointing a governor or consul to represent them in certain towns, where they traded. their consolidation into an organized society appears to have been a gradual process, and little is known of the actual steps by which the court or central governing body of the merchant adventurers came into being, but in the middle of the fifteenth century it was in existence, and at the same time antwerp became the port to which exclusively their goods were sent and from which they were distributed to other parts of the continent--in other words, their staple. at antwerp a wharf, warehouse, and dwellings were erected for their use, and extensive privileges granted to them, including a certain autonomous jurisdiction. the charter which constituted them into an organized corporation was granted by henry vi in . by this charter the fellowship obtained the monopoly of the trade in woollen goods, at least all traders who were not members of the fellowship had to pay a tax for their privilege, low at first, but which at the end of the century had risen so high as to be practically prohibitive. by this charter the right of jurisdiction at antwerp was confirmed and placed in the hands of a court consisting of a governor and twelve assistants, the governor being appointed by the king, the assistants elected by the members. shortly after the granting of this charter the activity of the adventurers at antwerp aroused the hostility of the flemish weavers, and duke philip the good was induced by their complaints to forbid in the importation of english woollen goods into his dominion. they had therefore for awhile to withdraw to utrecht. on philip's death in the interdict was removed, and antwerp again became the staple of the adventurers, and was to be their home for wellnigh two centuries. the period of the greatest prosperity of the fellowship was the sixteenth century, the period of the tudors. this prosperity was built up on the privileges and monopoly granted to them by the charter of henry vii in , which was extended in and remained in force until the reign of james i. the governing body consisted of a governor and twenty-four assistants, elected by the 'general court', as the whole assembly of members was styled. this governing body had extensive powers, legislative, executive, and judicial. their jurisdiction over the members was not confined to civil actions, but they had the power of inflicting heavy fines and even imprisonment for criminal offences. to become a member--'a free and sworn brother'--of the fellowship an apprenticeship of not less than eight years had to be served, except in the case of sons of members; and proof had to be given of english birth and parentage. a 'brother' who married a foreigner or acquired foreign property was disqualified. four times a year the ships of the fellowship gathered at london and sailed to antwerp, carrying a cargo of half-finished white cloths, kerseys, and baize. the merchants themselves had to accompany their goods, for it was prescribed 'that every one must sell his own wares'. these sales could only take place in the court-house, and only three times a week, on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays. the carrying out of these regulations and jurisdiction within the staple was entrusted to a secondary governing body or court consisting, like the head body in london, of an elected governor and assistants. the great rival of the adventurers had been the staple company and the hansa league, but both these bodies became in the sixteenth century decadent, and with the capture of calais in the staple company ceased to exist. but though the loss of calais made antwerp more than ever the centre of the english continental trade, troubles were in store for the merchant adventurers. with the accession of elizabeth disputes arose between the english and spanish governments about the interpretation of the treaty of commerce, known as the _magnus intercursus_, concluded in between henry vii and philip the fair. margaret of parma, the governor of the netherlands, took in the strong step of forbidding the entrance of english goods into the netherlands. elizabeth replied by closing the english harbours to ships from the netherlands. for about a year this state of things spelt ruin to the adventurers, but no less so to antwerp. in , accordingly, an understanding was reached, and the court once more returned to its old quarters on the scheldt. but for a brief space only. the outbreak of the revolt led to the banishment of the adventurers from the netherlands, and at the end of they left antwerp finally. shut out from the netherlands, the fellowship now tried to set up their staple further north in the region dominated by their chief rivals the hansa league. at first they found a resting-place at emden, but in they were tempted by an invitation from hamburg to set up their court in that great seaport, from whence by the elbe they had access to the german market. hamburg thus played for its own profit the part of traitor to the league, of which it was one of the foremost members. the residence at hamburg lasted ten years, but the bitter opposition of the hansa to their presence proved too strong, and by an imperial decree of rudolph ii they were in banished from german soil. the energies of the adventurers were now diverted into different channels, small factories being placed at stade, emden, and even at elbing near dantzic. a more important move was the attempt to re-enter the netherlands by the erection of a subsidiary court at middelburg in . holland and zeeland had now practically freed themselves from spanish rule, and middelburg, on the island of walcheren, was the capital of zeeland, and at that time a flourishing port. with the growth of the united provinces in power and wealth, it was clearly the best policy of the fellowship to establish its chief staple and court within the boundaries of the republic. there were many claimants, among them groningen, delft, and rotterdam. but after many negotiations, an influential deputation sent by middelburg in january, , to london, decided the choice of the english government and of the general court of the adventurers in favour of making this town their sole staple upon the continent, and the seat of their great court. many points concerning the rights and privileges to be enjoyed, together with the restrictions imposed, were the subject of much discussion before the terms of the agreement was finally settled between the town of middelburg, the states of zeeland, and the states-general on the one hand, and the english privy council and the governing body of the fellowship on the other. the principal conditions were that the adventurers should carry on their entire business within the republic at the one staple-town, and all english subjects were forbidden to bring woollen goods to any other port of the united provinces. their later history is told in the lectures that precede. the staple and court remained at middelburg from to ; at delft from to ; at rotterdam from to ; at dordrecht from to . after the close of the second english war the states-general in refused to grant the adventurers their old privileges, and the long connexion with the netherlands ceased. e. the interlopers. this name for the smugglers who, despite the exclusive rights of the merchant adventurers, carried english woollen goods to other dutch ports than the privileged staple, was derived from the dutch term _inter-_ or _entre-loopers_, i. e. 'runners-in'. during the whole time that the court and staple were at middelburg, the port of flushing, only a few miles distant on the same island of walcheren, was in english hands, being one of the so-called 'cautionary' towns, which were a pledge to queen elizabeth for the repayment of her loans, and were garrisoned by english troops. flushing was during this period a centre of smuggling, and the flushing 'interlopers' a great annoyance to the adventurers. the smuggling went on, however, with activity after the retrocession of flushing in , especially to the port of amsterdam. the powerful amsterdam merchants, who profited by the illicit trade, did their utmost to encourage the 'interlopers', and to protect them in spite of the angry protests of the adventurers, and of the corporations of the interested staple-towns. the word 'interlopers' was soon universally applied to all private traders who trespassed against the privileges of a chartered company, more especially in the east indies. f. the english and scottish regiments in the dutch service. bodies of english volunteers were to be found fighting under the prince of orange against the spaniards from the very beginning of the dutch war of independence. in a force of , men under sir humphrey gilbert landed at flushing, with the connivance of queen elizabeth, and from this time forward english troops took part in all the fiercest fighting. in there were four english regiments in the field, commanded by colonels norris, cavendish, cotton, and morgan. during the time of leicester's governor-generalship, - , the number of the english army in the netherlands amounted to , men, horse and foot. after his departure, a considerable though reduced force was left under the command of lord willoughby. in he was succeeded in this post by the famous sir francis vere, the hero of the battle of nieuport, , and of the siege of ostend, - , and many another desperate struggle. it was during the time of his command that in an arrangement was made between the states-general and queen elizabeth, by the terms of which the english troops were henceforth to enter the service of the states and receive dutch pay. the english government allowed them to be recruited in england, and they were to wear distinctive english uniforms, carry english colours, and have their own national march and beat of the drum, but were to take during their service an oath of allegiance to the states-general from whom the officers received their commissions. the number was fixed at , . sir francis vere was followed in the command by his younger brother sir horace vere, afterwards lord vere of tilbury, in . during the twelve years' truce, - , the english regiments were retained in the service of the states, and in under sir edward cecil, afterwards lord wimbledon, distinguished themselves at the siege of jülich. from the outbreak of the war again in to the peace of munster in , the english regiments took part in all the campaigns of maurice (died ) and of frederick henry, prince of orange. in the names of the four colonels were edward vere, edward cecil, charles morgan, and edward harwood. on them and the scottish brigade always fell the brunt of the fighting. they particularly distinguished themselves in the defence of bergen-op-zoom ( ), and in the capture of hertogenbosch ( ), of maestricht ( ), and of breda ( ). in , the army of frederick henry included , english troops and , scottish. at hertogenbosch, colonel sir edward vere was killed; at maestricht, colonel sir edward harwood and the earl of oxford; at breda, colonels sir charles morgan and goring were wounded. in , the names of the four colonels were craven, cromwell, herbert, and goring. after the peace of munster ( ), followed in by the death of the stadholder william ii, the republican party in the states, now predominant, resolved to reduce the number of their standing army, but the english regiments were retained until the outbreak of the war with the commonwealth, when they were all disbanded. in , however, when peace had been restored, a single regiment was recruited from the veterans, who had remained in holland, chiefly royalist refugees, and it was henceforth known as the holland regiment. the command was conferred on colonel john cromwell, a cousin of the protector, but a stanch loyalist. on the declaration of war between england and the united provinces in , the holland regiment was summoned home. it became the th regiment of foot, but still retained its old name, the holland regiment, until . in that year william iii changed its title to 'prince george of denmark's regiment', and it became the rd foot. on the death of prince george in , their style was once more altered, and this time, from the colour of their waistcoats, breeches, and stockings, they were styled 'the buffs,' a name they were to retain until our own day. they are now the east kent regiment. not less interesting, and even more prolonged, is the story of the scottish regiments in the netherlands. the first record of scottish volunteers is in . from to there were two regiments. after there were three, except during the reign of william iii, when their number was increased. the group of regiments was always known as the scots brigade, and it was continuously in the dutch service receiving dutch pay for more than two centuries, except the decade - , when, under the dutch king of great britain, they received british pay. even during the anglo-dutch wars of , , and they were not disbanded, but were converted for the time into dutch regiments, and in consequence of this their composition during this period became considerably leavened with an admixture of foreigners. of the scots who remained, it must always be remembered that a number of them had been settled in the netherlands for two or three generations. after their thoroughly scottish character was restored. from that date until the scots brigade remained in holland. but when great britain declared war against the united provinces in that year, the question of the position of the scottish regiments was raised, and the states-general resolved that they should be completely denationalized and the officers be required to take an oath abjuring allegiance to their own country. the large majority at once threw up their commissions, and the scots brigade in the dutch service ceased to exist. the subsequent history is curious. in the scots brigade was by order of the british government reformed. in its strength was reduced, and the 'brigade' became the th regiment. until the th wore highland dress, but this was then discontinued. the regiment, however, retained the green facings which they had inherited from one of the dutch regiments. disbanded in , but reconstituted in , the facings remained green, and a diced band round the shako still proclaimed the scottish connexion. its last service as the th was in the boer war of , when a part of the regiment when on march in time of peace was suddenly attacked at bronker's spruit, and had heavy losses. the army reorganization of led to the th becoming the battalion linked to the th, an irish regiment, probably for no other reason than the green facing. the glorious scottish tradition therefore of three centuries was henceforth lost, and the regiment which represented the scots brigade became the nd battalion of the connaught rangers, with its head-quarters at galway. g. king charles's proclamation for the restraint of fishing upon his maiesties seas and coasts without licence ( ). whereas our father of blessed memory king james did in the seuenth yeere of his reigne of great brittaine, set forth a proclamation touching fishing; whereby for the many important reasons therein expressed, all persons of what nation or quality soeuer (being not his naturall borne subjects) were restrained from fishing vpon any the coasts and seas of great brittaine, ireland and the rest of the isles adjacent, where most vsually heretofore fishing had been, vntill they had orderly demanded, and obtained licences from our said father or his commissioners in that behalfe, vpon paine of such chastisement as should be fit to be inflicted vpon such wilfull offenders: since which time, albeit neither our said father, nor our selfe haue made any considerable execution of the said proclamation, but haue with much patience expected a voluntary conformity of our neighbours and allies to so iust and reasonable prohibitions and directions as are contained in the same. and now finding by experience, that all the inconueniences which occasioned that proclamation, are rather increased than abated: we being very sensible of the premisses, and well knowing how farre we are obliged in honour to maintaine the rights of our crowne, especially of so great consequence, haue thought it necessary, by the aduice of our priuie councell, to renew the aforesaid restraint of fishing vpon our aforesaid coasts and seas, without licence first obtained from us, and by these presents to make publique declaration, that our resolution is (at times conuenient) to keepe such a competent strength of shipping vpon our seas, as may (by god's blessing) be sufficient, both to hinder such further encroachments vpon our regalities, and assist and protect those our good friends and allies, who shall henceforth, by vertue of our licences (to be first obtained) endeauour to take the benefit of fishing vpon our coasts and seas, in the places accustomed. * * * * * giuen at our palace of westminster the tenth day of may, in the twelfth yeere of our reigne of england, scotland, france, and ireland. god saue the king. bibliography printed books and pamphlets aitzema, l. saken van staet en oorlogh in en omtrent de vereenigte nederlanden, - . vols. fol., the hague, - . albÈri, e. relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti. ser. iv, inghilterra. florence, - . beaujon, a. overzicht der geschiedenis van de nederlandsche zeevisscherijen. leiden, . birdwood, sir g., and foster, w. the first letter-book of the east india company, - . london, . blok, p. j. geschiedenis der nederlandsche volk. vol. iv, groningen, . borough, sir john. the soveraignty of the british seas (written ). london, . brugmans, h. engeland en de nederlanden in de eerste jaren van elizabeth's regeering, - . groningen, . carleton, sir dudley. letters from and to during his embassy in holland, - , and state letters during his embassy, . london, . ---- lettres, mémoires et négotiations dans le temps de son ambassade en hollande, - . vols., the hague, . clarendon, edward, earl of. state papers collected by. vols., oxford, - . ---- history of the rebellion. vols., oxford, . commelin, iz. begin en voortgangh van de vereen-geoct: oost-indische compagnie. vols., amsterdam, . digges, sir d. defence of trade. london, . dutch, the. drawn to the life. london, . ferguson, james. scots brigade in holland. vols., edinburgh, . fortescue, j. w. history of the british army. vol. i, london, . fruin, r. verspreide geschriften. vols., the hague, . ---- tien jaren uit den tachtigjarigen oorlog. the hague, . gardiner, s. r. history of england from the accession of james i to the outbreak of the civil war, - . vols., london, - . ---- letters and papers relating to the first dutch war. published for the navy records society, . geddes, j. the administration of john de witt, - . london, . gentleman, tobias. england's way to win wealth, pp. - , vol. iii, harleian misc. (see below). graviÈre, j. de la. les anglais et les hollandais dans les mers polaires et dans la mer des indes. paris, . groen v. prinsterer, g. archives ou correspondance de la maison d'orange-nassau, nd series. vols., utrecht, - . grotius, hugo. mare liberum. leiden, . harleian miscellany. vols., london, . jonge, j. c. de. geschiedenis van het nederlandsche zeewesen. vols., the hague, - . jonge, j. k. j. de. de opkomst van het nederl. gezag in oost-indie. vols., the hague, - . j. r. the trades increase. pp. - , vol. iv, harleian misc. (see above). knight, h. r. historical records of the buffs, rd. foot, formerly designated the holland regiment. london, . kronick van het historisch genootschap te utrecht, . brieven van de gezanten in engeland joachimi, boreel en j. v. rheede, - . lingelback, w. e. the merchant adventurers of england, their laws and ordinances. philadelphia, . lintum, c. e. de merchant adventurers in de nederlanden. the hague, . luzac, e. hollands rijkdom, behoudende den oorsprong van den koophandel en de magt van dezen staat. vols., leiden, . macpherson, d. annals of commerce. vols., london, . ---- history of the european commerce with india. london, . mitzukuri, g. englisch-niederländische unionsbestrebungen im zeitalter cromwells. tübingen, . muller fz, s. geschiedenis der noordsche compagnie. utrecht, . ---- mare clausum, bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der rivaliteit van engeland en nederland in de ^e eeuw. amsterdam, . oppenheim, m. history of the administration of the royal navy and of merchant shipping in relation to the navy, - . london, . overbury, sir t. observations in his travels. vol. viii, harleian misc. raleigh, sir w. works. vols., oxford, . ---- observations touching trade and commerce with the hollanders. pp. - . vol. viii. ---- a discourse of the invention of ships, &c., pp. - . vol. viii. ranke, l. von. a history of england, principally in the th century (eng. tr.). vols., oxford, . rees, o. van. geschied. der stadhuiskunde in nederland tot het einde der ^e eeuw. vols., utrecht, . selden, john. mare clausum seu de dominio maris. libri duo, london, . tideman, m. c. de zee betwist. geschiedenis der onderhandelingen over der zeeheerschappij tusschen de engelsche republiek en de vereenigte provincien voor den eersten zee-oorlog. dordrecht, . thurloe, john. a collection of the state papers of. vols., london, . vreede, g. w. inleiding tot eene geschiedenis der nederlandsche diplomatie. vols., utrecht, - . ---- nederland en cromwell. utrecht, . wagenaar, j. vaderlandsche historie. vols., amsterdam, . welwod, d. abridgement of all sea-lawes. london, . welwood, j. memoirs of the most material transactions of england for the years preceding the revolution of . london, . whitelocke, b. memorials. vols., oxford, . winwood, sir r. memorials of affairs of state in the reigns of queen elizabeth and king james i. vols., london, . zorgdrager, d. bloeijende opkomst der aloude en hedendaagsche groenlandsche visscherij. the hague, . seeing europe with famous authors, volume iii france and the netherlands selected and edited, with introductions, etc., by francis w. halsey editor of "great epochs in american history" associate editor of "the world's famous orations" and of "the best of the world's classics," etc. in ten volumes illustrated [illustration: paris: the seine and bridges] vol. iii part one introduction to volumes iii and iv france and the netherlands the tourist bound for france lands either at cherbourg, havre, or boulogne. at cherbourg, he sees waters in which the "kearsarge" sank the "alabama"; at havre a shelter in which, long before caesar came to gaul, ships, with home ports on the seine, sought safety from the sea; and at boulogne may recall the invading expedition to england, planned by napoleon, but which never sailed. from the roman occupation, many roman remains have survived in england, but these are far inferior in numbers and in state of preservation to the roman remains found in france. marseilles was not only an important roman seaport, but its earliest foundations date perhaps from phoenician times, and certainly do from the age when greeks were building temples at paestum and girgenti. rome got her first foothold in marseilles as a consequence of the punic wars; and in b.c. acquired a province (provincia romana) reaching from the alps to the rhone, and southward to the sea, with aix as its first capital and arles its second. caesar in b.c. found on the seine a tribe of men called parisii, whose chief village, lutetia, stood where now rises notre dame. lutetia afterward became a residence of roman emperors. constantius chlorus spent some time there, guarding the empire from germans and britons, while julian the apostate built there for himself a palace and extensive baths, of which remains still exist in paris. in that palace afterward lived pepin le bref ("mayor of the palace"), son of charles martell, and father of the great charles. romans built there an amphitheater seating ten thousand people, of which remains are still visible. lyons was a great roman city. augustus first called it into vigorous life, his wish being to make it "a second rome." from lyons a system of roads ran out to all parts of gaul. claudius was born there; caligula made it the political and intellectual capital of provincia; its people, under an edict of caracalla, were made citizens of rome. at nimes was born the emperor antoninus. in gaul, galba, otho, vitellius, vespasian and domitian were made emperors. at arles and nîmes are roman amphitheaters still regularly put to use for combats between men and wild beasts--but the wild beasts, instead of lions and tigers, are bulls. at orange is a roman theater of colossal proportions, in which a company from the théâtre français annually presents classical dramas. the magnificent fortress city of carcassonne has foundation walls that were laid by romans. notre dame of paris occupies the site of a temple to jupiter. as with modern england, so with modern france; its people are a mixture of many races. to the southwest, in a remote age, came iberians from spain, to provence, ligurians from italy; to the northeast, germanic tribes; to the northwest, scandinavians; to the central parts, from the seine to the garonne, in the sixth century b.c., gauls, who soon became the dominant race, and so have remained until this day, masterful and fundamental. when caesar came, there had grown up in gaul a martial nobility, leaders of a warlike people, with chieftains whose names are familiar in the mouths and ears of all schoolboys--aricvistus and vercingetorix. when vercingetorix was overthrown at alesia, gaul became definitely roman. for five hundred years it remained loyal to rome. within its borders, was established the pax romana, and in a.d., under st. denis, christianity. when the disintegration of the empire set in five centuries afterward, gaul was among the first provinces to suffer. with the coming of the visigoths and huns from the black sea, the pranks and bnrgundians from beyond the rhine, the roman fall was near, but great battles were first fought in gaul, battles which rivaled those of caesar five centuries before. greatest of all these was the one with attila, at chalons, in , where thousands perished. when the roman dominion ended, rome's one great province in gaul became seventeen small principalities, and power drifted fast into the hands of a warlike aristocracy. then a strong man rose in clovis, who, in , made lutetia his capital, his successors enriching and adorning it. from these beginnings, has been evolved, in twelve hundred years, the great modern state--through charlemagne and his empire-building, louis xi. and his work of consolidating feudal principalities into one strong state, through a hundred years' war, fierce wars of religion, a long line of bourbon kings, with their chateaux-building in touraine and versailles, the revolution of , the napoleonic era, the republic. an historical land surely is this, and a beautiful land, with her snow-capped mountains of the southeast, her broad vineyards, unrivaled cathedrals, her roman remains, ancient olive groves, her art, her literature, her people. belgium and holland were included in the territory known to rome as gaul. here dwelt a people called the belgii, and another called the nervii--that tribal nation whom cæsar "overcame" on a summer's day, and the same evening, "in his tent," "put on" the mantle that was pierced afterward by daggers in the senate house. from these lands came the skilled batavian cavalry, which followed caesar in pursuit of pompey and forced pompey's flight at pharsalia. from here afterward came other batavians, who served as the imperial guard of rome from caasar's time to vespasian's. in race, as in geographical position, the netherlands have belonged in part to france, in part to germany, the interior long remaining gallic, the frontier teutonic. from caesar's time down to the fifth century, the land was roman. afterward, in several periods, it was in part, or in whole, included in the domain of france--in charlemagne's time and after; under louis xi., who sought, somewhat unsuccessfully, its complete submission; under louis xiv., who virtually conquered it; under the french revolution, and during napoleon's ascendency. on belgium soil marlborough fought and won ramillies, and wellington waterloo. belgium and holland were for long great centers of european commerce--at bruges, ghent, antwerp, rotterdam, amsterdam--rivals of english ports, holland an ancient adversary of england and her valiant enemy in great wars. a still fiercer struggle came with spain. perhaps an even greater conflict than these two has been her never-ending war with the sea. holland has been called a land enclosed in a fortress reared against the sea. for generations her people have warred with angry waves; but, as motley has said, they gained an education for a struggle "with the still more savage despotism of man." let me not forget here holland's great school of art--comparable only to that of spain, or even to that of italy. f. w. h. contents of volume iii france and the netherlands--part one introduction to vols. iii and iv--by the editor. i--paris the city beautiful--by anne warwick notre-dame--by victor hugo the louvre--by grant allen the madeline and champs elysées--by nathaniel hawthorne the hotel des invalides and napoleon's tomb--by augustus j. c. hare the palais de justice and sainte chapelle--by grant allen the hotel de ville and the conciergerie--by augustus j. c. hare père la chaise--by henry wadsworth longfellow the musée de cluny--by grant allen the place de la bastille--by augustus j. c. hare the pantheon and st. etienne du mont--by grant allen st. roch--by augustus j. c. hare ii--the environs of paris versailles--by william makepeace thackeray versailles in --by thomas gray fontainebleau--by augustus j. c. hare st. denis--by grant allen marly-le-roi--by augustus j. c. hare the village of auteuil--by henry wadsworth longfellow the two trianons--by augustus j. c. hare malmaison--by augustus j. c. hare st. germain--by leitch ritchie st. cloud--by augustus j. c. hare iii--old provence the papal palace at avignon--by charles dickens the building of the great palace--by thomas okey the walls of avignon--by thomas okey villeneuve and the broken bridge--by thomas okey orange--by henry james vaucluse--by bayard taylor the pont du guard,--aigues-mortes--nîmes--by henry james arles and les baux--by henry james iv--cathedrals and chateaux amiens--by nathaniel hawthorne rouen--by thomas frognall dibdin chartres--by epiphanius wilson rheims--by epiphanius wilson (_cathedrals and chateaux continued in vol. iv_) list of illustrations volume iii frontispiece paris: the seine and bridges notre dame, paris portion of the louvre, paris church of the madeleine, paris napoleon's sarcophagus, paris the burial place of napoleon, paris column and place vendóme, paris column of july, paris the pantheon, paris the house of the chamber of deputies, paris the bourse, paris interior of the grand opera house, paris front of the grand opera house, paris the arc de triomphe, paris arch erected by napoleon near the louvre, paris the church of st. vincent de paul, paris the church of st. sulpice, paris the picture gallery of versailles the bed-room of louis xiv., versailles the grand trianon at versailles the little trianon at versailles the bed-room of catherine de medici at chaumont marie antoinette's dairy at versailles tours saint denis havre the bridge at st. cloud [illustration: notre dame, paris] [illustration: church of the madeleine] [illustration: portion of the louvre] [illustration: paris: column and place vendome] [illustration: burial place of napoleon] [illustration: napoleon's sarcophagus] [illustration: paris: column of july in the place de la bastille] [illustration: pantheon, paris] [illustration: house of the chamber of deputies] [illustration: bourse, paris] i paris the city beautiful by anne warwick [footnote: from "the meccas of the world." by permission of the publisher, john lane. copyright, .] the most prejudiced will not deny that paris is beautiful; or that there is about her streets and broad, tree-lined avenues a graciousness at once dignified and gay. stand, as the ordinary tourist does on his first day, in the flowering square before the louvre; in the foreground are the fountains and bright tulip-bordered paths of the tuileries--here a glint of gold, there a soft flash of marble statuary, shining through the trees; in the center the round lake where the children sail their boats. beyond spreads the wide sweep of the place de la concorde, with its obelisk of terrible significance, its larger fountains throwing brilliant jets of spray; and then the trailing, upward vista of the champs elysées to the great triumphal arch; yes, even to the most indifferent, paris is beautiful. to the subtler of appreciation, she is more than beautiful; she is impressive. for behind the studied elegance of architecture, the elaborate simplicity of garden, the carefully lavish use of sculpture and delicate spray, is visible the imagination of a race of passionate creators--the imagination, throughout, of the great artist. one meets it at every turn and corner, down dim passageways, up steep hills, across bridges, along sinuous quays; the masterhand and its "infinite capacity for taking pains." and so marvelously do its manifestations of many periods through many ages combine to enhance one another that one is convinced that the genius of paris has been perennial; that st. genevieve, her godmother, bestowed it as an immortal gift when the city was born. from earliest days every man seems to have caught the spirit of the man who came before, and to have perpetuated it; by adding his own distinctive yet always harmonious contribution to the gradual development of the whole. one built a stately avenue; another erected a church at the end; a third added a garden on the other side of the church, and terraces leading up to it; a fourth and fifth cut streets that should give from the remaining two sides into other flowery squares with their fine edifices. and so from every viewpoint, and from every part of the entire city, to-day we have an unbroken series of vistas--each one different and more charming than the last. history has lent its hand to the process, too; and romance--it is not an insipid chain of flowerbeds we have to follow, but the holy warriors of saint louis, the roistering braves of henry the great, the gallant bourbons, the ill-starred bonapartes. these as they passed have left their monuments; it may be only in a crumbling old chapel or ruined tower, but there they are, eloquent of days that are dead, of a spirit that lives forever staunch in the heart of the fervent french people. it comes over one overwhelmingly sometimes, in the midst of the careless gaiety of the modern city, the old, ever-burning spirit of rebellion and savage strife that underlies it all, and that can spring to the surface now on certain memorable days, with a vehemence that is terrifying. look across the pont alexandre, at the serene gold dome of the invalides, surrounded by its sleepy barracks. suddenly you are in the fires and awful slaughter of napoleon's wars. the flower of france is being pitilessly cut down for the lust of one man's ambition; and when that is spent, and the wail of the widowed country pierces heaven with its desolation, a costly asylum is built for the handful of soldiers who are left--and the great emperor has done his duty! or you are walking through the cité, past the court of the palais de justice. you glance in, carelessly--memory rushes upon you--and the court flows with blood, "so that men waded through it, up to the knees!" in the tiny stone-walled room yonder, marie antoinette sits disdainfully composed before her keepers; tho her face is white with the sounds she hears, as her friends and followers are led out to swell that hideous river of blood. a pretty, artificial city, paris; good for shopping, and naughty amusements, now and then. history? oh yes, of course; but all that's so dry and uninspiring, and besides it happened so long ago. did it? in your stroll along the rue royale, among the jewellers' and milliners' shops and maxim's, glance up at the madeleine, down at the obelisk in the place de la concorde. little over a hundred years ago, this was the brief distance between life and death for those who one minute were dancing in the "temple of victory," the next were laying their heads upon the block of the guillotine. notre-dame by victor hugo [footnote: from hugo's "notre-dame de paris." translated by a.l. alger. by permission of dana, estes & co. copyright, .] the church of notre-dame at paris is doubtless still a sublime and majestic building. but, much beauty as it may retain in its old age, it is not easy to repress a sigh, to restrain our anger, when we mark the countless defacements and mutilations to which men and time have subjected that venerable monument, without respect for charlemagne, who laid its first stone, or philip augustus, who laid its last.... upon the face of this aged queen of french cathedrals, beside every wrinkle we find a scar. "tempus edax, homo edacior;" which i would fain translate thus: "time is blind, but man is stupid." had we leisure to study with the reader, one by one, the various marks of destruction graven upon the ancient church, the work of time would be the lesser, the worse that of men, especially of "men of art," since there are persons who have styled themselves architects during the last two centuries. and first of all, to cite but a few glaring instances, there are assuredly few finer pages in the history of architecture than that facade where the three receding portals with their pointed arches, the carved and denticulated plinth with its twenty-eight royal niches, the huge central rose-window flanked by its two lateral windows as is the priest by his deacon and subdeacon, the lofty airy gallery of trifoliated arcades supporting a heavy platform upon its slender columns, and lastly the two dark and massive towers with their pent-house roofs of slate, harmonious parts of a magnificent whole, one above the other, five gigantic stages, unfold themselves to the eye, clearly and as a whole, with their countless details of sculpture, statuary, and carving, powerfully contributing to the calm grandeur of the whole; as it were, a vast symphony in stone; the colossal work of one man and one nation, one and yet complex, like the iliad and the old romance epics, to which it is akin; the tremendous sum of the joint contributions of all the force of an entire epoch, in which every stone reveals, in a hundred forms, the fancy of the workman disciplined by the genius of the artist--a sort of human creation, in brief, powerful and prolific as the divine creation, whose double characteristics, variety and eternity, it seems to have acquired. and what we say of the façades, we must also say of the whole church; and what we say of the cathedral church of paris must be said of all the christian churches of the middle ages. everything is harmonious which springs from spontaneous, logical, and well-proportioned art. to measure a toe, is to measure the giant. let us return to the façade of notre-dame as we see it at the present day, when we make a pious pilgrimage to admire the solemn and mighty cathedral, which, as its chroniclers declare, inspires terror. this façade now lacks three important things: first, the eleven steps which formerly raised it above the level of the ground; next, the lower series of statues which filled the niches over the doors; and lastly, the upper row of the twenty-eight most ancient kings of france, which adorned the gallery of the first story, from childebert down to philip augustus, each holding in his hand "the imperial globe." the stairs were destroyed by time, which, with slow and irresistible progress, raised the level of the city's soil; but while this flood-tide of the pavements of paris swallowed one by one the eleven steps which added to the majestic height of the edifice, time has perhaps given to the church more than it took away, for it is time which has painted the front with that sober hue of centuries which makes the antiquity of churches their greatest beauty. but who pulled down the two rows of statues? who left those empty niches? who carved that new and bastard pointed arch in the very center of the middle door? who dared to insert that clumsy, tasteless, wooden door, carved in the style of louis xv., side by side with the arabesques of biscornette? who but men, architects, the artists of our day? and if we step into the interior of the edifice, who overthrew that colossal figure of saint christopher, proverbial among statues by the same right as the great hall of the palace among halls, as the spire of strasburg among steeples? and those myriad statues which peopled every space between the columns of the choir and the nave, kneeling, standing, on horseback, men, women, children, kings, bishops, men-at-arms--of stone, of marble, of gold, of silver, of copper, nay even of wax--who brutally swept them away? it was not the hand of time. and who replaced the old gothic altar, with its splendid burden of shrines and reliquaries, by that heavy marble sarcophagus adorned with clouds and cherubs, looking like a poor copy of the val-de-grâce or the hôtel des invalides? who was stupid enough to fasten that clumsy stone anachronism into the carlovingian pavement of hercandus? was it not louis xiv., fulfilling the vow of louis xiii.? and who set cold white panes in place of that stained glass of gorgeous hue, which led the wondering gaze of our fathers to roam uncertain 'twixt the rose-window of the great door and the ogives of the chancel? and what would a precentor of the sixteenth century say if he could see the fine coat of yellow wash with which our vandal archbishops have smeared their cathedral? he would remember that this was the color with which the executioner formerly painted those buildings judged "infamous;" he would recall the hotel of the petit-bourbon, bedaubed with yellow in memory of the constable's treason; "a yellow of so fine a temper," says sauval, "and so well laid on, that more than a hundred years have failed to wash out its color." he would fancy that the sacred spot had become accursed, and would turn and flee. and if we climb higher in the cathedral, without pausing to note a thousand barbarous acts of every kind, what has become of that delightful little steeple which rested upon the point of intersection of the transept, and which, no less fragile and no less daring than its neighbor, the spire of the sainte-chapelle, (also destroyed), rose yet nearer heaven than the towers, slender, sharp, sonorous, and daintily wrought? an architect of good taste ( ) amputated it, and thought it quite enough to cover the wound with that large leaden plaster which looks like the lid of a stewpan. thus was the marvelous art of the middle ages treated in almost every land, but particularly in france. we find three sorts of injury upon its ruins, these three marring it to different depths; first, time, which has made insensible breaches here and there, mildewed and rusted the surface everywhere; then, political and religious revolutions, which, blind and fierce by nature, fell furiously upon it, rent its rich array of sculpture and carving, shivered its rose-windows, shattered its necklaces of arabesques and quaint figures, tore down its statues--sometimes because of their crown; lastly, changing fashion, even more grotesque and absurd, from the anarchic and splendid deviations of the renaissance down to the necessary decline of architecture. fashion did more than revolutions. fashion cut into the living flesh, attacked the very skeleton and framework of art; it chopped and hewed, dismembered, slew the edifice, in its form as well as in its symbolism, in its logic no less than in its beauty. but fashion restored, a thing which neither time nor revolution ever pretended to do. fashion, on the plea of "good taste," impudently adapted to the wounds of gothic architecture the paltry gewgaws of a day,--marble ribbons, metallic plumes, a veritable leprosy of egg-shaped moldings, of volutes, wreaths, draperies, spirals, fringes, stone flames, bronze clouds, lusty cupids, and bloated cherubs, which began to ravage the face of art in the oratory of catherine de medici, and destroyed it, two centuries later, tortured and distorted, in the dubarry's boudoir. there are thus, to sum up the points to which we have alluded, three sorts of scars now disfiguring gothic architecture; wrinkles and warts upon the epidermis--these are the work of time; wounds, brutal injuries, bruises, and fractures--these are the work of revolution, from luther to mirabeau; mutilations, amputations, dislocations of the frame, "restorations,"--these are the greek, roman barbaric work of professors according to vitruvius and vignole. academies have murdered the magnificent art which the vandals produced. to centuries, to revolutions which at least laid waste with impartiality and grandeur, are conjoined the host of scholastic architects, licensed and sworn, degrading all they touch with the discernment and selection of bad taste, substituting the tinsel of louis xv. for gothic lace-work, for the greater glory of the parthenon. this is the donkey's kick at the dying lion. it is the old oak, decaying at the crown, pierced, bitten and devoured by caterpillars. how different from the time when robert cenalis, comparing notre dame at paris to the famous temple of diana at ephesus; "so loudly boasted by the ancient pagans," which immortalized herostratus, held the cathedral of the gauls to be "more excellent in length, breadth, height, and structure!" notre dame at paris is not, however, what can be called a complete, definite monument, belonging to a class. it is neither a roman nor a gothic church. the edifice is not a typical one. it has not, like the abbey at tournus, the sober massive breadth, the round expansive arch, the icy bareness, the majestic simplicity of those buildings based on the semicircular arch. it is not, like the cathedral at bourges, the magnificent, airy, multiform, bushy, sturdy, efflorescent product of the pointed arch. it is impossible to class it with that antique order of dark, mysterious, low-studded churches, apparently crusht by the semicircular arch--almost egyptian, save for the ceiling; all hieroglyphic, all sacerdotal, all symbolic, more loaded in their ornamentation with lozenges and zigzags than with flowers, with flowers than with animals, with animals than with men; less the work of the architect than of the bishop; the first transformation of the art, bearing the deep impress of theocratic and military discipline, taking root in the lower empire, and ceasing with william the conqueror. it is impossible to place our cathedral in that other family of lofty, aerial churches, rich in stained glass and sculpture; of pointed forms and daring attitudes; belonging to the commoners and plain, citizens, as political symbols; free, capricious, lawless, as works of art; the second transformation of architecture, no longer hieroglyphic, unchangeable, sacerdotal, but artistic, progressive, and popular, beginning with the close of the crusades and ending with louis xi. notre dame at paris is not of purely roman race like the former, nor of purely arab breed like the latter. it is a building of the transition period. the saxon architect had just reared the pillars of the nave, when the pointed arch, brought back from the crusades, planted itself as conqueror upon those broad roman capitals which were never meant to support anything but semicircular arches. the pointed arch, thenceforth supreme, built the rest of the church. and still, inexperienced and shy at first, it swelled, it widened, it restrained itself, and dared not yet shoot up into spires and lancets, as it did later on in so many marvelous cathedrals. it seemed sensible of the close vicinity of the heavy roman columns. moreover, these buildings of the transition from roman to gothic are no less valuable studies than the pure types. they express a gradation of the art which would otherwise be lost. they represent the ingrafting of the pointed arch upon the semicircular. notre dame at paris, in particular, is a curious example of this variety. every face, every stone of the venerable monument is a page not only of the history of the country, but also of the history of science and art. thus, to allude only to leading details, while the little porte rouge attains the almost extreme limit of the gothic refinement of the fifteenth century, the pillars of the nave, in their size and gravity of style, go back to the carlovingian abbey of saint-germain des prés. one would say that there was an interval of six centuries between that door and those pillars. even the hermetics find among the symbols of the great door a satisfactory epitome of their science, of which the church of st. jacques de la boucherie formed so complete a hieroglyph. thus, the roman abbey, the philosopher's church, gothic art, saxon art, the clumsy round pillar, which recalls gregory vii., the hermetic symbolism by which nicholas flamel paved the way for luther, papal unity, schism, saint-germain des prés, saint-jacques de la boucherie, are all confounded, combined and blended in notre dame. this central and generative church is a kind of chimera among the old churches of paris; it has the head of one, the limbs of another, the trunk of a third, something of all. considering here christian european architecture only, that younger sister of the grand piles of the orient, we may say that it strikes the eye as a vast formation divided into three very distinct zones or layers, one resting upon the other; the roman zone, (the same which is also known according to place, climate, and species, as lombard, saxon, and byzantine. there are the four sister forms of architecture, each having its peculiar character, but all springing from the same principle, the semicircular arch,) the gothic zone, the zone of the renaissance, which may be called the greco-roman. the roman stratum, which is the oldest and the lowest, is occupied by the semicircular arch, which reappears, together with the greek column, in the modern and uppermost stratum of the renaissance. the painted arch is between the two. the buildings belonging to any one of these three strata are perfectly distinct, uniform, and complete. such are the abbey of jumieges, the cathedral of rheims, the church of the holy cross at orleans. but the three zones are blended and mingled at the edges, like the colors in the solar spectrum. hence, we have certain complex structures, buildings of gradation and transition, which may be roman at the base, gothic in the middle, and greco-roman at the top. this is caused by the fact that it took six hundred years to build such a fabric. this variety is rare. the donjon-keep at Étampes is a specimen. but monuments of two formations are more frequent. such is notre-dame at paris, a structure of the pointed arch, its earliest columns leading directly to that roman zone, of which the portals of saint-denis and the nave of saint-germain des prés are perfect specimens. such is the charming semi-gothic chapter-house of boucherville, where the roman layer reaches midway. such is the cathedral of rouen, which would be wholly gothic if the tip of its central spire did not dip into the zone of the renaissance. [footnote: this part of the spire, which was of timber, happens to be the very part which was burned by lightning in .] however, all these gradations and differences affect the surface only of an edifice. art has but changed its skin. the construction itself of the christian church is not affected by them. the interior arrangement, the logical order of the parts, is still the same. whatever may be the carved and nicely-wrought exterior of a cathedral, we always find beneath it, if only in a rudimentary and dormant state, the roman basilica. it rises forever from the ground in harmony with the same law. there are invariably two naves intersecting each other in the form of a cross, the upper end being rounded into a chancel or choir; there are always side aisles, for the processions and for chapels, a sort of lateral galleries or walks, into which the principal nave opens by means of the spaces between the columns. this settled, the number of chapels, doors, steeples, and spires may be modified indefinitely, according to the fancy of the century, the people, and the art. the performance of divine service once provided for and assured, architecture acts its own pleasure. statues, stained glass, rose-windows, arabesques, denticulations, capitals, and bas-reliefs,--it combines all these flowers of the fancy according to the logarithm that suits it best. hence the immense variety in the exteriors of those structures within which dwell such unity and order. the trunk of the tree is fixt; the foliage is variable. the louvre by grant allen [footnote: from "paris."] the louvre is the noblest monument of the french renaissance. from the time of st. louis onward, the french kings began to live more and more in the northern suburb, the town of the merchants, which now assumed the name of la ville, in contradistinction to the cité and the université. two of their chief residences here were the bastille and the hôtel st. paul, both now demolished--one, on the place so called; the other, between the rue st. antoine and the quai des célestins. but from a very early period they also possest a château on the site of the louvre, and known by the same name, which guarded the point where the wall of philippe auguste abutted on the river. françois i. decided to pull down this picturesque turreted medieval castle, erected by philippe auguste and altered by charles v. he began the construction in its place of a magnificent renaissance palace, which has ever since been in course of erection. its subsequent growth, however, is best explained opposite the building itself, where attention can be duly called to the succession of its salient features. but a visit to the exterior fabric of the louvre should be preceded by one to st. germain l'auxerrois, the parish church, and practically the chapel, of the old louvre, to which it stood in somewhat the same relation as the ste. chapelle to the home of st. louis. note, however, that the church was situated just within the ancient wall, while the château lay outside it. the visitor will doubtless be tolerably familiar by this time with some parts at least of the exterior of the louvre; but he will do well to visit it now systematically, in the order here suggested, so as to gain a clear general idea of its history and meaning.... begin by understanding distinctly that this court is the real and original louvre; the rest is mere excresence, intended to unite the main building with the tuileries, which lay some hundreds of yards to the west of it. notice, first, that the palace as a whole, seen from the point where you now stand, is constructed on the old principle of relatively blank external walls, like a castle, with an interior courtyard, on which all the apartments open, and almost all the decoration is lavished. reminiscences of defense lurk about the louvre. it can best be understood by comparison with such ornate, yet fortress-like, italian palaces as the strozzi at florence. notice the four opposite portals, facing the cardinal points, which can be readily shut by means of great doors; while the actual doorways of the various suites of apartments open only into the protected courtyard. this is the origin of the familiar french porte-cochère. again, the portion of the building that directly faces you as you enter the court from st. germain is the oldest part, and represents the early renaissance spirit. it is the most primitive louvre. note in particular the central elevated portion, known as a pavilion, and graced with elegant caryatides. these pavilions are lingering reminiscences of the medieval towers. you will find them in the corners and centers of other blocks in the louvre. they form a peculiarly french renaissance characteristic. the palace is here growing out of the castle. the other three sides of the square are, on the whole, more classical and later. now across the square directly to the pavilion de l'horloge, as it is called, from the clock which adorns it. to your left, on the floor of the court, are two circular white lines, enclosed in a square. these mark the site of the original château of the louvre, with its keep, or donjon. françois i., who began the existing building, originally intended that his palace should cover the same area. it was he who erected the left wing, which now faces you, marked by the crown and h on its central round gable, placed there by his successor, henry ii., under whom it was completed. to the same king are also due the monograms of h and d (for diane de poitiers, his mistress), between the columns of the ground floor. the whole of the pavilion de l'horloge, and of this west wing, should be carefully examined in detail as the finest remaining specimen of highly decorated french renaissance architecture. (but the upper story of the pavilion, with the caryatides, is an age later.) observe even the decoration lavished on the beautiful chimneys. pierre lescot was the architect of this earliest wing; the exquisite sculpture is by jean goujon, a frenchman, and the italian, paolo ponzio. examine much of it. the crossed k's of certain panels stand for catherine de médici. the right wing, beyond the pavilion, was added, in the same style, under louis xiii., who decided to double the plan of his predecessors, and form the existing cour du louvre. the other three sides, in a more classic style, with pediments replacing the pavilions, and square porticos instead of rounded gables, are for the most part later. the south side, however, as far as the central door, is also by pierre lescot. it forms one of the two fronts of the original square first contemplated. the attic story of these three sides was added under louis xiv., to whom, in the main, is due this cour du louvre. a considerable part of louis xiv.'s decorations bear reference to his representation as "le roi soleil." now, pass through the pavilion de l'horloge (called on its west side pavilion sully) into the second of the three courts of the louvre. to understand this portion of the building, again, you must remember that shortly after the erection of the old louvre, catherine de médici began to build her palace of the tuileries, now destroyed, to the west of it. she (and subsequent rulers) designed to unite the old louvre with the tuileries by a gallery which should run along the bank of the river. of that gallery, catherine de médici herself erected a considerable portion, to be described later, and henri iv., almost completed it. later on, napoleon i. conceived the idea of extending a similar gallery along his new rue de rivoli, on the north side, so as to enclose the whole space between the louvre and the tuileries in one gigantic double courtyard. napoleon iii. carried out his idea. the second court in which you now stand is entirely flanked by buildings of this epoch--the second empire. examine it cursorily as far as the modern statue of gambetta. stand or take a seat by the railing of the garden opposite the pavilion sully. the part that now faces you forms a portion of the building of françois i, and louis xiii., redecorated in part by napoleon i. the portions to your right and left are entirely of the age of napoleon iii., built so as to conceal the want of parallelism of the outer portions. observe their characteristic pavilions, each bearing its own name inscribed upon it. this recent square, tho quite modern in the character of its sculpture and decoration, is renaissance in its general architecture, and, when looked back upon from the gardens of the tuileries, affords a most excellent idea of that stately style, as developed in france under françois i. the whole of this splendid plan, however, has been rendered futile by the destruction of the tuileries, without which the enclosure becomes wholly meaningless. now, continue westward, pass the monument of gambetta, and take a seat on the steps at the base, near the fine figure of truth. in front of you opens the third square of the louvre, known as the place du carrousel, and formerly enclosed on its west side by the palace of the tuileries, which was unfortunately burned down in , during the conflict between the municipal and national authorities. its place is now occupied by a garden terrace, the view from which in all directions is magnificent. fronting you, as you sit, is the arc de triomphe du carrousel, erected under napoleon i., by percier and fontaine, in imitation of the arch of septimius severus at rome, and once crowned by the famous bronze roman horses from st. mark's at venice. the arch, designed as an approach to the tuileries during the period of the classical mania, is too small for its present surroundings, since the removal of the palace. the north wing, visible to your right, is purely modern, of the age of the first and second empire and the third republic. the meretricious character of the reliefs in its extreme west portion, erected under the emperor napoleon iii., and restored after the commune, is redolent of the spirit of that gaudy period. the south wing, to your left, forms part of the connecting gallery erected by henri iv., but its architecture is largely obscured by considerable alterations under napoleon iii. its west pavilion-known as the pavilion de flore--is well worth notice. having thus gained a first idea of the courtyard fronts of the building, continue your walk, still westward, along the south wing as far as the pavilion de flore, a remaining portion of the corner edifice which ran into one line with the palace of the tuileries. turn round the corner of the pavilion to examine the south or river front of the connecting gallery--one of the finest parts of the whole building, but far less known to ordinary visitors than the cold and uninteresting northern line along the rue de rivoli. the first portion, as far as the gateways, belongs originally to the age of henry iv., but it was entirely reconstructed under napoleon iii., whose obtrusive n appears in many places on the gateways and elsewhere. nevertheless, it still preserves, on the whole, some reminiscence of its graceful renaissance architecture. beyond the main gateway (with modern bronze charioteer of the sun), flanked by the pavilions de la trémoille and de lesdiguières, we come upon the long southern gallery erected by catherine de médici, which still preserves almost intact its splendid early french renaissance decoration. this is one of the noblest portions of the entire building. the n here gives place to h's, and the renaissance scroll-work and reliefs almost equal those in that portion of the old louvre which was erected under françois i. sit on a seat on the quay and examine the sculpture. notice particularly the splendid porte jean goujon, conspicuous from afar by its gilded balcony. its crowned h's and coats-of-arms are specially interesting examples of the decorative work of the period. note also the skill with which this almost flat range is relieved by sculpture and decoration so as to make us oblivious of the want of that variety usually given by jutting portions. the end of this long gallery is formed by two handsome windows with balconies. we there come to the connecting galérie d'apollon, of which these windows are the termination, and finally reach once more a portion of perrault's façade, with its double ll's, erected under louis xiv., and closely resembling the interior façade of the cour du louvre.... the collections in the louvre have no such necessary organic connection with paris itself as notre dame and the sainte-chapelle, or even those in the rooms at cluny. they may, therefore, be examined by the visitor at any period of his visit that he chooses. i would advise him, however, whenever he takes them up, to begin with the paintings and then to go on to the classical and renaissance sculpture. the last-named, at least, he should only examine in connection with the rest of renaissance paris. also, while it is unimportant whether he takes first painting or sculpture, it is very doubtful that he should take each separately in the chronological order. at least six days--far more, if possible--should be devoted to the louvre collections--by far the most important objects to be seen in paris. of these, four should be assigned to the paintings, and one each to the classical and renaissance sculpture. if this is impossible, do not try to see all; see a little thoroughly. confine yourself, for painting, to the salon carré and gallery vii., and for sculpture to the classical gallery and to the three western rooms of the renaissance collection. the madeleine and champs elysées by nathaniel hawthorne [footnote from "french and italian note-books." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers of hawthorne's works, houghton, mifflin co. copyright, , , .] approaching the madeleine, we found it a most beautiful church, that might have been adapted from heathenism to catholicism; for on each side there is a range of magnificent pillars, unequalled, except by those of the parthenon. a mourning coach, arrayed in black and silver, was drawn up at the steps, and the front of the church was hung with black cloth, which covered the whole entrance. however, seeing the people going in, we entered along with them. glorious and gorgeous is the madeleine. the entrance to the nave is beneath a most stately arch; and three arches of equal height open from the nave to the side aisles; and at the end of the nave is another great arch, rising, with a vaulted half-dome, over the high altar. the pillars supporting these arches are corinthian, with richly sculptured capitals; and wherever gilding might adorn the church, it is lavished like sunshine; and within the sweeps of the arches there are fresco paintings of sacred subjects, and a beautiful picture covers the hollow of the vault over the altar; all this, besides much sculpture; and especially a group above and around the high altar, representing the magdalen smiling down upon angels and archangels, some of whom are kneeling, and shadowing themselves with their heavy marble wings. there is no such thing as making my page glow with the most distant idea of the magnificence of this church, in its details and in its whole. it was founded a hundred or two hundred years ago; then bonaparte contemplated transforming it into a temple of victory, or building it anew as one. the restored bourbon remade it into a church; but it still has a heathenish look, and will never lose it. when we entered we saw a crowd of people, all pressing forward toward the high altar, before which burned a hundred wax lights, some of which were six or seven feet high; and, altogether, they shone like a galaxy of stars. in the middle of the nave, moreover, there was another galaxy of wax candles burning around an immense pall of black velvet, embroidered with silver, which seemed to cover, not only a coffin, but a sarcophagus, or something still more huge. the organ was rumbling forth a deep, lugubrious bass, accompanied with heavy chanting of priests, out of which sometimes rose the clear, young voices of choristers, like light flashing out of the gloom. the church, between the arches, along the nave, and round the altar, was hung with broad expanses of black cloth; and all the priests had their sacred vestments covered with black. they looked exceedingly well; i never saw anything half so well got up on the stage. some of these ecclesiastical figures were very stately and noble, and knelt and bowed, and bore aloft the cross, and swung the censers in a way that i liked to see. the ceremonies of the catholic church were a superb work of art, or perhaps a true growth of man's religious nature; and so long as men felt their original meaning, they must have been full of awe and glory. being of another parish, i looked on coldly, but not irreverently, and was glad to see the funeral service so well performed, and very glad when it was over. what struck me as singular, the person who performed the part usually performed by a verger, keeping order among the audience, wore a gold-embroidered scarf, a cocked hat, and, i believe, a sword, and had the air of a military man.... when we left the madeleine we took our way to the place de la concorde, and thence through the elysian fields (which, i suppose, are the french idea of heaven) to bonaparte's triumphal arch. the champs elysées may look pretty in summer; tho i suspect they must be somewhat dry and artificial at whatever season.--the trees being slender and scraggy, and requiring to be renewed every few years. the soil is not genial to them. the strangest peculiarity of this place, however, to eyes fresh from moist and verdant england, is, that there is not one blade of grass in all the elysian fields, nothing but hard clay, now covered with white dust. it gives the whole scene the air of being a contrivance of man, in which nature has either not been invited to take any part, or has declined to do so. there were merry-go-rounds, wooden horses, and other provision for children's amusements among the trees; and booths, and tables of cakes, and candy-women; and restaurants on the borders of the wood; but very few people there; and doubtless we can form no idea of what the scene might become when alive with french gayety and vivacity. as we walked onward the triumphal arch began to loom up in the distance, looking huge and massive, tho still a long way off. it was not, however, till we stood almost beneath it that we really felt the grandeur of this great arch, including so large a space of the blue sky in its airy sweep. at a distance, it impresses the spectator with its solidity; nearer, with the lofty vacancy beneath it. there is a spiral staircase within one of its immense limbs; and, climbing steadily upward, lighted by a lantern which the door-keeper's wife gave us, we had a bird's eye view of paris, much obscured by smoke or mist. several interminable avenues shoot with painful directness right toward it. on our way homeward we visited the place vendôme, in the center of which is a tall column, sculptured from top to bottom, all over the pedestal, and all over the shaft, and with napoleon himself on the summit. the shaft is wreathed round and round about with representations of what, as far as i could distinguish, seemed to be the emperor's victories. it has a very rich effect. at the foot of the column we saw wreaths of artificial flowers, suspended there, no doubt, by some admirer of napoleon, still ardent enough to expend a franc or two in this way. the hôtel des invalides and napoleon's tomb by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "walks in paris." by arrangement with the publisher, david mckay. copyright, .] we emerge from the rue de grenelle opposite the gardens to the north of the magnificent hôtel des invalides, planned by henri iv., and begun by louis xiv. in , as a refuge for old soldiers, who, before it was built, had to beg their bread on the streets. the institution is under the management of the minister of war, and nothing can be more comfortable than the life of its inmates. the number of these is now small; in the time of napoleon i., when the institution was called the "temple of mars," it was enormous. on the terrace in front of the building are a number of cannon, trophies taken in different campaigns. standing before the hotel is the statue of prince eugène. on either side of the entrance are statues of mars and minerva by coustou the younger. in the tympanum of the semicircle over the center of the façade is louis xiv. on horseback. behind the façade is a vast courtyard surrounded by open corridors lined with frescoes of the history of france; those of the early history on the left by bénédict masson, , have much interest. in the center of the façade opposite the entrance is the statue of napoleon i. beneath this is the approach to the church of st. louis, built - , from designs of libéral bruant, and in which many banners of victory give an effect of color to an otherwise colorless building.... the tomb of napoleon, under the magnificent dome of the invalides, which was added to the original church by jules hardouin mansart, and is treated as a separate building, is entered from the place vauban at the back, or by the left cloister and a court beyond. on entering the vast interior, a huge circular space is seen to open, beneath the cupola painted by charles de lafosse and jouvenet, and, in it, surrounded by caryatides and groups of moldering banners, the huge tomb of finland granite, given by the emperor nicholas. hither the remains of the great emperor were brought back from st. helena by the prince de joinville, in , tho louis philippe, while adopting this popular measure as regarded the dead, renewed the sentence of exile against the living members of the bonaparte family. four smaller cupolas encircle the great dome. in the first, on the right, is the tomb of joseph bonaparte. on the left are the tombs of jerome bonaparte, with a statue, and of his eldest son and the princess catherine of wurtemberg. the other two cupolas are still empty. descending the steps behind the splendid baldacchino, we find black-marble tombs of marshals duroc and bertrand guarding the approach to that of napoleon i. his own words, taken from his will, appear in large letters over the entrance: "i desire my ashes to lie on the shores of the seine among the people of france whom i loved so deeply." the sentiment, the tomb, and the dome have a unique splendor. a white-marble statue of napoleon i. by stuart is in a black-marble chapel. his austerlitz sword, the crown voted by cherbourg, and colors taken in his different battles, were formerly shown in a "chapelle ardente." the palais de justice and the sainte chapelle by grant allen [footnote: from "paris."] go along the rue de rivoli as far as the square of the tour st. jacques. if driving, alight here. turn down the place du châtelet to your right. in front is the pretty modern fountain of the châtelet; right, the thèâtre du châtelet; left, the opéra comique. the bridge which faces you is the pont-au-change, so-called from the money-changers' and jewelers' booths which once flanked its wooden predecessor (the oldest in paris), as they still do the rialto at venice, and the ponte vecchio at florence. stand by the right-hand corner of the bridge before crossing it. in front is the ile de la cité. the square, dome-crowned building opposite you to the left is the modern tribunal de commerce; beyond it leftward lie the marché-aux-fleurs and the long line of the hôtel-dieu, above which rise the towers and spire of notre dame. in front, to the right, the vast block of buildings broken by towers forms part of the palais de justice, the ancient palace of the french kings, begun by hugh capet. the square tower to the left in this block is the tour de l'horloge. next, to the right, come the two round towers of the conciergerie, known respectively as the tour de césar and the tour de montgomery. the one beyond them, with battlements, is the tour d'argent. it was in the conciergerie that marie antoinette, robespierre, and many other victims of the revolution were imprisoned. these medieval towers, much altered and modernized, are now almost all that remains of the old palace, which, till after the reign of louis ix. (st. louis), formed the residence of the kings of france. charles vii. gave it in to the parlement or supreme court. ruined by fires and re-building, it now consists for the most part of masses of irregular recent edifices. the main modern façade fronts the boulevard du palais. cross the bridge. the tour de l'horloge on your right, at the corner of the boulevard du palais, contains the oldest public clock in france ( ). the figures of justice and pity by its side were originally designed by germain pilon, but are now replaced by copies. walk round the palais by the quay along the north branch of the seine till you come to the rue de harlay. turn there to your left, toward the handsome and imposing modern façade of this side of the palais de justice. the interior is unworthy a visit. the rue de harlay forms the westernmost end of the original ile de la cité. the prow-shaped extremity of the modern island has been artificially produced by embanking the sites of two or three minor islets. the palace dauphine, which occupies the greater part of this modern extension, was built in ; it still affords a characteristic example of the domestic paris of the period before baron haussmann. continue along the quay as far as the pont-neuf, so as to gain an idea of the extent of the ile de la cité in this direction. the center of the pont-neuf is occupied by an equestrian statue of henri iv., first of the bourbon kings. its predecessor was erected in , and was destroyed to make cannon during the great revolution. louis xviii. re-erected it. from this point you can gain a clear idea of the two branches of the seine as they unite at the lower end of the ile de la cité. to your right, looking westward, you also obtain a fine view of the colonnade of the old louvre, with the southwestern gallery, and the more modern buildings of the museum behind it. now, walk along the southern quay of the island, round the remainder of the palais de justice, as far as the boulevard du palais. there turn to your left, and go in at the first door of the palace on the left (undeterred by sentries) into the court of the sainte chapelle, the only important relic now remaining of the home of saint louis. you may safely neglect the remainder of the building. the thirteenth century was a period of profound religious enthusiasm throughout europe. conspicuous among its devout soldiers was louis ix., afterward canonized as st. louis. the saintly king purchased from baldwin, emperor of constantinople, the veritable crown of thorns, and a fragment of the true cross--paying for these relics an immense sum of money. having become possest of such invaluable and sacred objects, louis desired to have them housed with suitable magnificence. he therefore entrusted pierre de montereau with the task of building a splendid chapel (within the precincts of his palace), begun in , and finished three years later, immediately after which the king set out on his crusade. the monument breathes throughout the ecstatic piety of the mystic king; it was consecrated in , in the name of the holy crown and the holy cross, by eudes de châteauroux, bishop of tusculum and papal legate. three things should be noted about the sainte chapelle. ( ) it is a chapel, not a church; therefore it consists (practically) of a choir alone, without nave or transepts. ( ) it is the domestic chapel of the royal palace. ( ) it is, above all things, the shrine of the crown of thorns. these three points must be constantly borne in mind in examining the building. erected later than notre-dame, it represents the pointed style of the middle of the thirteenth century, and is singularly pure and uniform throughout. secularized at the revolution, it fell somewhat into decay; but was judiciously restored by viollet-le-duc and others. the "messe rouge," or "messe du st. esprit," is still celebrated here once yearly, on the re-opening of the courts after the autumn vacation, but no other religious services take place in the building. the crown of thorns and the piece of the true cross are now preserved in the treasury at notre dame. examine the exterior in detail from the court on the south side. more even than most gothic buildings, the sainte chapelle is supported entirely by its massive piers, the wall being merely used for enclosure, and consisting for the most part of lofty windows. as in most french gothic buildings, the choir terminates in a round apse, whereas english cathedrals have usually a square end. the beautiful light flêche or spire in the center has been restored. observe the graceful leaden angel, holding a cross, on the summit of the chevet or round apse. to see the facade, stand well back opposite it, where you can observe that the chapel is built in four main stories--those, namely, of the lower church or crypt, of the upper church, of the great rose window (with later flamboyant tracery), and of the gable-end, partially masked by an open parapet studded with the royal fleurs-de-lis of france. the crown of thorns surrounds the two pinnacles which flank the fourth story. the chapel consists of a lower and an upper church. the lower church is a mere crypt, which was employed for the servants of the royal family. its portal has in its tympanum (or triangular space in the summit of the arch) the coronation of the virgin, and on its center pillar a good figure of the madonna and child. enter the lower church. it is low, and has pillars supporting the floor above. in the polychromatic decoration of the walls and pillars, notice the frequent repetition of the royal lilies of france, combined with the three castles of castille, in honor of blanche of castille, the mother of st. louis. mount to the upper chapel (or sainte chapelle proper) by the small spiral staircase in the corner. this soaring pile was the oratory where the royal family and court attended service; its gorgeousness bespeaks its origin and nature. it glows like a jewel. first go out of the door and examine the exterior and doorway of the chapel. its platform was directly approached in early times from the palace. the center pillar bears a fine figure of christ. in the tympanum (as over the principal doorway of almost every important church in paris and in the district) is a relief of the last judgment. below stands st. michael with his scales, weighing the souls; on either side is depicted the resurrection, with the angels of the last trump. above, in the second tier, is christ, holding up his hands with the marks of the nails, as a sign of mercy to the redeemed: to right and left of him angels display the crown of thorns and the true cross, to contain which sacred relics the chapel was built. on the extreme left kneels the blessed virgin; on the extreme right, sainte geneviève. this scene of the last judgment was adapted with a few alterations from that above the central west door of notre dame, the crown of thorns in particular being here significantly substituted for the three nails and spear. the small lozenge reliefs to right and left of the portal are also interesting. those to the left represent in a very naïve manner god the father creating the world, sun and moon, light, plants, animals, man, etc. those to the right give the story of genesis, cain and abel, the flood, the ark, noah's sacrifice, noah's vine, etc., the subjects of all which the visitor can easily recognize, and is strongly recommended to identify for himself. the interior consists almost entirely of large and lofty windows, with magnificent stained glass, in large part ancient. the piers which divide the windows and alone support the graceful vault of the roof, are provided with statues of the twelve apostles, a few of them original. each bears his well-known symbol. spell them out if possible. beneath the windows, in the quatrefoils of the arcade, are enamelled glass mosaics representing the martyrdoms of the saints--followers of christ, each wearing his own crown of thorns: a pretty conceit wholly in accord with st. louis's ecstatic type of piety. conspicuous among them are st. denis carrying his head, st. sebastian pierced with arrows, st. stephen stoned, st. lawrence on his gridiron, etc. the apse (formerly separated from the body of the building by a rood-screen, now destroyed), contains the vacant base of the high altar, behind which stands an arcaded tabernacle, now empty, in whose shrine were once preserved the crown of thorns, the fragment of the true cross, and other relics. among them in the later times was included the skull of st. louis himself in a golden reliquary. two angels at the summit of the large center arch of the arcade bear a representation of the crown of thorns in their hands. above the tabernacle rises a canopy or baldacchino, approached by two spiral staircases; from its platform st. louis and his successors, the kings of france, were in the habit of exhibiting with their own hands the actual relics themselves once a year to the faithful. the golden reliquary in which the sacred objects were contained was melted down in the revolution. the small window with bars to your right, as you face the high altar, was placed there by the superstitious and timid louis xi., in order that he might behold the elevation of the host and the sacred relics without being exposed to the danger of assassination. the visitor should also notice the inlaid stone pavement, with its frequent repetition of the fleur-de-lis and the three castles. the whole breathes the mysticism of st. louis; the lightness of the architecture, the height of the apparently unsupported roof, and the magnificence of the decoration, render this the most perfect ecclesiastical building in paris. in returning from the chapel, notice on the outside, from the court to the south, the apparently empty and useless porch, supporting a small room, which is the one through whose grated window louis xi. used to watch the elevation. the hotel de ville and the conciergerie by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "walks in paris." by arrangement with the publisher, david mckay. copyright, .] it was etienne marcel, mayor of paris, who first established the municipal council at the place de grève, at that time the only large square in paris. in july, , he purchased as a hostel de ville the maison aux piliers, which had been inhabited by clémence d'hongrie, widow of louis le hutin, and which afterward took the name of maison du dauphin from her nephew and heir, guy, dauphin de viennois. in a new hôtel de ville was begun and finished by the architect marin de la vallée in the reign of henri iv. this was so much altered by successive restorations and revolutions that only a staircase, two monumental chimney-pieces in the salle du trône, and some sculptured doorways and other details remained from the interior decorations in the old building at the time of its destruction. till the time of louis xvi. the history of the hôtel de ville was entirely local; after that it became the history of france. it was there that louis xvi. received the tri-colored cockade from bailly, mayor of paris, july , ; and there, in the chamber called, from its hangings, le cabinet vert, that robespierre was arrested, in the name of the convention, during one of the meetings of the commune, july , . after the fall of robespierre it was seriously proposed to pull down the hôtel de ville, because it had been his last asylum--"le louvre de robespierre." it was only saved by the common-sense of leonard bourdon. but most of all, in the popular recollection, is the hôtel de ville connected with public fêtes--with those on the second marriage of napoleon i. ( ), on the entry of louis xviii. ( ), on the coronation of charles x. ( ), on the marriage of the duke of orleans ( ), on the visits of different foreign potentates to napoleon iii. here also was the republic proclaimed, september , . it was in one of the windows of the hôtel de ville that louis philippe embraced lafayette (august, ) in sight of the people, to evince the union of the july monarchy with the bourgeoisie. on the steps of the building louis blanc proclaimed the republic, february , . from september , , to february , , the hôtel was the seat of the "government of the national defense," and from march to may , , that of the pretended "committee of public safety" of the communists. on may it was burned by its savage defenders, many of whom happily perished in the flames. the place de l'hôtel de ville is so modernized that it retains nothing of the place de grève but its terrible historic associations. among the many fearful executions here, it is only necessary to recall that of jean hardi, torn to pieces by four horses (march , ) on an accusation of trying to poison louis xi.; that of the comte de st. pol (december , ), long commemorated by a pillar; those of a long list of protestants, opened by the auto-de-fé of jacques de povanes, student of the university, in ; that of nicholas de salcède, sieur d'auvillers, torn to pieces by four horses in the presence of the king and queens, for conspiracy to murder the duc d'anjou, youngest son of catherine de medici. more terrible still was the execution of ravaillac (may , ) murderer of henri iv. "the executioner cut off his hand with an ax, and threw it and the murderous knife into the fire. his breasts, his arms and his legs were torn with pincers, and boiling oil and melted lead poured into the open wounds. he was then dismembered by four strong horses, which pulled for no less than an entire hour. they dismembered only a corpse. he expired," says l'estoile, "at the second or third pull." when the executioner had to throw the limbs into the fire that the ashes, according to the sentence, might be flung to the winds, the whole crowd rushed on to claim them. "but," adds the same chronicler, "the people rushed on so impetuously that every mother's son had a piece, even the children, who made fires of them at the corners of the streets." after the capture of the bastille its brave governor, m. de launay, was beheaded on the steps of the hôtel de ville, and his major, m. de losme-salbray, was massacred under the arcade st. jean. these were the first victims of the revolution. foulon, intendant du commerce, suffered here soon afterward, hung from the cords by which a lamp was suspended, whence the expression, which soon resounded in many a popular refrain, of "put the aristocrats to the lantern." * * * * * two parasite buildings, the conciergerie, and the prefecture of police, are now annexed to the palais de justice. the conciergerie takes its name from the house of the concierge in the time of the royal residence here, who had a right to two chickens a day and to the cinders and ashes of the king's chimney. it has always been a prison, and it was here that the comte d'armagnac was murdered, june , . here was made, below the level of the seine, the prison called la souricière, from the rats which had the reputation of eating the prisoners alive. the present conciergerie occupies the lower story of the right wing of the existing palais de justice, and extends along the quai de l'horloge, as far as the towers of montgomery and césar. it has an entrance on the quay, before which the guillotine-carts received the victims of the reign of terror, and another to the right of the great staircase in the cour d'honneur. all other associations of the conciergerie are lost in those which were attached to it by the great revolution. the cell in which marie antoinette suffered her seventy-five days' agony--from august till october , when she was condemned--was turned into a chapel of expiation in . the lamp still exists which lighted the august prisoner and enabled her guards to watch her through the night. the door still exists, tho changed in position, which was cut transversely in half and the upper part fixt that the queen might be forced to bend in going out, because she had said that whatever indignities they might inflict upon her they could never force her to bend the head. after her condemnation, marie antoinette was not brought back to this chamber. it was a far more miserable cell which saw her write her last touching farewell to madame elizabeth. but this was the room in which the girondins spent their last night, when, as riouffe, himself in the prison at the time, says, "all during this frightful night their songs sounded and if they stopt singing it was but to talk about their country." the adjoining cell, now used as a sacristy, was the prison of robespierre. père la chaise by henry wadsworth longfellow [footnote: from "outre mer." published by houghton, mifflin co.] the cemetery of père la chaise is the westminster abbey of paris. both are the dwellings of the dead; but in one they repose in green alleys and beneath the open sky--in the other their resting-place is in the shadowy aisle, and beneath the dim arches of an ancient abbey. one is a temple of nature; the other a temple of art. in one, the soft melancholy of the scene is rendered still more touching by the warble of birds and the shade of trees, and the grave receives the gentle visit of the sunshine and the shower; in the other, no sound but the passing footfall breaks the silence of the place; the twilight steals in through high and dusky windows; and the damps of the gloomy vault lie heavy on the heart, and leave their stain upon the moldering tracery of the tomb. père la chaise stands just beyond the barrière d'aulney, on a hill-side, looking toward the city. numerous gravel-walks, winding through shady avenues and between marble monuments, lead up from the principal entrance to a chapel on the summit. there is hardly a grave that has not its little inclosure planted with shrubbery; and a thick mass of foliage half conceals each funeral stone. the sighing of the wind, as the branches rise and fall upon it,--the occasional note of a bird among the trees, and the shifting of light and shade upon the tombs beneath, have a soothing effect upon the mind; and i doubt whether any one can enter that inclosure, where repose the dust and ashes of so many great and good men, without feeling the religion of the place steal over him, and seeing something of the dark and gloomy expression pass off from the stern countenance of death. it was near the close of a bright summer afternoon that i visited this celebrated spot for the first time. the object that arrested my attention, on entering, was a monument in the form of a small gothic chapel, which stands near the entrance, in the avenue leading to the right hand. on the marble couch within are stretched two figures, carved in stone and drest in the antique garb of the middle ages. it is the tomb of abélard and héloïse. the history of these unfortunate lovers is too well known to need recapitulation; but perhaps it is not so well known how often their ashes were disturbed in the slumber of the grave. abélard died in the monastery of saint marcel, and was buried in the vaults of the church. his body was afterward removed to the convent of the paraclet, at the request of héloïse, and at her death her body was deposited in the same tomb. three centuries they reposed together; after which they were separated to different sides of the church, to calm the delicate scruples of the lady-abbess of the convent. more than a century afterward, they were again united in the same tomb; and when at length the paraclet was destroyed, their moldering remains were transported to the church of nogent-sur-seine. they were next deposited in an ancient cloister at paris; and now repose near the gateway of the cemetery of père la chaise. what a singular destiny was theirs! that, after a life of such passionate and disastrous love,--such sorrows, and tears, and penitence--their very dust should not be suffered to rest quietly in the grave!--that their death should so much resemble their life in its changes and vicissitudes, its partings and its meetings, its inquietudes and its persecutions!--that mistaken zeal should follow them down to the very tomb--as if earthly passion could glimmer, like a funeral lamp, amid the damps of the charnel-house, and "even in their ashes bum their wonted fires!".... leaving this interesting tomb behind me, i took a pathway to the left, which conducted me up the hill-side. i soon found myself in the deep shade of heavy foliage, where the branches of the yew and willow mingled, interwoven with the tendrils and blossoms of the honeysuckle. i now stood in the most populous part of this city of tombs. every step awakened a new train of thrilling recollections; for at every step my eye caught the name of some one whose glory had exalted the character of his native land, and resounded across the waters of the atlantic. philosophers, historians, musicians, warriors, and poets slept side by side around me; some beneath the gorgeous monument, and some beneath the simple headstone. but the political intrigue, the dream of science, the historical research, the ravishing harmony of sound, the tried courage, the inspiration of the lyre--where are they? with the living, and not with the dead! the right hand has lost its cunning in the grave; but the soul, whose high volitions it obeyed, still lives to reproduce itself in ages yet to come. among these graves of genius i observed here and there a splendid monument, which had been raised by the pride of family over the dust of men who could lay no claim either to the gratitude or remembrances of posterity. their presence seemed like an intrusion into the sanctuary of genius. what had wealth to do there? why should it crowd the dust of the great? that was no thoroughfare of business--no mart of gain! there were no costly banquets there; no silken garments, nor gaudy liveries, nor obsequious attendants!.... i continued my walk through the numerous winding paths, as chance or curiosity directed me. now i was lost in a little green hollow, overhung with thick-leaved shrubbery, and then came out upon an elevation, from which, through an opening in the trees, the eye caught glimpses of the city, and the little esplanade, at the foot of the hill, where the poor lie buried. there poverty hires its grave, and takes but a short lease of the narrow house. at the end of a few months, or at most of a few years, the tenant is dislodged to give place to another, and he in turn to a third. "who," says sir thomas browne, "knows the fate of his bones, or how often he is to be buried? who hath the oracle of his ashes, or whither they are to be scattered?" yet, even in that neglected corner, the hand of affection had been busy in decorating the hired house. most of the graves were surrounded with a slight wooden paling, to secure them from the passing footstep; there was hardly one so deserted as not to be marked with its little wooden cross, and decorated with a garland of flowers; and here and there i could perceive a solitary mourner, clothed in black, stooping to plant a shrub on the grave, or sitting in motionless sorrow beside it.... after rambling leisurely about for some time, reading the iscriptions on the various monuments which attracted my curiosity, and giving way to the different reflections they suggested, i sat down to rest myself on a sunken tombstone. a winding gravel-walk, overshaded by an avenue of trees, and lined on both sides with richly sculptured monuments, had gradually conducted me to the summit of the hill, upon whose slope the cemetery stands. beneath me in the distance, and dim-discovered through the misty and smoky atmosphere of evening, rose the countless roofs and spires of the city. beyond, throwing his level rays athwart the dusky landscape, sank the broad red sun. the distant murmur of the city rose upon my ear; and the toll of the evening bell came up, mingled with the rattle of the paved street and the confused sounds of labor. what an hour for meditation! what a contrast between the metropolis of the living and the metropolis of the dead!.... before i left the graveyard the shades of evening had fallen, and the objects around me grown dim and indistinct. as i passed the gateway, i turned to take a parting look. i could distinguish only the chapel on the summit of the hill, and here and there a lofty obelisk of snow-white marble, rising from the black and heavy mass of foliage around, and pointing upward to the gleam of the departed sun, that still lingered in the sky, and mingled with the soft starlight of a summer evening. the musée de cluny by grant allen [footnote: from "paris."] the primitive nucleus of the suburb on the south side consists of the roman fortress palace, the "tête du pont" of the left bank, now known as the thermes, owing to the fact that its principal existing remains include only the ruins of the bath or therma. this colossal building, probably erected by constantius chlorus, the father of constantine, covered an enormous area south of the river. after the frankish conquest, it still remained the residence of the merwing and karling kings on the rare occasions when they visited paris; and it does not seem to have fallen into utter decay till a comparatively late date in the middle ages. with the norman irruptions, however, and the rise of the real french monarchs under eudes and the capets, the new sovereigns found it safest to transfer their seat to the palace on the island (now the palais de justice), and the roman fortress was gradually dismantled. in the gigantic ruins came into the hands of the powerful benedictine abbey of cluny, near mâcon, in burgundy; and about , the abbots began to erect on the spot a town mansion for themselves, which still bears the name of the hôtel de cluny. the letter k, the mark of charles viii. ( - ), occurs on many parts of the existing building, and fixes its epoch. the house was mostly built by jaques d'amboise, abbot, in . the style is late gothic, with renaissance features. the abbots, however, seldom visited paris, and they frequently placed their town house accordingly at the disposition of the kings of france. mary of england, sister of henry viii., and widow of louis xii., occupied it thus in , soon after its completion. it was usual for the queens of france to wear white as mourning; hence her apartment is still known as the "chambre de la reine blanche." at the revolution, when the property of the monasteries was confiscated, the hôtel de cluny was sold, and passed at last, in , into the hands of m. du sommerard, a zealous antiquary, who began the priceless collection of works of art which it contains. he died in , and the government then bought the house and museum, and united it with the roman ruin at its back under the title of musée des thermes et de l'hôtel de cluny. since that time many further objects have been added to the collection. at cluny the actual building forms one of the most interesting parts of the sight, and is in itself a museum. it is a charming specimen of a late medieval french mansion; and the works of art it contains are of the highest artistic value.... at least two whole days should be devoted to cluny--one to the lower and one to the upper floor. much more, if possible. the place de la bastille by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "walks in paris." by arrangement with the publisher, david mckay. copyright, .] the south end of the rue des tournelles falls into the place de la bastille, containing le colonne de juillet, surmounted by a statue of liberty, and erected - . this marks the site of the famous castle-prison of the bastille, which for four centuries and a half terrified paris, and which has left a name to the quarter it frowned upon. hugues ambriot, mayor of paris, built it under charles v. to defend the suburb which contained the royal palace of st. paul. unpopular from the excess of his devotion to his royal master, aubriot was the first prisoner in his own prison. perhaps the most celebrated of the long list of after captives were the connétable de st. pol and jacques d'armagnac, due de nemours, taken thence for execution to the place de grève under louis xi., charles de gontaut, due de biron, executed within the walls of the fortress under henri iv., and the "man with the iron mask," brought hither mysteriously, september , , and who died in the bastille, november , . a thousand engravings show us the bastille as it was--as a "fort-bastide"--built on the line of the city walls just to the south of the porte st. antoine, surrounded by its own moat. it consisted of eight round towers, each bearing a characteristic name, connected by massive walls, ten feet thick, pierced with narrow slits by which the cells were lighted. in the early times it had entrances on three sides, but after only one, with a drawbridge over the moat on the side toward the river, which led to outer courts and a second drawbridge, and wound by a defended passage to an outer entrance opposite the rue des tournelles. close beside the bastille, to the north, rose the porte st. antoine, approached over the city fosse by its own bridge, at the outer end of which was a triumphal arch built on the return of henri ii. from poland in . both gate and arch were restored for the triumphal entry of louis xiv. in ; but the gate (before which etienne marcel was killed, july, ), was pulled down in . the bastille was taken by the people, july , , and the national assembly decreed its demolition.... the massive circular pedestal upon which the colonne de juillet now rests was intended by napoleon i. to support a gigantic fountain in the form of an elephant, instead of the column which, after the destruction of the bastille, the "tiers état" of paris had asked to erect "à louis xvi., restaurateur de la liberté publique." it is characteristic of the parisians that on the very same spot the throne of louis philippe was publicly burned, february , . the model for the intended elephant existed here till the middle of the reign of louis philippe, and is depicted by victor hugo as the lodging of "le petit gavroche." the panthéon and st. etienne-du-mont by grant allen [footnote: from "paris."] the medieval church of ste. geneviève, having fallen into decay in the middle of the eighteenth century, louis xv. determined to replace it by a sumptuous domed edifice in the style of the period. this building, designed by soufflot, was not completed till the revolution, when it was immediately secularized as the panthéon, under circumstances to be mentioned later. the remains of ste. geneviève, which had lain temporarily meanwhile in a sumptuous chapel of st. Étienne-du-mont (the subsidiary church of the monastery) were taken out by the revolutionists; the medieval shrine, or reliquary (which replaced st. Éloy's), was ruthlessly broken up; and the body of the patroness and preserver of paris was publicly burned in the place de grève. this, however, strange to say, was not quite the end of ste. geneviève. a few of her relics were said to have been preserved: some bones, together with a lock of the holy shepherdess's hair, were afterward recovered, and replaced in the sarcophagus they had once occupied. such at least is the official story; and these relics, now once more enclosed in a costly shrine, still attract thousands of votaries to the chapel of the saint in st. Étienne-du-mont. the panthéon, standing in front of the original church, is now a secular burial-place for the great men of france. the remains of ste. geneviève still repose at st. Étienne. thus it is impossible to dissociate the two buildings, which should be visited together; and thus too it happens that the patroness of paris has now no church in her own city. local saints are always the most important; this hill and montmartre are still the holiest places in paris. proceed, as far as the garden of the thermes, as on the excursion to cluny. then continue straight up the boulevard st. michel. the large edifice visible on the right of the rue des Écoles to your left, is the new building of the sorbonne, or university. further up, at the place du sorbonne, the domed church of the same name stands before you. it is the university church, and is noticeable as the earliest true dome erected in paris. the next corner shows one, right, the luxembourg garden, and left, the rue soufflot, leading up to the panthéon. the colossal domed temple which replaces the ancient church of ste. geneviève was begun by soufflot, under louis xv., in imitation of st. peter's, at rome. like all architects of his time, soufflot sought merely to produce an effect of pagan or "classical" grandeur, peculiarly out of place in the shrine of the shepherdess of nanterre. secularized almost immediately on its completion, during the revolution, the building was destined as the national monument to the great men of france, and the inscription, "aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante," which it still bears, was then first placed under the sculptures of the pediment. restored to worship by the restoration, it was again secularized under the third republic in order to admit the burial of victor hugo. the building itself, a vast bare barn of the pseudo-classical type, very cold and formal, is worthy of notice merely on account of its immense size and its historic position; but it may be visited to this day with pleasure, not only for some noble modern paintings, but also for the sake of the reminiscences of ste. geneviève which it still contains. the tympanum has a group by david d'angers, representing france distributing wreaths to soldiers, politicians, men of letters, men of science, and artists. the interior is in the shape of a greek cross (with equal arms). follow round the walls, beginning from the right. in the right aisle are paintings (modern) looking like frescoes, and representing the preaching of st. denis, by galand; and the history of ste. geneviève--her childhood, recognition by st. germain l'auxerrois, miracles, etc., delicate and elusive works, by puvis de chavannes. the paintings of the south transept represent episodes in the early history of france. chronologically speaking, they begin from the east central corner. choir, death of ste. geneviève, and miracles before her shrine, by laurens. apse of the tribune, fine modern (archaic) mosaic, by hébert, representing christ with the guardian angel of france, the madonna, jean d'arc, and ste. geneviève. stand under the dome to observe the proportions of the huge, bare, unimpressive building. left, or northern transept, east side, the history of jeanne d'arc; she hears the voices; leads the assault at orleans; assists at the coronation of charles vii. at rheims; and is burned at rouen. west side, st. louis as a child instructed by blanche of castille; administering justice in the palace; and a captive among the saracens. north aisle, history of ste. geneviève and st. denis. the building is thus at once the apotheosis of patriotism, and the lasting memorial of the part borne by christianity in french, and especially parisian, history. as you descend the steps of the panthéon, the building that faces you to the left is the mairie of the th arrondissement; that to the right, the École de droit. turn to the right along the north side of the panthéon. the long, low building which faces you is the bibliotheque ste. geneviève. nothing now remains of the abbey of ste. geneviève except the tall early gothic tower seen to the right near the end of the panthéon, and rising above the modern buildings of the lycée henri iv. the singularly picturesque and strangely-mingled church across the little square is st. Étienne-du-mont, which we now proceed to visit. stand in the left-hand corner of the place to examine the facade. the church was begun ( ) as late gothic; but before it was finished, the renaissance style had come into fashion, and the architects accordingly jumbled the two in the most charming manner. the incongruity here only adds to the beauty. the quaintly original renaissance portal bears a dedication to st. stephen the protomartyr, beneath which is a relief of his martyrdom, with a latin inscription, "stone destroyed the temple of the lord," i.e., stephen, "stone rebuilds it." right and left of the portal are statues of sts. stephen and geneviève, whose monograms also appear on the doors. in the pediment is the usual representation of the resurrection and last judgment. above it, the rose window, on either side of which, in accordance with italian rather than with french custom (showing italian renaissance influence) are the angel of the annunciation and the madonna receiving his message. in the third story, a gable-end. singular tower to the left, with an additional round turret, a relic of the earlier gothic building. the whole façade ( th century) represents rather late renaissance than transitional architecture. the interior is the most singular, and in some ways the most picturesque, in paris--a gothic church, tricked out in renaissance finery. the nave is flanked by aisles, which are divided from it by round pillars, capped by a singular balustrade or gallery with low, flat arches, simulating a triforium. the upper arches are round, and the decorations renaissance; but the vaulting, both of nave and aisles, with its pendant keystones, recalls the gothic style, as do also most of the windows. stand near the entrance, in the center of the nave, and look up the church. the most striking feature is the beautiful renaissance jubé or rood-loft (the only one now left in paris) which divides the choir from the body of the building. this rood-loft still bears a crucifix, for the reception of which it was originally intended. on the arch below are two charmingly sculptured renaissance angels. the rood-loft is flanked by two spiral staircases, which are wholly unique architectural features. notice also the exquisite pendentive of the roof at the point of intersection of the nave and short false transepts. now walk up the right aisle. the first chapel is the baptistery, containing the font and a modern statue of the boy baptist. third chapel, st. antony of padua. the fourth chapel contains a curious holy sepulcher, with quaint life-size terra-cotta figures of the th century. fifth chapel, a gilt châsse. notice the transepts, reduced to short arms, scarcely, if at all, projecting beyond the chapels. from this point examine the exquisite renaissance tracery of the rood-screen and staircases. then pass under the fine renaissance door, with lovely decorative work, into the ambulatory. the choir is in large part gothic, with late flamboyant tracery. the apparent triforium is continued round the ambulatory. the splendid gilded shrine in the second choir-chapel contains the remains of ste. geneviève, or what is left of them. candles burn perpetually around it. hundreds of votaries here pay their devotions daily to the patroness of paris. the shrine, containing what is alleged to be the original sarcophagus of the saint (more probably of the th century) stands under a richly-gilt gothic tabernacle, adorned with figures legibly named on their pedestals. the stained-glass window behind it has a representation of a processional function with the body of the saint, showing this church, together with a view of the original church of ste. geneviève, the remaining tower, and adjacent houses, historically most interesting. the window beyond the shrine also contains the history of ste. geneviève--her childhood, first communion, miracles, distribution of bread during the siege of paris, conversion of clovis, death, etc. indeed the long sojourn of the body of ste. geneviève in this church has almost overshadowed its dedication to st. stephen, several memorials of whom may, however, be recognized by the attentive visitor--among them, a picture of his martyrdom (by abel de pujol) near the entrance to the choir. the protomartyr also stands, with his deacon's robe and palm, in a niche near the door of the sacristy, where left and right are frescoes of his disputation with the doctors, and his martyrdom. the chapel immediately behind the high altar is, as usual, the lady chapel. the next contains a good modern window of the marriage of the virgin. examine in detail all the windows; one of the mystic wine-press is very interesting. votive offerings of the city of paris to ste. geneviève also exist in the ambulatory. curious frescoes of the martyrdom of the , christians on mount ararat on the north side. the best view of the choir is obtained from the north side of the ambulatory, opposite the shrine of ste. geneviève. in the north aisle notice st. louis with the crown of thorns. stand again in the center of the nave, near the entrance, and observe the curious inclination of the choir and high altar to one side--here particularly noticeable, and said in every case to represent the droop of the redeemer's head on the cross. as you emerge from the door, observe the cold and bare side of the panthéon, contrasted with the internal richness of st. Êtienne. curious view of the late gothic portion of the church from the little place on the north side. return by the rue cujas and rue st. jacques, passing the lycée ste. barbe, lycée louis-le-grand, university, and other scholastic buildings, which give a good idea of the character of the quarter. st. roch by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "walks in paris." by arrangement with the publisher, david mckay. copyright, .] englishmen are often specially imprest with paris as a city of contrasts, because one side of the principal line of hotels frequented by our countrymen looks down upon the broad, luxurious rue de rivoli, all modern gaiety and radiance, while the other side of their courtyards open upon the busy working rue st. honoré, lined by the tall, many-windowed houses which have witnessed so many revolutions. they have all the picturesqueness of innumerable balconies, high, slated roofs, with dormer windows, window-boxes full of carnations and bright with crimson flowers through the summer, and they overlook an ever-changing crowd, in great part composed of men in blouses and women in white aprons and caps. ever since the fourteenth century the rue st. honoré has been one of the busiest streets in paris. it was the gate leading into this street which was attacked by jeanne d'arc in . it was the fact that the cardinal de bourbon and the due de guise had been seen walking together at the porte st. honoré that was said to have turned half the moustache of henri of navarre suddenly white, from a presentiment of the crime which has become known as the massacre of st. bartholomew. here, in , the barricade was raised which gave the signal for all the troubles of the fronde. it was at no --then called l'auberge des trois pigeons--that ravaillac was lodging when he was waiting to murder henry iv.; here the first gun was fired in the revolution of july, , which overturned charles x.; and here, in the revolution of , a bloody combat took place between the insurgents and the military. throughout this street, as marie antoinette was first entering paris, the poissardes brought her bouquets, singing: "la rose est la reine des fleurs. antoinette est la reine des coeurs." ("the rose is the queen of flowers, antoinette is the queen of hearts") and here, as she was being taken to the scaffold, they crowded round her execution-cart and shouted: "madame veto avait promis de faire égorger tout paris, mais son coup a manqué grâce à nos canonniers; dansons la carmagnole au bruit du son du canon!" ("madame veto had promised to have the throat cut of all paris, but her attempt failed, thanks to our gunners. let us dance the carmagnole to the music of the cannon's roar!") * * * * * turning east toward old paris, we pass, on the right of the rue st. honoré, the church of st. roch, of which louis xiv. laid the foundation-stone in , replacing a chapel built on the site of the hôtel gaillon. the church was only finished, from designs of robert de cotte, in . the flight of steps which leads to the entrance has many associations. "before st. roch," says de goncourt, "the tumbrel in which was marie antoinette, stopt in the midst of howling and hooting. a thousand insults were hurled from the steps of the church as it were with one voice, saluting with filth their queen about to die. she, however, serene and majestic, pardoned the insults by disregarding them." it was from these steps, in front of which an open space then extended to the tuileries gardens, that bonaparte ordered the first cannon to be fired upon the royalists who rose against the national convention, and thus prevented a counter-revolution. traces of this cannonade of vendémiaire are still to be seen at the angle of the church and the rue neuve st. roch. ii the environs of paris versailles by william makepeace thackeray [footnote: from "the paris sketch book."] you pass from the railroad station through a long, lonely suburb, with dusty rows of stunted trees on either side, and some few miserable beggars, idle boys, and ragged old women under them. behind the trees are gaunt, moldy houses; palaces once, where (in the days of the unbought grace of life) the cheap defense of nations gambled, ogled, swindled, intrigued; whence high-born duchesses used to issue, in old times, to act as chambermaids to lovely du barri; and mighty princes rolled away, in gilt caroches, hot for the honor of lighting his majesty to bed, or of presenting his stockings when he rose, or of holding his napkin when he dined. tailors, chandlers, tinmen, wretched hucksters, and greengrocers, are now established in the mansions of the old peers; small children are yelling at the doors, with mouths besmeared with bread and treacle; damp rags are hanging out of every one of the windows, steaming in the sun; oyster-shells, cabbage-stalks, broken crockery, old papers, lie basking in the same cheerful light. a solitary water-cart goes jingling down the wide pavement, and spirts a feeble refreshment over the dusty, thirty stones. after pacing for some time through such dismal streets, we déboucher on the grande place; and before us lies the palace dedicated to all the glories of france. in the midst of the great lonely plain this famous residence of king louis looks low and mean--honored pile! time was when tall musketeers and gilded body-guards allowed none to pass the gate. fifty years ago, ten thousand drunken women from paris broke through the charm; and now a tattered commissioner will conduct you through it for a penny, and lead you up to the sacred entrance of the palace. we will not examine all the glories of france, as here they are portrayed in pictures and marble; catalogs are written about these miles of canvas, representing all the revolutionary battles, from valmy to waterloo--all the triumphs of louis xiv.--all the mistresses of his successor--and all the great men who have flourished since the french empire began. military heroes are most of these--fierce constables in shining steel, marshals in voluminous wigs, and brave grenadiers in bearskin caps; some dozens of whom gained crowns, principalities, dukedoms; some hundreds, plunder and epaulets; some millions, death in african sands, or in icy russian plains, under the guidance, and for the good, of that arch-hero, napoleon. by far the greater part of "all the glories" of france (as of most other countries) is made up of these military men: and a fine satire it is on the cowardice of mankind, that they pay such an extraordinary homage to the virtue called courage; filling their history-books with tales about it, and nothing but it. let them disguise the place, however, as they will, and plaster the walls with bad pictures as they please, it will be hard to think of any family but one, as one traverses this vast gloomy edifice. it has been humbled to the ground, as a certain palace of babel was of yore; but it is a monument of fallen pride, not less awful, and would afford matter for a whole library of sermons. the cheap defense of nations expended a thousand millions in the erection of this magnificent dwelling-place. armies were employed, in the intervals of their warlike labors, to level hills, or pile them up; to turn rivers, and to build aqueducts, and transplant woods, and construct smooth terraces, and long canals. a vast garden grew up in a wilderness, and a stupendous palace in the garden, and a stately city round the palace: the city was peopled with parasites, who daily came to do worship before the creator of these wonders--the great king. "only god is great," said courtly massillon; but next to him, as the prelate thought, was certainly louis, his vicegerent here upon earth--god's lieutenant-governor of the world--before whom courtiers used to fall on their knees, and shade their eyes, as if the light of his countenance, like the sun, which shone supreme in heaven, the type of him, was too dazzling to bear. did ever the sun shine upon such a king before, in such a palace?--or, rather, did such a king ever shine upon the sun? when majesty came out of his chamber, in the midst of his super-human splendors, viz., in his cinnamon-colored coat, embroidered with diamonds; his pyramon of a wig; his red-heeled shoes, that lifted him four inches from the ground, "that he scarcely seemed to touch;" when he came out, blazing upon the dukes and duchesses that waited his rising--what could the latter do but cover their eyes, and wink, and tremble? and did he not himself believe, as he stood there, on his high heels, under his ambrosial periwig, that there was something in him more than man--something above fate? this, doubtless, was he fain to believe; and if, on very fine days, from his terrace before his gloomy palace of st. germains, he could catch a glimpse, in the distance, of a certain white spire of st. denis, where his race lay buried, he would say to his courtiers, with a sublime condescension, "gentlemen, you must remember that i, too, am mortal." surely the lords in waiting could hardly think him serious, and vowed that his majesty always loved a joke. however, mortal or not, the sight of that sharp spire wounded his majesty's eyes; and is said, by the legend, to have caused the building of the palace of babel-versailles. in the year , then, the great king, with bag and baggage--with guards, cooks, chamberlains, mistresses, jesuits, gentlemen, lackeys, fénelons, molières, lauzuns, bossuets, villars, villeroys, louvois, colberts--transported himself to his new palace: the old one being left for james of england and jaquette his wife, when their time should come. and when the time did come, and james sought his brother's kingdom, it is on record that louis hastened to receive and console him, and promised to restore, incontinently, those islands from which the canaille had turned him. between brothers such a gift was a trifle; and the courtiers said to one another reverently, "the lord said unto my lord, sit thou on my right hand, until i make thine enemies thy footstool." there was no blasphemy in the speech; on the contrary, it was gravely said, by a faithful believing man, who thought it no shame to the latter to compare his majesty with god almighty. indeed, the books of the time will give one a strong idea how general was this louis-worship. i have just been looking at one which was written by an honest jesuit and protégé of père la chaise, who dedicates it to the august infants of france, which does, indeed, go almost as far in print. he calls our famous monarch "louis le grand: , l'invincible; , le sage; , le conquérant; , la merveille de son siècle; , la terreur de ses ennemis; , l'amour de ses peuples; , l'arbitre de la paix et de la guerre; , l'admiration de l'univers; , et digne d'en être le maître; , le modèle d'un héros achevè; , digne de l'immortalité, et de la vénération de tous les siècles!" a pretty jesuit declaration, truly, and a good, honest judgment upon the great king! in years more: . the invincible had been beaten a vast number of times. . the sage was the puppet of an artful old woman, who was the puppet of more artful priests. . the conqueror had quite forgotten his early knack of conquering. . the terror of his enemies (for , the marvel of his age, we pretermit, it being a loose term, that may apply to any person or thing) was now terrified by his enemies in turn. . the love of his people was as heartily detested by them as scarcely any other monarch, not even his great-grandson, has been, before or since. . the arbiter of peace and war was fain to send superb ambassadors to kick their heels in dutch shopkeepers' antechambers. . is again a general term. . the man fit to be master of the universe was scarcely master of his own kingdom. . the finished hero was all but finished, in a very commonplace and vulgar way. and, , the man worthy of immortality was just at the point of death, without a friend to soothe or deplore him; only withered old maintenon to utter prayers at his bedside, and croaking jesuit to prepare him, with heavens knows what wretched tricks and mummeries, for his appearance in that great republic that lies on the other side of the grave. in the course of his fourscore splendid miserable years, he never had but one friend, and he ruined and left her. poor la vallière, what a sad tale is yours!... while la vallière's heart is breaking, the model of a finished hero is yawning; as, on such paltry occasions, a finished hero should. let her heart break: a plague upon her tears and repentance; what right has she to repent? away with her to her convent! she goes, and the finished hero never sheds a tear. what a noble pitch of stoicism to have reached! our louis was so great, that the little woes of mean people were beyond him; his friends died, his mistresses left him; his children, one by one, were cut off before his eyes, and great louis is not moved in the slightest degree! as how, indeed, should a god be moved?... out of the window the king's august head was one day thrust, when old condé was painfully toiling up the steps of the court below. "don't hurry yourself, my cousin," cries magnanimity; "one who has to carry so many laurels can not walk fast." at which all the courtiers, lackeys, mistresses, chamberlains, jesuits, and scullions, clasp their hands and burst into tears. men are affected by the tale to this very day. for a century and three-quarters have not all the books that speak of versailles, or louis quatorze, told the story? "don't hurry yourself, my cousin!" o admirable king and christian! what a pitch of condescension is here, that the greatest king of all the world should go for to say anything so kind, and really tell a tottering old gentleman, worn out with gout, age, and wounds, not to walk too fast! what a proper fund of slavishness is there in the composition of mankind, that histories like these, should be found to interest and awe them. till the world's end, most likely, this story will have its place in the history-books, and unborn generations will read it, and tenderly be moved by it. i am sure that magnanimity went to bed that night, pleased and happy, intimately convinced that he had done an action of sublime virtue, and had easy slumbers and sweet dreams--especially if he had taken a light supper, and not too vehemently attacked his "en cas de nuit." ... the king his successor has not left, at versailles, half so much occasion for moralizing; perhaps the neigbhboring parc aux cerfs would afford better illustrations of his reign. the life of his great grandsire, the grand llama of france, seems to have frightened louis the well-beloved; who understood that loneliness is one of the necessary conditions of divinity, and, being of a jovial, companionable turn, aspired not beyond manhood. only in the matter of ladies did he surpass his predecessor, as solomon did david. war he eschewed, as his grandfather bade him; and his simple taste found little in this world to enjoy beyond the mulling of chocolate and the frying of pancakes. look, here is the room called laboratoire du roi, where, with his own hands, he made his mistress's breakfast; here is the little door through which, from her apartments in the upper story, the chaste du barri came stealing down to the arms of the weary, feeble, gloomy old man. but of women he was tired long since, and even pancake-frying had palled upon him. what had he to do, after forty years of reign; after having exhausted everything? every pleasure that dubois could invent for his hot youth, or cunning lebel could minister to his old age, was flat and stale; used up to the very dregs; every shilling in the national purse had been squeezed out, by pompadour and du barri and such brilliant ministers of state. he had found out the vanity of pleasure, as his ancestor had discovered the vanity of glory: indeed, it was high time that he should die. and die he did; and round his tomb, as round that of his grandfather before him, the starving people sang a dreadful chorus of curses, which were the only epitaphs for good or for evil that were raised to his memory.... on the th of may, , the whole court had assembled at the château; the oeil de boeuf was full. the dauphin had determined to depart as soon as the king had breathed his last. and it was agreed by the people of the stables, with those who watched in the king's room, that a lighted candle should be placed in a window, and should be extinguished as soon as he had ceased to live. the candle was put out. at that signal, guards, pages, and squires, mounted on horseback, and everything was made ready for departure. the dauphin was with the dauphiness, waiting together for the news of the king's demise. an immense noise, as of thunder, was heard in the next room; it was the crowd of courtiers, who were deserting the dead king's apartment, in order to pay their court to the new power of louis xvi. madame de noailles entered, and was the first to salute the queen by her title of queen of france, and begged their majesties to quit their apartments, to receive the princes and great lords of the court desirous to pay their homage to the new sovereigns. leaning on her husband's arm, a handkerchief to her eyes, in the most touching attitude, marie antoinette received these first visits. on quitting the chamber where the dead king lay, the due de villequier bade mr. anderville, first surgeon of the king, to open and embalm the body: it would have been certain death to the surgeon. "i am ready, sir," says he; "but while i am operating, you must hold the head of the corpse; your charge demands it." the duke went away without a word, and the body was neither opened nor embalmed. a few humble domestics and poor workmen watched by the remains, and performed the last offices to their master. the surgeons ordered spirits of wine to be poured into the coffin. they huddled the king's body into a postchaise; and in this deplorable equipage, with an escort of about forty men, louis, the well-beloved, was carried, in the dead of night, from versailles to saint-denis, and then thrown into the tombs of the kings of france! if any man is curious, and can get permission, he may mount to the roof of the palace, and see where louis xvi. used royally to amuse himself by gazing upon the doings of all the towns-people below with a telescope. behold that balcony, where, one morning, he, his queen, and the little dauphin stood, with cromwell grandison lafayette by their side, who kissed her majesty's hand, and protected her; and then, lovingly surrounded by his people, the king got into a coach and came to paris: nor did his majesty ride much in coaches after that.... he is said to have been such a smart journeyman blacksmith that he might, if fate had not perversely placed a crown on his head, have earned a couple of louis every week by the making of locks and keys. those who will may see the workshop where he employed many useful hours: madame elizabeth was at prayers meanwhile; the queen was making pleasant parties with her ladies; monsieur the count d'artois was learning to dance on the tightrope; and monsieur de provence was cultivating l'éloquence du billet and studying his favorite horace. it is said that each member of the august family succeeded remarkably well in his or her pursuits; big monsieur's little notes are still cited. at a minuet or sillabub, poor antoinette was unrivaled; and charles, on the tightrope, was so graceful and so gentil that madame saqui might envy him. the time only was out of joint. oh, curst spite, that ever such harmless creatures as these were bidden to right it! a walk to the little trianon is both pleasing and moral; no doubt the reader has seen the pretty, fantastical gardens which environ it; the groves and temples; the streams and caverns (whither, as the guide tells you, during the heat of summer, it was the custom of marie antoinette to retire with her favorite, madame de lamballe): the lake and swiss village are pretty little toys, moreover; and the cicerone of the place does not fail to point out the different cottages which surround the piece of water, and tell the names of the royal masqueraders who inhabited each. in the long cottage, close upon the lake, dwelt the seigneur du village, no less a personage than louis xv.; louis xvi., the dauphin, was the pailli; near his cottage is that of monseigneur the count d'artois, who was the miller; opposite lived the prince de condé, who enacted the part of gamekeeper (or, indeed, any other role, for it does not signify much); near him was the prince de rohan, who was the aumonier; and yonder is the pretty little dairy, which was under the charge of the fair marie antoinette herself. i forget whether monsieur the fat count of provence took any share of this royal masquerading; but look at the names of the other six actors of the comedy, and it will be hard to find any person for whom fate had such dreadful visitations in store. fancy the party, in the days of their prosperity, here gathered at trianon, and seated under the tall poplars by the lake, discoursing familiarly together: suppose, of a sudden, some conjuring cagliostro of the time is introduced among them, and foretells to them the woes that are about to come. "you, monsieur l'aumonier, the descendant of a long line of princes, the passionate admirer of that fair queen who sits by your side, shall be the cause of her ruin and your own, [footnote: in the diamond-necklace affair.] and shall die in disgrace and exile. you, son of the condés, shall live long enough to see your royal race overthrown, and shall die by the hands of a hangman. [footnote: he was found hanging in his own bed-room.] you, oldest son of st. louis, shall perish by the executioner's ax; that beautiful head, o antoinette, the same ruthless blade shall sever." "they shall kill me first," says lamballe, at the queen's side. "yes, truly," says the soothsayer, "for fate prescribes ruin for your mistress and all who love her." [footnote: among the many lovers that rumor gave to the queen, poor fersen is the most remarkable. he seems to have entertained for her a high and perfectly pure devotion. he was the chief agent in the luckless escape to varennes; was lurking in paris during the time of her captivity; and was concerned in the many fruitless plots that were made for her rescue. fersen lived to be an old man, but died a dreadful and violent death. he was dragged from his carriage by the mob. in stockholm, and murdered by them.--author's note.] "and," cries monsieur d'artois, "do i not love my sister, too? i pray you not to omit me in your prophecies." to whom monsieur cagliostro says, scornfully, "you may look forward to fifty years of life, after most of these are laid in the grave. you shall be a king, but not die one; and shall leave the crown only; not the worthless head that shall wear it. thrice shall you go into exile; you shall fly from the people, first, who would have no more of you and your race; and you shall return home over half a million of human corpses, that have been made for the sake of you, and of a tyrant as great as the greatest of your family. again driven away, your bitterest enemy shall bring you back. but the strong limbs of france are not to be chained by such a paltry yoke as you can put on her: you shall be a tyrant, but in will only; and shall have a scepter, but to see it robbed from your hand." "and pray, sir conjurer, who shall be the robber?" asked monsieur the count d'artois. this i can not say, for here my dream ended. the fact is, i had fallen asleep on one of the stone benches in the avenue de paris, and at this instant was awakened by a whirling of carriages and a great clattering of national guards, lancers, and outriders, in red. his majesty, louis philippe, was going to pay a visit to the palace; which contains several pictures of his own glorious actions, and which has been dedicated, by him, to all the glories of france. versailles in by thomas gray [footnote: from a letter to his friend west.] what a huge heap of littleness! it is composed, as it were, of three courts, all open to the eye at once, and gradually diminishing till you come to the royal apartments, which on this side present but half a dozen windows and a balcony. this last is all that can be called a front, for the rest is only great wings. the hue of all this mass is black, dirty red, and yellow; the first proceeding from stone changed by age; the second, from a mixture of brick; and the last, from a profusion of tarnished gilding. you can not see a more disagreeable tout ensemble; and, to finish the matter, it is all stuck over in many places with small busts of a tawny hue between every two windows. we pass through this to go into the garden, and here the case is indeed altered; nothing can be vaster and more magnificent than the back front; before it a very spacious terrace spreads itself, adorned with two large basons; these are bordered and lined (as most of the others) with white marble, with handsome statues of bronze reclined on their edges. from hence you descend a huge flight of steps into a semi-circle formed by woods, that are cut all around into niches, which are filled with beautiful copies of all the famous antique statues in white marble. just in the midst is the bason of latona; she and her children are standing on the top of a rock in the middle, on the sides of which are the peasants, some half, some totally changed into frogs, all which throw out water at her in great plenty. from this place runs on the great alley, which brings you into a complete round, where is the bason of apollo, the biggest in the gardens. he is rising in his car out of the water, surrounded by nymphs and tritons, all in bronze, and finely executed, and these, as they play, raise a perfect storm about him; beyond this is the great canal, a prodigious long piece of water, that terminates the whole. all this you have at one coup d'oeil in entering the garden, which is truly great. i can not say as much of the general taste of the place: everything you behold savors too much of art; all is forced, all is constrained about you; statues and vases sowed everywhere without distinction; sugar loaves and minced pies of yew; scrawl work of box, and little squirting jets-d'eau, besides a great sameness in the walks, can not help striking one at first sight, not to mention the silliest of labyrinths, and all aesop's fables in water; since these were designed "in usum delphini" only. here, then, we walk by moonlight, and hear the ladies and the nightingales sing. next morning, being whitsunday, make ready to go to the installation of nine knights du saint esprit. cambis is one: high mass celebrated with music, great crowd, much incense, king, queen, dauphin, mesdames, cardinals, and court: knights arrayed by his majesty; reverences before the altar, not bows, but curtsies; stiff hams; much tittering among the ladies; trumpets, kettledrums, and fifes. fontainebleau by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "days near paris."] the golden age of fontainebleau came with the renaissance and francis i., who wished to make fontainebleau the most glorious palace in the world. "the escurial!" says brantôme, "what of that? see how long it was of building? good workmen like to be quick finished. with our king it was otherwise. take fontainebleau and chambord. when they were projected, when once the plumb-line, and the compass, and the square, and the hammer were on the spot, then in a few years we saw the court in residence there." il rosso was first ( ) employed to carry out the ideas of françois i. as to painting, and then sebastian serlio was summoned from bologna in to fill the place of "surintendant des bastiments et architecte de fontainebleau." il rosso-giovambattista had been a florentine pupil of michelangelo, but refused to follow any master, having, as vasari says, "a certain inkling of his own." françois i. was delighted with him at first, and made him head of all the italian colony at fontainebleau, where he was known as "maitre roux." but in two years the king was longing to patronize some other genius, and implored giulio romano, then engaged on the palazzo del té at mantua, to come to him. the great master refused to come himself, but in his place sent the bolognese primaticcio, who became known in france as le primatice. the new-comer excited the furious jealousy of il rosso, whom he supplanted in favor and popularity, and who, after growing daily more morose, took poison in . then primaticcio, who, to humor his rival had been sent into honorable exile (on plea of collecting antiquities at rome), was summoned back, and destroyed most of il rosso's frescoes, replacing them by his own. those that remain are now painted over, and no works of il rosso are still in existence (unless in engravings) except some of his frescoes at florence. with the italian style of buildings and decorations, the italian system of a court adorned by ladies was first introduced here under françois i., and soon became a necessity.... under françois i., his beautiful mistress, the duchesse d'Étampes--"la plus belle des savantes, et la plus savante des belles," directed all the fêtes. in this she was succeeded, under henry ii., by diane de poitiers, whose monogram, interwoven with that of the king, appears in all the buildings of this time, and who is represented as a goddess (diana) in the paintings of primaticcio. under françois ii., in , by the advice of the queen-mother, an assembly of notables was summoned at fontainebleau; and here, accompanied by her beautiful maids of honor, catherine de medici received the embassy of the catholic sovereigns sent to demand the execution of the articles of the council of trent, and calling for fresh persecution of the reformers. much as his predecessors had accomplished, henri iv. did more for the embellishment of fontainebleau, where the monogram of his mistress, gabrielle d'estrées, is frequently seen mingled with that of his wife, marie de medici. all the bourbon kings had a passion for hunting, for which fontainebleau afforded especial facilities. it was at fontainebleau that louis xiii. was born, and that the maréchal de biron was arrested. louis xiii. only lived here occasionally. in the early reign of louis xiv., the palace was lent to christina, of sweden, who had abdicated her throne. it was in one of the private apartments, occupying the site of the ancient galerie des cerfs, now destroyed, that she ordered the execution of her chief equerry, monaldeschi, whom she had convicted of treason. she listened patiently to his excuses, but was utterly unmoved by them and his entreaties for mercy. she provided a priest to confess him, after which he was slowly butchered by blows with a sword on the head and face, as he dragged himself along the floor, his body being defended by a coat of mail.... even after the creation of the palaces of versailles and marly, louis xiv. continued to make an annual "voyage de fontainebleau." he compelled his whole court to follow him; if any of his family were ill, and unable to travel by road, he made them come by water; for himself, he slept on the way, either at the house of the duc d'antin (son of mme. de montespan) or of the maréchal de villeroy. it was here that the grand dauphin was born, in . here, also, it was that mme. de maintenon first appeared at the councils, and that the king publicly asked her advice as to whether he should accept the throne of spain for the duc d' anjou. here, also, in , he signed the revocation of the edict of nantes. the great condé died in the palace. louis xv. was married here to marie leczinska in ; and here the dauphin, his son, died in . louis xiv. delighted in fontainebleau for its hunting facilities. after the revolution, napoleon i. restored the château and prepared it for pius vii. who came to france to crown him, and was here (january , ) induced to sign the famous concordat de fontainebleau, by which he abjured his temporal sovereignty. the chateau which witnessed the abdication of the pope, also saw that of napoleon i., who made his touching farewell to the soldiers of the vielle-garde in the cour du cheval-blanc, before setting off for elba.... the cour du cheval-blanc, the largest of the five courts of the palace, took its name from a plaster copy of the horse of marcus aurelius at rome, destroyed . recently it has been called the cour des adieux, on account of the farewell of napoleon i. in . it was once surrounded by buildings on all sides; one was removed in , and replaced by a grille. the principal façade is composed of five pavilions with high roofs, united by buildings two stories high. the beautiful twisted staircase in front of the central pavilion was executed by lemercier for louis xiii., and replaces a staircase by philbert delorme. facing this pavilion, the mass of buildings on the right is the aile neuve of louis xv., built on the site of the galerie d'ulysse, to the destruction of the precious works of primaticcio and niccolo dell' abbate, with which it was adorned. below the last pavilion, near the grille, was the grotte du jardin-des-pins, where james v. of scotland, coming over to marry magdalen of france, daughter of françois i., watched her bathing with her ladies, by the aid of a mirror.... to the west of the cour du cheval-blanc, and communicating with it, is the cour de la fontaine, the main front of which is formed by the galerie de françois i. this faces the great tank, into which gaston d' orleans, at eight years old, caused one of the courtiers to be thrown, whom he considered to have spoken to him disrespectfully. one side of the cour de la fontaine, that toward the jardin anglais, is terminated by a pavilion of the time of louis xv.; the other, formerly decorated with statues is attributed to serlio. the fountain from which the court takes its name has been often changed; a poor work by petitot now replaces the grand designs of the time of françois i. and henri iv. beyond this court we find, on the left, the porte dorée, which faces the chaussée de maintenon, between the etang and parterre; it was built under françois i., and decorated by primaticcio with paintings, restored in . it was by this entrance that charles v. arrived at the palace in .... a staircase now leads to the first floor, and we enter the apartments of napoleon i., all furnished in the style of the first empire. the cabinet de l'abdication is the place where he resigned his power. his bedroom (containing the bed of napoleon i., the cradle of the king of rome, and a cabinet of marie louise) leads to the salle du conseil, which was the salon de famille under louis philippe. its decorations are by boucher, and are the best of the period. it was in leaving this room that the maréchal de biron was arrested under henri iv., in a cabinet which is now thrown into the adjoining salle du trône, (previously the bedroom of the bourbon kings), dating from charles iv., but decorated under louis xiii. a fine portrait by phillipe de champaigne represents louis xiii. it is accompanied by his device in allusion to his vehemence in the extermination of heresy. the adjoining boudoir de marie antoinette is a beautiful little room, painted by barthelemy. the metal work of the windows is said to have been wrought by louis xvi. himself, who had his workshop here, as at versailles. the richly decorated chambre à coucher de la reine was inhabited by marie de medici, marie thérese, marie antoinette, marie louise, and marie amelie. the silk hangings were given by the town of lyons to marie antoinette on her marriage. the salon de musique was the salon du jeu de la reine, under marie antoinette. the ancient salon de clorinde, or des dames d' honneur, is named from its paintings by dubois and from the "gerusalemme liberata." the galerie de diane, built by napoleon i. and louis xviii., replaces the famous frescoed gallery of henri iv. it is now turned into a library for the use of the town. in the center is a picture of henri iv. on horseback, by mauzaise. the salles des chasses contain pictures of hunting scenes under louis xv. we now reach the glorious galerie d' henri ii. (or salle des fêtes), built by françois i., and decorated by henri ii. the walnut-wood ceiling and the paneling of the walls are of marvelous richness. over the chimney is a gigantic h, and the initials of henri ii. are constantly seen interlaced with those of diane de poitiers.... the sixty paintings on the walls, including eight large compositions, were executed by niccolo dell' abbate, and are probably the finest decorations of the kind existing in france. the rooms usually shown last are those formerly inhabited by catherine de medici and anne of austria, and which, under the first empire, were used by pius vii., under louis philippe, by the duke and duchess of orleans. the most interesting of these are the chambre à coucher, which bears the oft-repeated a l (the chiffre of louis xiii. and anne of austria), and in which pius vii. daily said mass, and the salon, with its fine tapestry after giulio romano. the galerie des assiettes, adorned with sévres china, only dates from louis philippe. hence, by a gallery in the aile neuve, hung with indifferent pictures, we may visit the salle du theâtre, retaining its arrangements for the emperor, empress, and court. the gardens, as seen now, are mostly as they were rearranged by lenôtre for louis xiv. the most frequented garden is the parterre, entered from the place du cheval-blanc. in the center of the jardin anglais (entered through the cour de la fontaine) was the fontaine bleau, which is supposed by some to have given a name to the palace. the etang has a pavilion in the center, where the czar peter got drunk. the carp in the pool, overfed with bread by visitors, are said to be, some of them, of immense age. john evelyn mentions the carp of fontainebleau, "that come familiarly to hand." the jardin de l' orangerie, on the north of the palace, called jardin des buis under francois i., contains a good renaissance portal. to the east of the parterre and the town is the park, which has no beauty, but harmonizes well with the château. visitors should not fail to drive in the forest, kilometers in circuit, and, if they return late, may look out for its black huntsman--"le grand veneur." ... the forest was a favorite hunting-ground of the kings of france to a late period. it was here that the marquis de tourzel, grand provost of france, husband of the governess of the royal children, fractured his skull, his horse bolting against a tree, when hunting with louis xvi., in november, . the forest is the especial land of french artists, who overrun and possess it in the summer. there are innumerable direction-posts, in which all the red marks--put up by napoleon iii., because so few peasants could read--point to town. st. denis by grant allen [footnote: from "paris."] about six miles north of the original paris stands the great basilica of st. denis--the only church in paris, and i think in france, called by that ancient name, which carries us back at once to the days of the roman empire, and in itself bears evidence to the antiquity of the spot as a place of worship. around it, a squalid modern industrial town has slowly grown up; but the nucleus of the whole place, as the name itself shows, is the body and shrine of the martyred bishop, st. denis. among the numerous variants of his legend, the most accepted is that in which the apostle of paris carries his head to this spot from montmartre. others say he was beheaded in paris and walked to montmartre, his body being afterward translated to the abbey; while there are some who see in this legend a survival of the dionysiac festival and sacrifice of the vine-growers round paris--denis--dionysius--dionysus. however that may be, a chapel was erected in above the grave of st. denis, on the spot now occupied by the great basilica; and later, ste. geneviève was instrumental in restoring it. dagobert i., one of the few frankish kings who lived much in paris, built a "basilica" in place of the chapel ( ), and instituted by its side a benedictine abbey. the church and monastery which possest the actual body of the first bishop and great martyr of paris formed naturally the holiest site in the neighborhood of the city; and even before paris became the capital of a kingdom, the abbots were persons of great importance in the frankish state. the desire to repose close to the grave of a saint was habitual in early times, and even (with the obvious alteration of words) ante-dated christianity--every wealthy egyptian desiring in the same way to "sleep with osiris." dagobert himself was buried in the church he founded, beside the holy martyr; and in later times this very sacred spot became for the same reason the recognized burial place of the french kings. dagobert's fane was actually consecrated by the redeemer himself, who descended for the purpose by night, with a great multitude of saints and angels. the existing basilica, tho of far later date, is the oldest church of any importance in the neighborhood of paris. it was begun by suger, abbot of the monastery, and sagacious minister of louis vi. and vii., in . as yet, paris itself had no great church, notre-dame having been commenced some years later. the earliest part of suger's building is in the romanesque style; it still retains the round roman arch and many other roman constructive features. during the course of the years occupied in building the basilica, however, the gothic style was developed; the existing church therefore exhibits both romanesque and gothic work, with transitional features between the two, which add to its interest. architecturally, then, bear in mind, it is in part romanesque, passing into gothic. the interior is mostly pure early gothic. the neighborhood to paris, the supremacy of the great saint, and the fact that st. denis was especially the royal abbey, all combined to give it great importance. under suger's influence, louis vi. adopted the oriflamme or standard of st. denis as the royal banner of france. the merovingian and carlovingian kings, to be sure--germans rather than french--had naturally been buried elsewhere, as at aix-la-chapelle, rheims, and soissons (tho even of them a few were interred beside the great bishop martyr). but as soon as the parisian dynasty of the capets came to the throne, they were almost without exception buried at st. denis. hence the abbey came to be regarded at last mainly as the mausoleum of french royalty, and is still too often so regarded by tourists. but tho the exquisite renaissance tombs of the house of valois would well deserve a visit on their own account, they are, at st. denis, but accessories to the great basilica. besides the actual tombs, too, many monuments were erected here, in the th century (by st. louis) and afterward, to earlier kings buried elsewhere, some relic of whom, however, the abbey possest and thus honored. hence several of the existing tombs are of far later date than the kings they commemorate; those of the valois almost alone are truly contemporary. at the revolution, the basilica suffered irreparable losses. the very sacred reliquary containing the severed head of st. denis was destroyed, and the remains of the martyr and his companions desecrated. the royal bones and bodies were also disinterred and flung into trenches indiscriminately. the tombs of the kings were condemned to destruction, and many (chiefly in metal) were destroyed or melted down, but not a few were saved with difficulty by the exertions of antiquaries, and were placed in the museum of monuments at paris (now the École des beaux-arts), of which alexandre lenoir was curator. here, they were greatly hacked about and mutilated, in order to fit them to their new situations. at the restoration, however, they were sent back to st. denis, together with many other monuments which had no real place there; but, being housed in the crypt, they were further clipt to suit their fresh surroundings. finally, when the basilica was restored under viollet-le-duc, the tombs were replaced as nearly as possible in their old positions; but several intruders from elsewhere are still interspersed among them. louis xviii. brought back the mingled bones of his ancestors from the common trench and interred them in the crypt. as regards the tombs, again, bear in mind these facts. all the oldest have perished; there are none here that go back much further than the age of st. louis, tho they often represent personages of earlier periods or dynasties. the best are those of the renaissance period. these are greatly influenced by the magnificent tomb of giangaleazzo visconti at the certosa di pavia, near milan. especially is this the case with the noble monument of louis xii., which closely imitates the italian work. now, you must remember that charles viii. and louis xii. fought much in italy, and were masters of milan; hence this tomb was familiar to them; and their italian experiences had much to do with the french renaissance. the cardinal d'amboise, louis's minister, built the château de gaillon, and much of the artistic impulse of the time was due to these two. henceforth recollect that tho françois i. is the prince of the renaissance, louis xii. and his minister were no mean forerunners.... the interior is most beautiful. the first portion of the church which we enter is a vestibule or galilee under the side towers and end of the nave. compare durham. it is of the age of abbot suger, but already exhibits pointed arches in the upper part. the architecture is solid and massive, but somewhat gloomy. descend a few steps into the nave, which is surrounded by single aisles, whose vaulting should be noticed. the architecture of this part, now pure early gothic, is extremely lovely. the triforium is delicate and graceful. the windows in the clerestory above it, representing kings and queens, are almost all modern. notice the great height of the nave, and the unusual extent to which the triforium and clerestory project above the noble vaulting of the aisles. note that the triforium itself opens directly to the air, and is supplied with stained-glass windows, seen through its arches. sit awhile in this light and lofty nave, in order to take in the beautiful view up the church toward the choir and chevet. then walk up to the barrier near the transepts, where sit again, in order to observe the choir and transepts with the staircase which leads to the raised ambulatory. observe that the transepts are simple. the ugly stained glass in the windows of their clerestory contains illustrations of the reign of louis philippe, with extremely unpicturesque costumes of the period. the architecture of the nave and choir, with its light and airy arches and pillars, is of the later th century. the reason for this is that suger's building was thoroughly restored from onward, in the pure pointed style of that best period. the upper part of the choir, and the whole of the nave and transepts was then rebuilt--which accounts for the gracefulness and airiness of its architecture when contrasted with the dark and heavy vestibule of the age of suger. note from this point the arrangement of the choir, which, to those who do not know italy, will be quite unfamiliar. as at san zeno in verona, san miniato in florence, and many other romanesque churches, the choir is raised by some steps above the nave and transepts; while the crypt is slightly deprest beneath them. in the crypt, in such cases, are the actual bodies of the saints buried there; while the altar stands directly over their tombs in the choir above it. marly-le-roi by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "days near paris."] the tram stops close to the abreuvoir, a large artificial tank, surrounded by masonry for receiving the surplus water from the fountains in the palace gardens, of which it is now the only remnant. ascending the avenue on the right, we shall find a road at the top which will lead us, to the left, through delightful woods to the site of the palace. nothing remains but the walls supporting the wooded terrace. it is difficult to realize the place as it was, for the quincunces of limes which stood between the pavilions on either side of the steep avenue leading to the royal residence, formerly dipt and kept close, are now huge trees, marking still the design of the grounds, but obscuring the views, and, by their great growth, making the main avenue very narrow. st. simon exaggerates the extravagance of louis xiv. at marly, who spent there four and a half million francs between and , and probably as much or more between and , perhaps in all ten or twelve millions, which would represent fifty million francs at the present time. nevertheless the expense of the amusements of louis xiv. greatly exceeded the whole revenue of henri iv., and those of the early years of louis xiii. from the central pavilion in which the flattery of mansart placed him as the sun, louis xiv. emerged every morning to visit the occupiers of the twelve smaller pavilions, les pavilions des seigneurs, the constellations, his courtiers, who came out to meet him and swelled his train. these pavilions, arranged on each side of the gardens, stood in double avenues of clipt lime-trees looking upon the garden and its fountains, and leading up to the palace. the device of the sun was carried out in the palace itself, where all the smaller apartments circled round the grand salon, the king and queen having apartments to the back, the dauphin and dauphine to the front, each apartment consisting of an anteroom, bedroom, and sitting-room, and each set being connected with one of the four square saloons, which opened upon the great octagonal hall, of which four faces were occupied by chimney-pieces and four by the doors of the smaller saloons. the central hall occupied the whole height of the edifice, and was lighted from the upper story. the great ambition of every courtier was to be of the marly circle, and all curried favor with the king by asking to accompany him on his weekly journey to marly. the court used to arrive at marly on a wednesday and leave it on a saturday; this was an invariable rule. the king always passed his sundays at versailles, which was his parish. ... the leading figure at marly was mme. de maintenon, who occupied the apartments intended for queen marie thérèse, but who led the simplest of lives, bored almost to extinction. she used to compare the carp languishing in the tanks of marly to herself--"like me they regret their native mud." ... at first mme. de maintenon dined, in the midst of the other ladies in the square salon which separated her apartment from that of the king; but soon she had a special table, to which a very few other ladies, her intimates, came by invitation. marly was the scene of several of the most tragic events in the life of louis xiv. "everything is dead here, there's no life in any thing," wrote the comtesse de caylus, niece of mme. de maintenon, from marly to the princess des ursins, after the death of the duchesse de bourgogne. and, in a few days afterward, marly was the scene of the sudden death of the dauphin, duc de bourgogne, the beloved pupil of fénelon. early in the morning after the death of his wife, he was persuaded, "ill and anguished with the most intimate and bitterest of sorrows," to follow the king to marly, where he entered his own room by a window on the ground floor. it was also at marly--"ill-omened marly"--that the duc de berry, the younger grandson of louis xiv., and husband of the profligate daughter of the duc d' orleans--afterward regent, died, with great suspicion of poison, in . the ms. memorials of mary beatrice by a sister of chaillot, describe how, when louis xiv. was mourning his beloved grandchildren, and that queen, whom he had always liked and respected, had lost her darling daughter louisa, she went to visit him at marly where "they laid aside all court etiquette, weeping together in their common grief, because, as the queen said, 'we saw that the aged were left, and that death had swept away the young.'" st. simon depicts the last walk of the king in the gardens at marly on august , . he went away that evening to versailles, where he died on september . marly was abandoned during the whole time of the regency, and was only saved from total destruction in , when the régent philippe d'orléans had ordered its demolition, by the spirited remonstrance of st. simon.... the great pavilion itself only contained, as we have seen, a very small number of chambers. the querulous smollett, who visited marly in , speaks of it as "no more than a pigeon-house in respect to a palace." but it was only intended as the residence of the king. during the repairs necessary in the reign of louis xv., who built choisy and never lived at marly, the cascade which fell behind the great pavilion was removed. mme. campan describes the later marly of louis xvi., under whom the "marly journey" had become one of the great burdens and expenses of royal life. the court of louis xvi. was here for the last time on june , , but in the latter years of louis xvi., m. de noailles, governor of st. germain, was permitted to lend the smaller pavilions furnished to his friends for the summer months. marly perished with the monarchy, and was sold at the revolution, when the statues of its gardens were removed to the tuileries. a cotton mill was for a time established in the royal pavilion; then all the buildings were pulled down and the gardens sold in lots! still the site is worth visiting. the grille royale, now a simple wooden gate between two pillars with vases, opens on the road from st. germain to versailles, at the extremity of the aqueduct of marly. passing this, one finds oneself in an immense circular enclosure, the walls of which surround the forest on every side. the village of auteuil by henry wadsworth longfellow [footnote: from "outre-mer." published by houghton, mifflin co.] the sultry heat of summer always brings with it, to the idler and the man of leisure, a longing for the leafy shade and the green luxuriance of the country. it is pleasant to interchange the din of the city, the movement of the crowd, and the gossip of society, with the silence of the hamlet, the quiet seclusion of the grove, and the gossip of a woodland brook. it was a feeling of this kind that prompted me, during my residence in the north of france, to pass one of the summer months at auteuil, the pleasantest of the many little villages that lie in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis. it is situated on the outskirts of the bois de boulogne, a wood of some extent, in whose green alleys the dusty city enjoys the luxury of an evening drive, and gentlemen meet in the morning to give each other satisfaction in the usual way. a cross-road, skirted with green hedge-rows, and overshadowed by tall poplars, leads you from the noisy highway of st. cloud and versailles to the still retirement of this suburban hamlet. on either side the eye discovers old châteaux amid the trees, and green parks, whose pleasant shades recall a thousand images of la fontaine, racine, and molière; and on an eminence, overlooking the windings of the seine, and giving a beautiful tho distant view of the domes and gardens of paris, rises the village of passy, long the residence of our countrymen franklin and count rumford.... it was to the bois de boulogne that i looked for my principal recreation. there i took my solitary walk, morning and evening; or, mounted on a little mouse-colored donkey, paced demurely along the woodland pathway. i had a favorite seat beneath the shadow of a venerable oak, one of the few hoary patriarchs of the wood which had survived the bivouacs of the allied armies. it stood upon the brink of a little glassy pool, whose tranquil bosom was the image of a quiet and secluded life, and stretched its parental arms over a rustic bench, that had been constructed beneath it for the accommodation of the foot-traveler, or, perchance, some idle dreamer like myself. it seemed to look round with a lordly air upon its old hereditary domain, whose stillness was no longer broken by the tap of the martial drum, nor the discordant clang of arms; and, as the breeze whispered among its branches, it seemed to be holding friendly colloquies with a few of its venerable contemporaries, who stooped from the opposite bank of the pool, nodding gravely now and then, and gazing at themselves with a sigh in the mirror below.... i entered, too, with some enthusiasm, into all the rural sports and merrimakes of the village. the holidays were so many little eras of mirth and good feeling; for the french have that happy and sunshine temperament--that merry-go-mad character--which renders all their social meetings scenes of enjoyment and hilarity. i made it a point never to miss any of the fêtes champêtres, or rural dances, at the wood of boulogne; tho i confess it sometimes gave me a momentary uneasiness to see my rustic throne beneath the oak usurped by a noisy group of girls, the silence and decorum of my imaginary realm broken by music and laughter, and, in a word, my whole kingdom turned topsy-turvy with romping, fiddling, and dancing. but i am naturally, and from principle, too, a lover of all those innocent amusements which cheer the laborer's toil, and, as it were, put their shoulders to the wheel of life, and help the poor man along with his load of cares. hence i saw with no small delight the rustic swain astride the wooden horse of the carrousel, and the village maiden whirling round and round in its dizzy car; or took my stand on the rising ground that overlooked the dance, an idle spectator in a busy throng. it was just where the village touched the outward border of the wood. there a little area had been leveled beneath the trees, surrounded by a painted rail, with a row of benches inside. the music was placed in a slight balcony, built around the trunk of a large tree in the center; and the lamps, hanging from the branches above, gave a gay, fantastic, and fairy look to the scene. how often in such moments did i recall the lines of goldsmith, describing those "kinder skies" beneath which "france displays her bright domain," and feel how true and masterly the sketch-- "alike all ages; dames of ancient days have led their children through the mirthful maze, and the gray grandsire, skilled in gestic lore, has frisked beneath the burden of threescore." nor must i forget to mention the fête patronale--a kind of annual fair, which is held at midsummer, in honor of the patron saint of auteuil. then the principal street of the village is filled with booths of every description; strolling players, and rope-dancers, and jugglers, and giants, and dwarfs, and wild beasts, and all kinds of wonderful shows, excite the gaping curiosity of the throng; and in dust, crowds, and confusion, the village rivals the capital itself. then the goodly dames of passy descend into the village of auteuil; then the brewers of billancourt and the tanners of sèvres dance lustily under the greenwood tree; and then, too, the sturdy fishmongers of brétigny and saint-yon regale their fat wives with an airing in a swing, and their customers with eels and crawfish.... i found another source of amusement in observing the various personages that daily passed and repassed beneath my window. the character which most of all arrested my attention was a poor blind fiddler, whom i first saw chanting a doleful ballad at the door of a small tavern near the gate of the village. he wore a brown coat, out at elbows, the fragment of a velvet waistcoat, and a pair of tight nankeens, so short as hardly to reach below his calves. a little foraging cap, that had long since seen its best days, set off an open, good-humored countenance, bronzed by sun and wind. he was led about by a brisk, middle-aged woman, in straw hat and wooden shoes; and a little barefooted boy, with clear, blue eyes and flaxen hair, held a tattered hat in his hand, in which he collected eleëmosynary sous. the old fellow had a favorite song, which he used to sing with great glee to a merry, joyous air, the burden of which ran "chantons l'amour et le plaisir!" i often thought it would have been a good lesson for the crabbed and discontented rich man to have heard this remnant of humanity--poor, blind, and in rags, and dependent upon casual charity for his daily bread, singing in so cheerful a voice the charms of existence, and, as it were, fiddling life away to a merry tune. i was one morning called to my window by the sound of rustic music. i looked out and beheld a procession of villagers advancing along the road, attired in gay dresses, and marching merrily on in the direction of the church. i soon perceived that it was a marriage-festival. the procession was led by a long orang-outang of a man, in a straw hat and white dimity bobcoat, playing on an asthmatic clarionet, from which he contrived to blow unearthly sounds, ever and anon squeaking off at right angles from his tune, and winding up with a grand flourish on the guttural notes. behind him, led by his little boy, came the blind fiddler, his honest features glowing with all the hilarity of a rustic bridal, and, as he stumbled along, sawing away upon his fiddle till he made all crack again. then came the happy bridegroom, drest in his sunday suit of blue, with a large nosegay in his button-hole; and close beside him his blushing bride, with downcast eyes, clad in a white robe and slippers, and wearing a wreath of white roses in her hair. the friends and relatives brought up the procession; and a troop of village urchins came shouting along in the rear, scrambling among themselves for the largess of sous and sugar-plums that now and then issued in large handfuls from the pockets of a lean man in black, who seemed to officiate as master of ceremonies on the occasion. i gazed on the procession till it was out of sight; and when the last wheeze of the clarionet died upon my ear, i could not help thinking how happy were they who were thus to dwell together in the peaceful bosom of their native village, far from the gilded misery and the pestilential vices of the town. on the evening of the same day, i was sitting by the window, enjoying the freshness of the air and the beauty and stillness of the hour, when i heard the distant and solemn hymn of the catholic burial-service, at first so faint and indistinct that it seemed an illusion. it rose mournfully on the hush of evening--died gradually away--then ceased. then, it rose again, nearer and more distinct, and soon after a funeral procession appeared, and passed directly beneath my window. it was led by a priest, bearing the banner of the church, and followed by two boys, holding long flambeaux in their hands. next came a double file of priests in their surplices, with a missal in one hand and a lighted wax taper in the other, chanting the funeral dirge at intervals--now pausing, and then again taking up the mournful burden of their lamentation, accompanied by others, who played upon a rude kind of bassoon, with a dismal and wailing sound. then followed various symbols of the church, and the bier borne on the shoulders of four men. the coffin was covered with a velvet pall, and a chaplet of white flowers lay upon it, indicating that the deceased was unmarried. a few of the villagers came behind, clad in mourning robes, and bearing lighted tapers. the procession passed slowly along the same street that in the morning had been thronged by the gay bridal company. a melancholy train of thought forced itself home upon my mind. the joys and sorrows of this world are so strikingly mingled! our mirth and grief are brought so mournfully in contact! we laugh while others weep--and others rejoice when we are sad! the light heart and the heavy walk side by side and go about together! beneath the same roof are spread the wedding-feast and the funeral-pall! the bridal-song mingles with the burial-hymn! one goes to the marriage-bed, another to the grave; and all is mutable, uncertain, and transitory. it is with sensations of pure delight that i recur to the brief period of my existence which was passed in the peaceful shades of auteuil. there is one kind of wisdom which we learn from the world, and another kind which can be acquired in solitude only. in cities we study those around us; but in the retirement of the country we learn to know ourselves. [illustration: paris: interior of the grand opera house] [illustration: paris front of the grand opera house] [illustration: arc de triomphe] [illustration: arch erected by napoleon, near the louvre] [illustration: paris: church of st. vincent de paul] [illustration: paris: church of st. sulpice] [illustration: picture gallery at versailles] [illustration: versailles: bed-room of louis xiv] [illustration: the grand trianon at versailles] [illustration: the little trianon at versailles] [illustration: bed-room of catherine de medici at chaumont] [illustration: marie antoinette's dairy at versailles] [illustration: tours from turner's "rivers of france"] [illustration: saint denis from turner's "rivers of france"] [illustration: havre from turner's "rivers of france"] [illustration: the bridge of st. cloud from turner's "rivers of france"] the two trianons by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "days near paris."] the trianons may be reached in half an hour from the railway station, but the distance is considerable, and a carriage very desirable, considering all the walking inside of the palaces to be accomplished. carriages take the straight avenue from bassin de neptune. the pleasantest way for foot-passengers is to follow the gardens of versailles as far as the bassin d'apollon, and then turn to the right. at the end of the right branch of the grand canal, staircases lead to the park of the grand trianon; but these staircases are railed in, and it is necessary to make a détour to the grille de la grande entrée, whence an avenue leads directly to the grand trianon, while the petit trianon lies immediately to the right, behind the buildings of the concierge and corps de garde. the original palace of the grand trianon was a little château built by louis xiv., in , as a refuge from the fatigues of the court, on land bought from the monks of st. genevieve, and belonging to the parish of trianon. but in the humble château was pulled down, and the present palace erected by mansart in its place. louis xiv. constantly visited the grand trianon, with which for many years he was much delighted. but, after , he never slept at trianon, and, weary of his plaything here, turned all his attention to marly. under louis xv., however, the palace was again frequently inhabited. being entirely on one floor, the grand trianon continued to be a most uncomfortable residence, till subterranean passages for service were added under louis philippe, who made great use of the palace. the buildings are without character or distinction. visitors have to wait in the vestibule till a large party is formed, and are then hurried full speed round the rooms, without being allowed to linger for an instant. the petit trianon was built by gabriel for louis xv. in the botanical garden which louis xiv. had formed at the instigation of the duc d'ayen. it was intended as a miniature of the grand trianon, as that palace had been a miniature of versailles. the palace was often used by louis xv., who was here first attacked by the smallpox, of which he died. louis xvi. gave it to marie antoinette, who made its gardens, and whose happiest days were spent here. the petit trianon is a very small and very unassuming country house. mme. de maintenon describes it in june as "a palace enchanted and perfumed." its pretty simple rooms are only interesting from their associations. the furniture is mostly of the times of louis xvi. the stone stair has a handsome iron balustrade; the salons are paneled in white. here marie antoinette st to mme. lebrun for the picture in which she is represented with her children. in the dining-room is a secretaire given to louis xvi. by the states of burgundy, and portraits of the king and marie antoinette. the cabinet de travail of the queen was a cabinet given to her on her marriage by the town of paris; in the salle de réception are four pictures by watteau; the boudoir has a sévres bust of the queen; in the chambre-á-coucher is the queen's bed, and a portrait of the dauphin by lebrun. these simple rooms are a standing defense of the queen from the false accusations brought against her at the revolution as to her extravagance in the furnishing of the petit trianon. speaking of her happy domestic life, mme. lebrun says: "i do not believe queen marie antoinette ever allowed an occasion to pass by without saying an agreeable thing to those who had the honor of being near her." malmaison by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "days near paris."] the station is opposite a short avenue, at the end of which on the right, is the principal entrance to malmaison. a little higher up the road at the right is a gate leading to the park and gardens, freely open to the public, and being sold ( ) in lots by the stat. there is a melancholy charm in the old house of many recollections--grim, empty, and desolate; approached on this side by a bridge over the dry moat. a short distance off, rather to the left, as you look from the house, is a very pretty little temple--the temple of love--with a front of columns of red givet marble brought from the chateau of richelieu, and a clear stream bursting from the rocks beneath it. malmaison is supposed to derive its name from having been inhabited in the xi century by the norman brigand odon, and afterward by evil spirits, exorcised by the monks of st. denis. josephine bought the villa with its gardens, which had been much praised by delille, from m. lecouteulx de canteleu for , francs.... josephine retired to malmaison at the time of her divorce, and seldom left it afterward.... in , the unhappy josephine, whose heart was always with napoleon, was forced to receive a visit from the allied sovereigns at malmaison, and died of a chill which she caught in doing the honors of her grounds to the emperor alexander on may , by a water excursion on the pool of cucufa. after his return from elba, napoleon revisited the place.... after the loss of the battle of waterloo, napoleon once more retired to malmaison, then the property of the children of josephine, eugene and hortense. there he passed june , , a day of terrible agitation. that evening at five o'clock he put on a brown suit of civilian clothes, tenderly embraced queen hortense and the other persons present, gave a long lingering look at the house and gardens connected with his happiest hours, and left them for ever. after the second restoration prince eugène sold malmaison, removing its gallery of pictures to munich. there is now nothing remarkable in the desolate rooms, tho the salle des maréchaux, the bedroom of josephine, and the grand salon, with a chimney-piece given by the pope are pointed out. in later years the house was for some time inhabited by queen christina of spain. it will be a source of european regret if at least the building connected with so many historic souvenirs, and the immediate grounds are not preserved. st. germain by leitch ritchie [footnote: from "the rivers of france." pictures by j. m. w. turner, r.a. text by leitch ritchie.] the view from the terrace of saint germain is one of the finest in france. this view, and a shady walk in the forest behind, are the only attractions of saint germain; for the old palace of the kings of france presents the appearance of nothing more than a huge, irregular, unsightly brick building. it is true, a great portion of the walls is of cut stone; but this is the idea which the whole conveys to the spectator. the edifice stands on the site of a chateau built by louis-le-gros, which, having been burned down by the english, was thus raised anew from its ruins. charles v., françois ii., henry iv., louis xiii., and louis xiv., all exercised their taste upon it, and all added to its general deformity. near this henri quatre built another château, which fell into ruins forty or fifty years ago. these ruins were altogether effaced by charles x., who had formed the project of raising another structure upon the spot, entirely his own. the project, however, failed, like that of the coup d'etat, but this is of no consequence. the new château exists in various books of travel, written by eye-witnesses, quite as palpably as the enormous bulk of the ancient château. it is a true "castle in spain." among the sights to be seen in the palace is the chamber of mademoiselle de la vallière, and the trap-door by which she was visited by louis quatorze. there are also the chamber and oratory of our james ii., who died at saint germain, on the th september, . the forest of saint germain is seven leagues in circumference, pierced in every direction by roads and paths, and containing various edifices that were used as hunting-lodges. this vast wood affords no view, except along the seemingly interminable path in which the spectator stands, the vista of which, carried on with mathematical regularity, terminates in a point. this is the case with all the great forests of france except that of fontainebleau, where nature is sometimes seen in her most picturesque form. in the more remote and unfrequented parts of saint germain, the wild boar still makes his savage lair; and still the loiterer, in these lengthened alleys, is startled by a roebuck or a deer springing across the path.... independently of the noble satellites attached to the court, the infinite number of official persons made its removal to saint germain, or the other royal seats, seem like the emigration of a whole people. forty-nine physicians, thirty-eight surgeons, six apothecaries, thirteen preachers, one hundred and forty maîtres d'hôtel, ninety ladies of honor to the queen, in the sixteenth century! there were also an usher of the kitchen, a courier de vin (who took the charge of carrying provisions for the king when he went to the chase), a sutler of court, a conductor of the sumpter-horse, a lackey of the chariot, a captain of the mules, an overseer of roasts, a chair-bearer, a palmer (to provide ananches for easter), a valet of the firewood, a paillassier of the scotch guard, a yeoman of the mouth, and a hundred more for whose offices we have no names in english. the grand maître d'hôtel was the chief officer of the court. the royal orders came through him; he regulated the expenses; and was, in short, to the rest of the functionaries, what the general is to the army. the maître des requetes was at the head of civil justice; the prevôt de l'hôtel at the head of criminal justice.... when the courtiers presented themselves at the château, some in chariots, some on horseback, with their wives mounted behind them (the ladies all masked), they were subjected to the scrutiny of the captain of the gate. the greater number he compelled to dismount; but the princes and princesses, and a select few who had brevets of entrance, were permitted to ride within the walls. at court the men wore sword and dagger; but to be found with a gun or pistol in the palace, or even in the town, subjected them to a sentence of death. to wear a casque or cuirass was punished with imprisonment. the laws of politeness were equally strict. if one man used insulting words to another, the offense was construed as being given to the king; and the offender was obliged to solicit pardon of his majesty. if one threatened another by clapping his hand to the hilt of his sword, he was to be assommé according to the ordinance; which may either mean knocked down, or soundly mauled--or the two together. if two men came to blows, they were both assommé. a still more serious breach of politeness, however, was the importunity of petitioners. when the king hunted he was accompanied by a hundred pages, two hundred esquires, and often four or five hundred gentlemen; sometimes by the queen and princesses, with their hundreds of ladies and maids of honor, mounted on palfreys saddled with black velvet. st. cloud by augustus j. c. hare [footnote: from "days near paris."] very near the station is the château de st. cloud, set on fire by the bombs of mont-valèrien, in the night of october , , and now the most melancholy of ruins. sufficient, however, remains to indicate the noble character of a building partly due to jules hardouin and mansart. the château is more reddened than blackened by the fire, and the beautiful reliefs of its gables, its statues, and the wrought-iron grilles of its balconies are still perfect. grass, and even trees, grow in its roofless halls, in one of which the marble pillars and sculptured decorations are seen through the gaps where windows once were. the view from the terrace is most beautiful. the name of st. cloud comes from a royal saint, who was buried in the collegiate church, pulled down by marie antoinette (which stood opposite the modern church), and to whose shrine there is an annual pilgrimage. clodomir, king of orleans, son of clovis, dying in , had bequeathed his three sons to the guardianship of his mother clotilde. their barbarous uncles, childebert and clotaire, coveting their heritage, sent their mother a sword and a pair of scissors, asking her whether she would prefer that they should perish by the one, or that their royal locks should be shorn with the other, and that they should be shut up in a convent. "i would rather see them dead than shaven," replied clotilde proudly. two of the princes were then murdered by their uncles, the third, clodowald, was hidden by some faithful servants, but fright made him cut off his hair with his own hands, and he entered a monastery at a village then called nogent, but which derived from him the name of st. clodowald, corrupted into st. cloud. clodowald bequeathed the lands of st. cloud to the bishops of paris, who had a summer palace here, in which the body of françois i. lay in state after his death at rambouillet. his son, henri ii., built a villa here in the italian style; and henri iii. came to live here in a villa belonging to the gondi family, while, with the king of navarre, he was besieging paris in . the city was never taken, for at st. cloud henri was murdered by jacques clément, a monk of the jacobin convent in paris, who fancied that an angel had urged him to the deed in a vision.... from this time the house of the banker jérôme gondi, one of the italian adventurers who had followed the fortunes of catherine de medici, was an habitual residence of the court. it became the property of hervard, controller of finances, from whom louis xiv. bought it for his brother philippe d'orléans, enlarged the palace, and employed lenôtre to lay out the park. monsieur married the beautiful henriette d'angleterre, youngest daughter of charles i., who died here, june , , with strong suspicion of poison. st. simon affirms the person employed to have confest to louis xiv., having used it at the instigation of the chevalier de lorraine (a favorite of monsieur), whom madame had caused to be exiled. one of the finest sermons of bossuet describes the "disastrous night on which there came as a clap of thunder the astonishing news! 'madame is dying! madame is dead!' at the sound of so strange a wo people hurried to st. cloud from all sides to find panic over all except the heart of the princess." in the following year monsieur was married again, to the princess palatine, when it was believed that his late wife appeared near a fountain in the park, where a servant, sent to fetch water, died of terror. the vision turned out to be a reality--a hideous old woman, who amused herself in this way. "the cowards," she said, "made such grimaces that i nearly died laughing. this evening pleasure paid me for the toil of my hard day." monsieur gave magnificent fétes to the court at st. cloud, added to the palace with great splendor, and caused the great cascade, which jérôme gondi had made, to be enlarged and embellished by mansart. it was at st. cloud that monsieur died of an attack of apoplexy, brought on by overeating after his return from a visit to the king at marly.... the chateau continued to be occupied by madame, daughter of the elector, the rude, the original, and satirical princess palatine, in whom the modern house of orleans has its origin, and here she died during the regency of her son.... the régent d'orléans, nephew of louis xiv., received peter the great at st. cloud in . in his grandson, louis philippe d'orléans, gave at st. cloud one of the most magnificent fêtes ever seen in france. in the due d'orleans sold st. cloud for six million francs to queen marie antoinette, who made great alterations in the internal arrangements of the building, where she resided during the early days of the revolution. it was at st. cloud that the coup d'état occurred which made napoleon first-consul. this led him to choose the palace of st. cloud, which had been the cradle of his power, as his principal residence, and, under the first empire, it was customary to speak of "le cabinet de saint-cloud," as previously of "le cabinet de versailles," and afterward of "le cabinet des tuileries." here, in , napoleon and josephine assisted at the baptism of the future napoleon iii.... it was also in the palace of st. cloud that napoleon i. was married to marie louise, april , . in this palace of many changes the allied sovereigns met after the fall of the first empire. blucher, after his fashion, slept booted and spurred in the bed of napoleon; and the capitulation of paris was signed here july , . louis xviii. and charles x. both lived much at st. cloud, and added to it considerably; but here, where henry iv. had been recognized as king of france and navarre, charles x. was forced by the will of the people to abdicate, july , . two years after, louis philippe established himself with his family at st. cloud, and his daughter clémentine was married to duke augustus of saxe-coburg in its chapel, april , . like his uncle, napoleon iii. was devoted to st. cloud, where--"with a light heart"--the declaration of war with prussia was signed in the library, july, , , a ceremony followed by a banquet, during which the "marseillaise" was played. the doom of st. cloud was then sealed. on the th of the following october the besieged parisians beheld the volumes of flame rising behind the bois de boulogne, which told that st. cloud, recently occupied by the prussians, and frequently bombarded in consequence from mont-valérien, had been fired by french bombs. the steamer for st. cloud descends the seine, passing under the pont de solferino, pont de la concorde, pont des invalides, and pont d'alma. then the champ de mars is seen on the left, the palais du trocadéro on the right. after the pont du d'iéna, passy is passed on the right, and the ile des cygnes on the left. then comes the pont de grenelle, after which auteuil is passed on the right and javel on the left. after leaving the pont-viaduc du point-du-jour, the ile de billancourt is seen on the left. after the pont de billancourt, the steamer passes between the iles de billancourt and séguin to bas meudon. iii old provence the papal palace at avignon by charles dickens [footnote: from "pictures from italy."] there lay before us, that same afternoon, the broken bridge of avignon, and all the city baking in the sun; yet with an underdone-piecrust, battlemented wall, that never will be brown, tho it bake for centuries. the grapes were hanging in clusters in the streets, and the brilliant oleander was in full bloom everywhere. the streets are old and very narrow, but tolerably clean, and shaded by awnings stretched from house to house. bright stuffs and handkerchiefs, curiosities, ancient frames of carved wood, old chairs, ghostly tables, saints, virgins, angels, and staring daubs of portraits, being exposed for sale beneath, it was very quaint and lovely. all this was much set off, too, by the glimpses one caught, through a rusty gate standing ajar, of quiet sleepy court-yards, having stately old houses within, as silent as tombs. it was all very like one of the descriptions in the arabian nights. the three one-eyed calenders might have knocked at any one of those doors till the street rang again, and the porter who persisted in asking questions--the man who had the delicious purchases put into his basket in the morning--might have opened it quite naturally. after breakfast next morning, we sallied forth to see the lions. such a delicious breeze was blowing in, from the north, as made the walk delightful, tho the pavement-stones, and stones of the walls and houses, were far too hot to have a hand laid on them comfortably. we went, first of all, up a rocky height, to the cathedral, where mass was performing to an auditory very like that of lyons, namely, several old women, a baby, and a very self-possest dog, who had marked out for himself a little course or platform for exercise, beginning at the altar-rails and ending at the door, up and down which constitutional walk he trotted, during the service, as methodically and calmly, as any old gentleman out of doors. it is a bare old church, and the paintings in the roof are sadly defaced by time and damp weather; but the sun was shining in, splendidly, through the red curtains of the windows, and glittering on the altar furniture; and it looked as bright and cheerful as need be. hard by the cathedral stands the ancient palace of the popes, of which one portion is now a common jail, and another a noisy barrack; while gloomy suites of state apartments, shut up and deserted, mock their own old state and glory, like the embalmed bodies of kings. but we neither went there to see state rooms, nor soldiers' quarters, nor a common jail, tho we dropt some money into a prisoners' box outside, while the prisoners, themselves, looked through the iron bars, high, up, and watched us eagerly. we went to see the ruins of the dreadful rooms in which the inquisition used to sit. a little, old, swarthy woman, with a pair of flashing black eyes--proof that the world hadn't conjured down the devil within her, tho it had had between sixty and seventy years to do it in--came out of the barrack cabaret, of which she was the keeper, with some large keys in her hands, and marshaled us the way that we should go. how she told us, on the way, that she was a government officer (concierge du palais apostolique), and had been, for i don't know how many years; and how she had shown these dungeons to princes; and how she was the best of dungeon demonstrators; and how she had resided in the palace from an infant--had been born there, if i recollect right--i needn't relate. but such a fierce, little, rapid, sparkling, energetic she-devil i never beheld. she was alight and flaming, all the time. her action was violent in the extreme. she never spoke, without stopping expressly for the purpose. she stamped her feet, clutched us by the arms, flung herself into attitudes, hammered against walls with her keys, for mere emphasis: now whispered as if the inquisition were there still; now shrieked as if she were on the rack herself; and had a mysterious, hag-like way with her forefinger, when approaching the remains of some new horror--looking back and walking stealthily and making horrible grimaces--that might alone have qualified her to walk up and down a sick man's counterpane, to the exclusion of all other figures, through a whole fever. passing through the courtyard, among groups of idle soldiers, we turned off by a gate, which this she-goblin unlocked for our admission, and locked again behind us; and entered a narrow court, rendered narrower by fallen stones and heaps of rubbish; part of it choking up the mouth of a ruined subterranean passage, that once communicated (or is said to have done so) with another castle on the opposite bank of the river. close to this courtyard is a dungeon--we stood within it, in another minute--in the dismal tower of oubliettes, where rienzi was imprisoned, fastened by an iron chain to the very wall that stands there now, but shut out from the sky which now looks down into it. a few steps brought us to the cachots, in which the prisoners of the inquisition were confined for forty-eight hours after their capture, without food or drink, that their constancy might be shaken, even before they were confronted with their gloomy judges. the day has not got in there yet. they are still small cells, shut in by four unyielding, close, hard walls; still profoundly dark; still massively doored and fastened, as of old. goblin, looking back as i have described, went softly on, into a vaulted chamber, now used as a store-room; once the chapel of the holy office. the place where the tribunal sat, was plain. the platform might have been removed but yesterday. conceive the parable of the good samaritan having been painted on the wall of one of these inquisition chambers! but it was, and may be traced there yet. high up in the wall, are niches where the faltering replies of the accused were heard and noted down. many of them had been brought out of the very cell we had just looked into, so awfully; along the same stone passage. we had trodden in their very footsteps. i am gazing round me, with the horror that the place inspires, when goblin clutches me by the wrist, and lays, not her skinny finger, but the handle of a key, upon her lip. she invites me, with a jerk, to follow her. i do so. she leads me out into a room adjoining--a rugged room, with a funnel-shaped, contracting roof, open at the top, to the bright day, i ask her what it is. she folds her arms,, leers hideously, and stares. i ask again. she glances round, to see that all the little company are there; sits down upon a mound of stones; throws up her arms, and yells out, like a fiend, "la salle de la question!" the chamber of torture! and the roof was made of that shape to stifle the victim's cries! oh goblin, goblin, let us think of this awhile, in silence. peace, goblin! sit with your short arms crossed on your short legs, upon that heap of stones, for only five minutes, and then flame out again.... a cold air, with an earthy smell, falls upon the face of monsieur; for she has opened, while speaking, a trap-door in the wall. monsieur looks in. downward to the bottom, upward to the top, of a steep, dark lofty tower; very dismal, very dark, very cold. the executioner of the inquisition, says goblin, edging in her head to look down also, flung those who were past all further torturing, down here. "but look! does monsieur see the black stains on the wall?" a glance, over his shoulder, at goblin's keen eye, shows monsieur--and would without the aid of the directing-key--where they are. "what are they?" "blood!" in october, , when revolution was at its height here, sixty persons; men and women ("and priests," says goblin, "priests"); were murdered, and hurled, the dying and the dead, into this dreadful pit, where a quantity of quicklime was tumbled down upon their bodies. those ghastly tokens of the massacre were soon no more; but while one stone of the strong building in which the deed was done, remains upon another, there they will lie in the memories of men, as plain to see as the splashing of their blood upon the wall is now.... goblin's finger is lifted; and she steals out again, into the chapel of the holy office. she stops at a certain part of the flooring. her great effect is at hand. she waits for the rest. she darts at the brave courier, who is explaining something; hits him a sounding rap on the hat with the largest key; and bids him be silent. she assembles us all, round a little trap-door in the floor, as round as grave. "voilà!" she darts down at the ring, and flings the door open with a crash, in her goblin energy, tho it is no light weight. "voilà les oubliettes! voilà les oubliettes! subterranean! frightful! black! terrible! deadly! les oubliettes de l'inquisition!" my blood ran cold, as i looked from goblin, down into the vaults, where these forgotten creatures, with recollections of the world outside--of wives, friends, children, brothers--starved to death, and made the stones ring with their unavailing groans. but, the thrill i felt on seeing the accurst wall below, decayed and broken through, and the sun shining in through its gaping wounds, was like a sense of victory and triumph. i felt exalted with the proud delight of living, in these degenerate times, to see it. as if i were the hero of some high achievement! the light in the doleful vaults was typical of the light that has streamed in, on all persecution in god's name, but which is not yet at its noon! it can not look more lovely to a blind man newly restored to sight, than to a traveler who sees it, calmly and majestically, treading down the darkness of that infernal well. goblin, having shown les oubliettes, felt that her great coup was struck. she let the door fall with a crash, and stood upon it with her arms a-kimbo, sniffing prodigiously. when we left the place, i accompanied her into her house, under the outer gateway of the fortress, to buy a little history of the building. her cabaret, a dark low room, lighted by small windows, sunk in the thick wall--in the softened light, and with its forge-like chimney; its little counter by the door, with bottles, jars, and glasses on it; its household implements are scraps of dress against the wall; and a sober looking woman (she must have a congenial life of it, with goblin) knitting at the door--looked exactly like a picture by ostade. i walked round the building on the outside, in a sort of dream, and yet with the delightful sense of having awakened from it, of which the light, down in the vaults, had given, me the assurance. the immense thickness and giddy height of the walls, the enormous strength of the massive towers, the great extent of the building, its gigantic proportions, frowning aspect, and barbarous irregularity, awaken awe and wonder. the recollection of its opposite old uses; an impregnable fortress, a luxurious palace, a horrible prison, a place of torture, the court of the inquisition; at one and the same time, a house of feasting, fighting, religion, and blood, gives to every stone in its huge form a fearful interest, and imparts new meaning to its incongruities. i could think of little, however, then, or long afterward, but the sun in the dungeons. the palace coming down to be the lounging-place of noisy soldiers, and being forced to echo their rough talk and common oaths, and to have their garments fluttering from its dirty windows, was some reduction of its state, and something to rejoice at; but the day in its cells, and the sky for the roof of its chambers of cruelty--that was its desolation and defeat! if i had seen it in a blaze from ditch to rampart, i should have felt that not that light, nor all the light in all the fire that burns, could waste it, like the sunbeams in its secret council-chamber and its prisons. the building of the great palace by thomas oakey [footnote: from "the story of avignon." published by e.p. dutton & co.] it will now be convenient briefly to trace the growth of that remarkable edifice, at once a castle and a cloister, a palace and a prison, which constitutes the chief attraction of avignon to-day, and which, altho defaced by time and by modern restorers, remains in its massive grandeur a fitting memorial of the great line of pontiffs who have made that little city famous in the annals of christendom. we have seen that pope john xxii., having allotted a piece of land to his nephew, arnaud de via, for the erection of a new episcopal palace, was content to modify and enlarge the old one for pontifical uses, and that benedict xii., with characteristic straightforwardness, purchased the new fabric from arnaud's heirs and, having handed it over to the diocesan authorities, proceeded to transform the old building into a stately and spacious apostolic palace for the head of christendom. he was moved to this purchase after mature reflection, for it was a matter of urgent importance that the pontiff of the church of rome should possess a palace of his own at avignon as long as it might be necessary for him to remain there. the relation between curia and episcopate being thus clearly defined, benedict appointed a compatriot, pierre poisson de mirepoix, master of the works, and, since about two-thirds of the existing palace dates from benedict's reign, pierre poisson may be regarded as its first architect. more, probably, is known of the construction of the papal palace of avignon than of any other relic of medieval architecture. thanks to the researches of father ehrle, prefect of the vatican library, and other scholars, the sums paid to the contractors, their names, the estimates of quantities, the wages of the chief workmen, and the price of materials, are before us, and we can trace day by day and month by month the progress of the great pile. the whole of the craftsmen, with the exception of the later master painters from italy and some northern sculptors, were either avignonais, gascons or provençals. the first work undertaken by pierre was the enlargement of the papal chapel of john xxii. this was doubled in length, and the lavish decorations executed by john's master painter, friar pierre dupuy, were continued on the walls of the added portion; payments for white, green, indigo, vermilion, carmine and other pigments, and for colored tiles, testify to the brilliancy of its interior. meanwhile work was proceeding on the massy new tower, the turris magna, now known as the tour des anges, the best preserved of all the old towers. the foundations were laid on april , , and it was roofed with lead on march , . the basement formed the papal wine-cellar; the ground floor was the treasury, or strong room, where the specie, the jewels, the precious vessels of gold and silver and other valuables were stored; many payments are recorded for locks and bars and bolts for their safe-keeping within the ten-feet-thick walls of the tower. the next great work put in hand was the east wing, which was raised on a space left by john's demolished, or partially demolished, structure. on november , , two masons (lapiscidarios), pierre folcaud and jean chapelier, and a carpenter, jacques beyran, all of avignon, contracted to carry out the plans of a new architect, bernard canello, for the completion of benedict's private apartments, and on the same day lambert fabre and martin guinaud, housewreckers, were paid eighty-three gold florins on account, for the demolition of the old buildings. this wing, since wholly remodeled by the legates and the modern corps of engineers, comprised the papal garde robe, the garde meuble, the private kitchen and offices and, on the floor above, the papal dining-room, study and private oratory. the walls were, of course, embattlemented, and in the most exposed portions of the new buildings were defended by a stout rampart.... the whole ground floor, feet by , was occupied by a great reception hall (camera paramenti), where distinguished visitors were accorded a first welcome before being admitted to a private audience, or accorded a solemn state reception in consistory, as the import of their embassy demanded. the popes were also used to receive the cardinals there, and two doorkeepers were appointed who must be faithful, virtuous and honest men and sleep in the hall; their office being one of great trust, was highly paid, and they were generally laymen. it was probably in this hall that st. catherine was received by clement vi. the avignon conclaves were held there, for on december , , four hundred and fifteen days' and nights' labor were employed in breaking down the walls between the dining-hall and the camera paramenti, clearing away the stones and making secret chambers for the lord cardinals, in which chambers were twenty-eight cells.... on september , , john's old belfry was pulled down and jean mauser de carnot, who asserted he had excavated , basketfuls of rubbish, was paid at the rate of twelve deniers the hundred for the work. evidently these were good times for the basket makers as well as builders. december , , three contractors, isnard and raymond durand and jacques gasquet, received , florins for the completed new tower, with its barbicans, battlements and machicoulis, which was on the site and which retained the appellation of the tour de la campane, or bell tower. the embattlemented and machicolated summit, but not the chastelet, of this mighty tower has recently been restored; its walls are nearly twelve feet thick.... benedict's last undertaking was the erection of the tour de trouillas, next the tour des latrines, and on april , , sixteen rubbish baskets were bought for the "saracens that excavated the foundations of the turris nova." the tour de trouillas, tallest and stoutest of the keeps of the mighty fortress, is feet high as compared with the feet of the tour de la campane, and its walls fifteen feet thick as compared with twelve feet. it should be noted, however, that the latter tower appears the taller owing to the elevated ground whereon, it stands.... having bought, by private agreement or by arbitration, all the houses adjacent to the palace on the south side, clement next proceeded to demolish them and on the site to raise the noblest and most beautiful wing of the great palace. this edifice, known to contemporaries as the great new palace, comprised a spacious chapel and hall of justice; and in august , , contracts were made for cutting away and leveling the rock above the present rue peyrolerie, whereon, by october , , the masons had raised their beautiful building. on that day, by order of our lord the pope, one hundred florins were handed over by the papal chamber to master john of loubières to distribute among the masters to celebrate the placing of the keystone in the vaulting of the new chapel of the palace and the completion of the said chapel. on all saints' day of that same year clement recited (a month before his death) the first solemn mass in his great new chapel and preached a most eloquent sermon, praising god for the completion of his life's work. the lower hall, most famous of judicial chambers in christendom and final court of appeal in all questions of international and ecclesiastical law, was later in opening. among the amenities of the old palace were the spacious and lovely gardens on the east, with their clipt hedges, avenues of trees, flower-beds and covered and frescoed walls, all kept fresh and green by channels of water. john maintained a menagerie of lions and other wild and strange beasts; stately peacocks swept proudly along the green swards, for the inventory of specifies seventeen peacocks, some old and some young, whereof six were white. * * * * * but we have as yet dealt chiefly with the external shell of this mass of architecture which, tall and mighty, raises its once impregnable walls and towers against the sky. the beauty of its interior remains briefly to be touched upon, for the fortress palace had, as clement left it, some analogy with the great moorish palace of the alhambra in that it stood outwardly grim and strong, while within it was a shrine of exquisite and luxurious art. the austere benedict, who, his biographer tells us, left the walls of the consistory naked, appears to have expended little on the pictorial decorations of the halls and chambers erected during his pontificate; but with the elevation of the luxurious and art-loving clement vi., a new spirit breathes over the fabric. the stern simplicity and noble strength of his predecessor's work assume an internal vesture of richness and beauty; the walls glow with azure and gold; a legion of gallic sculptors and italian painters lavish their art on the embellishment of the palace.... such, in brief outline, was the progress of the mighty fabric and its internal decoration which the great popes of avignon raised to be their dwelling-place, their fortress, and the ecclesiastical center of christendom. tho shorn of all its pristine beauty and robbed of much of its symmetry, it stands to-day in bulk and majesty, much as it stood at the end of clement vi.'s reign, when a contemporary writer describes it as a quadrangular edifice, enclosed within high walls and towers and constructed in most noble style, and tho it was all most beautiful to look upon, there were three parts of transcendent beauty: the audientia, the capella major, and the terraces: and these were so admirably planned and contrived that peradventure no palace comparable to it was to be found in the whole world. the terraces referred to were those raised over the great chapel, and were formed of stone, bedded in asphalt and laid on a staging of stout oak joists; the view from the terraces was unparalleled for range and beauty. the glowing splendor of frescoed walls was enhanced by gorgeous hangings and tapestries and by the magnificent robes and jewels of popes and cardinals. crowds of goldsmiths--forty were employed at the papal court--embroiderers and silk mercers, made avignon famous thoughout europe. in , florins were paid for eight paris carpets; in clement vi. paid florins for green silk hangings, and florins for carpets adorned with roses; in , gold and silver vessels turned the scales at marks, ounces; in the inventory of , despite the fact that the most precious had been sent to rome, the gold vessels were weighed out at , marks, ounce; the silver at , marks ounces. a cardinal's hat cost from to florins, and in , florins were paid for one piece of scarlet for the pope, and to florins for the garniture of a riding cloak. clement vi. spent , florins in the purchase of cloth of gold, woven by the saracens of damascus; one payment to jacopo malabayla of arti for summer and winter clothing for the papal household amounted to , florins, and the same obviously hebrew merchant received , florins in for cloth and ermine and beaver; in clement's furrier received , ermine skins, whereof were used in one cloak, for a mantle, for two hoods, and for nine birettas; in , , florins went to tuscany for silk, and for brocade to venice. the richness of the papal utensils beggars description; jeweled cups, flagons of gold, knife handles of jasper and ivory, forks of mother-of-pearl and gold. a goldsmith in was paid florins for repairing two of the last-named implements. the flabelli, or processional feather fans, cost florins; benedict xiii., paid florins for an enameled silver bit; the golden roses cost from to florins. presents of jewels were costly and frequent. gregory xi. gave pearls, value francs, to the citizens of avellino; clement vii. presented the duke of burgundy with a ring of gold, worth florins; an aguière of gold and pearls, valued at , florins, and two tables each over florins. richer gifts were lavished on sovereign princes. reliquaries were of prodigious value; the gold cross containing a piece of the true cross at the célestins weighed fifteen pounds. in a silver arm for the image of st. andrew cost over , florins. the cardinals were equally munificent. the most striking example of lavish splendor is afforded by the state banquet given to clement v., by the cardinals arnaud de palegrue and pierre taillefer in may, . clement, as he descended from his litter, was received by his hosts and twenty chaplains, who conducted him to a chamber hung with richest tapestries from floor to ceiling; he trod on velvet carpet of triple pile; his state-bed was draped with fine crimson velvet, lined with white ermine; the sheets of silk were embroidered with silver and gold. the table was served by four papal knights and twelve squires, who each received silver girdles and purses filled with gold from the hosts. fifty cardinals' squires assisted them in serving the banquet, which consisted of nine courses of three plates each--twenty-seven dishes in all. the meats were built up in fantastic form: castles, gigantic stags, boars, horses, etc. after the fourth service, the cardinal offered his holiness a milk-white steed worth florins; two gold rings, jeweled with an enormous sapphire and a no less enormous topaz; and a bowl, worth florins; sixteen cardinal guests and twenty prelates were given rings and jewels, and twelve young clerks of the papal house and twenty-four sergeants-at-arms received purses filled with florins. after the fifth service, a great tower with a font whence gushed forth five sorts of choicest wines was carried in; and a tourney was run during the interval between the seventh and eighth courses. then followed a concert of sweetest music, and dessert was furnished by two trees--one of silver, bearing rarest fruits of all kinds, and the other loaded with sugared fruits of many colors. various wines were then served, whereupon the master cooks, with thirty assistants, executed dances before the guests. clement, by this time, having had enough, retired to his chamber, where, lest he might faint for lack of refreshment during the night, wine and spices were brought to him; the entertainment ended with dances and distractions of many kinds. there is no reason to believe that the avignon popes, either in their household expenditure or in their personal luxury, were more extravagant than their roman predecessors or successors. yet amid all this luxury, strange defects of comfort appear to the modern sense. windows, as we have seen, were generally covered with wax cloth or linen, carpets were rare, and rushes were strewn on the floors of most of the rooms. from may to november, , more than loads of rushes were supplied for use in the dining-rooms and chambers of the apostolic palace. subsequently mats were introduced, and in pierre de glotos, mat-maker to the palace of our lord and pope, was paid for cannae of matting for the palace of avignon and for the palace beyond the rhone and the new chapel. the walls of avignon by thomas oakey [footnote: from "the story of avignon." published by e.p. dutton & co.] intimately associated with the history of the palace of the popes of avignon is that of the unparalleled circuit of walls and towers which defended the city from the scourge of organized robber bands during the fourteenth century. the earliest quadrilateral fortifications embraced a relatively small area consisting of the rocher des doms and the parishes of st. agricol, st. didier, and st. pierre; these walls, demolished and rebuilt on a more extensive scale in the twelfth century, embraced an area easily traceable on the modern map, from the porte du rhone, round the rues du limas, joseph vernet, des lices, philonarde, campane, trois colombes, to the rocher. it was these fortifications that the cardinal st. angelo forced the citizens to raze in . until the acquisition of avignon by clement vi., the city was an open one and only defended by a double fosse. the origin of the papal walls has already been traced, and their subsequent fate may now be briefly given. the assaults of the rhone proved more destructive than human artillery. the walls and towers having been hastily raised, towers fell by reason of bad foundation, and the upkeep of the fortifications was a continual drain on papal and communal finances. in an irresistible flood of waters overthrew the fortes st. michel and limbert, and large breaches were often made by these recurring inundations. moreover, the expansion of the city of old and the need of access to the suburbs involved frequent displacement and opening of new gates. in the whole system of the defensive works was modified to meet the new situation caused by the introduction of gunpowder. the gates most exposed to attack were further defended by outworks, that of st. lazare having been fortified during the rule of giuliano della rovere by the addition of a powerful bastide, with three round towers, a drawbridge, a new fosse which communicated with the great fosse before the main walls. other modifications took place during the huguenot wars. notwithstanding many repairs during the intervening centuries, the fortifications had, under the second empire, suffered sad degradation, and at length viollet-le-duc was entrusted with their restoration. the famous architect set to work on their southern side and had completed about one-third of the restoration when the disastrous issue of the franco-prussian war arrested all further progress until the third republic feebly resumed the task. the walls along the rhone, especially useful in time of flood, were backed with stone, their battlements and machicoulis renewed. the visitor, however, will need no reminder that the present passive aspect of the ramparts conveys but a faint impression of their former state, when a broad and deep fosse, seven feet by twelve, washed their bases, above which they raised their once impregnable curtains full thirty feet. two of the old gates have been demolished--the porte de limbert in , and the porte de l'oulle in --the former, many times repaired, was the only existing example of the external aspect of a medieval gate, the latter had been rebuilt in in the doric style. a new gate, the porte pétrarque, now the porte de la république, was erected by viollet-le-duc when the walls were pierced for the new street; the porte st. dominique is also new. these noble mural defenses, three miles in circuit, twice narrowly escaped demolition--at the construction of the railway, when they were saved by a vigorous protest of prosper mérimée, and in , when, on the pretext that they blocked the development of the city, the municipality decided to demolish the unrestored portions. luckily the intervention of a public-spirited prefect of vaucluse proved successful, and they were again rescued from the housewrecker's pick. no visitor to avignon should omit to walk or drive round the famous ramparts. their stones have been subjected to careful scrutiny by antiquarians and the masons' marks (tacherons)--about , --carefully examined and reduced to about four hundred and fifty types. opinions differ as to the meaning of these curious signs, but there is little doubt that m. maire's suggestion is the correct one--the workmen were paid by the piece, and each had his own private mark which he cut on the stones he laid and thus enabled the foreman to check his work. we begin at the porte du rhône, and skirt the older part of the walls on the northwest with their different style of corbels and machicoulis. m. maire has no hesitation in assigning this portion to the time of clement vi., by reason of the coarser nature of the masons' marks. turning southwards, we pass the porte st. dominique, and reach the porte st. roch (formerly the porte du chamfleury, and only opened at plague times) and the porte de la république. we soon note the unrestored portions, the site of the old porte limbert, and turn northward to the porte st. lazare. before we reach this gate we may fitly make a digression, and in pious memory of a great englishman, fare along the avenue du cimetière to the grave of john stuart mill, who with his wife lies buried within the cemetery under an elder-tree on the right and toward the end of avenue . a plain stone slab bears the well-known inscription to mrs. mill's memory--the noblest and most eloquent epitaph ever composed by man for woman. it is pleasant to remember that mill has left golden opinions of his gentleness and generosity behind him at avignon. his house, a charming little hermitage approached by an avenue of plane trees not far from the cemetery, was sold in , and a few relics were bought and still are cherished by the rare friends the somewhat self-centered philosopher made in the city. the present owner has preserved the library and study, where the "essay on liberty" was written, much as it was in mill's days. to the peasants who met the tall, bent, spare figure, musing and botanizing along the country lanes and fields, he was known as "monsieur Émile." before he left the city on his periodical visits to england, mill was wont to leave francs with m. rey, pastor of the protestant church in avignon: two hundred for expenses of public worship; one hundred for the poor, always charging m. rey to write to england if any further need arose. mill, a great englishman of european fame, to the amazement of his french friends, was followed to his last resting-place by no more than five mourners. as we write news comes that the civic authorities have decided to recall to posterity the association of the great thinker with avignon by giving the name of stuart mill to a new boulevard, and that a bust has been unveiled to his memory near the pleasant city he loved so well. mill was much gratified that his pamphlet on "the subjection of women" converted mistral to the movement for their enfranchisement, and their legal equality with men. villeneuve and the broken bridge by thomas oakey [footnote: from "the story of avignon." published by e.p. dutton & co.] the royal city of villeneuve, altho geographically and politically sundered from avignon and the county venaissin, was socially and economically bound up with the papal city. the same reason that to-day impels the rich citizens of avignon to dot the hills of languedoc with their summer villas was operative in papal times, and popes and cardinals and prelates loved to build their summer places on the opposite bank of the rhone. how silent and neglected are the streets of this once wealthy and important city! how degraded its monuments, how faded its glory! in the hot, dusty afternoon, as the cranky old omnibus rattles along the narrow high street, it appears to awaken echoes in a city of the dead. making our way northward, we pass the restored seventeenth-century portal of the palace of the sainted cardinal of luxembourg; the weather-worn, neglected, late renaissance portal of the so-called hôtel de conti; the ruined gothic portal of the palace of cardinal pierre de thury, through which we pass to the old court-yard and a chapel subsequently restored and now used as the chapel of the grey penitents. we pass many another relic of departed grandeur, and beyond the place neuve on our right come upon a great portal which opens on a vaulted passage leading to one of the most bewildering and extraordinary congeries of ruined monastic buildings in france, now inhabited by a population of poor folk--two hundred families, it is said--who, since the revolution, have settled in the vast buildings of the once famous and opulent charterhouse of villeneuve. founded by innocent vi., three years after his elevation to the papal chair, and enriched by subsequent endownments, the charterhouse of the val de bénédiction, the second in importance of the order, grew in wealth and importance during the centuries until it was sacked and sold in small lots during the revolution to the ancestors of the present occupants. the circuit of its walls was a mile in extent; its artistic treasures were prodigious. the coronation of the virgin came thence; the pietá of villeneuve, now in the louvre; the founder's tomb; the high altar of notre dame at villeneuve, and a few other relics, alone survive of its vast possessions. the scene resembles nothing so much as a city ruined by bombardment or earthquake, but how long the wreck will remain in its present picturesque and melancholy condition is difficult to forecast. the state is slowly buying out the owners, and doubtless ere many years are passed the more valuable artistic remains will have been swept and garnished and restored. as we return from the chartreuse we turn left along the place neuve, and climb to the mighty fort of st. andré, which occupies the most venerable site in the royal new city, for on the hill where it stands tradition relates that st. cesarie, bishop of arles, was buried, and that there, in the sixth century, the first benedictines settled. the primitive settlement, destroyed in the ninth century, was extensively rebuilt in , and within its walls, churches were dedicated to st. andrew, st. michael, and st. martin. in the twelfth century the rich and powerful monastery, a strongly fortified, self-sufficing community, was held under the counts of toulouse, and from their overlordship it was subsequently admitted by the counts to be within the territory of the republic of avignon, whose consuls in compelled the abbot to demolish his walls and promise never to rebuild them. in philip the fair was permitted to settle a small community there, to whom he accorded in valuable privileges and the same protection he granted to his good city of paris. philip, to whom the position was valuable as a frontier post, erected a castle there, maintained a royal garrison, and the new settlement became known as the new town (villeneuve). the walls and towers then raised were rebuilt in by john the good, who exacted a toll, known as st. andrew's penny, for maintenance on all merchandise that passes through the senechaussée of beaucaire. of these majestic ruins, restored in the sixteenth century and again in recent times, the tour des masques at the west angle with its simple battlements is the oldest portion, the massive machicolated towers that frown over the main entrance having been raised by john the good. the ruined ravelin dates back to the seventeenth century. we enter and stroll about the desolate interior, crowned by a tiny romanesque chapel of the twelfth century, that well deserves its name of our lady of the fair view (notre dame de belvézét), with a graceful apse (restored). from its summit, or from the tall old watch-tower of the monastery, a marvelous view is obtained of the gaping ruins of the charterhouse of avignon, the county venaissin, the cévennes, mount ventoux, and the distant alps. in the later years of the monarchy a post of artillery was stationed in the fort, and it was from the fire of a battery planted there that a young captain of artillery, one napoleon bonaparte, in , overawed the city of avignon, which was occupied by the marseillais federalists who had declared against the convention; and it was with the cannon seized at st. andré that bonaparte marched to toulon and expelled the english from its harbor. the papal soldiery were ever objects of scorn to the royalists of villeneuve, who dubbed them "patachines" ("pestacchina," ital. for slipper), and taunted them with drilling under parasols--a pleasantry repaid by the italians who hurled the epithet "luzers" (lizards) against the royalists, who were said to pass their time sunning themselves against the hot rocks of villeneuve. descending the stately stairway that leads to the foot of the rocher des doms, and turning to the left, we soon reach the house of the "gardien du pont," who will admit us to all that remains of the miraculous pontifical structure of the twelfth century. the destructive hand of man and the assaults of the rhone have dealt hardly with st. benezet's work. ruined during the siege of , it was repaired in - , and in knit to the papal fortress at the avignon end. in , when clement vi. rebuilt four of the arches, it is described as of stone and wood; it was cut during the siege of benedict xiii., and repaired, or rebuilt, in and ; in three arches collapsed; in two more fell, and in the gaps were bridged by wooden struts and planks, which were carried away in by ice-floes. owing to the interminable dispute between the monarchy and the papacy as to liability for its repair, each power claiming jurisdiction over the rhone, all attempts to preserve it from ruin were abandoned in , when louis xiv. refused either to allow the legates to take toll for the necesary repairs, or to undertake them himself. little is known of the original bridge, which consisted of twenty-two semi-circular arches (viollet-le-duc gives eighteen), much lower than the present elliptic ones, which date back to the thirteenth century, according to labaude--or to the fifteenth century, acording to other authorities--when the bridge, having proved too low-pitched, was raised to its present level, and the flood arches over the piles were built. the four subsisting arches were, with the bridge chapel, restored during the last century. the old bridge formed an elbow upstream on the villeneuve branch of the rhone. the chapel of st. nicholas, too, has suffered many vicissitudes. the primitive romanesque building was raised to the level of the new footway by dividing the nave into two floors and building a flight of steps, supported on a squinch arch, down to what then became the lower chapel. much battered during the sieges of the palace, it was restored and reconsecrated in and a century later the gothic upper apse was added, whose external walls overtop the old nave. in consequence of these modifications the lower chapel has a gothic nave and a romanesque apse, whereas the upper chapel has a gothic apse and a romanesque nave. the "pont d'avignon" is known to every french-speaking child, and with many variants the old "ronde" is sung and danced from the remotest plains of canada to the valleys of the swiss alps. the good folk of avignon, however, protest that their "rondes" were not danced perilously on the narrow pont st. benezet, but under its arches on the green meadows of the isle de la barthelasse, and that "sur" in lieu of "sous" is due to northern misunderstanding of their sweet provençal tongue. orange by henry james [footnote: from "a little tour in france." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, houghton, mifflin co. copyright, .] i alighted at orange to visit a collection of eminently civil monuments. the collection consists of but two objects, but these objects are so fine that i will let the word pass. one of them is a triumphal arch, supposedly of the period of marcus aurelius; the other is a fragment, magnificent in its ruin, of a roman theater. but for these fine roman remains and for its name, orange is a perfectly featureless little town, without the rhone--which, as i have mentioned, is several miles distant--to help it to a physiognomy. it seems one of the oddest things that this obscure french borough--obscure, i mean, in our modern era, for the gallo-roman arausio must have been, judging it by its arches and theater, a place of some importance--should have given its name to the heirs apparent of the throne of holland, and been borne by a king of england who had sovereign rights over it. during the middle ages it formed part of an independent principality; but in it fell, by the marriage of one of its princesses, who had inherited it, into the family of nassau. i read in my indispensable murray that it was made over to france by the treaty of utrecht. the arch of triumph, which stands a little way out of the town, is rather a pretty than an imposing vestige of the romans. if it had greater purity of style, one might say of it that it belonged to the same family of monuments as the maison carée at nîmes. it has three passages--the middle much higher than the others--and a very elevated attic. the vaults of the passages are richly sculptured, and the whole monument is covered with friezes and military trophies. this sculpture is rather mixed; much of it is broken and defaced, and the rest seemed to me ugly, tho its workmanship is praised. the arch is at once well preserved and much injured. its general mass is there, and as roman monuments go it is remarkably perfect; but it has suffered, in patches, from the extremity of restoration. it is not, on the whole, of absorbing interest. it has a charm, nevertheless, which comes partly from its soft, bright yellow color, partly from a certain elegance of shape, of expression; and on that well-washed sunday morning, with its brilliant tone, surrounded by its circle of thin poplars, with the green country lying beyond it and a low blue horizon showing through its empty portals, it made, very sufficiently, a picture that hangs itself to one of the lateral hooks of the memory. i can take down the modest composition, and place it before me as i write. i see the shallow, shining puddles in the hard, fair french road; the pale blue sky, diluted by days of rain; the disgarnished autumnal fields; the mild sparkle of the low horizon; the solitary figure in sabots, with a bundle under its arm, advancing along the "chaussée;" and in the middle i see the little ochre-colored monument, which, in spite of its antiquity, looks bright and gay, as everything must look in france of a fresh sunday morning. it is true that this was not exactly the appearance of the roman theater, which lies on the other side of the town; a fact that did not prevent me from making my way to it in less than five minutes, through a succession of little streets concerning which i have no observations to record. none of the roman remains in the south of france are more impressive than this stupendous fragment. an enormous mound rises above the place, which was formerly occupied--i quote from murray--first by a citadel of the romans, then by a castle of the princes of nassau, razed by louis xiv. facing this hill a mighty wall erects itself, thirty-six meters high, and composed of massive blocks of dark brown stone, simply laid one on the other; the whole naked, rugged surface of which suggests a natural cliff (say of the vaucluse order) rather than an effort of human, or even of roman labor. it is the biggest thing at orange--it is bigger than all orange put together--and its permanent massiveness makes light of the shrunken city. the face it presents to the town--the top of it garnished with two rows of brackets, perforated with holes to receive the staves of the "velarium"--bears the traces of more than one tier of ornamental arches; tho how these flat arches were applied, or incrusted, upon the wall, i do not profess to explain. you pass through a diminutive postern--which seems in proportion about as high as the entrance of a rabbit-hutch--into the lodge of the custodian, who introduces you to the interior of the theater. here the mass of the hill affronts you, which the ingenious romans treated simply as the material of their auditorium. they inserted their stone seats, in a semicircle, in the slope of the hill, and planted their colossal wall opposite to it. this wall, from the inside, is, if possible, even more imposing. it formed the back of the stage, the permanent scene, and its enormous face was coated with marble. it contains three doors, the middle one being the highest, and having above it, far aloft, a deep niche, apparently intended for an imperial statue. a few of the benches remain on the hillside, which, however, is mainly a confusion of fragments. there is part of a corridor built into the hill, high up, and on the crest are the remnants of the demolished castle. the whole place is a kind of wilderness of ruin; there are scarcely any details; the great feature is the overtopping wall. this wall being the back of the scene, the space left between it and the chord of the semicircle (of the auditorium) which formed the proscenium is rather less than one would have supposed. in other words, the stage was very shallow, and appears to have been arranged for a number of performers standing in a line, like a company of soldiers. there stands the silent skeleton, however, as impressive by what it leaves you to guess and wonder about as by what it tells you. it has not the sweetness, the softness of melancholy, of the theater at arles; but it is more extraordinary, and one can imagine only tremendous tragedies being enacted there-- "presenting thebes' or pelops' line." at either end of the stage, coming forward, is an immense wing--immense in height, i mean, as it reaches to the top of the scenic wall; the other dimensions are not remarkable. the division to the right, as you face the stage, is pointed out as the green-room; its portentous altitude and the open arches at the top give it the air of a well. the compartment on the left is exactly similar, save that it opens into the traces of other chambers, said to be those of a hippodrome adjacent to the theater. various fragments are visible which refer themselves plausibly to such an establishment; the greater axis of the hippodrome would appear to have been on a line with the triumphal arch. this is all i saw, and all there was to see, of orange, which had a very rustic, bucolic aspect, and where i was not even called upon to demand breakfast at the hotel. the entrance of this resort might have been that of a stable of the roman days. vaucluse by bayard taylor [footnote: from "views afoot." published by g.p. putnam's sons.] this district borders on the desert of the crau, a vast plain of stones reaching to the mouth of the rhone and almost entirely uninhabited. we caught occasional glimpses of its sealike waste between the summits of the hills. at length, after threading a high ascent, we saw the valley of the durance suddenly below us. the sun, breaking through the clouds, shone on the mountain-wall which stood on the opposite side, touching with his glow the bare and rocky precipices that frowned far above the stream. descending to the valley, we followed its course toward the rhone with the ruins of feudal "bourgs" crowning the crags above us. it was dusk when we reached the village of senas tired with the day's march. a landlord standing in his door, on the lookout for customers, invited us to enter in a manner so polite and pressing we could not choose but do so. this is a universal custom with the country innkeepers. in a little village which we passed toward evening there was a tavern with the sign "the mother of soldiers." a portly woman whose face beamed with kindness and cheerfulness stood in the door and invited us to stop there for the night. "no, mother," i answered; "we must go much farther to-day." "go, then," said she, "with good luck, my children! a pleasant journey!" on entering the inn at senas two or three bronzed soldiers were sitting by the table. my french vocabulary happening to give out in the middle of a consultation about eggs and onion-soup, one of them came to my assistance and addrest me in german. he was from fulda, in hesse-cassel, and had served fifteen years in africa.... leaving next morning at daybreak, we walked on before breakfast to orgon, a little village in a corner of the cliffs which border the durance, and crossed the muddy river by a suspension bridge a short distance below, to cavaillon, where the country-people were holding a great market. from this place a road led across the meadow-land to l'isle, six miles distant. this little town is so named because it is situated on an island formed by the crystal sorgues, which flows from the fountains of vaucluse. it is a very picturesque and pretty place. great mill-wheels, turning slowly and constantly, stand at intervals in the stream, whose grassy banks are now as green as in springtime. we walked along the sorgues--which is quite as beautiful and worthy to be sung as the clitumnus--to the end of the village to take the road to vaucluse. beside its banks stands the "hôtel de petrarque et laure." alas that names of the most romantic and impassioned lovers of all history should be desecrated to a sign-post to allure gormandizing tourists! the bare mountain in whose heart lies the poet's solitude now rose before us at the foot of the lofty mount ventoux, whose summit of snows extended beyond. we left the river and walked over a barren plain across which the wind blew most drearily. the sky was rainy and dark, and completed the desolateness of the scene, which in nowise heightened our anticipations of the renowned glen. at length we rejoined the sorgues and entered a little green valley running up into the mountain. the narrowness of the entrance entirely shut out the wind, and, except the rolling of the waters over their pebbly bed, all was still and lonely and beautiful. the sides of the dell were covered with olive trees, and a narrow strip of emerald meadow lay at the bottom. it grew more hidden and sequestered as we approached the little village of vaucluse. here the mountain towers far above, and precipices of gray rock many hundred feet high hang over the narrowing glen. on a crag over the village are the remains of a castle; the slope below this, now rugged and stony, was once graced by the cottage and garden of petrarch. all traces of them have long since vanished, but a simple column bearing the inscription. "a petrarque" stands beside the sorgues. we ascended into the defile by a path among the rocks, overshadowed by olives and wild fig-trees, to the celebrated fountains of vaucluse. the glen seems as if stuck into the mountain's depths by one blow of the enchanter's wand, and just at the end, where the rod might have rested in its downward sweep, is the fathomless well whose over-brimming fulness gives birth to the sorgues. we climbed up over the mossy rocks and sat down in the grotto beside the dark, still pool. it was the most absolute solitude. the rocks towered above and over us to the height of six hundred feet, and the gray walls of the wild glen below shut out all appearance of life. i leaned over the rock and drank of the blue crystal that grew gradually darker toward the center till it became a mirror and gave back a perfect reflection of the crags above it. there was no bubbling, no gushing up from its deep bosom, but the wealth of sparkling waters continually welled over as from a too-full goblet. it was with actual sorrow that i turned away from the silent spot. i never visited a place to which the fancy clung more suddenly and fondly. there is something holy in its solitude, making one envy petrarch the years of calm and unsullied enjoyment which blest him there. as some persons whom we pass as strangers strike a hidden chord in our spirits, compelling a silent sympathy with them, so some landscapes have a character of beauty which harmonizes thrillingly with the mood in which we look upon them, till we forget admiration in the glow of spontaneous attachment. they seem like abodes of the beautiful which the soul in its wanderings long ago visited and now recognizes and loves as the home of a forgotten dream. it was thus i felt by the fountains of vaucluse; sadly and with weary steps i turned away, leaving its loneliness unbroken as before. we returned over the plain in the wind, under the gloomy sky, passed l'isle at dusk, and after walking an hour with a rain following close behind us stopt at an auberge in le thor, where we rested our tired frames and broke our long day's fasting. we were greeted in the morning with a dismal rain and wet roads as we began the march. after a time, however, it poured down in such torrents that we were obliged to take shelter in a remise by the roadside, where a good woman who addrest us in the unintelligible provençal kindled up a blazing fire. on climbing a long hill when the storm had abated, we experienced a delightful surprise. below us lay the broad valley of the rhone, with its meadows looking fresh and spring-like after the rain. the clouds were breaking away; clear blue sky was visible over avignon, and a belt of sunlight lay warmly along the mountains of languedoc. many villages with their tall picturesque towers dotted the landscape, and the groves of green olive enlivened the barrenness of winter. the pont du gard--aigues-mortes-nîmes by henry james [footnote: from "a little tour in france." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, houghton, mifflin co. copyright, .] it was a pleasure to feel one's self in provence again--the land where the silver-gray earth is impregnated with the light of the sky. to celebrate the event, as soon as i arrived at nîmes i engaged a calèche to convey me to the pont du gard. the day was yet young, and it was perfectly fair; it appeared well, for a longish drive, to take advantage, without delay, of such security. after i had left the town i became more intimate with that provençal charm which i had already enjoyed from the window of the train, and which glowed in the sweet sunshine and the white rocks, and lurked in the smoke-puffs of the little olives. the olive-trees in provence are half the landscape. they are neither so tall, so stout, nor so richly contorted as i have seen them beyond the alps; but this mild colorless bloom seems the very texture of the country. the road from nîmes, for a distance of fifteen miles, is superb; broad enough for an army, and as white and firm as a dinner-table. it stretches away over undulations which suggest a kind of harmony; and in the curves it makes through the wide, free country, where there is never a hedge or a wall, and the detail is always exquisite, there is something majestic, almost processional. you are very near (the pont du gard) before you see it; the ravine it spans suddenly opens and exhibits the picture. the scene at this point grows extremely beautiful. the ravine is the valley of the garden, which the road from nîmes has followed some time without taking account of it, but which, exactly at the right distance from the aqueduct, deepens and expands, and puts on those characteristics which are best suited to give it effect. the gorge becomes romantic, still, and solitary, and, with its white rocks and wild shrubbery, hangs over the clear, colored river, in whose slow course there is here and there a deeper pool. over the valley, from side to side, and ever so high in the air, stretch the three tiers of the tremendous bridge. they are unspeakably imposing, and nothing could well be more roman. the hugeness, the solidity, the unexpectedness, the monumental rectitude of the whole thing leave you nothing to say--at the time--and make you stand gazing. you simply feel that it is noble and perfect, that it has the quality of greatness. a road, branching from the highway, descends to the level of the river and passes under one of the arches. this road has a wide margin of grass and loose stones, which slopes upward into the bank of the ravine. you may sit here as long as you please, staring up at the light, strong piers; the spot is extremely natural, tho two or three stone benches have been erected on it. i remained there an hour and got a complete impression; the place was perfectly soundless, and for the time, at least, lonely; the splendid afternoon had begun to fade, and there was a fascination in the object i had come to see. it came to pass that at the same time i discovered in it a certain stupidity, a vague brutality. that element is rarely absent from great roman work, which is wanting in the nice adaption of the means to the end. the means are always exaggerated; the end is so much more than attained. the roman rigidity was apt to overshoot the mark, and i suppose a race which could do nothing small is as defective as a race that can do nothing great. of this roman rigidity the pont du gard is an admirable example. it would be a great injustice, however, not to insist upon its beauty--a kind of manly beauty, that of an object constructed not to please but to serve, and impressive simply from the scale on which it carries out this intention. the number of arches in each tier is different; they are smaller and more numerous as they ascend. the preservation of the thing is extraordinary; nothing has crumbled or collapsed; every feature remains; and the huge blocks of stone, of a brownish-yellow (as if they had been baked by the provençal sun for eighteen centuries), pile themselves, without mortar or cement, as evenly as the day they were laid together. all this to carry the water of a couple of springs to a little provincial city! the conduit on the top has retained its shape and traces of the cement with which it was lined. when the vague twilight began to gather, the lonely valley seemed to fill itself with the shadow of the roman name, as if the mighty empire were still as erect as the support of the aqueduct; and it was open to a solitary tourist, sitting there sentimental, to believe that no people has ever been, or will ever be, as great as that, measured, as we measure the greatness of an individual, by the push they gave to what they undertook. the pont du gard is one of the three or four deepest impressions they have left; it speaks of them in a manner with which they might have been satisfied.... on my way back to the little inn where i had left my vehicle, i passed the pont du gard, and took another look at it. its great arches made windows for the evening sky, and the rocky ravine, with its dusky cedars and shining river, was lonelier than before. at the inn i swallowed, or tried to swallow, a glass of horrible wine with my coachman; after which, with my team, i drove back to nîmes in the moonlight. it only added a more solitary whiteness to the constant sheen of the provençal landscape. * * * * * the weather the next day was equally fair, so that it seemed an imprudence not to make sure of aigues-mortes. nîmes itself could wait; at a pinch, i could attend to nîmes in the rain. it was my belief that aigues-mortes was a little gem, and it is natural to desire that gems should have an opportunity to sparkle. this is an excursion of but a few hours, and there is a little friendly, familiar, dawdling train that will convey you, in time for a noonday breakfast, to the small dead town where the blest saint louis twice embarked for the crusades. you may get back to nîmes for dinner; the run is of about an hour. i found the little journey charming, and looked out of the carriage window, on my right, at the distant cévennes, covered with tones of amber and blue, and, all around, at vineyards red with the touch of october. the grapes were gone, but the plants had a color of their own. within a certain distance of aigues-mortes they give place to wide salt-marshes, traversed by two canals; and over this expanse the train rumbles slowly upon a narrow causeway, failing for some time, tho you know you are near the object of your curiosity, to bring you to sight of anything but the horizon. suddenly it appears, the towered and embattled mass, lying so low that the crest of its defences seems to rise straight out of the ground; and it is not till the train stops, close before them that you are able to take the full measure of its walls. aigues-mortes stands on the edge of a wide étang, or shallow inlet of the sea, the further side of which is divided by a narrow band of coast from the gulf of lyons. next after carcassonne, to which it forms an admirable pendant, it is the most perfect thing of the kind in france. it has a rival in the person of avignon, but the ramparts of avignon are much less effective. like carcassonne, it is completely surrounded with its old fortifications; and if they are far simpler in character (there is but one circle), they are quite as well preserved. the moat has been filled up, and the site of the town might be figured by a billiard-table without pockets. on this absolute level, covered with coarse grass, aigues-mortes presents quite the appearance of the walled town that a school-boy draws upon his slate, or that we see in the background of early flemish pictures--a simple parallelogram, of a contour almost absurdly bare, broken at intervals by angular towers and square holes. such, literally speaking, is this delightful little city, which needs to be seen to tell its full story. it is extraordinarily pictorial, and if it is a very small sister of carcassonne, it has at least the essential features of the family. indeed, it is even more like an image and less like a reality than carcassonne; for by position and prospect it seems even more detached from the life of the present day. it is true that aigues-mortes does a little business; it sees certain bags of salt piled into barges which stand in a canal beside it, and which carry their cargo into actual places. but nothing could well be more drowsy and desultory than this industry as i saw it practised, with the aid of two or three brown peasants and under the eye of a solitary douanier who strolled on the little quay beneath the western wall. "c'est bien plaisant, c'est bien paisible," said this worthy man, with whom i had some conversation; and pleasant and peaceful is the place indeed, tho the former of these epithets may suggest an element of gayety in which aigues-mortes is deficient. the sand, the salt, the dull sea-view, surround it with a bright, quiet melancholy. there are fifteen towers and nine gates, five of which are on the southern side, overlooking the water. i walked all round the place three times (it doesn't take long), but lingered most under the southern wall, where the afternoon light slept in the dreamiest, sweetest way. i sat down on an old stone, and looked away to the desolate salt-marshes and still, shining surface of the étang; and, as i did so, reflected that this was a queer little out-of-the-world corner to have been chosen, in the great dominions of either monarch, for that pompous interview which took place, in , between francis i. and charles v. it was also not easy to perceive how louis ix., when in and he started for the holy land, set his army afloat in such very undeveloped channels. an hour later i purchased in the town a little pamphlet by m. marius topin, who undertakes to explain this latter anomaly, and to show that there is water enough in the port, as we may call it by courtesy, to have sustained a fleet of crusaders. i was unable to trace the channel that he points out, but was glad to believe that, as he contends, the sea has not retreated from the town since the thirteenth century. it was comfortable to think that things are not so changed as that. m. topin indicates that the other french ports of the mediterranean were not then "disponibles," and that aigues-mortes was the most eligible spot for an embarkation. behind the straight walls and the quiet gates the little town has not crumbled, like the cité of carcassonne. it can hardly be said to be alive; but if it is dead it has been very neatly embalmed. the hand of the restorer rests on it constantly; but this artist has not, as at carcassonne, had miracles to accomplish. the interior is very still and empty, with small stony, whitewashed streets, tenanted by a stray dog, a stray cat, a stray old woman. in the middle is a little place, with two or three cafés decorated by wide awnings--a little place of which the principal feature is a very bad bronze statue of saint louis by pradier. it is almost as bad as the breakfast i had at the inn that bears the name of that pious monarch. you may walk round the enceinte of aigues-mortes, both outside and in; but you may not, as at carcassonne, make a portion of this circuit on the chemin de ronde, the little projecting footway attached to the inner face of the battlements. this footway, wide enough only for a single pedestrian, is in the best order, and near each of the gates a flight of steps leads up to it; but a locked gate, at the top of the steps, makes access impossible, or at least unlawful. aigues-mortes, however, has its citadel, an immense tower, larger than any of the others, a little detached, and standing at the northwest angle of the town. i called upon the casernier--the custodian of the walls--and in his absence i was conducted through this big tour de constance by his wife, a very mild, meek woman, yellow with the traces of fever and ague--a scourge which, as might be expected in a town whose name denotes "dead waters," enters freely at the nine gates. the tour de constance is of extraordinary girth and solidity, divided into three superposed circular chambers, with very fine vaults, which are lighted by embrasures of prodigious depth, converging to windows little larger than loop-holes. the place served for years as a prison to many of the protestants of the south whom the revocation of the edict of nantes had exposed to atrocious penalties, and the annals of these dreadful chambers during the first half of the last century were written in tears and blood. some of the record cases of long confinement there make one marvel afresh at what man has inflicted and endured. in a country in which a policy of extermination was to be put into practise this horrible tower was an obvious resource. from the battlements at the top, which is surmounted by an old disused lighthouse, you see the little compact rectangular town, which looks hardly bigger than a garden-patch, mapped out beneath you, and follow the plain configuration of its defenses. you take possession of it, and you feel that you will remember it always. * * * * * in general nîmes is poor; its only treasures are its roman remains, which are of the first order. the new french fashions prevail in many of its streets; the old houses are paltry, and the good houses are new; while beside my hotel rose a big spick-and-span church, which had the oddest air of having been intended for brooklyn or cleveland.... what nobler ornament can there be than the roman baths at the foot of mont cavalier, and the delightful old garden that surrounds them? all that quarter of nîmes has every reason to be proud of itself; it has been revealed to the world at large by copious photography. a clear, abundant stream gushes from the foot of a high hill (covered with trees and laid out in paths), and is distributed into basins which sufficiently refer themselves to the period that gave them birth--the period that has left its stamp on that pompous peyrou which we admired at montpellier. here are the same terraces and steps and balustrades, and a system of water-works less impressive, perhaps, but very ingenious and charming. the whole place is a mixture of old rome and of the french eighteenth century; for the remains of the antique baths are in a measure incorporated in the modern fountains. in a corner of this umbrageous precinct stands a small roman ruin, which is known as a temple of diana, but was more apparently a nymphaeum, and appears to have had a graceful connection with the adjacent baths. i learn from murray that this little temple, of the period of augustus, "was reduced to its present state of ruin in ;" the moment at which the towns-people, threatened with a siege by the troops of the crown, partly demolished it, lest it should serve as a cover to the enemy. the remains are very fragmentary, but they serve to show that the place was lovely. i spent half an hour in it on a perfect sunday morning (it is enclosed by a high grille, carefully tended, and has a warden of its own), and with the help of my imagination tried to reconstruct a little the aspect of things in the gallo-roman days. i do wrong, perhaps, to say that i tried; from a flight so deliberate i should have shrunk. but there was a certain contagion of antiquity in the air; and among the ruins of baths and temples, in the very spot where the aqueduct that crosses the garden in the wondrous manner i had seen discharged itself, the picture of a splendid paganism seemed vaguely to glow. roman baths--roman baths; those words alone were a scene. everything was changed; i was strolling in a jardin français; the bosky slope of the mont cavalier (a very modest mountain), hanging over the place, is crowded with a shapeless tower, which is as likely to be of medieval as of antique origin; and yet, as i leaned on the parapet of one of the fountains, where a flight of curved steps (a hemicycle, as the french say) descended into a basin full of dark, cool recesses, where the slabs of the roman foundations gleam through the clear green water--as in this attitude i surrendered myself to contemplation and reverie, it seemed to me that i touched for a moment the ancient world. such moments are illuminating, and the light of this one mingles, in my memory, with the dusky greenness of the jardin de la fontaine. the fountain proper--the source of all these distributed waters--is the prettiest thing in the world, a reduced copy of vaucluse. it gushes up at the foot of the mont cavalier, at a point where that eminence rises with a certain cliff-like effect, and, like other springs in the same circumstances, appears to issue from the rock with a sort of quivering stillness. i trudge up the mont cavalier,--it is a matter of five minutes,--and having committed this cockneyism enhanced it presently by another. i ascended the stupid tour magne, the mysterious structure i mentioned a moment ago. the only feature of this dateless tube, except the inevitable collection of photographs to which you are introduced by the doorkeeper, is the view you enjoy from its summit. this view is, of course, remarkably fine but i am ashamed to say i have not the smallest recollection of it; for while i looked into the brilliant spaces of the air i seemed still to see only what i saw in the depths of the roman baths--the image, disastrously confused and vague, of a vanished world. this world, however, has left at nîmes a far more considerable memento than a few old stones covered with water-moss. the roman arena is the rival of those of verona and of arles; at a respectful distance it emulates the colosseum. it is a small colosseum, if i may be allowed the expression, and is in a much better preservation than the great circus at rome. this is especially true of the external walls, with their arches, pillars, cornices. i must add that one should not speak of preservation, in regard to the arena at nîmes, without speaking also of repair. after the great ruin ceased to be despoiled, it began to be protected, and most of its wounds have been drest with new material. these matters concern the archeologist; and i felt here, as i felt afterward at arles, that one of the profane, in the presence of such a monument, can only admire and hold his tongue. the great impression, on the whole, is an impression of wonder that so much should have survived. what remains at nîmes, after all dilapidation is estimated, is astounding. i spent an hour in the arènes on that same sweet sunday morning, as i came back from the roman baths, and saw that the corridors, the vaults, the staircases, the external casing, are still virtually there. many of these parts are wanting in the colosseum, whose sublimity of size, however, can afford to dispense with detail. the seats at nîmes, like those at verona, have been largely renewed; not that this mattered much, as i lounged on the cool surface of one of them, and admired the mighty concavity of the place and the elliptical sky-line, broken by uneven blocks and forming the rim of the monstrous cup--a cup that had been filled with horrors, and yet i made my reflections; i said to myself that tho a roman arena is one of the most impressive of the works of man, it has a touch of that same stupidity which i ventured to discover in the pont du gard. it is brutal; it is monotonous; it is not at all exquisite. the arènes at nîmes were arranged for a bull-fight--a form of recreation that, as i was informed, is much dans les habitudes nîmoises and very common throughout provence, where (still according to my information) it is the usual pastime of a sunday afternoon. at arles and nîmes it has a characteristic setting, but in the villages the patrons of the game make a circle of carts and barrels, on which the spectators perch themselves. i was surprised at the prevalence, in mild provence, of the iberian vice, and hardly know whether it makes the custom more respectable that at nîmes and arles the thing is shabbily and imperfectly done. the bulls are rarely killed, and indeed often are bulls only in the irish sense of the term--being domestic and motherly cows. such an entertainment of course does not supply to the arena that element of the exquisite which i spoke of as wanting. the exquisite at nîmes is mainly represented by the famous maison carrée. the first impression you receive from this delicate little building, as you stand before it, is that you have already seen it many times. photographs, engravings, models, medals, have placed it definitely in your eye, so that from the sentiment with which you regard it curiosity and surprise are almost completely, and perhaps deplorably absent. admiration remains however--admiration of a familiar and even slightly patronizing kind. the maison carrée does not overwhelm you; you can conceive it. it is not one of the great sensations of antique art; but it is perfectly felicitous, and, in spite of having been put to all sorts of incongruous uses, marvelously preserved. its slender columns, its delicate proportions, its charming compactness, seemed to bring one nearer to the century that built it than the great superpositions of arenas and bridges, and give it the interest that vibrates from one age to another when the note of taste is struck. if anything were needed to make this little toy-temple a happy production, the service would be rendered by the second-rate boulevard that conducts to it, adorned with inferior cafés and tobacco-shops. here, in a respectable recess, surrounded by vulgar habitations, and with the theater, of a classic pretension, opposite, stands the small "square house," so called because it is much longer than it is broad. i saw it first in the evening, in the vague moonlight, which made it look as if it were cast in bronze. stendhal says, justly, that it has the shape of a playing-card, and he expresses his admiration for it by the singular wish that an "exact copy" of it should be erected in paris. he even goes as far as to say that in the year this tribute will have been rendered to its charms; nothing would be more simple, to his mind, than to "have" in that city "le panthéon de rome, quelques temples de grèce." stendhal found it amusing to write in the character of a commis-voyageur, and sometimes it occurs to his reader that he really was one. arles and les baux by henry james [footnote: from "a little tour in france." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, houghton, mifflin co. copyright, .] there are two shabby old inns at arles, which compete closely for your custom. i mean by this that if you elect to go to the hôtel du forum, the hôtel du nord, which is placed exactly beside it (at a right angle), watches your arrival with ill-concealed disapproval; and if you take the chances of its neighbor, the hôtel du forum seems to glare at you invidiously from all its windows and doors. i forget which of these establishments i selected; whichever it was, i wished very much that it had been the other. the two stand together on the place des hommes, a little public square of arles, which somehow quite misses its effect. as a city, indeed, arles quite misses its effect in every way; and if it is a charming place, as i think it is, i can hardly tell the reason why. the straight-nosed arlésiennes account for it in some degree; and the remainder may be charged to the ruins of the arena and the theater. beyond this, i remember with affection the ill-proportioned little place des hommes; not at all monumental, and given over to puddles and to shabby cafés. i recall with tenderness the tortuous and featureless streets, which looked like the streets of a village, and were paved with villainous little sharp stones, making all exercise penitential. consecrated by association is even a tiresome walk that i took the evening i arrived, with the purpose of obtaining a view of the rhone. i had been to arles before, years ago, and it seemed to me that i remembered finding on the banks of the stream some sort of picture. i think that on the evening of which i speak there was a watery moon, which it seemed to me would light up the past as well as the present. but i found no picture, and i scarcely found the rhone at all. i lost my way, and there was not a creature in the streets to whom i could appeal. nothing could be more provincial than the situation of arles at ten o'clock at night. at last i arrived at a kind of embankment, where i could see the great mud-colored stream slipping along in the soundless darkness. it had come on to rain, i know not what had happened to the moon, and the whole place was anything but gay. it was not what i had looked for; what i had looked for was in the irrecoverable past. i groped my way back to the inn over the infernal cailloux, feeling like a discomfited dogberry. i remember now that this hotel was the one (whichever that may be) which has the fragment of a gallo-roman portico inserted into one of its angles. i had chosen it for the sake of this exceptional ornament. it was damp and dark, and the floors felt gritty to the feet; it was an establishment at which the dreadful "gras-double" might have appeared at the table d'hôte, as it had done at narbonne. nevertheless, i was glad to get back to it; and nevertheless, too--and this is the moral of my simple anecdote--my pointless little walk (i don't speak of the pavement) suffuses itself, as i look back upon it, with a romantic tone. and in relation to the inn, i suppose i had better mention that i am well aware of the inconsistency of a person who dislikes the modern caravansary, and yet grumbles when he finds a hotel of the superannuated sort, one ought to choose, it would seem, and make the best of either alternative. the two old taverns at arles are quite unimproved; such as they must have been in the infancy of the modern world, when stendhal passed that way, and the lumbering diligence deposited him in the place des hommes, such in every detail they are to-day. vieilles auberges de france, one ought to enjoy their gritty floors and greasy windowpanes. let it be put on record, therefore, that i have been, i won't say less comfortable, but at least less happy, at better inns. to be really historic, i should have mentioned that before going to look for the rhone i had spent part of the evening on the opposite side of the little place, and that i indulged in this recreation for two definite reasons. one of these was that i had an opportunity of conversing at a café with an attractive young englishman, whom i had met in the afternoon at tarascon, and more remotely, in other years, in london; the other was that there sat enthroned behind the counter a splendid mature arlésienne, whom my companion and i agreed that it was a rare privilege to comtemplate. there is no rule of good manners or morals which makes it improper, at a café to fix one's eyes upon the dame de comptoir; the lady is, in the nature of things, a part of your "consommation." we were therefore free to admire without restriction the handsomest person i had ever seen give change for a five-franc piece. she was a large quiet woman, who would never see forty again; of an intensely feminine type, yet wonderfully rich and robust, and full of a certain physical nobleness. tho she was not really old, she was antique, and she was very grave, even a little sad. she had the dignity of a roman empress, and she handled coppers as if they had been stamped with the head of caesar. i have seen washerwomen in the trastevere who were perhaps as handsome as she; but even the head-dress of the roman contadina contributes less to the dignity of the person born to wear it than the sweet and stately arlesian cap, which sits at once aloft and on the back of the head; which is accompanied with a wide black bow covering a considerable part of the crown; and which, finally, accomodates itself indescribably well to the manner in which the tresses of the front are pushed behind the ears. this admirable dispenser of lumps of sugar has distracted me a little; for i am still not sufficiently historical. before going to the café i had dined, and before dining i had found time to go and look at the arena. then it was that i discovered that arles has no general physiognomy, and, except the delightful little church of saint trophimus, no architecture, and that the rugosities of its dirty lanes affect the feet like knife-blades. it was not then, on the other hand, that i saw the arena best. the second day of my stay at arles i devoted to a pilgrimage to the strange old hill town of les baux, the medieval pompeii, of which i shall give myself the pleasure of speaking. the evening of that day, however (my friend and i returned in time for a late dinner), i wandered among the roman remains of the place by the light of a magnificent moon, and gathered an impression which has lost little of its silvery glow. the moon of the evening before had been aqueous and erratic; but if on the present occasion it was guilty of any irregularity, the worst it did was only to linger beyond its time in the heavens, in order to let us look at things comfortably. the effect was admirable; it brought back the impression of the way, in rome itself, on evenings like that, the moonshine rests upon broken shafts and slabs of antique pavement. as we sat in the theater, looking at the two lone columns that survive--part of the decoration of the back of the stage--and at the fragments of ruin around them, we might have been in the roman forum. the arena at arles, with its great magnitude, is less complete than that at nîmes; it has suffered even more the assaults of time and of the children of time, and it has been less repaired. the seats are almost wholly wanting; but the external walls, minus the topmost tier of arches, are massively, ruggedly complete; and the vaulted corridors seem as solid as the day they were built. the whole thing is superbly vast, and as monumental, for a place of light amusement--what is called in america a "variety-show"--as it entered only into the roman mind to make such establishments. the podium is much higher than at nîmes, and many of the great white slabs that faced it have been recovered and put into their places. the proconsular box has been more or less reconstructed, and the great converging passages of approach to it are still majestically distinct; so that, as i sat there in the moon-charm stillness, leaning my elbows on the battered parapet of the ring, it was not impossible to listen to the murmurs and shudders, the thick voice of the circus, that died away fifteen hundred years ago. the theater has a voice as well, but it lingers on the ear of time with a different music. the roman theater at arles seemed to me one of the most charming and touching ruins i had ever beheld; i took a particular fancy to it. it is less than a skeleton--the arena may be called a skeleton; for it consists only of half a dozen bones. the traces of the row of columns which formed the scene--the permanent back-scene--remain; two marble pillars--i just mentioned them--are upright, with a fragment of their entablature. before them is the vacant space which was filled by the stage, with the line of the proscenium distinct, marked by a deep groove, imprest upon slabs of stone, which looks as if the bottom of a high screen had been intended to fit into it. the semicircle formed by the seats--half a cup--rises opposite; some of the rows are distinctly marked. the floor, from the bottom of the stage, in the shape of an arc of which the chord is formed by the line of the orchestra, is covered by slabs of colored marble--red, yellow, and green--which, tho terribly battered and cracked to-day, give one an idea of the elegance of the interior. everything shows that it was on a great scale: the large sweep of its enclosing walls, the massive corridors that passed behind the auditorium, and of which we can still perfectly take the measure. the way in which every seat commanded the stage is a lesson to the architects of our epoch, as also the immense size of the place is a proof of extraordinary power of voice on the part of the roman actors. it was after we had spent half an hour in the moonshine at the arena that we came on to this more ghostly and more exquisite ruin. the principal entrance was locked, but we effected an easy escalade, scaled a low parapet, and descended into the place behind the scenes. it was as light as day, and the solitude was complete. the two slim columns, as we sat on the broken benches, stood there like a pair of silent actors. what i called touching, just now was the thought that here the human voice, the utterance of a great language, had been supreme. the air was full of intonations and cadences; not of the echo of smashing blows, of riven armor, of howling victims and roaring beasts. the spot is, in short, one of the sweetest legacies of the ancient world; and there seems no profanation in the fact that by day it is open to the good people of arles, who use it to pass, by no means, in great numbers, from one part of the town to the other; treading the old marble floor, and brushing, if need be, the empty benches. this familiarity does not kill the place again; it makes it, on the contrary, live a little--makes the present and the past touch each other. if i called les baux a city, it was not that i was stretching a point in favor of the small spot which to-day contains but a few dozen inhabitants. the history of the place is as extraodinary as its situation. it was not only a city, but a state; not only a state; but an empire; and on the crest of its little mountain called itself sovereign of a territory, or at least of scattered towns and counties, with which its present aspect is grotesquely out of relation. the lords of les baux, in a word, were great feudal proprietors; and there was a time during which the island of sardinia, to say nothing of places nearer home, such as arles and marseilles, paid them homage. the chronicle of this old provençal house has been written, in a style somewhat unctuous and flowery, by m. jules canonge. i purchased the little book--a modest pamphlet--at the establishment of the good sisters, just beside the church, in one of the highest part of les baux. the sisters have a school for the hardy little baussenques, whom i heard piping their lessons, while i waited in the cold parlor for one of the ladies to come and speak to me. nothing could have been more perfect than the manner of this excellent woman when she arrived; yet her small religious house seemed a very out-of-the-way corner of the world. it was spotlessly neat, and the rooms looked as if they had lately been papered and painted; in this respect, at the medieval pompeii, they were rather a discord. they were, at any rate, the newest, freshest thing at les baux. i remember going round to the church, after i had left the good sisters, and to a little quiet terrace, which stands in front of it, ornamented with a few small trees and bordered with a wall, breast-high, over which you look down steep hillsides, off into the air and all about the neighboring country. i remember saying to myself that this little terrace was one of those felicitous nooks which the tourist of taste keeps in his mind as a picture. the church was small and brown and dark, with a certain rustic richness. all this however, is no general description of les baux. i am unable to give any coherent account of the place, for the simple reason that it is a mere confusion of ruin. it has not been preserved in lava like pompeii, and its streets and houses, its ramparts and castle, have become fragmentary, not through the sudden destruction, but through the gradual withdrawal, of a population. it is not an extinguished, but a deserted city; more deserted far than even carcassonne and aigues-mortes, where i found so much entertainment in the grass-grown element. it is of very small extent, and even in the days of its greatness, when its lords entitled themselves counts of cephalonia and neophantis, kings of arles and vienne, princes of achaia, and emperors of constantinople--even at this flourishing period, when, as m. jules canonge remarks, "they were able to depress the balance in which the fate of peoples and kings is weighed," the plucky little city contained at the most no more than thirty-six hundred souls. yet its lords (who, however, as i have said, were able to present a long list of subject towns, most of them, tho a few are renowned, unknown to fame) were seneschals and captains-general of piedmont and lombardy, grand admirals of the kingdom of naples, and its ladies were sought in marriage by half the first princes in europe. a considerable part of the little narrative of m. canonge is taken up with the great alliances of the house of baux, whose fortunes, matrimonial and other, he traces from the eleventh century down to the sixteenth. the empty shells of a considerable number of old houses, many of which must have been superb, the lines of certain steep little streets, the foundations of a castle, and ever so many splendid views, are all that remains to-day of these great titles. to such a list i may add a dozen very polite and sympathetic people, who emerged from the interstices of the desultory little town to gaze at the two foreigners who had driven over from arles, and whose horses were being baited at the modest inn. the resources of this establishment we did not venture otherwise to test, in spite of the seductive fact that the sign over the door was in the provençal tongue. this little group included the baker, a rather melancholy young man, in high boots and a cloak, with whom and his companions we had a good deal of conversation. the baussenques of to-day struck me as a very mild and agreeable race, with a good deal of the natural amenity which, on occasions like this one, the traveler, who is waiting for his horses to be put in or his dinner to be prepared, observes in the charming people who lend themselves to conversation in the hilltowns of tuscany. the spot where our entertainers at les baux congregated was naturally the most inhabited portion of the town; as i say, there were at least a dozen human figures within sight. presently we wandered away from them, scaled the higher places, seated ourselves among the ruins of the castle, and looked down from the cliff overhanging that portion of the road which i have mentioned as approaching les baux from behind. i was unable to trace the configuration of the castle as plainly as the writers who have described it in the guide-books, and i am ashamed to say that i did not even perceive the three great figures of stone (the three marys, as they are called; the two marys of scripture, with martha), which constitute one of the curiosities of the place, and of which m. jules canonge speaks with almost hyperbolical admiration. a brisk shower, lasting some ten minutes, led us to take refuge in a cavity, of mysterious origin, where the melancholy baker presently discovered us, having had the bonne pensée of coming up for us with an umbrella which certainly belonged, in former ages, to one of the stéphanettes or berangères commemorated by m. canonge. his oven, i am afraid, was cold so long as our visit lasted. when the rain was over we wandered down to the little disencumbered space before the inn, through a small labyrinth of obliterated things. they took the form of narrow, precipitous streets, bordered by empty houses, with gaping windows and absent doors, through which we had glimpses of sculptured chimney-pieces and fragments of stately arch and vault. some of the houses are still inhabited; but most of them are open to the air and weather. some of them have completely collapsed; others present to the street a front which enables one to judge of the physiognomy of les baux in the days of its importance. this importance had pretty well passed away in the early part of the sixteenth century, when the place ceased to be an independent principality, it became--by request of one of its lords, bernardin des baux, a great captain of his time--part of the appanage of the kings of france, by whom it was placed under the protection of arles, which had formerly occupied with regard to it a different position. i know not whether the arlesians neglected their trust; but the extinction of the sturdy little stronghold is too complete not to have begun long ago. its memories are buried under its ponderous stones. as ve drove away from it in the gloaming, my friend and i agreed that the two or three hours we had spent there were among the happiest impressions of a pair of tourists very curious in the picturesque. we almost forgot that we were bound to regret that the shortened day left us no time to drive five miles further, above a pass in the little mountains--it had beckoned to us in the morning, when we came in sight of it, almost irresistibly--to see the roman arch and mausoleum of saint remy. to compass this larger excursion (including the visit to les baux) you must start from arles very early in the morning; but i can imagine no more delightful day. iv cathedrals and chateaux amiens by nathaniel hawthorne [footnote: from "french and italian note books." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, houghton, mifflin co. copyright, , , .] the aspect of the old french town was very different from anything english; whiter, infinitely cleaner; higher and narrower houses, the entrance to most of which seeming to be through a great gateway affording admission into a central court-yard; a public square, with a statue in the middle, and another statue in a neighboring street. we met priests in three-cornered hats, long frock-coats, and knee-breeches; also soldiers and gendarmes, and peasants and children, clattering over the pavements in wooden shoes. it makes a great impression of outlandishness to see the signs over the shop doors in a foreign tongue. if the cold had not been such as to dull my sense of novelty, and make all my perceptions torpid, i should have taken in a set of new impressions, and enjoyed them very much. as it was, i cared little for what i saw, but yet had life enough left to enjoy the cathedral of amiens, which has many features unlike those of english cathedrals. it stands in the midst of the cold, white town, and has a high-shouldered look to a spectator accustomed to the minsters of england, which cover a great space of ground in proportion to their height. the impression the latter give is of magnitude and mass; this french cathedral strikes one as lofty. the exterior is venerable, tho but little time-worn by the action of the atmosphere; and statues still keep their places in numerous niches, almost as perfect as when first placed there in the thirteenth century. the principal doors are deep, elaborately wrought, pointed arches; and the interior seemed to us, at the moment, as grand as any that we had seen, and to afford as vast an idea of included space; it being of such an airy height, and with no screen between the chancel and nave, as in all the english cathedrals. we saw the differences, too, betwixt a church in which the same form of worship for which it was originally built is still kept up, and those of england, where it has been superseded for centuries; for here, in the recess of every arch of the side-aisles, beneath each lofty window, there was a chapel dedicated to some saint, and adorned with great marble sculptures of the crucifixion, and with pictures, execrably bad, in all cases, and various kinds of gilding and ornamentation. immensely tall wax candles stand upon the altars of these chapels, and before one sat a woman, with a great supply of tapers, one of which was burning. i suppose these were to be lighted as offerings to the saints, by the true believers. artificial flowers were hung at some of the shrines, or placed under glass. in every chapel, moreover, there was a confessional--a little oaken structure, about as big as a sentry-box, with a closed part for the priest to sit in, and an open one for the penitent to kneel at, and speak through the open-work of the priest's closet. monuments, mural and others, to long-departed worthies, and images of the savior, the virgin, and saints, were numerous everywhere about the church; and in the chancel there was a great deal of quaint and curious sculpture, fencing in the holy of holies, where the high altar stands. there is not much painted glass; one or two very rich and beautiful rose-windows, however, that looked antique; and the great eastern window, which, i think, is modern. the pavement has, probably, never been renewed, as one piece of work, since the structure was erected, and is foot-worn by the successive generations, tho still in excellent repair. i saw one of the small, square stones in it, bearing the date of , and no doubt there are a thousand older ones. rouen by thomas frognall dibdin [footnote: from "a bibliographical tour in france and germany."] the approach to rouen is indeed magnificent. i speak of the immediate approach, after you reach the top of a considerable rise, and are stopt by the barriers. you then look down a straight, broad, and strongly paved road, lined with a double row of trees on each side. as the foliage was not thickly set, we could discern, through the delicately clothed branches, the tapering spire of the cathedral, and the more picturesque tower of the abbaye st. ouen--with hanging gardens, and white houses, to the left--covering a richly cultivated ridge of hills, which sink, as it were, into the boulevards, and which is called the faubourg cauchoise. to the right, through the trees, you see the river seine (here of no despicable depth or breadth), covered with boats and vessels in motion, the voice of commerce, and the stir of industry, cheering and animating you as you approach the town. i was told that almost every vessel which i saw (some of them of two hundred, and even of three hundred tons burden) was filled with brandy and wine.... first for the cathedral, for what traveler of taste does not doff his bonnet to the mother-church of the town through which he happens to be traveling, or in which he takes a temporary abode? the west front, always the forte of the architects's skill, strikes you as you go down, or come up, the principal street--la rue des carmes--which seems to bisect the town into equal parts. a small open space, which, however, has been miserably encroached upon by petty shops, called the flower gardens, is before this western front; so that it has some little breathing room in which to expand its beauties to the wondering eyes of the beholder. in my poor judgment, this western front has very few elevations comparable with it--including even those of lincoln and york. the ornaments, especially upon the three porches, between the two towers, are numerous, rich, and for the greater part entire, in spite of the calvinists, the french revolution, and time. as you enter the cathedral, at the center door, by descending two steps, you are struck with the length and loftiness of the nave, and with the lightness of the gallery which runs along the upper part of it. perhaps the nave is too narrow for its length. the lantern of the central large tower is beautifully light and striking. it is supported by four massive clustered pillars, about forty feet in circumference; but by casting your eye downward, you are shocked at the tasteless division of the choir from the nave by what is called a grecian screen; and the interior of the transepts has undergone a like preposterous restoration. the rose windows of the transepts, and that at the west end of the nave, merit your attention and commendation. i could not avoid noticing, to the right, upon entrance, perhaps the oldest side chapel in the cathedral, of a date less ancient than that of the northern tower, and perhaps of the end of the twelfth century. it contains by much the finest specimens of stained glass--of the early part of the sixteenth century. there is also some beautiful stained glass on each side of the chapel of the virgin, behind the choir; but altho very ancient, it is the less interesting, as not being composed of groups, or of historical subjects. yet, in this as in almost all the churches which i have seen, frightful devastations have been made among the stained glass windows by the fury of the revolutionists.... on gazing at this splendid monument of ancient piety and liberality--and with one's mind deeply intent upon the characters of the deceased--let us fancy we hear the sound of the great bell from the southwest tower--called the amboise tower--erected, both the bell and the tower, by the uncle and minister of amboise. know, my dear friend, that there was once a bell (and the largest in europe, save one), which used to send forth its sound for three successive centuries from the said tower. this bell was broken about thirty years ago, and destroyed in the ravages of the immediately succeeding years. the southwest tower remains, and the upper part of the central tower, with the whole of the lofty wooden spire--the fruits of the liberality of the excellent men of whom such honorable mention has been made. considering that this spire is very lofty, and composed of wood, it is surprising that it has not been destroyed by tempest or by lightning. leaving the cathedral, you pass a beautifully sculptured fountain, of the early time of francis i., which stands at the corner of the street, to the right; and which, from its central situation, is visited the livelong day for the sake of its limpid waters. push on a little further, then, turning to the right, you get into a sort of square, and observe the abbey--or rather the west front of it--full in face of you. you gaze, and are first struck with its matchless window: call it rose, or marigold, as you please. i think, for delicacy and richness of ornament, this window is perfectly unrivaled. there is a play of line in the mullions, which, considering their size and strength, may be pronounced quite a masterpiece of art. you approach, regretting the neglected state of the lateral towers, and enter through the large and completely opened center doors, the nave of the abbey. it was toward sunset when we made our first entrance. the evening was beautiful; and the variegated tints of sunbeam, admitted through the stained glass of the window, just noticed, were perfectly enchanting. the window itself, as you look upward, or rather as you fix your eye upon the center of it, from the remote end of the abbey, or the lady's chapel, was a perfect blaze of dazzling light; and nave, choir, and side aisles seemed magically illumined. we declared instinctively that the abbey of st. ouen could hardly have a rival--certainly not a superior. let me, however, put in a word for the organ. it is immense, and perhaps larger than that belonging to the cathedral. the tin pipes (like those of the organ in the cathedral) are of their natural color. i paced the pavement beneath, and think that this organ can not be short of forty english feet in length. indeed, in all the churches which i have yet seen, the organs strike me as being of magnificent dimensions. you should be informed, however, that the extreme length of the interior, from the further end of the chapel of the virgin, to its opposite western extremity, is about four hundred and fifty english feet; while the height, from the pavement to the roof of the nave, or the choir, is one hundred and eight english feet. the transepts are about one hundred and forty feet in length. the central tower, upon the whole, is not only the grandest tower in rouen, but there is nothing for its size in our own country that can compare with it. it rises upward of one hundred feet above the roof of the church; and is supported below, or rather within, by four magnificent cluster-pillared bases, each about thirty-two feet in circumference. its area, at bottom, can hardly be less than thirty-six feet square. the choir is flanked by flying buttresses, which have a double tier of small arches, altogether "marvelous and curious to behold." i could not resist stealing quietly round to the porch of the south transept, and witnessing, in that porch, one of the most chaste, light, and lovely specimens of gothic architecture which can be contemplated. indeed, i hardly know anything like it. the leaves of the poplar and ash were beginning to mantle the exterior; and, seen through their green and gay lattice work, the traceries of the porch seemed to assume a more interesting aspect. they are now mending the upper part of the façade with new stone of peculiar excellence--but it does not harmonize with the old work. they merit our thanks, however, for the preservation of what remains of this precious pile. i should remark to you that the eastern and northeastern sides of the abbey of st. ouen are surrounded with promenades and trees: so that, occasionally, either when walking or sitting upon the benches, within these gardens, you catch one of the finest views imaginable of the abbey. chartres by epiphanius wilson [footnote: from "the cathedrals of france." by permission of the author. copyright, .] for many a mile over the rich cornfields of beauce, of which ancient district chartres was once the capital, the spires of chartres are visible. the river and the hill constitute at chartres the basis of its strength in long-forgotten warfare; its walls in piping times of peace have been leveled into leafy boulevards, but it may still be entered through one of the antique gates that survive as memorials of its former fortifications. the cathedral itself is one of that group to which belong amiens, rheims, bourges and notre dame de paris. it is noted for its size, magnificence and completeness, and contains in itself, from its crypt to its highest stone, an exemplification of architectural history in france from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries. we may suppose that christianity was first published in the beauce province by the same apostles, savinienus and potentienius, who had evangelized sens and the senones. their disciple, aventin (aventinus), is recognized as the first bishop of chartres, and as the builder of the first cathedral which stood on the site of the present building.... the naves, the north and south transept portals, and the choir belong to the thirteenth century, the north tower to the fifteenth, and the magnificent jubé, or screen, which runs round the choir, is evidently sixteenth century style, being an example of that renaissance employment of gothic details, of which we find such glorious counterparts at rouen and albi. the western façade of chartres is plain in comparison with those of amiens or rheims. the voussures of the three central portals are comparatively shallow. above them are three lancet windows which resemble windows of the early english style. the rose-window, beneath which the lancets are placed, is of great dimensions and effective tracery. the highest story of the front between the towers is screened by a rich arcade, over which rises the gable point. this arcade, or gallery, is intended to break the abruptness with which the pointed roof rises between the two spires. these spires are different in design, the southern tower being much earlier than that at the north. the southern spire, in its austere simplicity and exquisite proportions, is certainly the finest i have seen in france, and can only be paralleled elsewhere by that which rises like a flower-bud almost ready to burst over salisbury plain. the northern tower is very much more elaborate, and reminded me of those examples with which the traveler becomes so familiar in the many churches of rouen. the richly crocketed gables, the flying buttresses and pinnacles which run half way up this spire, while they adorn it, seem to stunt the profile and rob it of its towering altitude, just as is the case with the western spires of st. ouen. yet this northern tower is considerably higher than the ancient one at the south, being feet high, while the more ancient spire is only . the other dimensions of the church are as follows: it is feet long; feet wide; its height from ceiling vault to pavement is feet. the modern tower was built by louis xii. in , the architect being an inhabitant of beauce, a certain jean texier. the carvings in the west front of the cathedral are examples of the beginning of french sculpture, as it emerges from the severity and rigidity of byzantine types. the human figures are long, slender, and swathed almost like mummies in their drapery. the faces are strongly individualized and seem to be portraits. while these statues must be attributed to a period previous to the middle of the twelfth century, we see in them the originality of french genius struggling to break away from the fetters of eastern precedent. viollet-de-duc thinks that these faces belong to the type of the ancient gaul; the flat forehead and raised arch of the eyebrows, the projecting eyes, the long jaws, the peaked and drooping nose, the long upper lip, the wide, closed mouth, the square chin, the long wavy hair are neither german, roman, or french. there is a blending of firmness, grandeur and refinement in these wonderful countenances, each of them apparently copied from a different model. they are crowned and nimbused as the kings and saints of antique france. a more impressive gallery of illustrious personages is nowhere else to be found. rheims by epiphanius wilson [footnote: from "the cathedrals of france." by permission of the author. copyright, .] french cathedrals have, as it were, a royal character, and this is emphasized especially in the history and architecture of rheims cathedral, which became, from the time of philippe auguste, the church at whose altar the kings of france were crowned. the origin of the church at rheims dates from the third century; when we are told pope fabian sent into gaul a band of bishops and teachers. rheims was chosen as the seat of an episcopal primacy, and it was in the church built by st. nicaise, or nicasius, in , that clovis was baptized and crowned in . this ancient building, doubtless of simple roman proportions, was rebuilt in the reign of louis the debonair in , when ebon was archbishop. it was completed with a magnificence which vied with the churches of constantinople, ravenna and rome. it was considered in its day the most splendid church in france. its roof and walls blazed with gilding and many-tinted paintings. its floors were of marble mosaic. rich tapestries hung round the choir, and its treasury was filled with masterpieces of the goldsmith and the jeweler. this church continued to be the wonder of gallic christianity until the beginning of the thirteenth century, when it was destroyed by fire. it is remarkable to notice in the history of french cathedrals how many of them were rebuilt just at the time when the pointed style, which may be called preeminently the christian style of architecture, had come to birth almost simultaneously in various countries of europe. we are obliged to come to the conclusion that the pointed arch was introduced in germany, france and england by the crusaders, who had seen it used in the east, and had considered it best fitted for buildings that enshrined the sublime mysteries of the christian faith. it was in the pointed style, therefore, that the new cathedral of rheims was built. the name of its architect is not known, but his plan shows that he must have been a man of profound genius. archbishop alberic humbert laid the foundation stone in . the whole province contributed liberally to the work, and in the building was sufficiently advanced for the celebration of divine service in the choir. the church of notre dame of rheims would require a volume to describe it completely. the front is perhaps the most elaborate to be found in france. the three vast portals, peopled with statues of colossal size, their arched vaulting covered with saintly and angelic figures, the mighty rose-windows, flanked with pointed openings, crowned with carved tabernacle work, and the great gallery of kings crossing the whole front, just below the peak of the gable, and above all, the two towers pierced by majestic windows and supported at each corner by niches with three open faces, give an impression of richness and brightness and grace, mingled with that indefinable majesty, which is due partly to the vast dimensions, partly to the harmonious proportions of the whole structure. the divisions of the front façade resemble somewhat the same part of the edifice at amiens, excepting that it is far more florid, and less strict and severe in its main divisions. at amiens the details are kept in strictest subservience to the structural lines of the edifice. at rheims it is the magnificent wealth of details that crowds upon the view, the walls and arches are surcharged with statues, with niches, with brackets, pinnacles, tracery, foliage, finials and turrets. the sides of the entrances of the three portals are crowded with colossal statues, thirty-nine in number, representing patriarchs, prophets, kings, bishops, virgins and martyrs. on the trumeau of the central gate is a fine statue of the virgin mary; on the sides of this trumeau are bas-reliefs representing the fall of man, of whose restoration mary should be the instrument. it is quite characteristic of a medieval church that we should find, on the lintels and side-posts of these doorways, emblems of agricultural work in the various seasons of the year, as well as different symbols of arts and handicrafts. amid the carvings of these doorways are the heroes and saints of the old testament, types and forerunners of the messiah, as well as historic scenes, representing the redemption of the world, the conversion of the gentiles, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the condemnation of the wicked, the reception of the just into the habitations of the blest. finally, the assumption and coronation of the blessed virgin sums up, with an imaginative legend, this series of christian dogma perpetuated in stone. but the medieval genius is many-sided, and never satisfied with that which is beautiful alone; and this magnificent array of christian carving would not be complete to the mind of the medieval artist unless he had crowned the angles of his buildings with a series of grotesque gargoyles and allegoric statues, representing the streams that watered the earthly paradise, while at the summit of the roof are niched angles bearing instruments of music. as the rose is a peculiarity of gothic churches, and from its remarkable shape gives ample room for sculpture in stone, and color in glass, so the rose at rheims is among the most beautiful examples of the kind, and illustrates the principle that the rose is intended to light up high, remote and shadowy spaces in a long nave or aisle. above the great rose-window is a pointed arch in whose voussures are ten statues, relating the history of david, while over this arch runs a band of niches, forty-two in number, in which are colossal statues of the kings of france from clovis to charles vi. the two portals of the transepts are richly decorated in harmony with the style of the western façade. a graceful spire rises from the eastern part of the roof. it is called "the angel's spire," from the fact that poised upon its summit is an angel covered with gilt and holding aloft a cross. this turret rises feet above the roof of the church. the church itself is feet in length, and from the vaulting of the roof to the pavement is feet. the towers are feet high. i noticed the church is built in the form of a cross, but the transept is very close to the apse, so that the choir being too confined for the great ceremonies, such as that of royal coronations, which used to take place there, has been extended westward across the transept so as to take up three bays of the nave. there are seven chapels at the east of the church, but none are found in the naves. the plainness of the nave, in comparison with the ornate character of the exterior, is very remarkable, but this plainness detracts nothing from the impressiveness of its long arcades, its towering roof, the noble lines which rise from the ground and support, as it were, on slender sinews of stone, the shadowy ceiling. the rose-windows, four in number, are filled with glass of the thirteenth century, and the tall windows of the chevet and clerestory contain a many colored mosaic of a similar sort. i was particularly struck with the rose-window over the western portal. it represents the beautiful vision; the eternal father is throned in the central ring of the window, and in the radiating panes is the hierarchy of paradise, angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, while in a wider circumference are grouped the redeemed, contemplating in adoration the majesty of god. i noticed two very interesting tombs in rheims cathedral. the first was the sarcophagus of jovinus, the christian prefect of rheims, in the fourth century, who protected the church and was originally buried in the abbey of st. nicaise, from whence his tomb was brought to the cathedral. it consists of a single block of snowy marble, nine feet long, and four feet high, on which the consular general is represented in a spirited bas-relief mounted on horseback and saving the life of a man from the lion, in whose flank jovinus has launched his spear. very fine indeed is the workmanship of this monument. the figures which surround jovinus are men of handsome countenance, evidently portraits, their dress and arms being finished with the utmost nicety of detail. the figures are about half life-size. the other tomb is that of st. remigius, a renaissance work erected by cardinal delenoncourt in . it is sumptuous and gaudy rather than beautiful. twelve statues, full life-size, represent the twelve peers of france, six are the prelates of rheims, laon, langres, beauvais, chalons, and noyon; the six lay peers are the dukes of burgundy, normandy and aquitaine, and the counts of flanders, champagne, and toulouse. the white marble of these somewhat stagey figures is beautifully worked and the effect is imposing. the western wall of the interior is faced with niches, in which the statues seem to emerge from a cloud of gloom. at one time tombs of the most magnificent sort crowded the aisles, enshrining the relics of saints and bishops, but during the raging of the terror the revolutionists violated these tombs, seizing their treasures, breaking down with ax and hammer their carvings. but, after all, the church of notre dame of rheims does not seem to have suffered very much loss from the clearing away of these obstructions to the vista of her arcades, which now depend for their solemn beauty upon the simplicity and dignity of their lines and proportions, the effect of their windows, and the religious gloom which lingers in their lofty recesses. team note: this is volume of a -volume series, the contents of which are as follows: volume : great britain and ireland, part volume : great britain and ireland, part volume : france and the netherlands, part volume : france and the netherlands, part volume : germany, austria, and switzerland, part volume : germany, austria, and switzerland, part volume : italy and greece, part volume : italy and greece, part volume : spain and portugal volume : russia, scandanavia and the southeast seeing europe with famous authors in ten volumes vol iv: france and the netherlands, part two selected and edited with introductions etc by francis w. halsey editor of great epochs in american history associate editor of "the worlds famous orations" and of "the best of the world's classics" etc illustrated contents of volume iv france and the netherlands--part two iv--cathedrals and chateaux--(_continued_) bayeux and the famous tapestry--by thomas frognall dibdin the chateau of henry iv. at pau--by h.a. taine chateaux in the valley of the loire--by henry wadsworth longfellow amboise--by theodore andrea cook blois--by francis miltoun chambord--by theodore andrea cook chenonceaux--by francis miltoun foix--by francis miltoun * * * * * v--various french scenes mont st. michel--by anna bowman dodd caen--by thomas frognall dibdin down the river to bordeaux--by h.a. taine the grande chartreuse--by thomas gray carcassonne--by henry james biarritz--by francis miltoun down the saÔne to lyons--by nathaniel parker willis lyons--by thomas gray marseilles--by charles dickens the little republic of andorra--by francis miltoun gavarnie--by h.a. taine * * * * * vi--belgium bruges--by grant allen a pen picture of bruges--by william makepeace thackeray ghent--by grant allen brussels--by clive holland waterloo--by victor hugo waterloo: a visit to the field--by the editor antwerp--by t. francis bumpus * * * * * vii--holland how the dutch obtained their land--by edmondo de amicis rotterdam and the hague--by edmondo de amicis haarlem--by augustus j.c. hare scheveningen--by george wharton edwards delft--by augustus j.c. hare leyden--by edmondo de amicis dortrecht--by augustus j.c. hare the zuyder zee--by edmondo de amicis the art of holland--by edmondo de amicis the tulips of holland--by edmondo de amicis list of illustrations volume iv the peace palace at the hague the old papal palace at avignon the walls of avignon, built by the popes vaucluse: the "fountain," or the source of the river sorgue the pont du gard, near avignon rheims amiens the faÇade of rheims cathedral the bayeux cathedral rouen the rouen cathedral the cathedral of chartres orleans the chateau of blois the chateau of amboise the chateau of loches mount st. michael in cornwall, england mont st. michel in normandy, france carcassonne the lion's mound and other monuments, waterloo ruins of the chateau hugomont, waterloo the harbor of rotterdam the montalbaans tower, amsterdam canal and houses in amsterdam scheveningen, holland on the pier at ostend utrecht the east gate of delft lake at the hague canal at dortrecht iv cathedrals and chateaux (_continued_) bayeux and its famous tapestries[a] [footnote a: from "a bibliographical tour in france and germany."] by thomas frognall dibdin the diligence brought me here from caen in about two hours and a half. the country, during the whole route, is open, well cultivated, occasionally gently undulating, but generally denuded of trees. many pretty little churches, with delicate spires, peeped out to the right and left during the journey; but the first view of the cathedral of bayeux put all the others out of my recollection. there is, in fact, no proper approach to this interesting edifice. the western end is suffocated with houses. here stands the post-office; and with the most unsuspecting frankness, on the part of the owner, i had permission to examine, with my own hands, within doors, every letter--under the expectation that there were some for myself. nor was i disappointed. but you must come with me to the cathedral, and of course we must enter together at the western front. there are five porticoes; the central one being rather large, and the two, on either side, comparatively small. formerly, these were covered with sculptured figures and ornaments, but the calvinists in the sixteenth, and the revolutionists in the eighteenth century, have contrived to render their present aspect mutilated and repulsive in the extreme. on entering, i was struck with the two large transverse norman arches which bestride the area, or square, for the bases of the two towers. it is the boldest and finest piece of masonry in the whole building. the interior disappointed me. it is plain, solid, and divested of ornament. hard by the cathedral stood formerly a magnificent episcopal palace. upon this palace the old writers dearly loved to expatiate. there is now, however, nothing but a good large comfortable family mansion; sufficient for the purposes of such hospitality and entertainment as the episcopal revenues will afford. it is high time that you should be introduced in proper form to the famous bayeux tapestry. know then, in as few words as possible, that this celebrated piece of tapestry represents chiefly the invasion of england by william the conqueror, and the subsequent death of harold at the battle of hastings. it measures about english feet in length, by about nineteen inches in width; and is supposed to have been worked under the particular superintendence and direction of matilda, the wife of the conqueror. it was formerly exclusively kept and exhibited in the cathedral; but it is now justly retained in the town hall, and treasured as the most precious relic among the archives of the city. there is indeed every reason to consider it as one of the most valuable historical monuments which france possesses. it has also given rise to a great deal of archeological discussion. montfauçon, ducarel, and de la rue, have come forward successively--but more especially the first and last; and montfauçon in particular has favored the world with copper-plate representations of the whole. montfauçon's plates are generally much too small; and the more enlarged ones are too ornamental. it is right, first of all, that you should have an idea how this piece of tapestry is preserved, or rolled up. you see it here, therefore, precisely as it appears after the person who shows it, takes off the cloth with which it is usually covered. the first portion of the needle-work, representing the embassy of harold from edward the confessor to william duke of normandy, is comparatively much defaced--that is to say, the stitches are worn away, and little more than the ground, or fine close linen cloth remains. it is not far from the beginning--and where the color is fresh, and the stitches are, comparatively, preserved--that you observe the portrait of harold. you are to understand that the stitches, if they may be so called, are threads laid side by side--and bound down at intervals by cross stitches, or fastenings--upon rather a fine linen cloth; and that the parts intended to represent flesh are left untouched by the needle. i obtained a few straggling shreds of the worsted with which it is worked. the colors are generally a faded or bluish green, crimson, and pink. about the last five feet of this extraordinary roll are in a yet more decayed and imperfect state than the first portion. but the designer of the subject, whoever he was, had an eye throughout to roman art--as it appeared in its later stages. the folds of the draperies, and the proportions of the figures, are executed with this feeling. i must observe that, both at top and at bottom of the principal subject, there is a running allegorical ornament, of which i will not incur the presumption to suppose myself a successful interpreter. the constellations, and the symbols of agriculture and of a rural occupation form the chief subjects of this running ornament. all the inscriptions are executed in capital letters of about an inch in length; and upon the whole, whether this extraordinary and invaluable relic be of the latter end of the eleventh, or the beginning or middle of the twelfth century seems to me a matter of rather a secondary consideration. that it is at once unique and important, must be considered as a position to be neither doubted nor denied. i have learned even here, of what importance this tapestry roll was considered in the time of bonaparte's threatened invasion of our country: and that, after displaying it at paris for two or three months, to awaken the curiosity and excite the love of conquest among the citizens, it was conveyed to one or two sea-port towns, and exhibited upon the stage as a most important material in dramatic effect. the chateau of henri iv. at pau[a] [footnote a: from "a tour through the pyrenees." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, .] by hippolyte adolphe taine pau is a pretty city, neat, of gay appearance; but the highway is paved with little round stones, the side-walks with small sharp pebbles: so the horses walk on the heads of nails and foot-passengers on the points of them. from bordeaux to toulouse such is the usage, such the pavement. at the end of five minutes, your feet tell you in the most intelligible manner that you are two hundred leagues away from paris.... here are the true countrymen of henry iv. as to the pretty ladies in gauzy hats, whose swelling and rustling robes graze the horns of the motionless oxen as they pass, you must not look at them; they would carry your imagination back to the boulevard de gand, and you would have gone two hundred leagues only to remain in the same place. i am here on purpose to visit the sixteenth century; one makes a journey for the sake of changing, not place, but ideas.... it was eight o'clock in the morning; not a visitor at the castle, no one in the courts nor on the terrace; i should not have been too much astonished at meeting the béarnais, "that lusty gallant, that very devil," who was sharp enough to get for himself the name of "the good king." his château is very irregular; it is only when seen from the valley that any graces and harmony can be found in it. above two rows of pointed roofs and old houses, it stands out alone against the sky and gazes upon the valley in the distance; two bell-turrets project from the front toward the west; the oblong body follows, and two massive brick towers close the line with their esplanades and battlements. it is connected with the city by a narrow old bridge, by a broad modern one with the park, and the foot of its terrace is bathed by a dark but lovely stream. near at hand, this arrangement disappears; a fifth tower upon the north side deranges the symmetry. the great egg-shaped court is a mosaic of incongruous masonry; above the porch, a wall of pebbles from the gave, and of red bricks crossed like a tapestry design; opposite, fixt to the wall, a row of medallions in stone; upon the sides, doors of every form and age; dormer windows, windows square, pointed, embattled, with stone mullions garlanded with elaborate reliefs. this masquerade of styles troubles the mind, yet not unpleasantly; it is unpretending and artless; each century has built according to its own fancy, without concerning itself about its neighbor. on the first floor is shown a great tortoise-shell, which was the cradle of henry iv. carved chests, dressing-tables, tapestries, clocks of that day, the bed and arm-chair of jeanne d'albret, a complete set of furniture in the taste of the renaissance, striking and somber, painfully labored yet magnificent in style, carrying the mind at once back toward that age of force and effort, of boldness in invention, of unbridled pleasures and terrible toil, of sensuality and of heroism. jeanne d'albret, mother of henry iv., crossed france in order that she might, according to her promise, be confined in this castle. "a princess," says d'aubigné, "having nothing of the woman about her but the sex, a soul entirely given to manly things, a mind mighty in great affairs, a heart unconquerable by adversity." she sang an old bearnaise song when she brought him into the world. they say that the aged grandfather rubbed the lips of the new-born child with a clove of garlic, poured into his mouth a few drops of jurançon wine, and carried him away in his dressing-gown. the child was born in the chamber which opens into the lower tower of mazères, on the southwest corner. his mother, a warm and severe calvinist, when he was fifteen years old, led him through the catholic army to la rochelle, and gave him to her followers as their general. at sixteen years old, at the combat of arnay-le-duc, he led the first charge of cavalry. what an education and what men! their descendants were just now passing in the streets, going to school to compose latin verses and recite the pastorals of massillon. those old wars are the most poetic in french history; they were made for pleasure rather than interest. it was a chase in which adventures, dangers, emotions were found, in which men lived in the sunlight, on horseback, amidst flashes of fire, and where the body, as well as the soul, had its enjoyment and its exercise. henry carries it on as briskly as a dance, with a gascon's fire and a soldier's ardor, with abrupt sallies, and pursuing his point against the enemy as with the ladies. this is no spectacle of great masses of well-disciplined men, coming heavily into collision and falling by thousands on the field, according to the rules of good tactics. the king leaves pau or nérac with a little troop, picks up the neighboring garrisons on his way, scales a fortress, intercepts a body of arquebusiers as they pass, extricates himself pistol in hand from the midst of a hostile troop, and returns to the feet of mlle. de tignonville. they arrange their plan from day to day; nothing is done unless unexpectedly and by chance. enterprises are strokes of fortune.... the park is a great wood on a hill, embedded among meadows and harvests. you walk in long solitary alleys, under colonnades of superb oaks, while to the left the lofty stems of the copses mount in close ranks upon the back of the hill. the fog was not yet lifted; there was no motion in the air; not a corner of the blue sky, not a sound in all the country. the song of a bird came for an instant from the midst of the ash-trees, then sadly ceased. is that then the sky of the south, and was it necessary to come to the happy country of the béarnais to find such melancholy impressions? a little by-way brought us to a bank of the gave: in a long pool of water was growing an army of reeds twice the height of a man; their grayish spikes and their trembling leaves bent and whispered under the wind; a wild flower near by shed a vanilla perfume. we gazed on the broad country, the ranges of rounded hills, the silent plain under the dull dome of the sky. three hundred paces away the gave rolls between marshaled banks, which it has covered with sand; in the midst of the waters may be seen the moss-grown piles of a ruined bridge. one is at ease here, and yet at the bottom of the heart a vague unrest is felt; the soul is softened and loses itself in melancholy and tender revery. suddenly the clock strikes, and one is forced to go and prepare himself to eat his soup between two commercial travelers. to-day the sun shines. on my way to the place nationale, i remarked a poor, half-ruined church, which had been turned into a coach-house; they have fastened upon it a carrier's sign. the arcades, in small gray stones, still round themselves with an elegant boldness; beneath are stowed away carts and casks and pieces of wood; here and there workmen were handling wheels. a broad ray of light fell upon a pile of straw, and made the somber corners seem yet darker; the pictures that one meets with outweigh those one has come to seek. from the esplanade which is opposite, the whole valley and the mountains beyond may be seen; this first sight of a southern sun, as it breaks from the rainy mists, is admirable; a sheet of white light stretches from one horizon to another without meeting a single cloud. the heart expands in this immense space; the very air is festal; the dazzled eyes close beneath the brightness which deluges them and which runs over, radiated from the burning dome of heaven. the current of the river sparkles like a girdle of jewels; the chains of hills, yesterday veiled and damp, extend at their own sweet will beneath the warming, penetrating rays, and mount range upon range to spread out their green robe to the sun. in the distance, the blue pyrenees look like a bank of clouds; the air that bathes them shapes them into aërial forms, vapory phantoms, the farthest of which vanish in the canescent horizon--dim contours, that might be taken for a fugitive sketch from the lightest of pencils. in the midst of the serrate chain the peak midi d' ossau lifts its abrupt cone; at this distance, forms are softened, colors are blended, the pyrenees are only the graceful bordering of a smiling landscape and of the magnificent sky. there is nothing imposing about them nor severe; the beauty here is serene, and the pleasure pure. the statue of henry iv., with an inscription in latin and in patois, is on the esplanade; the armor is finished so perfectly that it might make an armorer jealous. but why does the king wear so sad an air? his neck is ill at ease on his shoulders; his features are small and full of care; he has lost his gayety, his spirit, his confidence in his fortune, his proud bearing. his air is neither that of a great nor a good man, nor of a man of intellect; his face is discontented, and one would say that he was bored with pau. i am not sure that he was wrong: and yet the city passes for agreeable, the climate is very mild, and invalids who fear the cold pass the winter in it. chateaux in the valley of the loire[a] [footnote a: from "outre-mer." published by houghton, mifflin co.] by henry wadsworth longfellow in the beautiful month of october i made a foot excursion along the banks of the loire, from orléans to tours. this luxuriant region is justly called the garden of france. from orléans to blois, the whole valley of the loire is one continued vineyard. the bright green foliage of the vine spreads, like the undulations of the sea, over the landscape, with here and there a silver flash of the river, a sequestered hamlet, or the towers of an old chateau, to enliven and variegate the scene. the vintage had already commenced. the peasantry were busy in the fields--the song that cheered their labor was on the breeze, and the heavy wagon tottered by, laden with the clusters of the vine. everything around me wore that happy look which makes the heart glad. in the morning i arose with the lark; and at night i slept where the sunset overtook me.... my first day's journey brought me at evening to a village, whose name i have forgotten, situated about eight leagues from orléans. it is a small, obscure hamlet, not mentioned in the guide-book, and stands upon the precipitous banks of a deep ravine, through which a noisy brook leaps to turn the ponderous wheel of a thatch-roofed mill. the village inn stands upon the highway; but the village itself is not visible to the traveler as he passes. it is completely hidden in the lap of a wooded valley, and so embowered in trees that not a roof nor a chimney peeps out to betray its hiding-place. when i awoke in the morning, a brilliant autumnal sun was shining in at my window. the merry song of birds mingled sweetly with the sound of rustling leaves and the gurgle of the brook. the vintagers were going forth to their toil; the wine-press was busy in the shade, and the clatter of the mill kept time to the miller's song. i loitered about the village with a feeling of calm delight. i was unwilling to leave the seclusion of this sequestered hamlet; but at length, with reluctant step, i took the cross-road through the vineyard, and in a moment the little village had sunk again, as if by enchantment, into the bosom of the earth. i breakfasted at the town of mer; and, leaving the high-road to blois on the right, passed down to the banks of the loire, through a long, broad avenue of poplars and sycamores. i crossed the river in a boat, and in the after part of the day i found myself before the high and massive walls of the château of chambord. this château is one of the finest specimens of the ancient gothic castle to be found in europe. the little river cosson fills its deep and ample moat, and above it the huge towers and heavy battlements rise in stern and solemn grandeur, moss-grown with age, and blackened by the storms of three centuries. within, all is mournful and deserted. the grass has overgrown the pavement of the courtyard, and the rude sculpture upon the walls is broken and defaced.... my third day's journey brought me to the ancient city of blois, the chief town of the department of loire-et-cher. this city is celebrated for the purity with which even the lower classes of its inhabitants speak their native tongue. it rises precipitously from the northern bank of the loire; and many of its streets are so steep as to be almost impassable for carriages. on the brow of the hill, overlooking the roofs of the city, and commanding a fine view of the loire and its noble bridge, and the surrounding country, sprinkled with cottages and châteaux, runs an ample terrace, planted with trees, and laid out as a public walk. the view from this terrace is one of the most beautiful in france. but what most strikes the eye of the traveler at blois is an old, tho still unfinished, castle. its huge parapets of hewn stone stand upon either side of the street; but they have walled up the wide gateway, from which the colossal drawbridge was to have sprung high in air, connecting together the main towers of the building, and the two hills upon whose slope its foundations stand. the aspect of this vast pile is gloomy and desolate. it seems as if the strong hand of the builder had been arrested in the midst of his task by the stronger hand of death; and the unfinished fabric stands a lasting monument both of the power and weakness of man--of his vast desires, his sanguine hopes, his ambitious purposes--and of the unlooked-for conclusion, where all these desires, and hopes, and purposes are so often arrested. there is also at blois another ancient château, to which some historic interest is attached as being the scene of the massacre of the duke of guise. on the following day, i left blois for amboise; and, after walking several leagues along the dusty highway, crossed the river in a boat to the little village of moines, which lies amid luxuriant vineyards upon the southern bank of the loire. from moines to amboise the road is truly delightful. the rich lowland scenery, by the margin of the river, is verdant even in october; and occasionally the landscape is diversified with the picturesque cottages of the vintagers, cut in the rock along the road-side, and overhung by the thick foliage of the vines above them. at amboise i took a cross-road, which led me to the romantic borders of the cher and the château of chenonceau. this beautiful château, as well as that of chambord, was built by the gay and munificent francis the first. one is a specimen of strong and massive architecture--a dwelling for a warrior; but the other is of a lighter and more graceful construction, and was designed for those soft languishments of passion with which the fascinating diane de poitiers had filled the bosom of that voluptuous monarch. the château of chenonceau is built upon arches across the river cher, whose waters are made to supply the deep moat at each extremity. there is a spacious courtyard in front, from which a drawbridge conducts to the outer hall of the castle. there the armor of francis the first still hangs upon the wall--his shield, and helm, and lance--as if the chivalrous but dissolute prince had just exchanged them for the silken robes of the drawing-room.... doubtless the naked walls and the vast solitary chambers of an old and desolate château inspire a feeling of greater solemnity and awe; but when the antique furniture of the olden time remains--the faded tapestry on the walls, and the arm-chair by the fire-side--the effect upon the mind is more magical and delightful. the old inhabitants of the place, long gathered to their fathers, tho living still in history, seem to have left their halls for the chase or the tournament; and as the heavy door swings upon its reluctant hinge, one almost expects to see the gallant princes and courtly dames enter those halls again, and sweep in stately procession along the silent corridors.... a short time after candle-lighting, i reached the little tavern of the boule d'or, a few leagues from tours, where i passed the night. the following morning was lowering and sad. a veil of mist hung over the landscape, and ever and anon a heavy shower burst from the overburdened clouds, that were driving by before a high and piercing wind. this unpropitious state of the weather detained me until noon, when a cabriolet for tours drove up, and taking a seat within it, i left the hostess of the boule d'or in the middle of a long story about a rich countess, who always alighted there when she passed that way. we drove leisurely along through a beautiful country, till at length we came to the brow of a steep hill, which commands a fine view of the city of tours and its delightful environs. but the scene was shrouded by the heavy drifting mist, through which i could trace but indistinctly the graceful sweep of the loire, and the spires and roofs of the city far below me. the city of tours and the delicious plain in which it lies have been too often described by other travelers to render a new description, from so listless a pen as mine, either necessary or desirable. after a sojourn of two cloudy and melancholy days, i set out on my return to paris, by the way of vendôme and chartres. i stopt a few hours at the former place, to examine the ruins of a château built by jeanne d'albret, mother of henry the fourth. it stands upon the summit of a high and precipitous hill, and almost overhangs the town beneath. the french revolution has completed the ruin that time had already begun; and nothing now remains, but a broken and crumbling bastion, and here and there a solitary tower dropping slowly to decay. in one of these is the grave of jeanne d'albret. a marble entablature in the wall above contains the inscription, which is nearly effaced, tho enough still remains to tell the curious traveler that there lies buried the mother of the "bon henri." to this is added a prayer that the repose of the dead may be respected. here ended my foot excursion. the object of my journey was accomplished; and, delighted with this short ramble through the valley of the loire, i took my seat in the diligence for paris, and on the following day was again swallowed up in the crowds of the metropolis, like a drop in the bosom of the sea. amboise[a] [footnote a: from "old touraine." published by james pott & co.] by theodore andrea cook the castle of amboise stands high above the town, like another acropolis above a smaller athens; it rises upon the only height visible for some distance, and is in a commanding position for holding the level fields of touraine around it, and securing the passage of the loire between tours and chaumont, which is the next link in the chain that ends at blois. the river at this point is divided in two by an island, as is so often the case where the first bridge-builders sought to join the wide banks of the loire, and on this little spot between the waters clovis is said to have met alaric before he overthrew the power of the visigoths in aquitaine. amboise gains even more from the river than the other châteaux of the loire. the magnificent round tower that springs from the end of charles viii.'s façade completely commands the approaches of the bridge, and the extraordinary effect of lofty masonry, produced by building on the summit of an elevation and carrying the stone courses upward from the lower ground, is here seen at its best.... but amboise has a history before the days of charles viii. there was without doubt a roman camp here, but the traditions of the ubiquitous caesar must be received with caution. the so-called "greniers de caesar," strange, unexplained constructions caverned in the soft rock, are proved to be the work of a later age by that same indefatigable abbé chevalier to whom we have been already indebted for so much archeological research. a possible explanation of them is contained in an old latin history of the castle, which goes down to the death of stephen of england. according to this, the romans had held amboise from the days of caesar till the reign of diocletian; the baugaredi or bagaudee then put them to flight, but let the rest of the inhabitants remain who, "being afraid to live above ground, tunnelled beneath it, and made a great colony of subterranean dwellings in the holes they had dug out," a custom apparently common in touraine from the earliest times. the romans at any rate left unmistakable traces of their presence; many of their architectural remains still exist, and their fort is spoken of by sulpicius severus; but they can have built no bridge of alone, for in st. gregory's time there were only boats available for crossing the river. not till the fifteenth century did the castle become royal property, when it was confiscated by charles vii. as a punishment for treacherous dealings with the invading english very similar to the treason discovered at chenonceaux just before. but beyond strengthening the fortification of the place this king did little for his new possession. in a few years the castle is overshadowed by the cruel specter of louis xi., whose memory has already spoiled several charming views for us. it was to amboise that the father of this unfilial prince was carried from chinon on his way north, when wearied out by the annoyance caused by the dauphin's plots. the castle had become a royal residence, and soon after the whole town turns out to meet the new king with a "morality-play made by master Étienne for the joyous occasion of his arrival," for amboise was already famous for those dramatic performances always so dear to the french, and particularly to these citizens, in the old days at any rate. there is no trace of such frivolities now in the sleepy little town.... the two great towers of amboise with the inclined planes of brickwork, which wind upward in the midst instead of staircases, were the result of the work which charles set on foot as a distraction of his grief. these strange ascents had been partially restored by the comte de paris, the present owner of amboise, before his exile stopt the work of repairing the chateau, and it is still possible to imagine the "charrettes, mullets, et litières," of which du bellay speaks, mounting from the low ground to the chambers above, or the emperor charles v., in later years, riding up with his royal host francis i., always fond of display, amid such a blaze of flambeaux "that a man might see as clearly as at mid-day." these great towers and the exquisite little chapel were the work of the "excellent sculptors and artists from naples" who, as commines tells us, were brought back with the spoils of the italian wars; for the young king "never thought of death" but only of collecting round him "all the beautiful things which he had seen and which had given him pleasure, from france or italy or flanders;" but death came upon him suddenly. at the end of a garden walk, fringed with a mossy grove of limes that rises from the river bank, is the little doorway through which charles viii. was passing when he hit his head, never a very strong one, against the low stone arch, and died a few hours afterward. the castle had been fortified before his time; he left it beautiful as well, and the traces of his work are those which are most striking at the present day.... within the shadow of the lime trees on the terraced garden of amboise is a small bust of leonardo da vinci, for it was near here he died. his remains are laid in the beautiful chapel at the corner of the castle court, and the romantic story of his last moments at fontainebleau becomes the sad reality of a tombstone covering ashes mostly unknown and certainly indistinguishable; "among which" as the epitaph painfully records, "are supposed to be the remains of leonardo da vinci." he had been brought to paris a weak old man, by francis, in pursuance of a certain fixt artistic policy, to which it may be noticed this forgotten and uncertain grave does but little credit. to francis i., rightly or wrongly, is given the glory of having naturalized in france the arts of italy; to him is due the architecture built for ease and charm which turned the fortress into a beautiful habitation, which changed chambord from a feudal stronghold to a country seat, and which left its traces at amboise, as it did at chaumont and at blois. he found in france the highest and most beautiful expression of the work of "the great unnamed race of master-masons," he found the traditions of a national school of painting, the work of fouquet and the clouets, but for these he cared not; for him the only schools were those of rome and florence, and tho by encouraging their imitation he weakened the vital sincerity of french art, yet from his first exercise of royal power the consistency always somewhat lacking in his politics was shown clearly and firmly in his taste for art. blois[a] [footnote a: from "castles and chateaux of old touraine." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] by francis miltoun blois, among all the other cities of the loire, is the favorite with the tourist. here one first meets a great château of state; and certainly the château de blois lives in one's memory more than any other château in france. much has been written of blois, its counts, its château, and its many and famous hôtels of the nobility, by writers of all opinions and abilities, from those old chroniclers who wrote of the plots and intrigues of other days to those critics of art and architecture who have discovered--or think they have discovered--that da vinci designed the famous spiral staircase. from this one may well gather that blois is the foremost château of all the loire in popularity and theatrical effect. truly this is so, but it is by no manner of means the most lovable; indeed, it is the least lovable of all that great galaxy which begins at blois and ends at nantes. it is a show-place and not much more, and partakes in every form and feature--as one sees it to-day--of the attributes of a museum, and such it really is. all of its former gorgeousness is still there, and all the banalities of the later period when gaston of orleans built his ugly wing, for the "personally conducted" to marvel at, and honeymoon couples to envy. the french are quite fond of visiting this shrine themselves, but usually it is the young people and their mammas, and detached couples of american and english birth that one most sees strolling about the courts and apartments where formerly lords and ladies and cavaliers moved and plotted. the great château of the counts of blois is built upon an inclined rock which rises above the roof-tops of the lower town quite in fairy-book fashion. commonly referred to as the château de blois, it is really composed of four separate and distinct foundations; the original château of the counts; the later addition of louis xii.; the palace of francis i., and the most unsympathetically and dismally disposed pavilion of gaston of orleans. the artistic qualities of the greater part of the distinct edifice which go to make up the château as it stands to-day are superb, with the exception of that great wing of gaston's, before mentioned, which is as cold and unfeeling as the overrated palace at versailles. the comtes de chatillon built that portion just to the right of the present entrance; louis xii., the edifice through which one enters the inner court and which extends far to the left, including also the chapel immediately to the rear; while françois i., who here as elsewhere let his unbounded italian proclivities have full sway, built the extended wing to the left of the inner court and fronting on the present place du château, formerly the place royale.... as an architectural monument the château is a picturesque assemblage of edifices belonging to many different epochs, and, as such, shows, as well as any other document of contemporary times, the varying ambitions and emotions of its builders, from the rude and rough manners of the earliest of feudal times through the highly refined renaissance details of the imaginative brain of françois, down to the base concoction of the elder mansart, produced at the commands of gaston of orleans. in the earliest structure were to be seen all the attributes of a feudal fortress, towers and walls pierced with narrow loopholes, and damp, dark dungeons hidden away in the thick walls. then came a structure which was less of a fortress and more habitable, but still a stronghold, tho having ample and decorative doorways and windows, with curious sculptures and rich framings. then the pompous renaissance with "escaliers" and "balcons á jour," balustrades crowning the walls and elaborate cornices here, there, and everywhere--all bespeaking the gallantry and taste of the knightly king. finally came the cold, classic features of the period of the brother of louis xiii. in plan the château de bois forms an irregular square situated at the apex of a promontory high above the surface of the loire, and practically behind the town itself. the building has a most picturesque aspect, and, to those who know, gives practically a history of the château architecture of the time. abandoned, mutilated and dishonored, from time to time, the structure gradually took on new forms until the thick walls underlying the apartment known to-day as the salle des États--probably the most ancient portion of all--were overshadowed by the great richness of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. from the platform one sees a magnificent panorama of the city and the far-reaching loire, which unrolls itself southward and northward for many leagues, its banks covered by rich vineyards and crowned by thick forests. the building of louis xii. presents its brick-faced exterior in black and red lozenge shapes, with sculptured window-frames, squarely upon the little tree-bordered place of to-day, which in other times formed a part of that magnificent terrace which looked down upon the roof of the Église st. nicholas, and the jesuit church of the immaculate conception, and the silvery bell of the loire itself. the murders and other acts of violence and treason which took place here are interesting enough, but one can not but feel, when he views the chimney-piece before which the due de guise was standing when called to his death in the royal closet, that the men of whom the bloody tales of blois are told quite deserved their fates. one comes away with the impression of it all stamped only upon the mind, not graven upon the heart. political intrigue to-day, if quite as vulgar, is less sordid. bigotry and ambition in those days allowed few of the finer feelings to come to the surface, except with regard to the luxuriance of surroundings. of this last there can be no question, and blois is as characteristically luxurious as any of the magnificient edifices which lodged the royalty and nobility of other days throughout the valley of the loire. the interior court is partly surrounded by a colonnade, quite cloister-like in effect. at the right center of the françois i. wing is that wonderful spiral staircase, concerning the invention of which so much speculation has been launched. the apartments of catherine de medici were directly beneath the guard-room where the balafré was murdered, and that event, taking place at the very moment when the queen-mother was dying, can not be said to have been conducive to a peaceful demise. here, on the first floor of the françois i. wing, the queen-mother, held her court, as did the king his. the great gallery over-looked the town on the side of the present place du château. it was, and is, a truly grand apartment, with diamond-paned windows, and rich, dark wall decorations on which catherine's device, a crowned c and her monogram in gold, frequently appears. there was, moreover, a great oval window, opposite which stood her altar, and a doorway led to her writing-closet, with its secret drawers and wall panels, which well served her purpose of intrigue and deceit. a hidden stair-way led to the floor above, and there was a chambre-à-coucher, with a deep recess for the bed, the same to which she called her son henri, as she lay dying, admonishing him to give up the thought of murdering guise. "what," said henri, on this embarrassing occasion, "spare guise, when he, triumphant in paris, dared lay his hand on the hilt of his sword. spare him who drove me a fugitive from the capital. spare them who never spared me. no, mother, i will not." as the queen-mother drew near her end, and was lying ill at blois, great events for france were culminating at the château. henry iii. had become king of france, and the balafré, supported by rome and spain, was in open rebellion against the reigning house, and the word had gone forth that the duc de guise must die. the states-general were to be immediately assembled, and de guise, once the poetic lover of marguerite, through his emissaries canvassed all france to ensure the triumph of the party of the church against henri de navarre and his queen--the marguerite whom de guise once profest to love--who soon were to come to the throne of france. the uncomfortable henri iii. had been told that he would never be king in reality until de guise had been made away with. the final act of the drama between the rival houses of guise and valois came when the king and his council came to blois for the assembly. the sunny city of blois was indeed to be the scene of a momentous affair, and a truly sumptuous setting it was, the roof-tops of its houses sloping downward gently to the loire, with its chief accessory, the coiffed and turreted chateau itself, high above all else. details had been arranged with infinite pains, the guard doubled, and a company of swiss posted around the courtyard and up and down the gorgeous staircase. every nook and corner has its history in connection with this greatest event in the history of the château of blois. as guise entered the council chamber he was told that the king would see him in his closet, to reach which one had to pass through the guard-room below. the door was barred behind him that he might not return, when the trusty guards of the forty-fifth, under dalahaide, already hidden behind the wall-tapestry, sprang upon the balafré and forced him back upon the closed door through which he had just passed. guise fell stabbed in the breast by malines, and "lay long uncovered until an old carpet was found in which to wrap his corpse." below, in her own apartments, lay the queen-mother, dying, but listening eagerly for the rush of footsteps overhead, hoping and praying that henri--the hitherto effeminate henri who played with his sword as he would with a battledore, and who painted himself like a woman, and put rings in his ears--would not prejudice himself at this time in the eyes of rome by slaying the leader of the church party.... it was under the régime of gaston d'orléans that the gardens of the château de blois came to their greatest excellence and beauty. in , abel brunyer, the first physician of gaston's suite, published a catalog of the fruit and flowers to be found here in these gardens, of which he was also director. more than five hundred varieties were included, three-quarters of which belonged to the flora of france. among the delicacies and novelties of the time to be found here was the prunier de reine claude, from which those delicious green plums known to all the world to-day as "reine claudes" were propagated, also another variety which came from the prunier de monsieur, somewhat similar in taste, but of a deep purple color. the potato was tenderly cared for and grown as a great novelty and delicacy long before its introduction to general cultivation by parmentier. the tomato was imported from mexico, and even tobacco was grown.... in all the symbols and emblems of royalty were removed from the château and destroyed. the celebrated bust of gaston, the chief artistic attribute of that part of the edifice built by him, was decapitated, and the statue of louis xii. over the entrance gateway was overturned and broken up. afterward the château became the property of the "domaine" and was turned into a mere barracks. the pavilion of queen anne became a military magazine, the tour de l'observatoire, a powder-magazine, and all the indignities imaginable were heaped upon the château. in blois became the last capital of napoleon's empire, and the château walls sheltered the prisoners captured by the imperial army. chambord[a] [footnote a: from "old touraine." published by james pott & co.] by theodore andrea cook the road that leads from blois to chambord crosses the loire by a fine stone bridge, which the inscription sets forth to be the first public work of louis philippe. for some distance the rails of a small tramway followed the road by which our carriage was slowly rolling toward the level plains of the cologne, but we gradually left such uncompromising signs of activity, and came into a flat country of endless vineyards, with here and there a small plaster tower showing its slated roof above the low green clusters of the vines. we passed through several villages, whose inhabitants that day seemed to have but one care upon their minds, like the famous scilly islanders, to gain a precarious livelihood by taking each other's washing. on every bush and briar fluttered the household linen and the family apparel, of various textures and in different states of despair; and with that strict observance of utility which is the chief characteristic of the french peasant, the inevitable blouses, of faded blue were blown into shapeless bundles even along the railings of the churchyard tombs. at last we came to an old moss-grown wall, and through a broken gateway entered what is called the park of chambord. there is very little of it to be seen now, the trees have been ruthlessly cut down and mutilated, and of the wild boars, which francis i. was so fond of hunting there is left only the ghostly quarry that thibault of champagne chases through the air, while the sound of his ghostly horn echoes down the autumn night as the fantom pack sweeps by to montfrault. it is impossible for the uninstructed mind to grasp the plan or method of this mass of architecture; yet it is unsatisfactory to give it up, with mr. henry james, "as an irresponsible, insoluble labyrinth." m. viollet-le-duc, with a sympathetic denial of any extreme and over-technical admiration, gives just that intelligible account of the château which is a compromise between the unmeaning adulation of its contemporary critics and the ignorance of the casual traveler. "chambord," says he, "must be taken for what it is; for an attempt in which the architect sought to reconcile the methods of two opposite principles, to unite in one building the fortified castle of the middle ages and the pleasure-palace of the sixteenth century." granted that the attempt was an absurd one, it must be remembered that the renaissance was but just beginning in france; gothic art seemed out of date, yet none other had established itself to take its place. in literature, in morals, as in architecture, this particular phase in the civilization of the time has already become evident even in the course of these small wanderings in a single province, and if only this transition period is realized in all its meaning, with all the "monstrous and inform" characteristics that were inevitably a part of it, the mystery of this strange sixteenth century in france is half explained, of this "glorious devil, large in heart and brain, that did love beauty only" and would have it somewhere, somehow, at whatever cost. francis i. had passed his early years at cognac, at amboise, or romorantin, and when he first saw chambord it was only the old feudal manor-house built by the counts of blois. he transformed it, not by the help of primaticcio, with whose name it is tempting to associate any building of this king's, for the methods of contemporary italian architecture were totally different; but, as mr. de la saussaye proves, by the skill of that fertile school of art particularly of one maitre pierre trinqueau, or le nepveu, whose name is connected with more successful buildings at amboise and blois. the plan is that of the true french château; in the center is the habitation of the seigneur and his family, flanked by four angle towers; on three sides is a court closed by buildings, also with towers at each angle, and like most feudal dwellings the central donjon has one of its sides on the exterior of the whole ... it may well be imagined that chambord is the parody of the old castles, just as the abbey of thélème parodies the abbeys of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. both heaped a fatal ridicule upon the bygone age, but what rabelais could only dream francis could realize, yet not with the unfettered perfection that was granted to the vision of gargantua; for surely never was the spirit of the time, seized and smitten into incongruous shapes of stone at so unfortunate a moment, just when the old renaissance was striving to take upon itself the burden which was too heavy for the failing gothic spirit, just when success was coming, but had not yet come. it is only from within the court, where the great towers fling their shadows over the space, where pinnacles and gables soar into the air, and strange gargoyles and projectures shoot from the darkness into light, that it is possible to realize the admiration which chambord roused when it was first created. brantôme waxes enthusiastic over its wonders, and describes how the king had drawn up plans (mercifully never carried out) to divert the waters of the loire to his new palace, not content with the slender stream of cosson, from which the place derived its name. others compare it to a palace put of the arabian nights raised at the prince's bidding by a genie, or like lippomano, the venetian ambassador, to "the abode of morgana or alcinous"; but this topheavy barrack is anything rather than a "fairy monument"; it might with as much humor be called a "souvenir of first loves," as m. de la saussaye has it. both descriptions fit chenonceaux admirably; when used of chambord they are out of place. chenonceaux[a] [footnote a: from "castles and chateaux of old touraine." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] by francis miltoun chenonceaux is noted chiefly for its château, but the little village itself is charming. the houses of the village are not very new, nor very old, but the one long street is most attractive throughout its length, and the whole atmosphere of the place, from september to december, is odorous with the perfume of red and purple grapes. the vintage is not equal to that of the bordeaux region, perhaps, nor of chinon, nor saumur, but "vin du pays" of the cher and the loire, around tours, is not to be despised. most tourists come to chenonceaux by train from tours; others drive over from amboise, and yet others come by bicycle or automobile. they are not as yet so numerous as might be expected, and accordingly here, as elsewhere in touraine, every facility is given for visiting the château and its park. if you do not hurry off at once to worship at the abode of the fascinating diane, one of the brightest ornaments of the court of françois i. and his son henri, you will enjoy your dinner at the hôtel du bon laboureur, tho most likely it will be a solitary one, and you will be put to bed in a great chamber over-looking the park, through which peep, in the moonlight, the turrets of the château, and you may hear the purling of the waters of the cher as it flows below the walls. jean jacques rousseau, like françois i., called chenonceaux a beautiful place, and he was right. it is all of that and more. here one comes into direct contact with an atmosphere which, if not feudal, or even medieval, is at least that of several hundred years ago. chenonceaux is moored like a ship in the middle of the rapidly running cher, a dozen miles or more above where that stream enters the loire. as a matter of fact, the château practically bridges the river, which flows under its foundations and beneath its drawbridge on either side, besides filling the moat with water. the general effect is as if the building were set in the midst of a stream and formed a sort of island château. round about is a gentle meadow and a great park, which gives to this turreted, architectural gem of touraine a setting equalled by no other château. what the château was in former days we can readily imagine, for nothing is changed as to the general disposition. boats came to the water-gate, as they still might do if such boats still existed, in true, pictorial legendary fashion. to-day the present occupant has placed a curiosity on the ornamental waters in the shape of a gondola. it is out of keeping with the grand fabric of the château, and it is a pity that it does not cast itself adrift some night. what has become of the gondolier, who was imported to keep the craft company, nobody seems to know. he is certainly not in evidence, or, if he is, has transformed himself into a groom or a chauffeur. the château of chenonceaux is not a very ample structure; not so ample as most photographs would make it appear. it is not tiny, but still it has not the magnificent proportions of blois, of chambord, or even of langeais. it was more a habitation than it was a fortress, a country house, as indeed it virtually became when the connétable de montmorency took possession of the structure in the name of the king, when its builder, thomas bohier, the none too astute minister of finance in normandy, came to grief in his affairs. francis i came frequently here to hunt, and his memory is still kept alive by the chambre françois i. françois held possession till his death, when his son made it over to the "admired of two generations," diane de poitiers. diane's memory will never leave chenonceaux. to-day it is perpetuated in the chambre de diane de poitiers; but the portrait by leonardo da vinci, which was supposed to best show her charms, has now disappeared from the long gallery at the château. this portrait was painted at the command of françois, before diane transferred her affections to his son. no one knows when or how diane de poitiers first came to fascinate françois, or how or why her power waned. at any rate at the time françois pardoned her father, the witless comte de st. vallier, for the treacherous part he played in the bourbon conspiracy, he really believed her to to be the "brightest ornament of a beauty-loving court." certainly, diane was a powerful factor in the politics of her time, tho françois himself soon tired of her. undaunted by this, she forthwith set her cap for his son henri, the duc d'orléans, and won him, too. of her beauty the present generation is able to judge for itself by reason of the three well-known and excellent portraits of contemporary times. diane's influence over the young henri was absolute. at his death her power was, of course, at an end and chenonceaux, and all else possible, was taken from her by the orders of catherine, the long-suffering wife, who had been put aside for the fascinations of the charming huntress. it must have been some satisfaction, however, to diane, to know that, in his fatal joust with montgomery, henri really broke his lance and met his death in her honor, for the records tell that he bore her colors on his lance, besides her initials set in gold and gems on his shield. catherine's eagerness to drive diane from the court was so great, that no sooner had her spouse fallen--even tho he did not actually die for some days--than she sent word to diane "who sat weeping alone," to quit the court instantly; to give up the crown jewels--which henri had somewhat inconsiderately given her; and to "give up chenonceaux in touraine," catherine's naboth's vineyard, which she had so long admired and coveted. she had known it as a girl, when she often visited it in company with her father-in-law, the appreciative but dissolute françois, and had ever longed to possess it for her own, before even her husband, now dead, had given it to "that old hag diane de poitiers, duchesse de valentinois." diane paid no heed to catherine's command. she simply asked: "is the king yet dead?" "no, madame," said the messenger, "but his wound is mortal; he can not live the day." "tell the queen, then." replied diane, "that her reign is not yet come; that i am mistress still over her and the kingdom as long as the king breathes the breath of life." the château of chenonceaux, so greatly coveted by catherine when she first came to france, and when it was in the possession of diane, still remains in all the regal splendor of its past. it lies in the lovely valley of the cher, far from the rush and turmoil of cities and even the continuous traffic of great thoroughfares, for it is on the road to nowhere unless one is journeying crosscountry from the lower to the upper loire. this very isolation resulted in its being one of the few monuments spared from the furies of the revolution, and, "half-palace and half-château," it glistens with the purity of its former glory, as picturesque as ever, with turrets, spires, and roof-tops all mellowed with the ages in a most entrancing manner. even to-day one enters the precincts of the château proper over a drawbridge which spans an arm of the loire, or rather, a moat which leads directly from the parent stream. on the opposite side are the bridge piers supporting five arches, the work of diane when she was the fair chatelaine of the domain. this ingenious thought proved to be a most useful and artistic addition to the château. it formed a flagged promenade, lovely in itself, and led to the southern bank of the cher, whence one got charming vistas of the turrets and roof-tops of the château through the trees and the leafy avenues which converged upon the structure. when catherine came she did not disdain to make the best use of diane's innovation that suggested itself to her, which was simply to build the long gallery over the arches of this lovely bridge, and so make of it a veritable house over the water. a covering was made quite as beautiful as the rest of the structure, and thus the bridge formed a spacious wing of two stories. the first floor--known as the long gallery--was intended as a banqueting-hall, and possest four great full-length windows on either side looking up and down the stream, from which was seen--and is to-day--an outlook as magnificently idyllic as is possible to conceive. jean goujon had designed for the ceiling one of those wonder-works for which he was famous, but if the complete plan was ever carried out, it has disappeared, for only a tiny sketch of the whole scheme remains to-day. catherine came in the early summer to take possession of her long-coveted domain. being a skilful horsewoman, she came on horseback, accompanied by a little band of feminine charmers destined to wheedle political secrets from friends and enemies alike--a real "flying squadron of the queen," as it was called by a contemporary. it was a gallant company that assembled here at this time--the young king charles ix., the duc de guise, and the "two cardinals mounted on mules"--lorraine, a true guise, and d'este, newly arrived from italy, and accompanied by the poet tasso, wearing a "gabardine and a hood of satin." catherine showed the italian great favor, as was due a countryman, but there was another poet among them as well, ronsard, the poet laureate of the time. the duc de guise had followed in the wake of marguerite, unbeknown to catherine, who frowned down any possibility of an alliance between the houses of valois and lorraine. a great fête and water-masque had been arranged by catherine to take place on the cher, with a banquet to follow in the long gallery in honor of her arrival at chenonceaux. when twilight had fallen, torches were ignited and myriads of lights blazed forth from the boats on the river and from the windows of the château. music and song went forth into the night, and all was as gay and lovely as a venetian night's entertainment. the hunting-horns echoed through the wooded banks, and through the arches above which the château was built passed great highly colored barges, including a fleet of gondolas to remind the queen-mother of her italian days--the ancestors perhaps of the solitary gondola which to-day floats idly by the river-bank just before the grand entrance to the château. from parterre and balustrade, and from the clipt yews of the ornamental garden, fairy lamps burned forth and dwindled away into dim infinity, as the long lines of soft light gradually lost themselves in the forest. it was a grand affair and idyllic in its unworldliness ... catherine bequeathed chenonceaux to the wife of henry iii., louise de vaudémont, who died here in . for a hundred years it still belonged to royalty, but in it was sold to m. dupin, who, with his wife, enriched and repaired the fabric. they gathered around them a company so famous as to be memorable in the annals of art and literature. this is best shown by the citing of such names as fontenelle, montesquieu, buffon, bolingbroke, voltaire, and rousseau, all of whom were frequenters of the establishment, the latter being charged with the education of the dupins' only son. chenonceaux to-day is no whited sepulcher. it is a real living and livable thing, and moreover, when one visits it, he observes that the family burn great logs in their fireplaces, have luxurious bouquets of flowers on their dining-table, and use wax candles instead of the more prosaic oil-lamps, or worse--acetyline gas. foix[a] [footnote a: from "castles and châteaux of old navarre." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] by francis miltoun above the swift flowing ariège in their superb setting of mountain and forest are the towers and parapets of the old château, in itself enough to make the name and fame of any city.... the actual age of the monument covers many epochs. the two square towers and the main edifice, as seen to-day, are anterior to the thirteenth century, as is proved by the design in the seals of the comtes de foix of and now in the bibliothèque nationale in paris. in the fourteenth century these towers were strengthened and enlarged with the idea of making them more effective for defense and habitation. the escutcheons of foix, beam and comminges, to be seen in the great central tower, indicate that it, too, goes back at least to the end of the fourteenth century, when eleanore de comminges, the mother of gaston phoebus, ruled the comté. the donjon or tour ronde arises on the west to a height of forty-two meters; and will be remarked by all familiar with these sermons in stones scattered all over france as one of the most graceful. legend attributes it to gaston phoebus; but all authorities do not agree as to this. the window-and door-openings, the moldings, the accolade over the entrance doorway, and the machicoulis all denote that they belong to the latter half of the fifteenth century. these, however, may be later interpolations. originally one entered the château from exactly the opposite side from that used to-day. the slope leading up to the rock and swinging around in front of the town is an addition of recent years. formerly the plateau was gained by a rugged path which finally entered the precincts of the fortress through a rectangular barbican. finally, to sum it up, the pleasant, smiling, trim little city of foix, and its château rising romantically above it, form a delightful prospect. well preserved, well protected and forever free from further desecration, the château de fois is as nobly impressive and glorious a monument of the middle ages as may be found in france, as well as chief record of the gallant days of the comtes de foix. foix' palais de justice, built back to back with the rock foundation of the château, is itself a singular piece of architecture containing a small collection of local antiquities. this old maison des gouverneurs, now the palais de justice, is a banal, unlovely thing, regardless of its high-sounding titles.... it was that great hunter and warrior, gaston phoebus, who gave the château de foix its greatest lustre. it was here that this most brilliant and most celebrated of the counts passed his youth; and it was from here that he set out on his famous expedition to aid his brother knights of the teutonic order in prussia. at gaston's orders the comte d'armagnac was imprisoned here, to be released after the payment of a heavy ransom. as to the motive for this particular act, authorities differ as to whether it was the fortune of war or mere brigandage. they lived high, the nobles of the old days, and froissart recounts a banquet at which he had assisted at foix, in the sixteenth century, as follows: "and this was what i saw in the comté de foix: the comte left his chamber to sup at midnight, the way to the great 'salle' being led by twelve varlets, bearing twelve illumined torches. the great hall was crowded with knights and equerries, and those who would supped, saying nothing meanwhile. mostly game seemed to be the favorite viand, and the legs and wings only of fowl were eaten. music and chants were the invariable accompaniment and the company remained at table until after two in the morning. little or nothing was drunk." v various french scenes mont st. michel[a] [footnote a: from "in and out of three normandy inns." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, little brown & co. copyright, .] by anna bowman dodd the promised rivers were before us. so was the mont, spectral no longer, but nearing with every plunge forward of our sturdy young percheron. locomotion through any new or untried medium is certain to bring with the experiment a dash of elation. now, driving through water appears to be no longer the fashion in our fastidious century; someone might get a wetting, possibly, has been the conclusion of the prudent. and thus a very innocent and exciting bit of fun has been gradually relegated among the lost arts of pleasure. we were taking water as we had never taken it before, and liking the method. we were as wet as ducks, but what cared we? we were being deluged with spray; the spume of the sea was spurting in our faces with the force of a strong wet breeze, and still we liked it. besides, driving thus into the white foam of the waters, over the sand ridges, across the downs, into the wide plains of wet mud, this was the old classical way of going up to the mont. surely, what had been found good enough as a pathway for kings, and saints and pilgrims should be good enough for lovers of old-time methods. the dike yonder was built for those who believe in the devil of haste, and for those who also serve him faithfully.... with our first toss upon the downs, a world of new and fresh experiences began. genets was quite right; the mont over yonder was another country; even at the very beginning of the journey we learned so much. this breeze blowing in from the sea, that had swept the ramparts of the famous rock, was a double extract of the sea-essence; it had all the salt of the sea and the aroma of firs and wild flowers; its lips had not kissed a garden in high air without the perfume lingering, if only to betray them. even this strip of meadow marsh had a character peculiar to itself; half of it belonged to earth and half to the sea. you might have thought it an inland pasture, with its herds of cattle, its flocks of sheep, and its colonies of geese patrolled by ragged urchins. but behold somewhere out yonder the pasture was lost in high sea-waves; ships with bulging sails replaced the curve of the cattle's sides and instead of bending necks of sheep, there were sea-gulls swooping down upon the foamy waves. as the incarnation of this dual life of sea and land, the rock stands. it also is both of the sea and the land. its feet are of the waters--rocks and stones the sea-waves have used as playthings these millions of years. but earth regains possession as the rocks pile themselves into a mountain. even from this distance, one can see the moving of great trees, the masses of yellow flower-tips that dye the sides of the stony hill, and the strips of green grass here and there. so much has nature done for this wonderful pyramid in the sea. then man came and fashioned it to his liking. he piled the stones at its base into titanic walls; he carved about its sides the rounded breasts of bastions; he piled higher and higher up the dizzy heights a medley of palaces, convents, abbeys, cloisters, to lay at the very top the fitting crown of all, a jewelled norman-gothic cathedral. earth and man have thrown their gauntlet down to the sea--this rock is theirs, they cry to the waves and the might of the oceans. and the sea laughs--as strong men laugh when boys are angry or insistent. she has let them build and toil, and pray and fight; it is all one to her what is done on the rock--whether men carve its stones into lace, or rot and die in its dungeons; it is all the same to her whether each spring the daffodils creep up within the crevices and the irises nod to them from the gardens. it is all one to her. for twice a day she recaptures the mont. she encircles it with the strong arm of her tides; with the might of her waters she makes it once more a thing of the sea. the tide was rising now. the fringe of the downs had dabbled in the shoals till they became one. we had left behind the last of the shepherd lads, come out to the edge of the land to search for a wandering kid. we were all at once plunging into high water. our road was sunk out of sight; we were driving through, waves as high as our cart wheels.... our cart still pitched and tossed--we were still rocked about in our rough cradle. but the sun, now freed from the banks of clouds, was lighting our way with a great and sudden glory. and for the rest of our watery journey we were conscious only of that lighting. behind the mont lay a vast sea of saffron. but it was in the sky; against it the great rock was as black as if the night were upon it. here and there, through the curve of a flying buttress, or the apertures of a pierced parapet, gay bits of this yellow world were caught and framed. the sea lay beneath like a quiet carpet; and over this carpet ships and sloops swam with easy gliding motion, with sails and cordage dipt in gold. the smaller craft, moored close to the shore, seemed transfigured as in a fog of gold. and nearer still were the brown walls of the mont making a great shadow, and in the shadow the waters were as black as the skin of an african. in the shoals there were lovely masses of turquoise and palest green; for here and there a cloudlet passed, to mirror its complexion in the translucent pools.... there was a rapid dashing beneath the great walls; a sudden night of darkness as we plunged through an open archway into a narrow village street; a confused impression of houses built into side-walls; of machicolated gateways; of rocks and roof-tops tumbling about our ears; and within the street was sounding the babel of a shrieking troop of men and women. porters, peasants, and children were clamoring about our cartwheels like so many jackals. the bedlam did not cease as we stopt before a brightly-lit open doorway. then through the doorway there came a tall, finely featured brunette. she made her way through the yelling crowd as a duchess might cleave a path through a rabble. she was at the side of the cart in an instant. she gave us a bow and smile that were both a welcome and an act of appropriation. she held out a firm, soft, brown hand. when it closed on our own, we knew it to be the grasp of a friend, and the clasp of one who knew how to hold her world. but when she spoke the words were all of velvet, and her voice had the cadence of a caress. "i have been watching you, 'chères dames'--crossing the 'gréve,' but how wet and weary you must be! come in by the fire, it is ablaze now--i have been feeding it for you!" and once more the beautifully curved lips parted over the fine teeth, and the exceeding brightness of the dark eyes smiled and glittered in our own. the caressing voice still led us forward, into the great gay kitchen; the touch of skilful, discreet fingers undid wet cloaks and wraps; the soft charm of a lovely and gracious woman made even the penetrating warmth of the huge fire-logs a secondary feature of our welcome. to those who have never crossed a "gréve;" who have had no jolting in a normandy "char-a-banc;" who, for hours, have not known the mixed pleasures and discomfort of being a part of sea-rivers; and who have not been met at the threshold of an inn on a rock by the smiling welcome of madame poulard[a]--all such have yet a pleasant page to read in the book of traveled experience.... [footnote a: an innkeeper of international fame. she is now dead, but her name and her omelet still survive at mont st. michel.] altho her people were waiting below, and the dinner was on its way to the cloth, madame poulard had plenty of time to give to the beauty about her. how fine was the outlook from the top of the ramparts! what a fresh sensation, this of standing-on a terrace in mid-air and looking down on the sea and across to the level shores. the rose vines--we found them sweet--"ah"--one of the branches had fallen--she had full time to re-adjust the loosened support. and "marianne, give these ladies their hot water, and see to their bags"--even this order was given with courtesy. it was only when the supple, agile figure had left us to fly down the steep rock-cut steps; when it shot over the top of the gateway and slid with the grace of a lizard into the street far below us, that we were made sensible of there having been any special need of madame's being in haste ... the mont proved by its appearance its history in adventure; it had the grim, grave, battered look that comes only to features--whether of rock or of more plastic human mold--that have been carved by the rough handling of experience. it is the common habit of hills and mountains, as we all know, to turn disdainful as they grow skyward; they only too eagerly drop, one by one, the things by which man has marked the earth for his own. to stand on a mountain top and to go down to your grave are alike, at least in this--that you have left everything, except yourself, behind you. but it is both the charm and the triumph of mont st. michael, that it carries so much of man's handiwork up into the blue fields of the air; this achievement alone would mark it as unique among hills. it appears as if for once man and nature had agreed to work in concert to produce a masterpiece in stone. the hill and the architectural beauties it carries aloft, are like a taunt flung out to sea and to the upper heights of air; for centuries they appear to have been crying aloud, "see what we can do, against your tempests and your futile tides--when we try" ... rustic france along this coast still makes pilgrimages to the shrine of the archangel st. michael. no marriage is rightly arranged which does not include a wedding-journey across the "gréve"; no nuptial breakfast is aureoled with the true halo of romance which is eaten elsewhere than on these heights in mid-air. the young come to drink deep of wonders; the old, to refresh the depleted fountains of memory; and the tourist, behold he is a plague of locusts let loose upon the defenseless hill! it was impossible, after sojourning a certain time upon the hill, not to concede that there were two equally strong centers of attraction that drew the world hitherward. one remained, indeed, gravely suspended between the doubt and the fear, as to which of these potential units had the greater pull, in point of actual attraction. the impartial historian, given to a just weighing of evidence, would have been startled to find how invariably the scales tipped; how lightly an historical mont, born of a miracle, crowned by the noblest buildings, a pious mecca for saints and kings innumerable, shot up like feathers in lightness when overweighted by the modern realities of a perfectly appointed inn, the cooking and eating of an omelet of omelets, and the all-conquering charms of madame poulard. the fog of doubt thickened as, day after day, the same scenes were enacted; when one beheld all sorts of conditions of men similarly affected; when, again and again, the potentiality in the human magnet was proved true. doubt turned to conviction, at the last, that the holy shrine of st. michael had, in truth, been violated; that the mont had been desecrated; that the latter exists now solely as a setting for a pearl of an inn; and that within the shrine--it is madame poulard herself who fills the niche!... such a variety of brides as come up to the mont! you could have your choice, at the midday meal, of almost any nationality, age, or color. the attempt among these bridal couples to maintain the distant air of a finished indifference only made their secret the more open. the british phlegm, on such a journey, did not always serve as a convenient mask; the flattering, timid glance, the ripple of tender whispers, and the furtive touching of fingers beneath the table, made even these english couples a part of the great human marrying family; their superiority to their fellows would return, doubtless, when the honey had dried out of their moon. the best of our adventures into this tender country were with the french bridal tourists; they were certain to be delightfully human. as we had had occasion to remark before, they were off, like ourselves, on a little voyage of discovery; they had come to make acquaintance with the being to whom they were mated for life. various degrees of progress could be read in the air and manner of the hearty young "bourgeoises" and their paler or even ruddier partners, as they crunched their bread or sipped their thin wine. some had only entered as yet upon the path of inquiry; others had already passed the mile-stone of criticism; and still others had left the earth and were floating in full azure of intoxication. of the many wedding parties that sat down to breakfast, we soon made the commonplace discovery that the more plebeian the company, the more certain-orbed appeared to be the promise of happiness.... madame poulard's air with this, her world, was as full of tact as with the tourists. many of the older women would give her the norman kiss, solemnly, as if the salute were a part of the ceremony attendant on the eating of a wedding breakfast at mont st. michel. there would be a three times' clapping of the wrinkled or the ruddy peasant cheeks against the sides of madame poulard's daintier, more delicately modeled face. then all would take their seats noisily at the table. it was madame poulard who would then bring us news of the party. at the end of a fortnight charm and i felt ourselves to be in possession of the hidden and secret reasons for all the marrying that had been done along the coast that year.... one morning, as we looked toward pontorson, a small black cloud appeared to be advancing across the bay. the day was windy; the sky was crowded with huge white mountains--round, luminous clouds that moved in stately sweeps. and the sea was the color one loves to see in an earnest woman's eye, the dark blue sapphire that turns to blue-gray. this was a setting that made that particular cloud, making such slow progress across from the shore, all the more conspicuous. gradually, as the black mass neared the dike, it began to break and separate; and we saw plainly enough that the scattering particles were human beings. it was, in point of fact, a band of pilgrims; a peasant pilgrimage was coming up to the mont. in wagons, in market carts, in "char-á-bancs," in donkey carts, on the backs of monster percherons--the pilgrimage moved in slow processional dignity across the dike. some of the younger black gowns and blue blouses attempted to walk across over the sands; we could see the girls sitting down on the edge of the shore, to take off their shoes and stockings and to tuck up their thick skirts. when they finally started they were like unto so many huge cheeses hoisted on stilts. the bare legs plunged boldly forward, keeping ahead of the slower-moving peasant lads; the girls' bravery served them till they reached the fringe of the incoming tide; not until their knees went under water did they forego their venture. a higher wave came in, deluging the ones farthest out; and then ensued a scampering toward the dike and a climbing up of the stone embankment. the old route across the sands, that had been the only one known to kings and barons, was not good enough for a modern norman peasant. the religion of personal comfort has spread even as far as the fields. other aspects of the hill, on this day of the pilgrimage, made those older dead-and-gone bands of pilgrims astonishingly real. on the tops of bastions, in the clefts on the rocks, beneath the glorious walls of la merveille, or perilously lodged on the crumbling cornice of a tourelle, numerous rude altars had been hastily erected. the crude blues and scarlets of banners were fluttering, like so many pennants, in the light breeze. beneath the improvised altar-roofs--strips of gay cloth stretched across poles stuck into the ground--were groups not often seen in these less fervent centuries. high up, mounted on the natural pulpit, formed of a bit of rock, with the rude altar before him with its bits of scarlet cloth covered with cheap lace, stood or knelt the priest. against the wide blue of the open heaven his figure took on an imposing splendor of mien and an unmodern impressiveness of action. beneath him knelt, with bowed heads, the groups of the peasant pilgrims; the women, with murmuring lips and clasped hands, their strong, deeply-seamed faces outlined with the precision of a francesco painting against the gray background of a giant mass of wall or the amazing breadth of a vast sea-view; children, squat and chubby, with bulging cheeks starting from the close-fitting french "bonnet"; and the peasant-farmers, mostly of the older varieties, whose stiffened or rheumatic knees and knotty hands made their kneeling real acts of devotional zeal. there were a dozen such altars and groups scattered over the perpendicular slant of the hill. the singing of the choir boys, rising like skylark notes into the clear space of heaven, would be floating from one rocky-nested chapel, while below, in the one beneath which we, for a moment, were resting, there would be the groaning murmur of the peasant groups in prayer. three times did the vision of st. michael appear to saint aubert, in his dream, commanding the latter to erect a church on the heights of mont st. michel to his honor. how many a time must the modern pilgrim traverse the stupendous mass that has grown out of that command before he is quite certain that the splendor of mont st. michel is real, and not part of a dream! whether one enters through the dark magnificence of the great portals of the châtelet; whether one mounts the fortified stairway, passing into the salle des gardes, passing onward from dungeon to fortified bridge to gain the abbatial residence; whether one leaves the vaulted splendor of oratories for aërial passageways, only to emerge beneath the majestic roof of the cathedral--that marvel of the early norman, ending in the gothic choir of the fifteenth century; or, as one penetrates into the gloom of the mighty dungeons where heroes, and brothers of kings, and saints, and scientists have died their long death--as one gropes through the black night of the crypt, where a faint, mysterious glint of light falls aslant the mystical face of the black virgin; as one climbs to the light beneath the ogive arches of the aumônerie, through the wide-lit aisles of the salle des chevaliers, past the slender gothic columns of the refectory, up at last to the crowning glory of all the glories of la merveille, to the exquisitely beautiful colonnades of the open cloister--the impressions and emotions excited by these ecclesiastical and military masterpieces are ever the same, however many times one may pass them in review. a charm indefinable, but replete with subtle attractions, lurks in every one of these dungeons. the great halls have a power to make one retraverse their space i have yet to find under other vaulted chambers. the grass that is set, like a green jewel, in the arabesques of the cloister, is a bit of greensward the feet press with a different tread to that which skips lightly over other strips of turf. and the world, that one looks out upon through prison bars, that is so gloriously arched in the arm of a flying buttress, or that lies prone at your feet from the dizzy heights of the rock clefts, is not the world in which you, daily, do your petty stretch of toil, in which you laugh and ache, sorrow, sigh, and go down to your grave. the secret of this deep attraction may lie in the fact of one's being in a world that is built on a height. much, doubtless, of the charm lies, also, in the reminders of all the human life that, since the early dawn of history, has peopled this hill. one has the sense of living at a tremendously high mental pressure; of impressions, emotions, sensations crowding upon the mind; of one's whole meager outfit of memory, of poetic equipment, and of imaginative furnishing being unequal to the demand made by even the most hurried tour of the great buildings, or the most flitting review of the noble massing of the clouds and the hilly seas. the very emptiness and desolation of all the buildings on the hill help to accentuate their splendor. the stage is magnificently set; the curtain, even, is lifted. one waits for the coming on of kingly shapes, for the pomp of trumpets, for the pattering of a mighty host. but, behold, all is still. and one sits and sees only a shadowy company pass and repass across that glorious mise-en-scéne. for, in a certain sense, i know no other medieval mass of buildings as peopled as are these. the dead shapes seem to fill the vast halls. the salle des chevaliers is crowded, daily, with a brilliant gathering of knights, who sweep the trains of their white damask mantles, edged with ermine, over the dulled marble of the floor; two by two they enter the hall; the golden shells on their mantles make the eyes blink, as the groups gather about the great chimneys, or wander through the column-broken space. behind this dazzling cortege, up the steep steps of the narrow streets, swarm other groups--the medieval pilgrim host that rushes into cathedral aisles, and that climbs the ramparts to watch the stately procession as it makes its way toward the church portals. there are still other figures that fill every empty niche and deserted watch-tower. through the lancet windows of the abbatial gateways the yeomanry of the vassal villages are peering; it is the weary time of the hundred years' war, and all france is watching, through sentry windows, for the approach of her dread enemy. on the shifting sands below, as on brass, how indelibly fixt are the names of the hundred and twenty-nine knights whose courage drove, step by step, over that treacherous surface, the english invaders back to their island strongholds. caen[a] [footnote a: from "a bibliographical tour in france and germany."] by thomas frognall dibdin let us begin, therefore, with the abbey of st. stephen; for it is the noblest and most interesting on many accounts. it is called by the name of that saint, inasmuch as there stood formerly a chapel, on the same site, dedicated to him. the present building was completed and solemnly dedicated by william the conqueror, in the presence of his wife, his two sons robert and william, his favorite, archbishop lanfranc; john, archbishop of rouen, and thomas, archbishop of york--toward the year ; but i strongly suspect, from the present prevailing character of the architecture, that nothing more than the west front and the towers upon which the spires rest remain of its ancient structure. the spires, as the abbé de la rue conjectures, and as i should also have thought, are about two centuries later than the towers. the outsides of the side aisles appear to be of the thirteenth, rather than of the end of the eleventh, century. the first exterior view of the west front, and of the towers, is extremely interesting from the gray and clear tint, as well as excellent quality, of the stone, which, according to huet, was brought partly from vaucelle and partly from allemagne. one of the corner abutments of one of the towers has fallen down and a great portion of what remains seem to indicate rapid decay. the whole stands indeed greatly in need of reparation. ducarel, if i remember rightly, has made, of this whole front, a sort of elevation as if it were intended for a wooden model to work by, having all the stiffness and precision of an erection of forty-eight hours' standing only. the central tower is of very stunted dimensions, and overwhelmed by a roof in the form of an extinguisher. this, in fact, was the consequence of the devastations of the calvinists; who absolutely sapped the foundation of the tower, with the hope of overwhelming the whole choir in ruin--but a part only of their malignant object was accomplished. the component parts of the eastern extremity are strangely and barbarously miscellaneous. however, no good commanding exterior view can be obtained from the place, or confined square, opposite the towers. but let us return to the west front; and, opening the unfastened green baize covered door, enter softly and silently into the venerable interior--sacred even to the feelings of englishmen. of this interior, very much is changed from its original character. the side aisles retain their flattened arched roofs and pillars; and in the nave you observe those rounded pilasters--or altorilievo-like pillars--running from bottom to top, which are to be seen in the abbey of jumieges. the capitals of these long pillars are comparatively of modern date. to the left on entrance, within a side chapel, is the burial place of matilda, the wife of the conqueror. the tombstone attesting her interment is undoubtedly of the time. generally speaking, the interior is cold, and dull of effect. the side chapels, of which not fewer than sixteen encircle the choir, have the discordant accompaniments of grecian balustrades to separate them from the choir and nave. to the right of the choir, in the sacristy, i think, is hung the huge portrait, in oil, within a black and gilt frame, of which ducarel has published an engraving, on the supposition of its being the portrait of william the conqueror. but nothing can be more ridiculous than such a conclusion. in the first place, the picture itself, which is a palpable copy, can not be older than a century; and in the second place, were it an original performance, it could not be older than the time of francis i. in fact, it purports to have been executed as a faithful copy of the figure of king william, seen by the cardinals in , who were seized with a sacred frenzy to take a peep at the body as it might exist at that time. the costume of the oil painting is evidently that of the period of our henry viii.; and to suppose that the body of william--even had it remained in so surprisingly perfect a state as ducarel intimates, after an interment of upward of four hundred years--could have presented such a costume, when, from ducarel's own statement, another whole-length representation of the same person is totally different--and more decidedly of the character of william's time--is really quite a reproach to any antiquary who plumes himself upon the possession even of common sense. in the middle of the choir, and just before the high altar, the body of the conqueror was entombed with great pomp; and a monument erected to his memory of the most elaborate and costly description. nothing now remains but a flat, black marble slab, with a short inscription, of quite a recent date.... you must now attend me to the most interesting public building, perhaps all things considered, which is to be seen at caen. i mean the abbey of the holy trinity, or l'abbaye aux dames. this abbey was founded by the wife of the conqueror, about the same time that william erected that of st. stephen. ducarel's description of it, which i have just seen in a copy of the "anglo-norman antiquities," in a bookseller's shop, is sufficiently meager. his plates are also sufficiently miserable: but things are strangely altered since his time. the nave of the church is occupied by a manufactory for making cordage, or twine: and upward of a hundred lads are now busied in their flaxen occupations, where formerly the nun knelt before the cross, or was occupied in auricular confession. the entrance at the western extremity is entirely stopt up; but the exterior gives manifest proof of an antiquity equal to that of the abbey of st. stephen. the upper part of the towers are palpably of the fifteenth or, rather, of the early part of the sixteenth century. i had no opportunity of judging of the neat pavement of the floor of the nave, in white and black marble, as noticed by ducarel, on account of the occupation of this part of the building by the manufacturing children; but i saw some very ancient tombstones, one, i think, of the twelfth century, which had been removed from the nave or side aisles, and were placed against the sides of the north transept. the nave is entirely walled up from the transepts, but the choir is fortunately preserved; and a more perfect and interesting specimen of its kind, of the same antiquity, is perhaps nowhere to be seen in normandy. all the monuments as well as the altars, described by ducarel, are now taken away. having ascended a stone staircase, we got into the upper part of the choir, above the first row of pillars--and walked along the wall. this was rather adventurous, you will say; but a more adventurous spirit of curiosity had nearly proved fatal to me; for, on quitting daylight, we pursued a winding stone staircase, in our way to the central tower--to enjoy from hence a view of the town. i almost tremble as i relate it. there had been put up a sort of temporary wooden staircase, leading absolutely to nothing; or, rather, to a dark void space. i happened to be foremost in ascending, yet groping in the dark--with the guide luckily close behind me. having reached the topmost step, i was raising my foot to a supposed higher or succeeding step--but there was none. a depth of eighteen feet at least was below me. the guide caught my coat, as i was about to lose my balance, and roared out, "wait--stop!" the least balance or inclination, one way or the other, is sufficient, upon these critical occasions; when luckily, from his catching my coat, and pulling me, in consequence, slightly backward, my fall and my life, were equally saved! i have reason from henceforth to remember the abbey aux dames at caen. i gained the top of the central tower, which is not of equal altitude with those of the western extremity, and from hence surveyed the town, as well as the drizzling rain would permit. i saw enough, however, to convince me that the site of this abbey is fine and commanding. indeed, it stands nearly upon the highest ground in the town. ducarel had not the glorious ambition to mount to the top of the tower; nor did he even possess that most commendable of all species of architectural curiosity, a wish to visit the crypt. thus, in either extremity, i evinced a more laudable spirit of enterprise than did my old-fashioned predecessor. accordingly, from the summit, you must accompany me to the lowest depth of the building. i descended by the same somewhat intricate route, and i took especial care to avoid all "temporary wooden staircase." the crypt, beneath the choir, is perhaps of yet greater interest and beauty than the choir itself. within an old, very old, stone coffin--at the further circular end--are the pulverized remains of one of the earliest abbesses. i gazed around with mixed sensations of veneration and awe, and threw myself back into centuries past, fancying that the shrouded figure of maltilda herself glided by, with a look as if to approve of my antiquarian enthusiasm! having gratified my curiosity by a careful survey of the subterranean abode, i revisited the regions of daylight, and made toward the large building, now a manufactory, which in ducarel's time had been a nunnery. the revolution has swept away every human being in the character of a nun; but the director of the manufactory showed me, with great civility, some relics of old crosses, rings, veils, lacrimatories, etc., which had been taken from the crypt i had recently visited. these relics savored of considerable antiquity. tom hearne would have set about proving that they must have belonged to matilda herself; but i will have neither the presumption nor the merit of attempting this proof. they seemed, indeed, to have undergone half a dozen decompositions. upon the whole, if our antiquarian society, after having exhausted the cathedrals of their own country, should ever think of perpetuating the principal ecclesiastical edifices of normandy, by means of the art of engraving, let them begin their labors with the abbey aux dames at caen. down the river to bordeaux[a] [footnote a: from "a tour through the pyrenees." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, .] by hippolyte adolphe taine the river is so fine that, before going to bayonne, i have come down as far as royan. ships heavy with white sails ascend slowly on both sides of the boat. at each gust of wind they incline like idle birds, lifting their long wings and showing their black bellies. they run slantwise, then come back; one would say that they felt the better for being in this great fresh-water harbor; they loiter in it and enjoy its peace after leaving the wrath and inclemency of the ocean. the banks, fringed with pale verdure, glide right and left, far away to the verge of heaven; the river is broad like a sea; at this distance you might think you had seen two hedges; the trees dimly lift their delicate shapes in a robe of bluish gauze; here and there great pines raise their umbrellas on the vapory horizon, where all is confused and vanishing; there is an inexpressible sweetness in these first hues of the timid day, softened still by the fog which exhales from the deep river. as for the river itself, its waters stretch out joyous and splendid; the rising sun pours upon its breast a long streamlet of gold; the breeze covers it with scales; its eddies stretch themselves, and tremble like an awaking serpent, and, when the billow heaves them, you seem to see the striped flanks, the tawny cuirass of a leviathan. indeed, at such moments it seems that the water must live and feel; it has a strange look, when it comes, transparent and somber, to stretch itself upon a beach of pebbles; it turns about them as if uneasy and irritated; it beats them with its wavelets; it covers them, then retires, then comes back again with a sort of languid writhing and mysterious lovingness; its snaky eddies, its little crests suddenly beaten down or broken, its wave, sloping, shining, then all at once blackened, resembles the flashes of passion in an impatient mother, who hovers incessantly and anxiously about her children, and covers them, not knowing what she wants and what fears. presently a cloud has covered the heavens, and the wind has risen. in a moment the river has assumed the aspect of a crafty and savage animal. it hollowed itself, and showed its livid belly; it came against the keel with convulsive starts, hugged it, and dashed against it, as if to try its force; as far as one could see, its waves lifted themselves and crowded together, like the muscles upon a chest; over the flank of the waves passed flashes with sinister smiles; the mast groaned, and the trees bent shivering, like a nerveless crowd before the wrath of a fearful beast. then all was hushed; the sun had burst forth, the waves were smoothed, you now see only a laughing expanse; spun out over this polished back a thousand greenish tresses sported wantonly; the light rested on it, like a diaphanous mantle; it followed the supple movements and the twisting of those liquid arms; it folded around them, behind them, its radiant, azure robe; it took their caprices and their mobile colors; the river meanwhile, slumbrous in its great, peaceful bed, was stretched out at the feet of the hills, which looked down upon it, like it immovable and eternal. the boat is made fast to a boom, under a pile of white houses; it is royan. here already are the sea and the dunes; the right of the village is buried under a mass of sand; there are crumbling hills, little dreary valleys, where you are lost as if in the desert; no sound, no movement, no life; scanty, leafless vegetation dots moving soil, and its filaments fall like sickly hairs; small shells, white and empty, cling to these in chaplets, and, wherever the foot is set, they crack with a sound like a cricket's chirp; this place is the ossuary of some wretched maritime tribe. one tree alone can live here, the pine, a wild creature, inhabitant of the forests and sterile coasts; there is a whole colony of them here; they crowd together fraternally, and cover the sand with their brown lamels; the monotonous breeze which sifts through them forever awakes their murmur; thus they chant in a plaintive fashion, but with a far softer and more harmonious voice than the other trees; this voice resembles the grating of the cicadas when in august they sing with all their heart among the stalks of the ripened wheat. at the left of the village, a footpath winds to the summit of a wasted bank, among billows of standing grasses. the river is so broad that the other shore is not distinguishable. the sea, its neighbor, imparts its influence; its long undulations come one after another against the coast, and pour their little cascades of foam upon the sand; then the water retires, running down the slope until it meets a new wave coming up which covers it; these billows are never wearied, and their come and go remind one of the regular breathing of a slumbering child. for night has fallen, the tints of purple grow brown and fade away. the river goes to rest in the soft, vague shadow; scarcely, at long intervals, a remnant glimpse is reflected from a slanting wave; obscurity drowns everything in its vapory dust; the drowsy eye vainly searches in this mist some visible point, and distinguishes at last, like a dim star, the lighthouse of cordouan. the next evening a fresh sea-breeze has brought us to bordeaux. the enormous city heaps its monumental houses along the river like bastions; the red sky is embattled by their coping. they on one hand, the bridge on the other, protect, with a double line, the port where the vessels are crowded together like a flock of gulls; those graceful hulls, those tapering masts, those sails swollen or floating, weave the labyrinth of their movements and forms upon the magnificent purple of the sunset. the sun sinks into the river; the black rigging, the round hulls, stand out against its conflagration, and look like jewels of jet set in gold. around bordeaux are smiling hills, varied horizons, fresh valleys, a river people by incessant navigation, a succession of cities and villages harmoniously planted upon the declivities or in the plains, everywhere the richest verdure, the luxury of nature and civilization, the earth and man vying with each other to enrich and decorate the happiest valley of france. below bordeaux a flat soil, marshes, sand; a land which goes on growing poorer, villages continually less frequent, ere long the desert. i like the desert as well. pine woods pass to the right and to the left, silent and wan. each tree bears on its side the scar of wounds where the woodmen have set flowing the resinous blood which chokes it; the powerful liquor still ascends into its limbs with the sap, exhales by its slimy shoots and by its cleft skin; a sharp aromatic odor fills the air. beyond, the monotonous plain of the ferns, bathed in light, stretches away as far as the eye can reach. their green fans expand beneath the sun which colors, but does not cause them to fade. upon the horizon a few scattered trees lift their slender columns. you see now and then the silhouette of a herdsman on his stilts, inert and standing like a sick heron. wild horses are grazing half hid in the herbage. as the train passes, they abruptly lift their great startled eyes and stand motionless, uneasy at the noise that has troubled their solitude. man does not fare well here--he dies or degenerates; but it is the country of animals, and especially of plants. they abound in this desert, free, certain of living. our pretty, cut-up valleys are but poor things alongside of these immense spaces, leagues upon leagues of marshy or dry vegetation, a level country, where nature, elsewhere troubled and tortured by men, still vegetates, as in primeval days, with a calm equal to its grandeur. the sun needs these savannas in order properly to spread out its light; from the rising exhalation, you feel that the whole plain is fermenting under its force; and the eyes, filled by the limitless horizon, divine the secret labor by which this ocean of rank verdure renews and nourishes itself. the grande chartreuse[a] [footnote a: from a letter to his mother, written from the monastery in .] by thomas gray we took the longest road, which lies through savoy, on purpose to see a famous monastery, called the grande chartreuse, and had no reason to think our time lost. after having traveled seven days very slow (for we did not change horses, it being impossible for a chaise to go fast in these roads), we arrived at a little village, among the mountains of savoy, called echelles; from thence we proceeded on horses, who are used to the way, to the mountain of the chartreuse. it is six miles to the top; the road runs winding up it, commonly not six feet broad; on one hand is the rock, with woods of pine-trees hanging overhead; on the other, a monstrous precipice, almost perpendicular, at the bottom of which rolls a torrent that, sometimes tumbling among the fragments of stone that have fallen from on high, and sometimes precipitating itself down vast descents with a noise like thunder, which is made still greater by the echo from the mountains on each side, concurs to form one of the most solemn, the most romantic, and the most astonishing scenes i ever beheld. add to this the strange views made by the crags and cliffs on the other hand; the cascades that in many places throw themselves from the very summit down into the vale, and the river below; and many other particulars impossible to describe; you will conclude we had no occasion to repent our plans. this place st. bruno chose to retire to, and upon its very top founded the aforesaid convent, which is the superior of the whole order. when we came there, the two fathers, who are commissioned to entertain strangers (for the rest must neither speak one to another nor to any one else) received us very kindly; and set before us a repast of dried fish, eggs, butter, and fruits, all excellent in their kind, and extremely neat. they prest us to spend the night there, and to stay some days with them; but this we could not do, so they led us about their house, which is, you must think, like a little city; for there are fathers, besides servants, that make their clothes, grind their corn, press their wine, and do everything among themselves. the whole is quite orderly and simple; nothing of finery; but the wonderful decency, and the strange situation, more than supply the place of it. in the evening we descended by the same way, passing through many clouds that were then forming themselves on the mountain's side. carcassonne[a] [footnote a: from "a little tour in france." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, houghton, mifflin co. copyright, .] by henry james when i say the town, i mean the towns; there being two at carcassonne, perfectly distinct, and each with excellent claims to the title. they have settled the matter between them, however, and the elder, the shrine of pilgrimage, to which the other is but a stepping-stone, or even, as i may say, a humble doormat, takes the name of the cité. you see nothing of the cité from the station; it is masked by the agglomeration of the "ville-basse," which is relatively (but only relatively) new. a wonderful avenue of acacias leads to it from the station--leads past it, rather, and conducts you to a little high-backed bridge over the aude, beyond which, detached and erect, a distinct medieval silhouette, the cité presents itself. like a rival shop, on the invidious side of a street, it has "no connection" with the establishment across the way, altho the two places are united (if old carcassonne may be said to be united to anything) by a vague little rustic faubourg. perched on its solid pedestal, the perfect detachment of the cité is what first strikes you. to take leave, without delay, of the "ville-basse," i may say that the splendid acacias i have mentioned flung a summerish dusk over the place, in which a few scattered remains of stout walls and big bastions looked venerable and picturesque. a little boulevard winds around the town, planted with trees and garnished with more benches than i ever saw provided by a soft-hearted municipality. this precinct had a warm, lazy, dusty, southern look, as if the people sat out-of-doors a great deal, and wandered about in the stillness of summer nights. the figure of the elder town, at these hours, must be ghostly enough on its neighboring hill. even by day it has the air of a vignette of gustave doré, a couplet of victor hugo. it is almost too perfect--as if it were an enormous model, placed on a big green table at a museum. a steep, paved way, grass-grown like all roads where vehicles never pass, stretches up to it in the sun. it has a double enceinte, complete outer walls and complete inner (these, elaborately fortified, are the more curious); and this congregation of ramparts, towers, bastions, battlements, barbicans, is as fantastic and romantic as you please. the approach i mention here leads to the gate that looks toward toulouse--the porte de l'aude. there is a second, on the other side, called, i believe, porte narbonnaise, a magnificent gate, flanked with towers thick and tall, defended by elaborate outworks; and these two apertures alone admit you to the place--putting aside a small sally-port, protected by a great bastion, on the quarter that looks toward the pyrenees.... i should lose no time in saying that restoration is the great mark of the cité. m. viollet-le-duc has worked his will upon it, put it into perfect order, revived the fortifications in every detail. i do not pretend to judge the performance, carried out on a scale and in a spirit which really impose themselves on the imagination. few architects have had such a chance, and m. viollet-le-duc must have been the envy of the whole restoring fraternity. the image of a more crumbling carcassonne rises in the mind, and there is no doubt that forty years ago the place was more affecting. on the other hand, as we see it to-day, it is a wonderful evocation; and if there is a great deal of new in the old, there is plenty of old in the new. the repaired crenellations, the inserted patches, of the walls of the outer circle sufficiently express this commixture. carcassonne dates from the roman occupation of gaul. the place commanded one of the great roads into spain, and in the fourth century romans and franks ousted each other from such a point of vantage. in the year , theodoric, king of the visigoths, superseded both these parties; and it is during his occupation that the inner enceinte was raised upon the ruins of the roman fortifications. most of the visigoth towers that are still erect are seated upon roman substructions which appear to have been formed hastily, probably at the moment of the frankish invasion. the authors of these solid defenses, tho occasionally disturbed, held carcassonne and the neighboring country, in which they had established their kingdom of septimania, till the year , when they were expelled by the moors of spain, who ushered in an unillumined period of four centuries, of which no traces remain. these facts i derived from a source no more recondite than a pamphlet by m. viollet-le-duc--a very luminous description of the fortifications, which you may buy from the accomplished custodian. the writer makes a jump to the year , when carcassonne, then forming part of the realm of the viscounts of béziers and infected by the albigensian heresy, was besieged, in the name of the pope, by the terrible simon de montfort and his army of crusaders. simon was accustomed to success, and the town succumbed in the course of a fortnight. thirty-one years later, having passed into the hands of the king of france, it was again besieged by the young raymond de trincavel, the last of the viscounts of béziers; and of this siege m. viollet-le-duc gives a long and minute account, which the visitor who has a head for such things may follow, with the brochure in hand, on the fortifications themselves. the young raymond de trineavel, baffled and repulsed, retired at the end of twenty-four days. saint louis and philip the bold, in the thirteenth century, multiplied the defenses of carcassonne, which was one of the bulwarks of their kingdom on the spanish quarter; and from this time forth, being regarded as impregnable, the place had nothing to fear. it was not even attacked; and when, in , edward the black prince marched into it, the inhabitants had opened the gates to the conqueror before whom all languedoc was prostrate. i am not one of those who, as i said just now, have a head for such things, and having extracted these few facts had made all the use of m. viollet-le-duc's pamphlet of which i was capable.... my obliging friend the "mad lover" [of la cité] handed me over to the doorkeeper of the citadel. i should add that i was at first committed to the wife of this functionary, a stout peasant woman, who conducted me to a postern door and ushered me into the presence of her husband. this brilliant, this suggestive warden of carcassonne marched us about for an hour, haranguing, explaining, illustrating, as he went; it was a complete little lecture, such as might have been delivered at the lowell institute, on the manner in which a first-rate "place forte" used to be attacked and defended. our peregrinations made it very clear that carcassonne was impregnable; it is impossible to imagine, without having seen them, such refinements of immurement, such ingenuities of resistance. we passed along the battlements and "chemins de ronde," ascended and descended towers, crawled under arches, peered out of loopholes, lowered ourselves into dungeons, halted in all sorts of tight places, while the purpose of something or other was described to us. it was very curious, very interesting; above all, it was very pictorial, and involved perpetual peeps into the little crooked, crumbling, sunny, grassy, empty cité. in places, as you stand upon it, the great towered and embattled enceinte produces an illusion; it looks as if it were still equipped and defended. one vivid challenge, at any rate, it flings down before you; it calls upon you to make up your mind on the matter of restoration. for myself, i have no hesitation; i prefer in every case the ruined, however ruined, to the reconstructed, however splendid. what is left is more precious than what is added; the one is history, the other is fiction; and i like the former the better of the two--it is so much more romantic. one is positive, so far as it goes; the other fills up the void with things more dead than the void itself, inasmuch as they have never had life. after that i am free to say that the restoration of carcassonne is a splendid achievement. the little custodian dismissed us at last, after having, as usual, inducted us into the inevitable repository of photographs. after leaving it and passing out of the two circles of walls, i treated myself, in the most infatuated manner, to another walk round the cité. it is certainly this general impression that is most striking--the impression from outside, where the whole place detaches itself at once from the landscape. in the warm southern dusk it looked more than ever like a city in a fairy-tale. to make the thing perfect, a white young moon, in its first quarter, came out and hung just over the dark silhouette. it was hard to come away--to incommode one's self for anything so vulgar as a railway train; i would gladly have spent the evening in revolving round the walls of carcassonne. biarritz[a] [footnote a: from "castles and châteaux of old navarre." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] by francis miltoun if bayonne is the center of commercial affairs for the basque country, its citizens must, at any rate, go to biarritz if they want to live "the elegant and worldly life." the prosperity and luxury of biarritz are very recent; it goes back only to the second empire, when it was but a village of a thousand souls or less, mostly fishermen and women. the railway and the automobile omnibus make communication with bayonne to-day easy, but formerly folk came and went on a donkey side-saddled for two, arranged back to back, like the seats of an irish jaunting-car. if the weight were unequal, a balance was struck by adding cobblestones on one side or the other, the patient donkey not minding in the least. this astonishing mode of conveyance was known as a "cacolet," and replaced the "voitures" and "fiacres" of other resorts. an occasional example may still be seen, but the "jolies basquaises" who conducted them have given way to sturdy, barelegged basque boys--as picturesque, perhaps, but not so entrancing to the view. to voyage "en cacolet" was the necessity of our grandfathers; for us it is an amusement only. napoleon iii., or rather eugénie, his spouse, was the faithful godfather of biarritz as a resort. the villa eugénie is no more; it was first transformed into a hotel and later destroyed by fire; but it was the first of a great battery of villas and hotels which has made biarritz so great that the popularity of monte carlo is steadily waning. biarritz threatens to become even more popular; some sixteen thousand visitors came to biarritz in , but there were thirty-odd thousand in ; while the permanent population has risen from , in the days of the second empire to , in . the tiny railway from bayonne to biarritz transported half a million travelers twenty years ago, and a million and a half, or nearly that number, in ; the rest, being millionaires, or gypsies, came in automobiles or caravans. these figures tell eloquently of the prosperity of this "villégiature impériale." the great beauty of biarritz is its setting. at monte carlo the setting is also beautiful, ravishingly beautiful, but the architecture, the terrace, monaco's rock, and all the rest combine to make the pleasing "ensemble." at biarritz the architecture of its casino and the great hotels is not of an epoch-making beauty, neither are they so delightfully placed. it is the surrounding stage setting that is so lovely. here the jagged shore line, the blue waves, the ample horizon seaward, are what make it all so charming. biarritz as a watering-place has an all-the-year-round clientèle; in summer the spanish and the french, succeeded in winter by americans, germans, and english--with a sprinkling of russians at all times. biarritz, like pau, aside from being a really delightful winter resort, where one may escape the rigors of murky november to march in london, is becoming afflicted with a bad case of "sport fever." there are all kinds of sports, some of them reputable enough in their place, but the comic-opera fox-hunting which takes place at pau and biarritz is not one of them.... the picturesque "plage des basques" lies to the south of the town, bordered with high cliffs, which in turn are surmounted with terraces of villas. the charm of it all is incomparable. to the northwest stretches the limpid horizon of the bay of biscay, and to the south the snowy summits of the pyrenees, and the adorable bays of saint-jean-de-luz and fontarabie, while behind, and to the eastward, lies the quaint country of the basques, and the mountain trails into spain in all their savage hardiness. the off-shore translucent waters of the gulf of gascony were the "sinus aquitanicus" of the ancients. a colossal rampart of rocks and sand dunes stretches all the way from the gironde to the bidassoa, without a harbor worthy of the name save at bayonne and saint-jean-de-luz. here the atlantic waves pound, in time of storm, with all the fury with which they break upon the rocky coasts of brittany further north. perhaps this would not be so, but for the fact that the iberian coast to the southward runs almost at right angles with that of gascony. as it is, while the climate is mild, biarritz and the other cities on the coasts of the gulf of gascony have a fair proportion of what sailors, the world over, call "rough weather." the waters of the gascon gulf are not always angry; most frequently they are calm and blue, vivid with a translucence worthy of those of capri, and it is this that makes the beach at biarritz one of the most popular sea-bathing resorts in france to-day. it is a fashionable watering-place, but it is also, perhaps, the most beautifully disposed city to be found in all the round of the european coast line, its slightly curving slope dominated by a background terrace, decorative in itself, but delightfully set off with its fringe of dwelling-houses, hotels, and casinos. ostend is superbly laid out, but it is dreary; monte carlo is beautiful, but it is ultra; while trouville is constrained and affected. biarritz has the best features of all these.... saint-jean-de-luz had a population of ten thousand two centuries ago; to-day it has three thousand, and most of these take in boarders, or in one way or another cater to the hordes of visitors who have made it--or would, if they could have supprest its quiet basque charm of coloring and character--a little brighton. not all is lost, but four hundred houses were razed in the mid-eighteenth century by a tempest, and the stable population began to creep away; only with recent years an influx of strangers has arrived for a week's or a month's stay to take their places--if idling butterflies of fashion or imaginary invalids can really take the place of a hardworking, industrious colony of fishermen, who thought no more of sailing away to the south antarctic or the banks of newfoundland in an eighty-ton whaler than they did of seining sardines from a shallop in the gulf of gascony at their doors. down the saone to lyons[a] [footnote a: from "pencillings by the way." published by charles scribner, .] by nathaniel parker willis the saone is about the size of the mohawk, but not half so beautiful; at least for the greater part of its course. indeed, you can hardly compare american with european rivers, for the charm is of another description, quite. with us it is nature only, here it is almost all art. our rivers are lovely, because the outline of the shore is graceful, and particularly because the vegetation is luxuriant. the hills are green, the foliage deep and lavish, the rocks grown over with vines or moss, the mountains in the distance covered with pines and other forest-trees; everything is wild, and nothing looks bare or sterile. the rivers of france are crowned on every height with ruins, and in the bosom of every valley lies a cluster of picturesque stone cottages; but the fields are naked, and there are no trees; the mountains are barren and brown, and everything looks as if the dwellings had been deserted by the people, and nature had at the same time gone to decay. i can conceive nothing more melancholy than the views upon the saone, seen, as i saw them, tho vegetation is out everywhere, and the banks should be beautiful if ever. as we approached lyons the river narrowed and grew bolder, and the last ten miles were enchanting. naturally the shores at this part of the saone are exceedingly like the highlands of the hudson above west point. abrupt hills rise from the river's edge, and the windings are sharp and constant. but imagine the highlands of the hudson crowned with antique chateaux, and covered to the very top with terraces and summer-houses and hanging-gardens, gravel-walks and beds of flowers, instead of wild pines and precipices, and you may get a very correct idea of the saone above lyons. you emerge from one of the dark passes of the river by a sudden turn, and there before you lies this large city, built on both banks, at the foot and on the sides of mountains. the bridges are fine, and the broad, crowded quays, all along the edges of the river, have a beautiful effect. there is a great deal of magnificence at lyons, in the way of quays, promenades, and buildings.... i was glad to escape from the lower streets, and climb up the long staircases to the observatory that overhangs the town. from the base of this elevation the descent of the river is almost a precipice. the houses hang on the side of the steep hill, and their doors enter from the long alleys of stone staircases by which you ascend.... it was holy-week, and the church of notre dame de fourvières, which stands on the summit of the hill, was crowded with people. we went in for a moment, and sat down on a bench to rest. my companion was a swiss captain of artillery, who was a passenger in the boat, a very splendid fellow, with a mustache that he might have tied behind his ears. he had addrest me at the hotel, and proposed that we should visit the curiosities of the town together. he was a model of a manly figure, athletic, and soldier-like, and standing near him was to get the focus of all the dark eyes in the congregation. the new square tower stands at the side of the church, and rises to the height of perhaps sixty feet. the view from it is said to be one of the finest in the world. i have seen more extensive ones, but never one that comprehended more beauty and interest. lyons lies at the foot, with the saone winding through its bosom in abrupt curves; the rhone comes down from the north on the other side of the range of mountains, and meeting the saone in a broad stream below the town, they stretch off to the south, through a diversified landscape; the alps rise from the east like the edges of a thunder-cloud, and the mountains of savoy fill up the interval to the rhone. all about the foot of the monument lie gardens, of exquisite cultivation; and above and below the city the villas of the rich; giving you altogether as delicious a nucleus for a broad circle of scenery as art and nature could create, and one sufficiently in contrast with the barrenness of the rocky circumference to enhance the charm, and content you with your position. half way down the hill lies an old monastery, with a lovely garden walled in from the world. the river was covered with boats, the bells were ringing to church, the glorious old cathedral, so famous for its splendor, stood piled up, with its arches and gray towers, in the square below; the day was soft, sunny, and warm, and existence was a blessing. i leaned over the balustrade, i know not how long, looking down upon the scene about me; and i shall ever remember it as one of those few unalloyed moments, when the press of care was taken off my mind, and the chain of circumstances was strong enough to set aside both the past and the future, and leave me to the quiet enjoyment of the present. i have found such hours "few and far between." lyons[a] [footnote a: from a letter to his friend west.] by thomas gray i take this opportunity to tell you that we are at the ancient and celebrated lugdunum, a city situated upon the confluence of the rhone and saône (arar, i should say) two people, who tho of tempers extremely unlike, think fit to join hands here, and make a little party to travel to the mediterranean in company; the lady comes gliding along through the fruitful plains of burgundy.... the gentleman runs all rough and roaring down from the mountains of switzerland to meet her; and with all her soft airs she likes him never the worse; she goes through the middle of the city in state, and he passes incog, without the walls, but waits for her a little below. the houses here are so high, and the streets so narrow, as would be sufficient to render lyons the dismalest place in the world, but the number of people, and the face of commerce diffused about it, are, at least, as sufficient to make it the liveliest: between these two sufficiencies, you will be in doubt what to think of it; so we shall leave the city, and proceed to its environs, which are beautiful beyond expression; it is surrounded with mountains, and those mountains all bedropped and bespeckled with houses, gardens, and plantations of the rich bourgeois, who have from thence a prospect of the city in the vale below on one hand, on the other the rich plains of the lyonnois, with the rivers winding among them, and the alps, with the mountains of dauphiné, to bound the view. all yesterday morning we were busied in climbing up mount fourvière, where the ancient city stood perched at such a height, that nothing but the hopes of gain could certainly ever persuade their neighbors to pay them a visit. here are the ruins of the emperors' palaces, that resided here, that is to say, augustus and severus; they consist in nothing but great masses of old wall, that have only their quality to make them respected. in a vineyard of the minims are remains of a theater; the fathers, whom they belong to, hold them in no esteem at all, and would have showed us their sacristy and chapel instead of them. the ursuline nuns have in their garden some roman baths, but we having the misfortune to be men, they did not think proper to admit us. hard by are eight arches of a most magnificent aqueduct, said to be erected by antony, when his legions were quartered here. there are many other parts of it dispersed up and down the country, for it brought the water from a river many leagues off in la forez. here are remains too of agrippa's seven great roads which met at lyons; in some places they lie twelve feet deep in the ground. marseilles[a] [footnote a: from "pictures from italy," written in ] by charles dickens so we went on, until eleven at night, when we halted at the town of aix (within two stages of marseilles) to sleep. the hotel, with all the blinds and shutters closed to keep the light and heat out, was comfortable and airy next morning, and the town was very clean; but so hot, and so intensely light, that when i walked out at noon it was like coming suddenly from the darkened room into crisp blue fire. the air was so very clear, that distant hills and rocky points appeared within an hour's walk; while the town immediately at hand--with a kind of blue wind between me and it--seemed to be white hot, and to be throwing off a fiery air from its surface. we left this town toward evening, and took the road to marseilles. a dusty road it was; the houses shut up close; and the vines powdered white. at nearly all the cottage doors, women were peeling and slicing onions into earthen bowls for supper. so they had been doing last night all the way from avignon. we passed one or two shady dark châteaux, surrounded by trees, and embellished with cool basins of water: which were the more refreshing to behold, from the great scarcity of such residences on the road we had traveled. as we approached marseilles, the road began to be covered with holiday people. outside the public-houses were parties smoking, drinking, playing draughts and cards, and (once) dancing. but dust, dust, dust, everywhere. we went on, through a long, straggling, dirty suburb, thronged with people; having on our left a dreary slope of land, on which the country-houses of the marseilles merchants, always staring white, are jumbled and heaped without the slightest order; backs, fronts, sides, and gables toward all points of the compass; until, at last, we entered the town. i was there, twice, or thrice afterward, in fair weather and foul; and i am afraid there is no doubt that it is a dirty and disagreeable place. but the prospect, from the fortified heights, of the beautiful mediterranean, with, its lovely rocks and islands, is most delightful. these heights are a desirable retreat, for less picturesque reasons--as an escape from a compound of vile smells perpetually arising from a great harbor full of stagnant water, and befouled by the refuse of innumerable ships with all sorts of cargoes, which, in hot weather, is dreadful in the last degree. there were foreign sailors, of all nations, in the streets; with red shirts, blue shirts, buff shirts, tawny shirts, and shirts of orange color; with red caps, blue caps, green caps, great beards, and no beards; in turkish turbans, glazed english hats, and neapolitan headdresses. there were the townspeople sitting in clusters on the pavement, or airing themselves on the tops of their houses, or walking up and down the closest and least airy of boulevards; and there were crowds of fierce-looking people of the lower sort, blocking up the way, constantly. in the very heart of all this stir and uproar, was the common madhouse; a low, contracted, miserable building, looking straight upon the street, without the smallest screen or courtyard; where chattering madmen and mad-women were peeping out, through rusty bars, at the staring faces below, while the sun, darting fiercely aslant into their little cells, seemed to dry up their brains, and worry them, as if they were baited by a pack of dogs. we were pretty well accommodated at the hôtel du paradis, situated in a narrow street of very high houses, with a hairdresser's shop opposite, exhibiting in one of its windows two full-length waxen ladies, twirling around and around: which so enchanted the hairdresser himself, that he and his family sat in armchairs, and in cool undresses, on the pavement outside, enjoying the gratification of the passers-by, with lazy dignity. the family had retired to rest when we went to bed, at midnight; but the hairdresser (a corpulent man, in drab slippers) was still sitting there, with his legs stretched out before him, and evidently couldn't bear to have the shutters put up. next day we went down to the harbor, where the sailors of all nations were discharging and taking in cargoes of all kinds: fruits, wines, oils, silks, stuffs, velvets, and every manner of merchandise. taking one of a great number of lively little boats with gay-striped awnings, we rowed away, under the sterns of great ships, under tow-ropes and cables, against and among other boats, and very much too near the sides of vessels that were faint with oranges, to the "marie antoinette," a handsome steamer bound for genoa, lying near the mouth of the harbor. by and by, the carriage, that unwieldy "trifle from the pantechnicon," on a flat barge, bumping against everything, and giving occasion for a prodigious quantity of oaths and grimaces, came stupidly alongside; and by five o'clock we were steaming out in the open sea. the vessel was beautifully clean; the meals were served under an awning on deck; the night was calm and clear; the quiet beauty of the sea and sky unspeakable. the little republic of andorra[a] [footnote a: from "castles and châteaux of old navarre." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, l.c. page & co. copyright, .] by francis miltoun the little republic of andorra, hidden away in the fastnesses of the pyrenees between france and spain, its allegiance divided between the bishop of urgel in spain and the french government, is a relic of medievalism which will probably never fall before the swift advance of twentieth century ideas of progress. at least it will never be overrun by automobiles. from french or spanish territory this little unknown land is to be reached by what is called a "wagon-way," but the road is so bad that the sure-footed little donkeys of the pyrenees are by far the best means of locomotion, unless one would go up on foot, a matter of twenty kilometers or more from hospitalet in spanish or porté in french territory. the political status of andorra is most peculiar, but since it has endured without interruption (and this in spite of wars and rumors of wars), for six centuries, it seems to be all that is necessary. a relic of the middle ages, andorra-viella, the city, and its six thousand inhabitants live in their lonesome retirement much as they did in feudal times, except for the fact that an occasional newspaper smuggled in from france or spain gives a new topic of conversation. this paternal governmental arrangement which cares for the welfare of the people of andorra, the city and the province, is the outcome of a treaty signed by pierre d'urg and roger-bernhard, the third comte de foix, giving each other reciprocal rights. there's nothing very strange about this; it was common custom in the middle ages for lay and ecclesiastical seigneurs to make such compacts, but the marvel is that it has endured so well with governments rising and falling all about, and grafters and pretenders and dictators ruling every bailiwick in which they can get a foot-hold. feudal government may have had some bad features, but certainly the republics and democracies of to-day, to say nothing of absolute monarchies, have some, too. the ways of access between france and andorra are numerous enough; but of the eight only two--and those not all the way--are really practicable for wheeled traffic. the others are mere trails, or mule-paths. the people of andorra, as might be inferred, are all ardent catholics; and for a tiny country like this to have a religious seminary, as that at urgel, is remarkable of itself. public instruction is of late making headway, but half a century ago the shepherd and laboring population--perhaps nine-tenths of the whole--had little learning or indeed need for it. their manners and customs are simple and severe and little has changed in modern life from that of their great-great-great-grandfathers. each family has a sort of a chief or official head, and the eldest son always looks for a wife among the families of his own class. seldom, if ever, does the married son quit the paternal roof, so large households are the rule. in a family where there are only girls, the eldest is the heir, and she may only marry with a cadet of another family by his joining his name with hers. perhaps it is this that originally set the fashion for hyphenated names. the andorrans are generally robust and well built; the maladies of more populous regions are practically unknown among them. this speaks much for the simple life! costumes and dress are rough and simple and of heavy woolens, clipt from the sheep and woven on the spot. public officers, the few representatives of officialdom who exist, alone make any pretense at following the fashions. the women occupy a very subordinate position in public affairs. they may not be present at receptions and functions and not even at mass when it is said by the bishop. crime is infrequent, and simple, light punishments alone are inflicted. things are not so uncivilized in andorra as one might think! in need all men may be called upon to serve as soldiers, and each head of a family must have a rifle and ball at hand at all times. in other words, he must be able to protect himself against marauders. this does away with the necessity of a large standing police force. commerce and industry are free of all taxation in andorra, and customs dues apply on but few articles. for this reason there is not a very heavy tax on a people who are mostly cultivators and graziers. there is little manufacturing industry, as might be supposed, and what is made--save by hand and in single examples--is of the most simple character. "made in germany" or "tabriqué en belgique" are the marks one sees on most of the common manufactured articles. the andorrans are a simple, proud, gullible people, who live to-day in the past, of the past and for the past; "les vallées et souverainetés de l'andorre" are to them to-day just what they always were--a little world of their own. gavarnie[a] [footnote a: from "a tour through the pyrenees." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, henry holt & co. copyright, .] by hippolyte adolphe taine from luz to gavarnie is eighteen miles. it is enjoined upon every living creature able to mount a horse, a mule, or any quadruped whatever, to visit gavarnie; in default of other beasts, he should, putting aside all shame, bestride an ass. ladies and convalescents are there in sedan-chairs. otherwise, think what a figure you will make on your return. "you come from the pyrenees; you've seen gavarnie?" "no." what then did you go to the pyrenees for? you hang your head, and your friend triumphs, especially if he was bored at gavarnie. you undergo a description of gavarnie after the last edition of the guide-book. gavarnie is a sublime sight; tourists go sixty miles out of their way to see it; the duchess d'angouléme had herself carried to the furthest rocks. lord bute, when he saw it for the first time, cried: "if i were now at the extremity of india, and suspected the existence of what i see at this moment, i should immediately leave in order to enjoy and admire it!" you are overwhelmed with quotations and supercilious smiles; you are convinced of laziness, of dulness of mind, and, as certain english travelers say, of unesthetic insensibility. there are but two resources: to learn a description by heart, or to make the journey. i have made the journey, and am going to give the description. we leave at six o'clock in the morning, by the road to scia, in the fog, without seeing at first anything beyond confused forms of trees and rocks. at the end of a quarter of an hour, we hear along the pathway a noise of sharp cries drawing near; it was a funeral procession coming from scia. two men bore a small coffin under a white shroud; behind came four herdsmen in long cloaks and brown capuchons, silent, with bent heads; four women followed in black mantles. it was they who uttered those monotonous and piercing lamentations; one knew not if they were wailing or praying. they walked with long steps through the cold mist, without stopping or looking at any one, and were going to bury the poor body in the cemetery at luz. at scia the road passes over a small bridge very high up, which commands another bridge, gray and abandoned. the double tier of arches bends gracefully over the blue torrent; meanwhile a pale light already floats in the diaphanous mist; a golden gauze undulates above the gave; the aërial veil grows thin and will soon vanish. nothing can convey the idea of this light, so youthful, timid, and smiling, which glitters like the bluish wings of a dragon-fly that is pursued and is taken captive in a net of fog. beneath, the boiling water is engulfed in a narrow conduit and leaps like a mill-race. the column of foam, thirty feet high, falls with a furious din, and its glaucous waves, heaped together in the deep ravine, dash against each other and are broken upon a line of fallen rocks. other enormous rocks, débris of the same mountain, hang above the road, their squared heads crowned with brambles for hair; ranged in impregnable line, they seem to watch the torments of the gave, which their brothers hold beneath themselves crusht and subdued. we turn a second bridge and enter the plain of gèdrés, verdant and cultivated, where the hay is in cocks; they are harvesting; our horses walk between two hedges of hazel; we go along by orchards; but the mountain is ever near; the guide shows us a rock three times the height of a man, which, two years ago, rolled down and demolished a house. we encounter several singular caravans: a band of young priests in black hats, black gloves, black cassocks tucked up, black stockings, very apparent, novices in horsemanship who bound at every step, like the gave; a big, jolly, round man, in a sedan-chair, his hands crossed over his belly, who looks on us with a paternal air, and reads his newspaper; three ladies of sufficiently ripe age, very slender, very lean, very stiff, who, for dignity's sake, set their beasts on a trot as we draw near them. the cicisbeo is a bony cartilaginous gentleman, fixt perpendicularly on his saddle like a telegraph-pole. we hear a harsh clucking, as of a choked hen, and we recognize the english tongue. beyond gèdres is a wild valley called chaos, which is well named. after a quarter of an hour's journey there, the trees disappear, then the juniper and the box, and finally the moss. the gave is no longer seen; all noises are hushed. it is a dead solitude peopled with wrecks. the avalanches of rocks and crusht flint have come down from the summit to the very bottom. the horrid tide, high and a quarter of a league in length, spreads out like waves its myriads of sterile stones, and the inclined sheet seems still to glide toward inundating the gorge. these stones are shattered and pulverized; their living fractures and thin, harsh points wound the eye; they are still bruising and crushing each other. not a bush, not a spear of grass; the arid grayish train burns beneath a sun of brass; its débris are scorched to a dull hue, as in a furnace. a hundred paces further on, the aspect of the valley becomes formidable. troops of mammoths and mastadons in stone lie crouching over the eastern declivity, one above another, and heaped up over the whole slope. these colossal ridges shine with a tawny hue like iron rust; the most enormous of them drink the water of the river at their base. they look as if warming their bronzed skin in the sun, and sleep, turned over, stretched out on their side, resting in all attitudes, and always gigantic and frightful. their deformed paws are curled up; their bodies half buried in the earth; their monstrous backs rest one upon another. when you enter into the midst of the prodigious band, the horizon disappears, the blocks rise fifty feet into the air; the road winds painfully among the overhanging masses; men and horses seem but dwarfs; these rusted edges mount in stages to the very summit, and the dark hanging army seems ready to fall on the human insects which come to trouble its sleep. once upon a time, the mountain, in a paroxysm of fever, shook its summits like a cathedral that is falling in. a few points resisted, and their embattled turrets are drawn out in line on the crest; but their layers are dislocated, their sides creviced, their points jagged. the whole shattered ridge totters. beneath them the rock fails suddenly in a living and still bleeding wound. the splinters are lower down, strewn over the declivity. the tumbled rocks are sustained one upon another, and man to-day passes in safety amidst the disaster. but what a day was that of the ruin: it is not very ancient, perhaps of the sixth century, and the year of the terrible earthquake told of by gregory of tours. if a man could without perishing have seen the summits split, totter and fall, the two seas of rock come bounding into the gorge, meet one another and grind each other amidst a shower of sparks, he would have looked upon the grandest spectacle ever seen by human eyes. on the west, a perpendicular mole, crannied like an old ruin, lifts itself straight up toward the sky. a leprosy of yellowish moss has incrusted its pores, and has clothed it all over with a sinister livery. this livid robe upon this parched stone has a splendid effect. nothing is uglier than the chalky flints that are drawn from the quarry; just dug up, they seem cold and damp in their whitish shroud; they are not used to the sun; they make a contrast with the rest. but the rock that has lived in the air for ten thousand years, where the light has every day laid on and melted its metallic tints, is the friend of the sun, and carries its mantle upon its shoulders; it has no need of a garment of verdure; if it suffers from parasitic vegetations, it sticks them to its sides and imprints them with its colors. the threatening tones with which it clothes itself suits the free sky, the naked landscape, the powerful heat that environs it; it is alive like a plant; only it is of another age, one more severe and stronger than that in which we vegetate. gavarnie is a very ordinary village, commanding a view of the amphitheater we are come to see. after you have left it, it is still necessary to go three miles through a melancholy plain, half buried in sand by the winter inundations; the waters of the gave are muddy and dull; a cold wind whistles from the amphitheater; the glaciers, strewn with mud and stones, are stuck to the declivity like patches of dirty plaster. the mountains are bald and ravined by cascades; black cones of scattered firs climb them like routed soldiers; a meager and wan turf wretchedly clothes their mutilated heads. the horses ford the gave stumblingly, chilled by the water coming from the snows. in this wasted solitude you meet, all of a sudden, the most smiling parterre. a throng of the lovely iris crowds itself into the bed of a dried torrent; the sun stripes with rays of gold their velvety petals of tender blue; and the eye follows over the whole plain the folds of the rivulet of flowers. we climb a last eminence, sown with iris and with stones. there is a hut where you breakfast and leave the horses. you arm yourself with a stout stick, and descend upon the glaciers of the amphitheater. these glaciers are very ugly, very dirty, very uneven, very slippery; at every step you run the risk of falling, and if you fall, it is on sharp stones or into deep holes. they look very much like heaps of old plaster-work, and those who have admired them must have a stock of admiration for sale. the water has pierced them so that you walk upon bridges of snow. these bridges have the appearance of kitchen air-holes; the water is swallowed up in a very low archway, and, when you look closely, you get a distinct sight of a black hole. after the glaciers we find a sloping esplanade; we climb for ten minutes bruising our feet upon fragments of sharp rock. since leaving the hut we have not lifted our eyes, in order to restore for ourselves an unbroken sensation. here at last we look. a wall of granite crowned with snow hollows itself before us in a gigantic amphitheater. this amphitheater is twelve hundred feet high, nearly three miles in circumference, three tiers of perpendicular walls, and in each tier thousands of steps. the valley ends there; the wall is a single block and impregnable. the other summits might fall, but its massive layers would not be moved. the mind is overwhelmed by the idea of a stability that can not be shaken and an assured eternity. there is the boundary of two countries and two races; this it is that roland wanted to break, when with a sword-stroke he opened a breach in the summit. but the immense wound disappeared in the immensity of the unconquered wall. three sheets of snow are spread out over the three tiers of layers. the sun falls with all its force upon this virginal robe without being able to make it shine. it preserves its dead whiteness. all this grandeur is austere; the air is chilled beneath the noonday rays; great, damp shadows creep along the foot of the walls. it is the everlasting winter and the nakedness of the desert. the sole inhabitants are the cascades assembled to form the gave. the streamlets of water come by thousands from the highest layer, leap from step to step, cross their stripes of foam, unite and fall by a dozen brooks that slide from the last layer in flaky streaks to lose themselves in the glaciers of the bottom. the thirteenth cascade on the left is twelve hundred and sixty-six feet high. it falls slowly, like a dropping cloud, or the unfolding of a muslin veil; the air softens its fall; the eye follows complacently the graceful undulation of the beautiful airy veil. it glides the length of the rock, and seems to float rather than to fall. the sun shines, through its plume, with the softest and loveliest splendor. it reaches the bottom like a bouquet of slender waving feathers, and springs backward in a silver dust; the fresh and transparent mist swings about the rock it bathes, and its rebounding train mounts lightly along the courses. no stir in the air; no noise, no living creature in the solitude. you hear only the monotonous murmur of the cascades, resembling the rustle of the leaves that the wind stirs in the forest. on our return, we seated ourselves at the door of the hut. it is a poor, squat little house, heavily supported upon thick walls; the knotty joists of the ceiling retain their bark. it is indeed necessary that it should be able to stand out alone against the snows of winter. you find everywhere the imprint of the terrible months it has gone through. two dead fir-trees stand erect at the door. the garden, three feet square, is defended by enormous walls of piled-up slates. the low and black stable leaves neither foot-hold nor entry for the winds. a lean colt was seeking a little grass among the stones. a small bull, with surly air, looked at us out of the sides of his eyes; the animals, the trees and the site, wore a threatening or melancholy aspect. but in the clefts of a rock were growing some admirable buttercups, lustrous and splendid, which looked as if painted by a ray of sunshine. at the village we met our companions of the journey who had sat down there. the good tourists get fatigued, stop ordinarily at the inn, take a substantial dinner, have a chair brought to the door, and digest while looking at the amphitheater, which from there appears about as high as a house. after this they return, praising the sublime sight, and very glad that they have come to the pyrenees. vi belgium bruges[a] [footnote a: from "cities of belgium."] by grant allen the rhine constituted the great central waterway of medieval europe; the flemish towns were its ports and its manufacturing centers. they filled in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries much the same place that liverpool, glasgow, manchester, and birmingham fill in the nineteenth. many causes contributed to this result. flanders, half independent under its own counts, occupied a middle position, geographically and politically, between france and the empire; it was comparatively free from the disastrous wars which desolated both these countries, and in particular it largely escaped the long smouldering quarrel between french and english, which so long retarded the development of the former. its commercial towns, again, were not exposed on the open sea to the attacks of pirates or hostile fleets, but were safely ensconced in inland flats, reached by rivers or canals, almost inaccessible to maritime enemies. similar conditions elsewhere early ensured peace and prosperity for venice. the canal system of holland and belgium began to be developed as early as the twelfth century (at first for drainage), and was one leading cause of the commercial importance of the flemish cities in the fourteenth. in so flat a country, locks are all but unnecessary. the two towns which earliest rose to greatness in the belgian area were thus bruges and ghent; they possest in the highest degree the combined advantages of easy access to the sea and comparative inland security. bruges, in particular, was one of the chief stations of the hanseatic league, which formed an essentially commercial alliance for the mutual protection of the northern trading centers. by the fourteenth century bruges had thus become in the north what venice was in the south, the capital of commerce. trading companies from all the surrounding countries had their "factories" in the town, and every european king or prince of importance kept a resident minister accredited to the merchant republic. some comprehension of the mercantile condition of europe in general during the middle ages is necessary in order to understand the early importance and wealth of the flemish cities. southern europe, and in particular italy, was then still the seat of all higher civilization, more especially of the trade in manufactured articles and objects of luxury. florence, venice and genoa ranked as the polished and learned cities of the world. further east, again, constantinople still remained in the hands of the greek emperors, or, during the crusades, of their latin rivals. a brisk trade existed via the mediterranean between europe and india or the nearer east. this double stream of traffic ran along two main routes--one, by the rhine, from lombardy and rome; the other, by sea, from venice, genoa, florence, constantinople, the levant, and india. on the other hand, france was still but a half civilized country, with few manufactures and little external trade; while england was an exporter of raw produce, chiefly wool, like australia in our own time. the hanseatic merchants of cologne held the trade of london; those of wisby and lübeck governed that of the baltic; bruges, as head of the hansea, was in close connection with all of these, as well as with hull, york, novgorod, and bergen. the position of the flemish towns in the fourteenth century was thus not wholly unlike that of new york, philadelphia, and boston at the present day; they stood as intermediaries between the older civilized countries, like italy or the greek empire, and the newer producers of raw material, like england, north germany, and the baltic towns. in a lost corner of the great lowland flat of flanders, defended from the sea by an artificial dike, and at the point of intersection of an intricate network of canals and waterways, there arose in the early middle ages a trading town, known in flemish as brugge, in french as bruges (that is to say, the bridge), from a primitive structure that here crossed the river. a number of bridges now span the sluggish streams. all of them open in the middle to admit the passage of shipping. bruges stood originally on a little river, reye, once navigable, now swallowed by canals; and the reye flowed into the zwin, long silted up, but then the safest harbor in the low countries. at first the capital of a petty count, this land-locked internal harbor grew in time to be the venice of the north, and to gather round its quays or at its haven of damme, the ships and merchandise of all neighboring peoples. already in it ranked as the central mart of the hanseatic league. it was the port of entry for english wool and russian furs: the port of departure for flemish broadcloths, laces, tapestries, and linens. canals soon connected it with ghent, dunkirk, sluys, furnes and ypres. its nucleus lay in a little knot of buildings about the grand place and the hotel de ville, stretching out to the cathedral and the dyver; thence it spread on all sides till, in , it filled the whole space within the existing ramparts, now largely abandoned or given over to fields and gardens. it was the wealthiest town of europe, outside italy. the decline of the town was due partly to the break-up of the hanseatic system; partly to the rise of english ports and manufacturing towns; but still more, and especially as compared with our flemish cities, to the silting of the zwin, and the want of adaption in its waterways to the needs of great ships and modern navigation. the old sea entrance to bruges was through the zwin, by way of sluys and kadzand; up that channel came the venetian merchant fleet and the flemish galleys, to the port of damme. by , it ceased to be navigable for large vessels. the later canal is still open, but as it passes through what is now dutch territory, it is little used; nor is it adapted to any save ships of comparatively small burden. another canal, suitable for craft of tons, leads through belgian territory to ostend; but few vessels now navigate it, and those for the most part only for local trade. the town has shrunk to half its former size, and has only a quarter of its medieval population. the commercial decay of bruges, however, has preserved its charm for the artist, the archeologist, and the tourist; its sleepy streets and unfrequented quays are among the most picturesque sights of bustling and industrial modern belgium. the great private palaces, indeed, are almost all destroyed; but many public buildings remain, and the domestic architecture is quaint and pretty. bruges was the mother of arts in flanders: jan van eyck lived here from to . memling, probably from till . caxton, the first english printer, lived as a merchant at bruges, in the domus anglorum or english factory, from to , and probably put in the press here the earliest english book printed, tho strong grounds have been adduced in favor of cologne. colard mansion, the great printer of bruges at that date, was one of the leaders in the art of typography.... the very tall square tower which faces you as you enter the grand place is the belfry, the center and visible embodiment of the town of bruges. the grand place itself was the forum and meeting place of the soldier citizens, who were called to arms by the chimes in the belfry. the center of the place is therefore appropriately occupied by a colossal statue group, modern, of pieter de coninck and jan breidel, the leaders of the citizens of bruges at the battle of the spurs before the walls of courtrai in , a conflict which secured the freedom of flanders from the interference of the kings of france. the group is by devigne. the reliefs on the pedestal represent scenes from the battle and its antecedents. the majestic belfry itself represents the first beginnings of freedom in bruges. leave to erect such a bell-tower, both as a mark of independence and to summon the citizens to arms, was one of the first privileges which every teutonic trading town desired to wring from its feudal lord. this brick tower, the pledge of municipal rights, was begun in , to replace an earlier one of wood, and finished about a hundred years later; the octagon, in stone at the summit, which holds the bell, having been erected in - . it consists of three stories, the two lower of which are square and flanked by balconies with turrets; the windows below are of the simple early gothic style, but show a later type of architecture in the octagon. the niche in the center contains the virgin and child, a group restored after being destroyed by the french revolutionists. below it on either side are smaller figures holding escutcheons. from the balcony between these last, the laws and the rescripts of the counts were read aloud to the people assembled in the square. the belfry can be ascended by steps. owing to the force of the wind, it leans slightly to the southeast. the view from the top is very extensive and striking. it embraces the greater part of the plain of flanders, with its towns and villages. the country, tho quite flat, looks beautiful when thus seen. in early times, however, the look-out from the summit was of practical use for purposes of observation, military or maritime. it commanded the river, the zwin, and the sea approach by sluys and damme; the course of the various canals; and the roads to ghent, antwerp, tournai, and courtrai. the belfry contains a famous set of chimes, the mechanism of which may be inspected by the visitor. he will have frequent opportunities of hearing the beautiful and mellow carillon, perhaps to excess. the existing bells date only from : the mechanism from . a pen picture of bruges[a] [footnote a: from "the paris sketch book."] by william makepeace thackeray it is the quaintest and prettiest of all the quaint and pretty towns i have seen. a painter might spend months here, and wander from church to church, and admire old towers and pinnacles, tall gables, bright canals, and pretty little patches of green garden and moss-grown wall, that reflect in the clear quiet water. before the inn-window is a garden, from which in the early morning issues a most wonderful odor of stocks and wallflowers; next comes a road with trees of admirable green; numbers of little children are playing in this road (the place is so clean that they may roll on it all day without soiling their pinafores), and on the other side of the trees are little old-fashioned, dumpy, whitewashed, red-tiled houses. a poorer landscape to draw never was known, nor a pleasanter to see--the children especially, who are inordinately fat and rosy. let it be remembered, too, that here we are out of the country of ugly women; the expression of the face is almost uniformly gentle and pleasing, and the figures of the women, wrapt in long black monk-like cloaks and hoods, very picturesque. no wonder there are so many children: the "guide-book" (omniscient mr. murray!) says there are fifteen thousand paupers in the town, and we know how such multiply. how the deuce do their children look so fat and rosy? by eating dirt-pies, i suppose. i saw a couple making a very nice savory one, and another employed in gravely sticking strips of stick betwixt the pebbles at the house-door, and so making for herself a stately garden. the men and women don't seem to have much more to do. there are a couple of tall chimneys at either suburb of the town, where no doubt manufactories are at work, but within the walls everybody seems decently idle. we have been, of course, abroad to visit the lions. the tower in the grand place is very fine, and the bricks of which it is built do not yield a whit in color to the best stone. the great building round this tower is very like the pictures of the ducal palace at venice; and there is a long market area, with columns down the middle, from which hung shreds of rather lean-looking meat, that would do wonders under the hands of cattermole or haghe. in the tower there is a chime of bells that keep ringing perpetually. they not only play tunes of themselves, and every quarter of an hour, but an individual performs selections from popular operas on them at certain periods of the morning, afternoon, and evening. i have heard to-day "suoni la tromba," "son vergin vezzosa," from the "puritani," and other airs, and very badly they were played too; for such a great monster as a tower-bell can not be expected to imitate madame grisi or even signor lablache. other churches indulge in the same amusement, so that one may come here and live in melody all day or night, like the young woman in moore's "lalla rookh." in the matter of art, the chief attractions of bruges are the pictures of memling, that are to be seen in the churches, the hospital, and the picture-gallery of the place. there are no more pictures of rubens to be seen, and, indeed, in the course of a fortnight, one has had quite enough of the great man and his magnificent, swaggering canvases. what a difference is here with simple memling and the extraordinary creations of his pencil! the hospital is particularly rich in them; and the legend there is that the painter, who had served charles the bold in his war against the swiss, and his last battle and defeat, wandered back wounded and penniless to bruges, and here found cure and shelter. this hospital is a noble and curious sight. the great hall is almost as it was in the twelfth century; it is spanned by saxon arches, and lighted by a multiplicity of gothic windows of all sizes; it is very lofty, clean, and perfectly well ventilated; a screen runs across the middle of the room, to divide the male from the female patients, and we were taken to examine each ward, where the poor people seemed happier than possibly they would have been in health and starvation without it. great yellow blankets were on the iron beds, the linen was scrupulously clean, glittering pewter-jugs and goblets stood by the side of each patient, and they were provided with godly books (to judge from the building), in which several were reading at leisure. honest old comfortable nuns, in queer dresses of blue, black, white, and flannel, were bustling through the room, attending to the wants of the sick. i saw about a dozen of these kind women's faces; one was young,--all were healthy and cheerful. one came with bare blue arms and a great pile of linen from an out-house--such a grange as cedric the saxon might have given to a guest for the night. a couple were in a laboratory, a tall, bright, clean room, years old at least. "we saw you were not very religious," said one of the old ladies, with a red, wrinkled, good-humored face, "by your behavior yesterday in chapel." and yet we did not laugh and talk as we used at college, but were profoundly affected by the scene that we saw there. it was a fête-day; a work of mozart was sung in the evening--not well sung, and yet so exquisitely tender and melodious, that it brought tears into our eyes. there were not above twenty people in the church; all, save three or four, were women in long black cloaks. i took them for nuns at first. they were, however, the common people of the town, very poor indeed, doubtless, for the priest's box that was brought round was not added to by most of them, and their contributions were but two-cent pieces--five of these go to a penny; but we know the value of such, and can tell the exact worth of a poor woman's mite! the box-bearer did not seem at first willing to accept our donation--we were strangers and heretics; however, i held out my hand, and he came perforce as it were. indeed it had only a franc in it; but "que voulez vous?" i had been drinking a bottle of rhine wine that day, and how was i to afford more? the rhine wine is dear in this country, and costs four francs a bottle. well, the service proceeded. twenty poor women, two englishmen, four ragged beggars, cowering on the steps; and there was the priest at the altar, in a great robe of gold and damask, two little boys in white surplices serving him, holding his robe as he rose and bowed, and the money-gatherer swinging his censer, and filling the little chapel with smoke. the music pealed with wonderful sweetness; you could see the prim white heads of the nuns in their gallery. the evening light streamed down upon old statues of saints and carved brown stalls, and lighted up the head of the golden-haired magdalen in a picture of the entombment of christ. over the gallery, and, as it were, a kind protectress to the poor below, stood the statue of the virgin. ghent[a] [footnote a: from "cities of belgium."] by grant allen flanders owes everything to its water communications. at the junction of the schelde with the lys and lei, there grew up in the very early middle ages a trading town, named gent in flemish, and gand in french, but commonly anglicized as ghent. it lay on a close network of rivers and canals, formed partly by these two main streams, and partly by the minor channels of the lieve and the moere, which together intersect it into several islands. such a tangle of inland waterways, giving access to the sea and to bruges, courtrai, and tournai, as well as less directly to antwerp and brussels, ensured the rising town in early times considerable importance. it formed the center of a radiating commerce. westward, its main relations were with london and english wool ports; eastward with cologne, maastricht, the rhine towns, and italy. ghent was always the capital of east flanders, as bruges or ypres were of the western province; and after the counts lost possession of arras and artois, it became in the thirteenth century their principal residence and the metropolis of the country.... early in the fourteenth century, the burghers of ghent, under their democratic chief, jacob or jacques van artevelde, attained practical independence. till , the counts and people of flanders had been united in their resistance to the claims of france; but with the accession of count louis of nevers, the aspect of affairs changed. louis was french by education, sympathies, and interests, and artistocratic by nature; he sought to curtail the liberties of the flemish towns, and to make himself despotic. the wealthy and populous burgher republics resisted and in van artevelde was appointed captain of ghent. louis fled to france and asked the aid of philip of valois. thereupon, van artevelde made himself the ally of edward iii. of england, then beginning his war with france; but as the flemings did not like entirely to cast off their allegiance--a thing repugnant to medieval sentiment--van artevelde persuaded edward to put forward his trumped-up claim to the crown of france, and thus induced the towns to transfer their fealty from philip to his english rival. it was therefore in his character as king of france that edward came to flanders. the alliance thus formed between the great producer of raw wool, england, and the great manufacturer of woolen goods, ghent, proved of immense importance to both parties. but as count louis sided with philip of valois, the breach between the democracy of ghent and its nominal soverign now became impassable. van artevelde held supreme power in ghent and flanders for nine years--the golden age of flemish commerce--and was treated on equal terms by edward, who stopt at ghent as his guest for considerable periods. but he was opposed by a portion of the citizens, and his suggestion that the black prince, son of edward iii., should be elected count of flanders, proved so unpopular with his enemies that he was assassinated by one of them, gerald denys. the town and states immediately repudiated the murder; and the alliance which van artevelde had brought about still continued. it had far-reaching results; the woolen industry was introduced by edward into the eastern counties of england, and ghent had risen meanwhile to be the chief manufacturing city of europe. the quarrel between the democratic weavers and their exiled counts was still carried on by philip van artevelde, the son of jacques, and godson of queen philippa of england, herself a hainaulter. under his rule, the town continued to increase in wealth and population. but the general tendency of later medieval europe toward centralized despotisms as against urban republics was too strong in the end for free ghent. in , philip was appointed dictator by the democratic party, in the war against the count, son of his father's opponent, whom he repelled with great slaughter in a battle near bruges. he then made himself regent of flanders. but count louis obtained the aid of charles vi. of france, and defeated and killed philip van artevelde at the disastrous battle of roosebeke in . that was practically the end of local freedom in flanders. tho the cities continued to revolt against their sovereigns from time to time, they were obliged to submit for the most part to their count and to the burgundian princes who inherited from him by marriage. the subsequent history of ghent is that of the capital of the burgundian dukes, and of the house of austria. here the german king, maximilian, afterward emperor, married mary of burgundy, the heiress of the netherlands; and here charles v. was born in the palace of the counts. it was his principal residence, and he was essentially a fleming.... the real interest of the cathedral centers, not in st. bavon, nor in his picture by rubens, but in the great polyptych of the adoration of the lamb, the masterpiece of jan van eyck and his brother hubert, which forms in a certain sense the point of departure for the native art of the netherlands.... stand before the west front at a little distance, to examine the simple but massive architecture of the tower and façade. the great portal has been robbed of the statues which once adorned its niches. three have been "restored"; they represent, center, the savior; at the left, the patron, st. bavon, recognizable by his falcon, his sword as duke, and his book as monk; he wears armor, with a ducal robe and cap above it; at the right, st. john the baptist, the earlier patron. then, walk to the right, round the south side, to observe the external architecture of the nave, aisles and choir. the latter has the characteristic rounded or apsidal termination of continental gothic, whereas english gothic usually has a square end. enter by the south portal. the interior, with single aisles and short transepts (early gothic) is striking for its simple dignity, its massive pillars, and its high arches, tho the undeniably noble effect of the whole is somewhat marred to english eyes by the unusual appearance of the unadorned brick walls and vaulting. the pulpit, by delvaux ( ), partly in oak, partly in marble, represents truth revealing the christian faith to astonished paganism, figured as an old and outworn man. it is a model of all that should be avoided in plastic or religious art. the screen which separates the choir from the transepts is equally unfortunate. the apsidal end of the choir, however, with its fine modern stained glass, forms a very pleasing feature in the general coup d'oeil.... the sixth chapel (of the vydts family) contains the famous altar piece of the adoration of the lamb, by hubert and jan van eyck, to study which is the chief object of a visit to ghent. see it more than once, and examine it carefully. ask the sacristan to let you sit before it for some time in quiet or he will hurry you on. you must observe it in close detail. taking it in its entirety, then, the altar-piece, when opened, is a great mystical poem of the eucharist and the sacrifice of the lamb, with the christian folk, both church and world, adoring. the composition contains over figures. many of them, which i have not here identified, can be detected by a closer inspection, which, however, i will leave to the reader. now, ask the sacristan to shut the wings. they are painted on the outer side (all a copy) mainly in grisaille, or in very low tones of color, as is usual in such cases, so as to allow the jewel-like brilliancy of the internal picture to burst upon the observer the moment the altar-piece is opened. old ghent occupied for the most part the island which extends from the palais de justice on one side to the botanical gardens on the other. this island, bounded by the lys, the schelde, and an ancient canal, includes almost all the principal buildings of the town, such as the cathedral, st. nicholas, the hôtel-dé-ville, the belfry, and st. jacques, as well as the chief places, such as the marché aux grains, the marché aux herbes, and the marché du vendredi. it also extends beyond the lys to the little island on which is situated the church of st. michael, and again to the islet formed between the lieve and the lys, which contains the château of the counts and the palace ste. pharailde. in the later middle ages, however, the town had spread to nearly its existing extreme dimensions, and was probably more populous than at the present moment. but its ancient fortifications have been destroyed and their place has been taken by boulevards and canals. the line may still be traced on the map, or walked round through a series of shipping suburbs; but it is uninteresting to follow, a great part of its course lying through the more squalid portions of the town. the only remaining gate is that known as the rabot ( ), a very interesting and picturesque object situated in a particularly slummy quarter. bruges is full of memories of the burgundian princes. at ghent it is the personality of charles v., the great emperor who cumulated in his own person the sovereignties of germany, the low countries, spain and burgundy, that meets us afresh at every turn. he was born here in and baptized in a font, otherwise uninteresting, which still stands in the north transept of the cathedral. ghent was really, for the greater part of his life, his practical capital, and he never ceased to be at heart a ghenter. that did not prevent the citizens from unjustly rebelling against him in , after the suppression of which revolt charles is said to have ascended the cathedral tower, while the executioner was putting to death the ringleaders in the rebellion, in order to choose with his brother ferdinand the site for the citadel he intended to erect, to overawe the freedom loving city. he chose the monastery of st. bavon as its site, and, as we have seen, built there his colossal fortress, now wholly demolished. the palace in which he was born and which he inhabited frequently during life, was known as the cour du prince. it stood near the ancient grand béguinage, but only its name now survives in that of a street. brussels[a] [footnote a: from "the belgians at home." published by little, brown & co.] by clive holland the great commercial and material prosperity of the place dates from the commencement of the rule of the house of burgundy. it was then, in the fifteenth century, that the most beautiful of its many fine buildings were erected. the church of st. michael and st. gudule has its great nave and towers dating from this period; the hôtel de ville, notre dame du sablon, the nassau palace, the palace of the dukes of brabant, and many other buildings were commenced then. manufactures and commerce commenced to flourish, while the liberties of the municipality were extended considerably. it was undoubtedly under the rule of charles v. that brussels reached its zenith of ancient prosperity. then, with the era of philip ii. of spain, came a long period of bloodshed, persecution, and misery. the religious disputes and troubles afflicting the netherlands had their effect upon the life, prosperity, and happiness of the bruxellois. the whole country was running with blood, and ruin stalked through the land. but during this tragic period of netherlands' history brussels saw several glorious events, and did as a city more than one noble deed. it was in brussels that the compromise of the nobles took place, after which those who were rebelling against the cruelties of the inquisition were given the name of "gueux," which had been bestowed upon them contemptuously by the comte de barlaimont.... it was brussels which led the revolt against the most bloodthirsty of the rulers sent to the netherlands by spain, the duke of alva, and successfully resisted the imposition of the notorious "twentieth denier" tax which it was sought to impose upon it, a tax which led ultimately to the revolt of the whole of the belgian provinces. certainly this ancient capital of the province of brabant, containing nowadays with its suburbs a population of upward of , , which has quadrupled in sixty years, has come to take its place among the most beautiful and charming capital cities of europe. it is undoubtedly healthy, and there is an engaging air about brussels which soon impresses itself upon the foreign visitor. added to all its many attractions of interesting museums--the homes of wonderful and in some cases unrivaled collections of works of art--and of historical associations with the past, it possesses the charm of being modern in the best sense and of being a place where one may find much that is finest in art and music. as a home of fashion it bids fair some day to rival paris herself, and the shops of the montagne de la cour, boulevard anspach, and contiguous streets are scarcely less luxurious or exclusive than those of the rue de la paix or boulevard des italiens in the french capital. brussels is a city of shady boulevards, open spaces, and pleasant parks as is paris; and the beautiful bois de la cambre on its outskirts compares very favorably with the world-renowned bois de boulogne as regards rural charm and picturesqueness. one impression that brussels is almost certain to make upon the visitor is its compactness. its population, including the outskirts, is nowadays rather over , ; but it is almost impossible to realize that nearly one-eleventh of the whole population of belgium is concentrated in this one city, or, as might be said, in greater brussels. perhaps the real reason of this apparent lack of size is because there are in reality two cities, brussels interior and brussels exterior. the one with a population of about , ; the latter with one of about , . it is with the former, of course, that the tourist and casual visitor are chiefly concerned. the outlying suburbs are, however, connected with the city proper by a splendid system of steam, electric, and other trams. in fact, it may be said that brussels is in a sense surrounded by a group of small towns, which tho forming part of the great city are yet independent, and are governed very much like the various boroughs which make up greater london, curhegem, st. gilles, ixelles, st. josse, ten noodle, molenbeek, st. jean, and schaerbeek, still further out, are all in a sense separate towns, seldom visited by, and indeed almost unknown to the tourist. the most fashionable quarters for residences of the wealthy classes are the broad and beautiful avenue louise and the streets and avenues of the quartier leopold. they in a sense correspond to the avenue du bois de boulogne, avenue des champs Élysées, and boulevard st. germain of paris. there is another feature, too, that modern brussels has in common with paris of the immediate past and of to-day. it is being "haussmannized," and the older and more quaint and interesting portions of the city, as has been and is the case in paris, are gradually but surely disappearing to make way for the onward march of progress and expansion. almost on every hand, and especially in the porte de namur quarter, old buildings are constantly falling victims to the house-wrecker, and new, in the shape of handsome mansions and lofty blocks of flats, are arising from their ashes. the last thirty--even twenty--years have seen many changes. during that period the sluggish little river senne, which once meandered through the city, and upon whose banks stood many fine and picturesque old houses and buildings of past ages, has been arched over, and the fine boulevard of the same name, and those of hainaut and anspach, have been built above its imprisoned waters. the higher portions of the city are undeniably healthy, and the climate of brussels is less subject to extreme changes than that of paris. it is not unbearably cold in winter, and tho hot in summer, is not so, we think, airless as either paris or london, a fact accounted for by reason of its many open spaces, its height above sea-level, and comparative nearness to the north sea. of its fine buildings, none excels the hôtel de ville, which is certainly one of the most interesting and beautiful buildings of its kind in belgium. it is well placed on one of the finest medieval squares in europe, and is surrounded by quaint and historic houses. on this grande place many tragedies have from time to time been enacted, and some of the most ferocious acts of the inhuman alva performed. in the spring of the terrible year, , no less than twenty-five flemish nobles were executed here, and in the june of the same year the patriots lamoral, count egmont, philip de montmorency, and count hoorn were put to death. this atrocious deed is commemorated by a fountain with statues of the heroes, placed in front of the maison du roi, from a window of which the duke of alva watched his orders carried out. this most beautiful hôtel de ville, with its late gothic façade approaching the renaissance period, nearly feet in length, was commenced, according to a well-known authority, either in or , the eastern wing, or left-hand portion as one faces it across the place, having been the first part to be commenced, the western half of the façade not having been begun until . the later additions formed the quadrangle. the cathedral at brussels is dedicated jointly to ste. gudule and st. michael. the former is one of the luckiest saints in that respect, as probably but for this dedication, she would have remained among the many rather obscure saints of the early periods of christianity. it is to this church that most visitors to brussels first wend their way after visiting the grande place and its delightful flower market, which is gay with blossoms on most days of the week all the year round. the natural situation of the church is a fine one, which was made the most of by its architects and builders of long ago. standing, as it does, on the side of a hill reached from the grande place by the fine rue de la montagne and short, steep rue ste. gudule, it overlooks the city with its two fine twin western towers dominating the neighboring streets. these towers have appeared to us when viewed up the rue ste. gudule and other streets leading up from the lower town to the church, generally to be veiled by a mystic gray or ambient haze, and to gain much in impressiveness and grandeur from the coup d'oeil one obtains of them framed, as it were, in the end of the rising street. waterloo[a] [footnote a: from "les miserables." translated by lascelles wraxall.] by victor hugo the battle of waterloo is an enigma as obscure for those who gained it as for him who lost it. to napoleon it is a panic; blücher sees nothing in it but fire; wellington does not understand it at all. look at the reports; the bulletins are confused; the commentaries are entangled; the latter stammer, the former stutter. jomini divides the battle of waterloo into four moments; muffing cuts it into three acts; charras, altho we do not entirely agree with him in all his appreciations, has alone caught with his haughty eye the characteristic lineaments of this catastrophe of human genius contending with divine chance. all the other historians suffer from a certain bedazzlement in which they grope about. it was a flashing day, in truth the overthrow of the military monarchy which, to the great stupor of the kings, has dragged down all kingdoms, the downfall of strength and the rout of war.... in this event, which bears the stamp of superhuman necessity, men play but a small part; but if we take waterloo from wellington and blücher, does that deprive england and germany of anything? no. neither illustrious england nor august germany is in question in the problem of waterloo, for, thank heaven! nations are great without the mournful achievements of the sword. neither germany, nor england, nor france is held in a scabbard; at this day when waterloo is only a clash of sabers, germany has goethe above blücher, and england has byron above wellington. a mighty dawn of ideas is peculiar to our age; and in this dawn england and germany have their own magnificent flash. they are majestic because they think; the high level they bring to civilization is intrinsic to them; it comes from themselves, and not from an accident. any aggrandizement the nineteenth century may have can not boast of waterloo as its fountainhead; for only barbarous nations grow suddenly after a victory--it is the transient vanity of torrents swollen by a storm. civilized nations, especially at the present day, are not elevated or debased by the good or evil fortune of a captain, and their specific weight in the human family results from something more than a battle. their honor, dignity, enlightenment, and genius are not numbers which those gamblers, heroes and conquerors, can stake in the lottery of battles. very often a battle lost is progress gained, and less of glory, more of liberty. the drummer is silent and reason speaks; it is the game of who loses wins. let us, then, speak of waterloo coldly from both sides, and render to chance the things that belong to chance, and to god what is god's. what is waterloo--a victory? no; a prize in the lottery, won by europe, and paid by france; it was hardly worth while erecting a lion for it. waterloo is the strangest encounter recorded in history; napoleon and wellington are not enemies, but contraries. never did god, who delights in antitheses, produce a more striking contrast, or a more extraordinary confrontation. on one side precision, foresight, geometry, prudence, a retreat assured, reserves prepared, an obstinate coolness, an imperturbable method, strategy profiting by the ground, tactics balancing battalions, carnage measured by a plumb-line, war regulated watch in hand, nothing left voluntarily to accident, old classic courage and absolute correctness. on the other side we have intuition, divination, military strangeness, superhuman instinct, a flashing glance; something that gazes like the eagle and strikes like lightning, all the mysteries of a profound mind, associated with destiny; the river, the plain, the forest, and the hill summoned, and, to some extent, compelled to obey; the despot going so far as even to tyrannize over the battlefield; faith in a star, blended with a strategic science, heightening, but troubling it. wellington was the barême of war, napoleon was its michelangelo, and this true genius was conquered by calculation. on both sides somebody was expected; and it was the exact calculator who succeeded. napoleon waited for grouchy, who did not come; wellington waited for blücher, and he came. wellington is the classical war taking its revenge; bonaparte, in his dawn, had met it in italy, and superbly defeated it--the old owl fled before the young vulture. the old tactics had been not only overthrown, but scandalized. who was this corsican of six-and-twenty years of age? what meant this splendid ignoramus, who, having everything against him, nothing for him, without provisions, ammunition, guns, shoes, almost without an army, with a handful of men against masses, dashed at allied europe, and absurdly gained impossible victories? who was this new comet of war who possest the effrontery of a planet? the academic military school excommunicated him, while bolting, and hence arose an implacable rancor of the old caesarism against the new, of the old saber against the flashing sword, and of the chessboard against genius. on june , , this rancor got the best; and beneath lodi, montebello, montenotte, mantua, marengo, and arcola, it wrote--waterloo. it was a triumph of mediocrity, sweet to majorities, and destiny consented to this irony. in his decline, napoleon found a young suvarov before him--in fact, it is only necessary to blanch wellington's hair in order to have a suvarov. waterloo is a battle of the first class, gained by a captain of the second. what must be admired in the battle of waterloo is england, the english firmness, the english resolution, the english blood, and what england had really superb in it, is (without offense) herself; it is not her captain, but her army. wellington, strangely ungrateful, declares in his dispatch to lord bathurst that his army, the one which fought on june , , was a "detestable army." what does the gloomy pile of bones buried in the trenches of waterloo think of this? england has been too modest to herself in her treatment of wellington, for making him so great is making herself small. wellington is merely a hero, like any other man. the scots grays, the life guards, maitland's and mitchell's regiments, pack's and kempt's infantry, ponsonby's and somerset's cavalry, the highlanders playing the bagpipes under the shower of canister, ryland's battalions, the fresh recruits who could hardly manage a musket, and yet held their ground against the old bands of essling and rivoli--all this is grand. wellington was tenacious; that was his merit, and we do not deny it to him, but the lowest of his privates and his troopers was quite as solid as he, and the iron soldier is as good as the iron duke. for our part, all our glorification is offered to the english soldier, the english army, the english nation; and if there must be a trophy, it is to england that this trophy is owing. the waterloo column would be more just, if, instead of the figure of a man, it raised to the clouds the statue of a people.... but this great england will be irritated by what we are writing here; for she still has feudal illusions, after her and the french . this people believes in inheritance and hierarchy, and while no other excels it in power and glory, it esteems itself as a nation and not as a people. as a people, it readily subordinates itself, and takes a lord as its head; the workman lets himself be despised; the soldier puts up with flogging. it will be remembered that, at the battle of inkerman, a sergeant who, as it appears, saved the british army, could not be mentioned by lord raglan, because the military hierarchy does not allow any hero below the rank of officer to be mentioned in dispatches. what we admire before all, in an encounter like waterloo, is the prodigious skill of chance. the night raid, the wall of hougoumont, the hollow way of ohain, grouchy deaf to the cannon, napoleon's guide deceiving him, bulow's guide enlightening him--all this cataclysm is marvelously managed. there is more of a massacre than of a battle in waterloo. waterloo, of all pitched battles, is the one which had the smallest front for such a number of combatants. napoleon's three-quarters of a league. wellington's half a league, and seventy-two thousand combatants on either side. from this density came the carnage. the following calculation has been made and proportion established: loss of men, at austerlitz, french, fourteen per cent.; russian, thirty per cent.; austrian, forty-four per cent.; at wagram, french, thirteen per cent.; austrian, fourteen per cent.; at moscow, french, thirty-seven per cent.; russian, forty-four per cent.; at bautzen, french, thirteen cent.; russian and prussian, fourteen per cent.; at waterloo, french, fifty-six per cent.; allies, thirty-one per cent.--total for waterloo, forty-one per cent., or out of one hundred and forty-four thousand fighting men, sixty thousand killed. the field of waterloo has at the present day that calmness which belongs to the earth, and resembles all plains; but at night, a sort of a visionary mist rises from it, and if any traveler walk about it, and listen and dream, like virgil on the mournful plain of philippi, the hallucination of the catastrophe seizes upon him. the frightful june th lives again, the false monumental hill is leveled, the wondrous lion is dissipated, the battlefield resumes its reality, lines of infantry undulate on the plain; furious galloping crosses the horizon; the startled dreamer sees the flash of sabers, the sparkle of bayonets, the red lights of shells, the monstrous collision of thunderbolts; he hears like a death groan from the tomb, the vague clamor of the fantom battle. these shadows are grenadiers; these flashes are cuirassiers; this skeleton is napoleon; this skeleton is wellington: all this is non-existent, and yet still combats, and the ravines are stained purple, and the trees rustle, and there is fury even in the clouds and in the darkness, while all the stern heights, mont st. jean, hougoumont, frischemont, papelotte, and plancenoit, seem confusedly crowned by hosts of specters exterminating one another. waterloo: a visit to the field[a] [footnote a: from "two months abroad." privately printed. .] by the editor the french wished to call it the battle of mont st. jean, but wellington said "the battle of waterloo." the victor's wish prevailed. i know not why, except because he was the victor. the scene of the battle is four miles from the village of waterloo and, besides mont st. jean, several villages from any one of which it might well have been named, are included in the field. before the battle, however, the village of waterloo had been the headquarters of the duke and there he rested for two days after the battle was won. i am now on this memorable spot as the solitary guest of a small hotel at the base of the lion's mound, after having made a night of it in crossing from aix-la-chapelle to brussels and thence, through a storm of mist and rain to the little station of braine-l'alleud, which is a good mile from the battlefield. the train reached braine-l'alleud long before daybreak. when the morn had really dawned, i left the little waiting room, a solitary loiterer, and set out to find the battleground. from the platform of the station the eye surveyed a wide, thickly populated but rural plain, and in one direction afar off, clearly set against the dark rain-dripping sky, rose in solemn majesty a mound of earth, bearing on its lofty summit an indistinct figure of a lion. a small rustic gate from the station led in the direction of the mound. from necessity, i began a tramp through the rain alone, no conveyance being obtainable. the soil of belgium here being alluvial, a little rain soon makes a great deal of mud and little rains at this season (january) are frequent. along a small unpaved mud-deep road, having meanwhile been joined by a peasant with a two wheeled cart drawn by a single mule, i was soon hastening onward toward the mound which was growing more and more visible on the horizon. the road soon turned away, however, but a path led toward the mound. the peasant took the road and i the path, which led into a little clump of houses, where were boys about their morning duties, and dogs that barked vigorously until one of the boys to whom i had spoken silenced them. passing onward through streets not more than six feet wide, along neatly trimmed hedges and past small cottage doorways, i soon entered an open plain, but in a crippled state with heavy mud-covered shoes. mud fairly obliterated all trace of leather. with this burden, and wet to the skin with rain, there rose far ahead of me that historic mound, and at last i stood at its base alone, there in the midst of one of the greatest battlefields history records, soon to forget in the momentary joys of a beefsteak breakfast that man had ever done anything in this world except eat and drink. i must borrow an illustration--victor hugo's letter a. the apex is mount st. jean, the right hand base la belle alliance, the left hand base hougoumont, the cross bar that sunken road which perhaps changed the future of europe, the two sides broad belgian roads, paved with square stones and bordered with graceful and lofty poplar trees, their proud heads waving in every breeze that drifts across this undulating plain. the lion's mound is just below the middle of this cross bar. mont st. jean, la belle alliance and hougoumont, at the three angles of the triangle, are small villages--scarcely more than hamlets. all were important points in the fortunes of that memorable th of june, . hougoumont, with its château and wall, in some sense was like a fortress. go with me if you will in imagination to the summit of the lion's mound. a flight of stone steps will take us there, a toilsome ascent in this chilling air and this persistent rain. toward mont st. jean, the surface of the ground is rolling, the waves of it high enough to conceal standing men from view. except the lofty poplars at the road sides, there are no trees. an admirable place for an army on the defensive, you will at once say, since reserves can be concealed behind the convolutions of the rolling plain. these convolutions may also serve in the fight as natural fortifications. here at mont st. jean, wellington pitched his tent. hougoumont lay far off in front of his center, and had that morning a small garrison. napoleon, with his army, was a mile away, his line extending to the right and left beyond la belle alliance. we must turn squarely around as we stand alongside the lion if we are to see in the distance the ground he occupied. our place is nearly in the center of the field. hougoumont we realize to have been worthy of the prodigious struggle the french made to capture it. half a fortress then, it provided an admirable stand for artillery. a few men might hold it against superior numbers. at waterloo the duke had about , men--some accounts say , --but many, perhaps , , fled in desertion at an early hour of the day. with these figures correct, the fighting forces of the allies later in the day, would remain little more than , men. the emperor's army has usually been placed at , . his soldiers were probably better trained than the duke's and combined with long service an abundance of enthusiasm for their old general, now restored to his imperial throne and confident of victory. the night before the battle had been wet and stormy, but the morning gave some promise of clearing; the sky, however, remained overcast and some rain continued to fall. the french were weary after a long march, and the artillery moved with difficulty across this wet and muddy plain. altogether they were in poor condition for a battle, in which all their fortunes were at stake. it was just such a morning as ours, except that it was then june and is now january. if the battle began at o'clock, as one account reads, we are here on the lion's mound at that same hour. even if this be january, daisies are in blossom at our feet. jerome bonaparte, leading the attack, moves on hougoumont, where the allies, who have come down from mont st. jean, repulse him. he renews the attack "with redoubled fury," and a gallant resistance is made, but he forces a way into the outer enclosure of the chateau that crowns the hill. british howitzers are at once discharged upon the french and compel them to retreat. new assaults are then made. overwhelming numbers seem to bear down upon the allies. the stronghold is more than once nearly lost, but it is defended with "prodigies of valor" and firmly held to the last. had hougoumont been taken, the result of the battle "would probably have been very different." meanwhile, the emperor has ordered a second attack elsewhere--this time against the left wing of wellington. marshal ney sends forward six divisions, who encounter the netherlandish troops and easily scatter them. two brigades of british numbering , men then prepare to check the advancing french. a struggle, brief but fierce, ensues, in which the french are repulsed. they rally again, however, and scotch highlanders, their bagpipes sounding the cry, advance against them, along with an english brigade. these make an impetuous assault, while cavalry charge napoleon's infantry, and force a part of them back on la belle alliance. but here the pursuing british meet with a check in a scene of wild carnage that sweeps over the field. we may look down upon the scene of that frightful struggle. it lies just below us. grass is growing there luxuriantly now. a north wind sweeps over the plain. a mournful requiem seems to whistle through the poplar trees. if we look toward hougoumont, french gunners are seen to have been slain. many cannon are silent. with the chateau in flames, confusion reigns. napoleon, ordering a new cavalry attack, directs jerome to advance with his infantry. immediately the allies discharge grape and canister on the advancing host. but no frenchman wavers. on the contrary, the french cavalry capture wellington's outward battalion and press onward toward his hollow squares of infantry. all efforts to break these squares end in failure. for a time the french abandon the attack, but only to renew it and then follows a remarkable scene. the french charge with unprecedented fury, and the squares are partially broken, while friends and enemies, wounded or killed, are mingled in inextricable confusion. some of the belgian troops take flight and in mad terror run back to brussels, causing great consternation there by reporting a defeat for wellington. the squares maintain their ground to the end admirably, and with severe losses the french retire. hougoumont near by, all this time was not silent. the attack being continued, the commander is killed and at last its heights are gained. from elsewhere in the field, wellington learns of his loss, places himself at the head of a brigade, and commands it to charge. amid the utmost enthusiasm of the allies the french are driven back from hougoumont. napoleon now turns his efforts against la haye sainte, a small height forward from mont st. jean, occupied by the enemy's left wing. ney, in a furious cannonade, begins the attack, in which the allies are overwhelmed and their ammunition is exhausted. masters of this point, the french again move on hougoumont. it is seven o'clock in the evening, with napoleon in fair way to succeed, but his men are already exhausted and their losses are heavy. some of them plunge into that famous sunken road, unheeded of him and them, and still so great a mystery to historians. it was a charging cavalry column that plunged in, unknowingly, rider and horse together, in indescribable confusion and dismay. we may see that road to-day, for we have walked in a part of it when coming across the plain from the station--a narrow road cut many feet deep, its bed paved with little stones. hugo's words on that frightful scene are these: "there was the ravine, unlooked for, yawning at the very feet of the horses, two fathoms deep between its double slope. the second rank pushed in the first, the third pushed in the second; the horses reared, threw themselves over, fell upon their backs, and struggled with their feet in the air, piling up and overturning their riders; no power to retreat; the whole column was nothing but a projectile. the force acquired to crush the english crusht the french. the inexorable ravine could not yield until it was filled; riders and horses rolled in together pell-mell, grinding each other, making common flesh in this dreadful gulf, and when this grave was full of living men, the rest marched over them and passed on. almost a third of the dubois' brigade sank into this abyss." two hours before this, blücher, with his prussians, had appeared--blücher who was to turn the tide of battle. he had promised wellington to be there. his soldiers had complained bitterly on the long march over muddy ground, but he told them his word as a soldier must be kept. from far beyond la belle alliance had blücher come, a cow boy showing him the way--a boy who, if he had not known the way, or had lied, might have saved napoleon from st. helena. the ground where blücher entered the field is just visible to us from the mound as with strained eyes, we peer through the morning mist. during ney's attack, blücher opens fire on la haye sainte. by six o'clock he has forty-eight guns in action and some of the guns send shot as far as la belle alliance. as the conflict deepens, napoleon's fortunes are seen to be obviously in grave, if not critical, danger, but he strengthens his right wing and again hazards hougoumont. eight battalions are sent forward, an outlying stronghold is captured, but more prussians advance and threaten to regain the point. at seven o'clock while ney is renewing the attack on hougoumont other prussians appear. the real crisis being at hand, napoleon resolves on a final, concentrated movement against the enemy's center. his soldiers being worn out and discouraged, he gives out a false report that reinforcements are at last coming--that grouchy has not failed him. a furious cannonade opens this new attack, causing "frightful havoc" among the allies. the prince of orange holds back the french on the very ground where the lion is now elevated, but falls wounded. napoleon, in an address to the imperial guard, rouses them to great enthusiasm. for a half hour longer the french bear down on the enemy, but british gunners make gaps in their ranks. with his horse shot from under him, ney goes forward on foot. the duke now takes personal command. he sends a shower of grape and cannister against a column of french veterans, but they never waver. reserves, suddenly called for, pour a fierce charge against the advancing french, rending them asunder. the attack is closely followed up and the french are driven down the hill. elsewhere in the field the battle still rages. blücher continues his attack on napoleon's right and forces it back. reduced to despair, napoleon now gives his final and famous order: "tout est perdu! sauve qui peut." but the young guard resists blücher. wellington, descending from his height, follows the retreating enemy as far as la belle alliance. at eight o'clock, after a most sanguinary struggle, the young guard yields. the success of blücher elsewhere completes the victory of the allies. one man will never surrender--cambronne. who was cambronne? no one can tell you more than this--he was the man at waterloo who would not surrender. "the old guard dies, but never surrenders." "among those giants then," says hugo, "there was one titan--cambronne. the man who won the battle of waterloo was not napoleon, put to rout; not wellington, giving way at four o'clock, desperate at five; not blücher, who did not fight. the man who won the battle of waterloo was cambronne. to fulminate at the thunderbolt which kills you, is victory." as we look over this field from our height and try to realize what mighty fortunes were here at stake, we note that the mementoes of that day are few. a corinthian column and an obelisk are seen at the roadside as memorials of the bravery of two officers. this lion's mound, two hundred feet high and made from earth piled up by cart loads, commemorates the place where a prince was wounded. colossal in size, the lion was cast from french cannon captured in the fight. on this broad plain upward of , men, who had mothers, sisters, and wives at home, gave up their lives. poplar trees sigh forth perpetually their funeral dirge. grass grows where their blood was poured out. modern europe can show few scenes of more sublime tragedy. our visiting day, with its chilling air and penetrating rain, has been a fit day for seeing waterloo. the old woman who served me with breakfast spoke english easily. it was well--doubly well. no other language than english should be spoken on the field of waterloo. i passed a few french words with the boy who called off the dogs, but was afterward sorry for having done so. antwerp[a] [footnote a: from "the cathedrals and churches of belgium." published by james pott & co.] by t. francis bumpus byzantium--venice--antwerp, these are the centers around which the modern world has revolved, for we must include its commercial with its social progress, and with those interests which develop with society. indeed, the development of the arts has always run concurrently with commerce. one could wish to add that the converse were equally true. antwerp--the city on the wharf--became famous at the beginning of the sixteenth century under the reign of the enterprising charles v. "antwerp was then truly a leading city in almost all things, but in commerce it headed all the cities of the world," says an old chronicler. bruges, the great banking center yielded her position, and the hanseatic merchants removed to the banks of the scheldt. "i was astonished, and wondered much when i beheld antwerp," wrote an envoy of the italian republic, "for i saw venice outdone." in what direction venice was outdone is not recorded. not in her architecture, at least; scarcely in her painting. we can not concede a tintoretto for a rubens. yet, as antwerp was the home of matsys, of rubens, van dyck, and the teniers, the home also of christopher plantin, the great printer, her glory is not to be sought in trade alone. she is still remembered as a mother of art and letters, while her mercantile preeminence belongs to a buried past. it must, however, be confest that the fortunes of antwerp as a city, prospering in its connection with the hanseatic league, were anything but advantageous to the student of architectural history. alterations and buildings were the order of the day, and so lavish were the means devoted to the work that scarcely a vestige of architecture in the remains is of earlier date than the fourteenth century. the grandly dimensioned churches raised in every parish afford ample evidence of the zeal and skill with which the work of reconstruction was prosecuted, and as specimens of the style of their day can not fail to elicit our admiration by the nobility of their proportions, so that in the monuments the wealthy burghers of antwerp have left us we have perhaps no reason to regret their zeal. at the same time, one is tempted to wish that they had spared the works of earlier date by raising their new ones on fresh ground, instead of such wholesale demolition of the labors of preceding generations. nôtre dame at antwerp, the most spacious church in the netherlands, originated in a chapel built for a miraculous image of the blessed virgin. this chapel was reconstructed in , when the canons of st. michel, having ceded their church to the praemonstratensians, removed hither. two centuries later, the canons of st. michel, animated by the prevailing spirit, determined on rebuilding their church on a more magnificent scale, and they commenced the work in by laying the foundations for a new choir. but slow progress was made with this great undertaking, more than two centuries and a half elapsing before the church assumed that form with which we are familiar to-day. in , the chapter, dissatisfied with its choir, started upon the erection of a new one, the first stone of which was laid in the following year by the emperor charles v., accompanied by king christian ii. of denmark and a numerous retinue. the new plan included a crypt, partly above ground, probably like that we see in st. paul's in the same town, and the work was progressing when, in , a disastrous fire did such damage to the western parts of the church that the project of enlargement was suspended, and the funds destined for its employment were applied to restoring the damaged portions. had the design been realized, the eastern limb of the church would have been doubled in size. as regards its dimensions, nôtre dame at antwerp is one of the most remarkable churches in europe, being nearly feet long by feet in width across the nave, which, inclusive of that covered by the western towers, has seven bays, and three aisles on either side. this multiplication of aisles gives a vast intricacy and picturesqueness to the cross views of the interior; but there is a poverty of detail, and a want of harmony among the parts and of subordination and proportion, sadly destructive of true architectural effect; so that, notwithstanding its size, it looks much smaller internally than many of the french cathedrals of far less dimensions. if there had been ten bays in the nave instead of only seven, and the central division had been at least ten feet wider, which could easily have been spared from the outermost aisles, the apparent size of the church would have been much greater. the outermost south aisle is wider than the nave, and equal in breadth to the two inner aisles; the northernmost aisle is not quite so broad. the transepts have no aisles, but they are continued beyond the line of the nave aisles, so that they are more than usually elongated. the two inner aisles of the nave open into the transepts, but the outer ones, which, it should be remarked, are continuous, and not divided into a series of chapels, are walled up at their eastern extremities. the choir consists of three bays, but has only one aisle on either side. this is continued round the apse, and five pentagonal chapels radiate from it. three chapels flank the north aisle of the choir, the first two opening, as does the north transept, into one large chapel of the same breadth as the southernmost aisle of the nave.... the façade is flanked by towers equal in width to the two inner aisles of the nave. the northern one has alone been completed, and altho it may seem to a severe judgment to possess some of the defects of the late flemish style, it is rivaled for beauty of outline only by the flamboyant steeples of chartres and vienna. as might be expected from its late age--it was not finished until --this northwestern spire of notre dame at antwerp exhibits some extravagances in design and detail, but the mode in which the octagonal lantern of openwork bisects the faces of the solid square portion with its alternate angles, thus breaking the outline without any harsh or disagreeable transition, is very masterly, while the bold pinnacles, with their flying buttresses, which group around it, produce a most pleasing variety, the whole serving to indicate the appearance the steeple of malines would have presented had it been completed according to the original design. if size were any real test of beauty, the interior or notre dame at antwerp ought to be one of the finest in belgium. unfortunately, altho it was begun at a time when the pointed style had reached the full maturity of perfection, a colder and more unimpressive design than is here carried out it would be difficult to find. still, notwithstanding the long period that elapsed between its commencement and completion, there is a congruity about the whole building which is eminently pleasing, and to some extent redeems the defects in its details and proportions, while the views afforded in various directions by the triple aisles on either side of the nave are undeniably picturesque. the high altarpiece, placed on the chord of the apse, is a noble and sumptuous example of early renaissance taste and workmanship, but like the stallwork, its dimensions are such as to diminish the scale of the choir, the five arches opening to the procession path being completely obscured by it. of the numerous creations of rubens' pencil none perhaps more thoroughly declares to us his comprehension of religious decorative art than the "assumption" which fills the arched compartment in the lower portion of this altarpiece. it was finished in , and, of twenty repetitions of the subject, is the only example still preserved at the place it was intended by the painter to occupy. in spirit we are reminded of titian's "assumption" in the cathedral at verona, but rubens' proves perhaps a higher conception of the subject. the work is seen a considerable way off, and every outline is bathed in light, so that the virgin is elevated to dazzling glory with a power of accession scarcely, if ever, attained by any master. in the celebrated "descent from the cross," which hangs in the south transept, the boldness of the composition, the energy in the characters, the striking attitudes and grouping, the glowing, vigorous coloring, are astonishing proofs of rubens' power. the circumstances which gave rise to this wondrous effort of art are interesting. it is said that rubens, in laying the foundations of his villa near antwerp, had unwittingly infringed on some ground belonging to the company of gunsmiths (arquebusiers). a law suit was threatened, and rubens prepared to defend it, but, being assured by one of the greatest lawyers of the city that the right lay with his opponents, he immediately drew back, and offered to paint a picture by way of recompense. the offer was accepted, and the company required a representation of its patron saint, st. christopher, to be placed in its chapel in the cathedral, which at that time notre dame was. rubens, with his usual liberality and magnificence, presented to his adversaries, not merely a single representation of the saint, but an elaborate illustration of his name--the christ-bearer. the arquebusiers were at first disappointed not to have their saint represented in the usual manner, and rubens was obliged to enter into an explanation of his work. thus, without knowing it, they had received in exchange for a few feet of land a treasure which neither money nor lands can now purchase. the painting was executed by rubens soon after his seven years' residence in italy, and while the impression made by the work of titian and paul veronese were yet fresh in his mind. the great master appeared in the fulness of his glory in this work--it is one of the few which exhibits in combination all that nature had given him of warmth and imagination--with all that he acquired of knowledge, judgment and method, and in which he may be considered fully to have overcome the difficulties of a subject which becomes painful, and almost repulsive, when it ceases to be sublime. vii holland how the dutch obtained their land[a] [footnote a: from "holland and its people." translated by caroline tilton. by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, g.p. putnam's sons. copyright, .] by edmondo de amicis the first time that i crossed the old rhine, i had stopt on the bridge, asking myself whether that small and humble stream of water was really the same river that i had seen rushing in thunder over the rocks at schaffhausen, spreading majestically before mayence, passing in triumph under the fortress of ehrenbreitstein, beating in sonorous cadence at the foot of the seven mountains; reflecting in its course gothic cathedrals, princely castles, fertile hills, steep rocks, famous ruins, cities, groves, and gardens; everywhere covered with vessels of all sorts, and saluted with music and song; and thinking of these things, with my gaze fixt upon the little stream shut in between two flat and desert shores, i had repeated, "is this that rhine?" the vicissitudes which accompany the agony and death of this great river in holland, are such as really to excite a sense of pity, such as is felt for the misfortunes and inglorious end of a people once powerful and happy. from the neighborhood of emmerich, before reaching the dutch frontier, it has lost all the beauty of its banks, and flows in great curves through vast and ugly flats, which seem to mark the approach to old age. at millingen it runs entirely in the territory of holland; a little farther on it divides. the main branch shamefully loses its name, and goes to throw itself into the meuse: the other branch, insulted by the title of the dannerden canal, flows nearly to the city of arnehm, when it once more divides into two branches. one empties into the gulf of zuyder-zee; the other still called, out of compassion, the lower rhine, goes as far as the village of durstede, where it divides for the third time; a humiliation now of old date. one of these branches, changing its name like a coward, throws itself into the meuse near rotterdam; the other still called the rhine, but with the ridiculous surname of "curved," reaches utrecht with difficulty, where for the fourth time it again divides; capricious as an old man in his dotage. one part, denying its old name, drags itself as far as muiden, where it falls into the zuyder-zee; the other, with the name of old rhine, or simply the old, flows slowly to the city of leyden, whose streets it crosses almost without giving a sign of movement, and is finally gathered into one canal by which it goes to its miserable death in the north sea. but it is not many years since this pitiful end was denied it. from the year , in which a furious tempest had accumulated mountains of sand at its mouth, until the beginning of the present century, the old rhine lost itself in the sand before reaching the sea, and covered a vast tract of country with pools and marshes. under the reign of louis bonaparte the waters were collected into a large canal protected by three enormous sluicegates, and from that time the rhine flows directly to the sea. these sluices are the greatest monument in holland and, perhaps, the most admirable hydraulic work in europe. the dikes which protect the mouth of the canal, the walls, pillars, and gates, present altogether the aspect of a cyclopian fortress, against which it seems that not only that sea, but the united forces of all seas, must break as against a granite mountain. when the tide rises the gates are closed to prevent the waters from invading the land; when the tide recedes they are opened to give passage to the waters of the rhine which have accumulated behind them; and then a mass of three thousand cubic feet of water passes through them in one minute. on days when storms prevail, a concession is made to the sea, and the most advanced of the sluicegates is left open; and then the furious billows rush into the canal, like an enemy entering by a breach, but they break upon the formidable barrier of the second gate, behind which holland stands and cries, "thus far shalt thou go, and no farther!" that enormous fortification which, on a desert shore, defends a dying river and a fallen city from the ocean, has something of solemnity which commands respect and admiration.... napoleon said that it [holland] was an alluvion of trench rivers--the rhine, the scheldt, and the meuse--and with this pretext he added it to the empire. one writer has defined it as a sort of transition between land and sea. another, as an immense crust of earth floating on water. others, an annex of the old continent, the china of europe, the end of the earth, and the beginning of the ocean, a measureless raft of mud and sand; and philip ii. called it the country nearest to hell. but they all agreed upon one point, and all exprest it in the same words:--holland is a conquest made by man over the sea--it is an artificial country--the hollanders made it--it exists because the hollanders preserve it--it will vanish whenever the hollanders shall abandon it. to comprehend this truth, we must imagine holland as it was when first inhabited by the first german tribes that wandered away in search of a country. it was almost uninhabitable. there were vast tempestuous lakes, like seas, touching one another; morass beside morass; one tract covered with brushwood after another; immense forests of pines, oaks, and alders, traversed by herds of wild horses; and so thick were these forests that tradition says one could travel leagues passing from tree to tree without ever putting foot to the ground. the deep bays and gulfs carried into the heart of the country the fury of the northern tempests. some provinces disappeared once every year under the waters of the sea, and were nothing but muddy tracts, neither land nor water, where it was impossible either to walk or to sail. the large rivers, without sufficient inclination to descend to the sea, wandered here and there uncertain of their day, and slept in monstrous pools and ponds among the sands of the coasts. it was a sinister place, swept by furious winds, beaten by obstinate rains, veiled in a perpetual fog, where nothing was heard but the roar of the sea, and the voice of wild beasts and birds of the ocean. now, if we remember that such a region has become one of the most fertile, wealthiest and best regulated of the countries of the world, we shall understand the justice of the saying that holland is a conquest made by man. but, it must be added, the conquest goes on forever. to drain the lakes of the country the hollanders prest the air into their service. the lakes, the marshes, were surrounded by dikes, the dikes by canals; and an army of windmills, putting in motion force-pumps, turned the water into the canals, which carried it off to the rivers and the sea. thus vast tracts of land buried under the water, saw the sun, and were transformed, as if by magic, into fertile fields, covered with villages, and intersected by canals and roads. in the seventeenth century, in less than forty years, twenty-six lakes were drained. at the beginning of the present century, in north holland alone, more than six thousand hectares, or fifteen thousand acres, were thus redeemed from the waters; in south holland, before , twenty-nine thousand hectares; in the whole of holland, from to , three hundred and fifty-five thousand hectares. substituting steam-mills for windmills, in thirty-nine months was completed the great undertaking of the draining of the lake of haarlem, which measured forty-four-kilometers in circumference, and for ever threatened with its tempests the cities of haarlem, amsterdam, and leyden. and they are now meditating the prodigious work of drying up the zuyder-zee, which embraces an area of more than seven hundred square kilometers. but the most tremendous struggle was the battle with the ocean. holland is in great part lower than the level of the sea; consequently, everywhere that the coast is not defended by sand-banks, it has to be protected by dikes. if these interminable bulkwarks of earth, granite, and wood were not there to attest the indomitable courage and perseverance of the hollanders, it would not be believed that the hand of man could, even in many centuries have accomplished such a work. in zealand alone the dikes extend to a distance of more than four hundred kilometers. the western coast of the island of walcheren is defended by a dike, in which it is computed that the expense of construction added to that of preservation, if it were put out at interest, would amount to a sum equal in value to that which the dike itself would be worth were it made of massive copper. around the city of helder, at the northern extremity of north holland, extends a dike ten kilometers long, constructed of masses of norwegian granite, which descends more than sixty meters into the sea. the whole province of friesland, for the length of eighty-eight kilometers, is defended by three rows of piles sustained by masses of norwegian and german granite. amsterdam, all the cities of the zuyder zee, and all the islands--fragments of vanished lands--which are strung like beads between friesland and north holland, are protected by dikes. from the mouths of the ems to those of the scheldt holland is an impenetrable fortress, of whose immense bastions the mills are the towers, the cataracts are the gates, the islands the advanced forts; and like a true fortress, it shows to its enemy, the sea, only the tops of its bell-towers and the roofs of its houses, as if in defiance and derision. holland is a fortress, and her people live as in a fortress on a war-footing with the sea. an army of engineers, directed by the minister of the interior, spread over the country, and ordered like an army, continually spy the enemy, watch over the internal waters, foresee the bursting of the dikes, order and direct the defensive works. the expenses of the war are divided; one part to the state, one part to the provinces; every proprietor pays, besides the general imposts, a special impost for the dikes, in proportion to the extent of his lands and their proximity to the water. an accidental rupture, an inadvertence, may cause a flood; the peril is unceasing; the sentinels are at their posts upon the bulwarks at the first assault of the sea; they shout the war-cry, and holland sends men, material, and money. and even when there is not a great battle, a quiet, silent struggle is for ever going on. the innumerable mills, even in the drained districts, continue to work unresting, to absorb and turn into the canals the water that falls in rain and that which filters in from the sea. but holland has done more than defend herself against the waters; she has made herself mistress of them, and has used them for her own defense. should a foreign army invade her territory, she has but to open her dikes and unchain the sea and the rivers, as she did against the romans, against the spaniards, against the army of louis xiv., and defend the land cities with her fleet. water was the source of her poverty, she has made it the source of wealth. over the whole country extends an immense net-work of canals which serve both for the irrigation of the land and as a means of communication. the cities, by means of canals, communicate with the sea; canals run from town to town, and from them to villages, which are themselves bound together by these watery ways, and are connected even to the houses scattered over the country; smaller canals surround the fields and orchards, pastures and kitchen-gardens, serving at once as boundary-wall, hedge, and roadway; every house is a little port. ships, boats, rafts move about in all directions, as in other places carts and carriages. the canals are the arteries of holland, and the water her life-blood. but even setting aside the canals, the draining of the lakes, and the defensive works, on every side are seen the traces of marvelous undertakings. the soil, which in other countries is a gift of nature, is in holland a work of men's hands. holland draws the greater part of her wealth from commerce; but before commerce comes the cultivation of the soil; and the soil had to be created. there were sand-banks, interspersed with layers of peat, broad downs swept by the winds, great tracts of barren land apparently condemned to an external sterility. the first elements of manufacture, iron and coal, were wanting; there was no wood, because the forests had already been destroyed by tempests when agriculture began; there was no stone, there were no metals. nature, says a dutch poet, had refused all her gifts to holland; the hollanders had to do everything in spite of nature. they began by fertilizing the sand. in some places they formed a productive soil with earth brought from a distance, as a garden is made; they spread the siliceous dust of the downs over the too watery meadows; they mixed with the sandy earth the remains of peat taken from the bottoms; they extracted clay to lend fertility to the surface of their lands; they labored to break up the downs with the plow; and thus in a thousand ways, and continually fighting off the menacing waters, they succeeded in bringing holland to a state of cultivation not inferior to that of more favored regions. that holland, the sandy, marshy country that the ancients considered all but uninhabitable, now sends out yearly from her confines agricultural products to the value of a hundred millions of francs, possesses about one million three hundred thousand head of cattle, and, in proportion to the extent of her territory, may be accounted one of the most populous of european states. but however wonderful may be the physical history of holland, her political history is still more so. this small territory invaded from the beginning by different tribes of the germanic races, subjugated by the romans and the franks, devastated by the normans and by the danes, desolated by centuries of civil war with all its horrors, this small people of fisherman and traders, saves its civil liberty and its freedom of conscience by a war of eighty years against the formidable monarchy of philip ii., and founds a republic which becomes the ark of salvation to the liberties of all the world, the adopted country of science, the exchange of europe, the station for the commerce of the world; a republic which extends its domination to java, sumatra, hindustan, ceylon, new holland, japan, brazil, guiana, the cape of good hope, the west-indies, and new york; a republic which vanquished england on the sea, which resists the united arms of charles ii. and louis xiv., and which treats on equal terms with the greatest nations, and is, for a time, one of the three powers that decide the fate of europe. rotterdam and the hague[a] [footnote a: from "holland and its people." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, s.p. putnam's sons. copyright, .] by edmondo de amicis it is a singular thing that the great cities of holland, altho built upon a shifting soil, and amid difficulties of every kind, have all great regularity of form. amsterdam is a semicircle, the hague square, rotterdam an equilateral triangle. the base of the triangle is an immense dike, which defends the city from the meuse, and is called the boompjes, signifying, in dutch, small trees, from a row of little elms, now very tall, that were planted when it was first constructed. the whole city of rotterdam presents the appearance of a town that has been shaken smartly by an earthquake, and is on the point of the falling ruin. all the houses--in any street one may count the exceptions on their fingers--lean more or less, but the greater part of them so much that at the roof they lean forward at least a foot beyond their neighbors, which may be straight, or not so visibly inclined; one leans forward as if it would fall into the street; another backward, another to the left, another to the right, at some points six or seven contiguous houses all lean forward together, those in the middle most, those at the ends lass, looking like a paling with a crowd pressing against it. at another point, two houses lean together as if supporting one another. in certain streets the houses for a long distance lean all one way, like trees beaten by a prevailing wind; and then another long row will lean in the opposite direction, as if the wind had changed. sometimes there is a certain regularity of inclination that is scarcely noticeable; and again, at crossings and in the smaller streets, there is an indescribable confusion of lines, a real architectural frolic, a dance of houses, a disorder that seems animated. there are houses that nod forward as if asleep, others that start backward as if frightened, some bending toward each other, their roofs almost touching, as if in secret conference; some falling upon one another as if they were drunk, some leaning backward between others that lean forward, like malefactors dragged onward by their guards; rows of houses that curtsey to a steeple, groups of small houses all inclined toward one in the middle, like conspirators in conclave. broad and long canals divide the city into so many islands, united by drawbridges, turning bridges, and bridges of stone. on either side of every canal extends a street, flanked by trees on one side and houses on the other. all these canals are deep enough to float large vessels, and all are full of them from one end to the other, except a space in the middle left for passage in and out. an immense fleet imprisoned in a city. when i arrived it was the busiest hour, so i planted myself upon the highest bridge over the principal crossing. from thence were visible four canals, four forests of ships, bordered by eight files of trees; the streets were crammed with people and merchandise; droves of cattle were crossing the bridges; bridges were rising in the air, or opening in the middle, to allow vessels to pass through, and were scarcely replaced or closed before they were inundated by a throng of people, carts, and carriages; ships came and went in the canals, shining like models in a museum, and with the wives and children of the sailors on the decks; boats darted from vessel to vessel; the shops drove a busy trade; servant-women washed the walls and windows; and all this moving life was rendered more gay and cheerful by the reflections in the water, the green of the trees, the red of the houses, the tall windmills, showing their dark tops and white sails against the azure of the sky, and still more by an air of quiet simplicity not seen in any other northern city. from canal to canal, and from bridge to bridge, i finally reached the dike of the boompjes upon the meuse, where boils and bubbles all the life of the great commercial city. on the left extends a long row of small many-colored steamboats, which start every hour in the day for dordrecht, arnhem, gonda, schiedam, brilla, zealand, and continually send forth clouds of white smoke and the sound of their cheerful bells. to the right lie the large ships which make the voyage to various european ports, mingled with fine three-masted vessels bound for the east indies, with names written in golden letters--java, sumatra, borneo, samarang--carrying the fancy to those distant and savage countries like the echoes of distant voices. in front the meuse, covered with boats and barks, and the distant shore with a forest of beech trees, windmills, and towers; and over all the unquiet sky, full of gleams of light, and gloomy clouds, fleeting and changing in their constant movement, as if repeating the restless labor on the earth below. rotterdam, it must be said here, is, in commercial importance, the first city in holland after amsterdam. it was already a flourishing town in the thirteenth century. ludovico guicciardini, in his work on the low countries, adduces a proof of the wealth of the city in the sixteenth century, saying that in one year nine hundred houses that had been destroyed by fire were rebuilt. bentivoglio, in his history of the war in flanders, calls it "the largest and most mercantile of the lands of holland." but its greatest prosperity did not begin until , or after the separation of holland and belgium, when rotterdam seemed to draw to herself everything that was lost by her rival, antwerp. her situation is extremely advantageous. she communicates with the sea by the meuse, which brings to her ports in a few hours the largest merchantmen; and by the same river she communicates with the rhine, which brings to her from the swiss mountains and bavaria immense quantities of timber--entire forests that come to holland to be transformed into ships, dikes, and villages. more than eighty splendid vessels come and go, in the space of nine months, between rotterdam and india. merchandise flows in from all sides in such great abundance that a large part of it has to be distributed through the neighboring towns.... rotterdam, in short, has a future more splendid than that of amsterdam, and has long been regarded as a rival by her elder sister. she does not possess the wealth of the capital; but is more industrious in increasing what she has; she dares, risks, undertakes like a young and adventurous city. amsterdam, like a merchant grown cautious after having made his fortune by hazardous undertakings, begins to doze over her treasures. at rotterdam fortunes are made; at amsterdam they are consolidated; at the hague they are spent.... in the middle of the market-place, surrounded by heaps of vegetables, fruit, and earthenware pots and pans, stands the statue of desiderius erasmus, the first literary light of holland; that gerrit gerritz--for he assumed the latin name himself, according to the custom of writers in his day--that gerrit gerritz belonged, by his education, his style, and his ideas, to the family of the humanists and erudite of italy; a fine writer, profound and indefatigable in letters and science, he filled all europe with his name between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; he was loaded with favors by the popes, and sought after and entertained by princes; and his "praise of folly," written in latin like the rest of his innumerable works, and dedicated to sir thomas more, is still read. the bronze statue, erected in , represents erasmus drest in a furred gown, with a cap of the same, a little bent forward as if walking, and in the act of reading a large book, held open in the hand; the pedestal bears a double inscription, in dutch and latin, calling him, "the foremost man of his century," and "the most excellent of all citizens." in spite of this pompous eulogium, however, poor erasmus, planted there like a municipal guard in the market-place, makes but a pitiful figure. i do not believe that there is in the world another statue of a man of letters that is, like this, neglected by the passer-by, despised by those about it, commiserated by those who look at it. but who knows whether erasmus, acute philosopher as he was, and must be still, be not contented with his corner, the more that it is not far from his own house, if the tradition is correct? in a small street near the market-place, in the wall of a little house now occupied as a tavern, there is a niche with a bronze statuette representing the great writer, and under it the inscription: "this is the little house in which the great erasmus was born." ... rotterdam in the evening presents an unusual aspect to the stranger's eye. while in other northern cities at a certain hour of the night all the life is concentered in the houses, at rotterdam at that hour it expands into the streets. the hoog-straat is filled until far into the night with a dense throng, the shops are open, because the servants make their purchases in the evening, and the cafés crowded. dutch cafés are peculiar. in general there is one long room, divided in the middle by a green curtain, which is drawn down at evening and conceals the back part, which is the only part lighted; the front part, closed from the street by large glass doors, is in darkness, so that from without only dark shadowy forms can be seen, and the burning points of cigars, like so many fireflies. among these dark forms the vague profile of a woman who prefers darkness to light may be detected here and there.... walking through rotterdam in the evening, it is evident that the city is teeming with life and in process of expansion; a youthful city, still growing, and feeling herself every year more and more prest for room in her streets and houses. in a not far distant future, her hundred and fourteen thousand inhabitants will have increased to two hundred thousand.[a] the smaller streets swarm with children; there is an overflow of life and movement that cheers the eye and heart; a kind of holiday air. the white and rosy faces of the servant-maids, whose white caps gleam on every side; the serene visages of shopkeepers slowly imbibing great glassfuls of beer; the peasants with their monstrous ear-rings; the cleanliness; the flowers in the windows; the tranquil and laborious throng; all give to rotterdam an aspect of healthful and peaceful content, which brings to the lips the chant of "te beata," not with the cry of enthusiasm, but with the smile of sympathy.... [footnote a: the population now ( ) is , , as stated in the new standard dictionary.] the hague--in dutch, s'gravenhage, or s'hage--the political capital, the washington of holland, amsterdam being the new york--is a city half dutch and half french, with broad streets and no canals; vast squares full of trees, elegant houses, splendid hotels, and a population mostly made up of the rich, nobles, officials, artists, and literati, the populace being of a more refined order than that of the other dutch cities. in my first turn about the town what struck me most were the new quarters, where dwells the flower of the wealthy aristocracy. in no other city, not even in the faubourg st. germain at paris, did i feel myself such a very poor devil as in those streets. they are wide and straight, flanked by palaces of elegant form and delicate color, with large shutterless windows, through which can be seen the rich carpets and sumptuous furniture of the first floors. every door is closed; and there is not a shop, nor a placard, nor a stain, nor a straw to be seen if you were to look for it with a hundred eyes. the silence was profound when i passed by. only now and then i encountered some aristocratic equipage rolling almost noiselessly over the brick pavement, or the stiffest of lackeys stood before a door, or the blonde head of a lady was visible behind a curtain. passing close to the windows and beholding my shabby traveling dress ruthlessly reflected in the plate-glass i experienced a certain humiliation at not having been born at least a cavalière, and imagined i heard low voices whispering disdainfully: "who is that low person?" of the older portion of the city, the most considerable part is the binnenhof, a group of old buildings of different styles of architecture, which looks on two sides upon vast squares, and on the third over a great marsh. in the midst of this group of palaces, towers, and monumental doors, of a medieval and sinister aspect, there is a spacious court, which is entered by three bridges and three gates. in one of these buildings resided the stadtholders, and it is now the seat of the second chamber of the states general; opposite is the first chamber, with the ministries and various other offices of public administration. the minister of the interior has his office in a little low black tower of the most lugubrious aspect, that hangs directly over the waters of the marsh. the binnenhof, the square to the west, called the bintenhof, and another square beyond the marsh, called the plaats, into which you enter by an old gate that once formed part of a prison, were the theaters of the most sanguinary events in the history of holland. in the binnenhof was decapitated the venerated van olden barneveldt, the second founder of the republic, the most illustrious victim of that ever-recurring struggle between the burgher aristocracy and the statholderate, between the republican and the monarchical principle, which worked so miserably in holland. the scaffold was erected in front of the edifice where the states general sat. opposite is the tower from which it is said that maurice of orange, himself unseen, beheld the last moments of his enemy. the finest ornament of the hague is its forest; a true wonder of holland, and one of the most magnificent promenades in the world. it is a wood of alder-trees, oaks, and the largest beeches that are to be found in europe, on the eastern side of the city, a few paces from the last fringe of houses, and measuring about one french league in circuit; a truly delightful oasis in the midst of the melancholy dutch plains. as you enter it, little swiss châlets find kiosks, scattered here and there among the first trees, seem to have strayed and lost themselves in an endless and solitary forest. the trees are as thickly set as a cane-brake, and the alleys vanish in dark perspective. there are lakes and canals almost hidden under the verdure of their banks; rustic bridges, deserted paths, dim recesses, darkness cool and deep, in which one breathes the air of virgin nature, and feels oneself far from the noises of the world. this wood, like that of haarlem, is said to be the remains of an immense forest that covered, in ancient times, almost all the coast, and is respected by the dutch people as a monument of their national history. haarlem[a] [footnote a: from "holland of to-day."] by augustus j.c. hare a few minutes bring us from leyden to haarlem by the railway. it crosses an isthmus between the sea and a lake which covered the whole country between leyden, haarlem, and amsterdam till , when it became troublesome, and the states-general forthwith, after the fashion of holland, voted its destruction. enormous engines were at once employed to drain it by pumping the water into canals, which carried it to the sea, and the country was the richer by a new province. haarlem, on the river spaarne, stands out distinct in recollection from all other dutch towns, for it has the most picturesque market-place in holland--the groote markt--surrounded by quaint houses of varied outline, amid which rises the groote kerk of s. bavo, a noble cruciform fifteenth-century building. the interior, however, is as bare and hideous as all other dutch churches. it contains a monument to the architect conrad, designer of the famous locks of katwijk, "the defender of holland against the fury of the sea and the power of tempests." behind the choir is the tomb of the poet bilderijk, who only died in , and near this the grave of laurenz janzoom--the coster or sacristan--who is asserted in his native town, but never believed outside it, to have been the real inventor of printing, as he is said to have cut out letters in wood, and taken impressions from them in ink, as early as . his partizans also maintain that while he was attending a midnight mass, praying for patience to endure the ill-treatment of his enemies, all his implements were stolen, and that when he found this out on his return he died of grief. it is further declared that the robber was faust of mayence, the partner of gutenburg, and that it was thus that the honor of the invention passed from holland to germany where gutenberg produced his invention of movable type twelve years later. there is a statue of the coster in front of the church, and, on its north side, his house is preserved and adorned with his bust. among a crowd of natives with their hats on, talking in church as in the market-place, we waited to hear the famous organ of christian muller ( - ), and grievously were we disappointed with its discordant noises. all the men smoked in church, and this we saw repeatedly; but it would be difficult to say where we ever saw a dutchman with a pipe out of his mouth. every man seemed to be systematically smoking away the few wits he possest. opposite the groote kerk is the stadhuis, an old palace of the counts of holland remodeled. it contains a delightful little gallery of the works of franz hals, which at once transports the spectator into the holland of two hundred years ago--such is the marvelous variety of life and vigor imprest into its endless figures of stalwart officers and handsome young archers pledging each other at banquet tables and seeming to welcome the visitor with jovial smiles as he enters the chamber, or of serene old ladies, "regents" of hospitals, seated at their council boards. the immense power of the artist is shown in nothing so much as in the hands, often gloved, dashed in with instantaneous power, yet always having the effect of the most consummate finish at a distance. behind one of the pictures is the entrance to the famous "secret-room of haarlem," seldom seen, but containing an inestimable collection of historic relics of the time of the famous siege of leyden. april and may are the best months for visiting haarlem, which is the bulb nursery garden of the world. "oignons à fleurs" are advertised for sale everywhere. tulips are more cultivated than any other flower, as ministering most of the national craving for color; but times are changed since a single bulb of the tulip "l'amiral liefkenshoch" sold for , florins, one of "viceroy" for , , and one of "semper augustus" for , . scheveningen[a] [footnote a: from "holland of to-day." by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the author and of the publishers, moffat, yard & co. copyright, .] by george wharton edwards let us go down to the north sea and see how the dutch people enjoy themselves in the summer. of course the largest of the watering-places in the netherlands is scheveningen, and it has a splendid bathing beach which makes it an attractive resort for fashionable germans and hollanders, and for summer travelers from all over the world. at the top of the long dyke is a row of hotels and restaurants, and when one reaches this point after passing through the lovely old wood of stately trees one is ushered into the twentieth century, for here all is fashion and gay life, yet with a character all its own. along the edge of the beach are the bathing machines in scores, and behind them are long lines of covered wicker chairs of peculiar form, each with its foot-stool, where one may sit, shaded, from the sun and sheltered from the wind, and read, chat or doze by the hour. bath women are seen quaintly clad with their baskets of bathing dresses and labeled with the signs bearing their names, such as trintje or netje; everywhere there are sightseers, pedlers calling their wares, children digging in the sand, strolling players performing and the sound of bands of music in the distance. so there is no lack of amusement here during the season. the spacious kurhaus with its verandas and kursaal, which is large enough to accommodate , people, is in the center of the dike. there are concerts every evening, and altho the town is filled with hotels, during the months of june, july, august, and september they are quite monopolized by the hollanders and the prices are very high. the magnificent pier is yards long. the charges for bathing are very moderate, varying from twenty cents for a small bathing box to fifty cents for a large one, including the towels. bathing costumes range from five to twenty-five cents. the tickets are numbered, and as soon as a machine is vacant a number is called by the "bath man" and the holder of the corresponding number claims the machine. the basket chairs cost for the whole day twenty cents, dutch money. one may obtain a subscription to the "kurhaus" at a surprisingly reasonable rate for the day, week or season. there is a daily orchestra; ballet and operatic concerts once a week; dramatic performances and frequent hops throughout the season. there is a local saying that when good dutchmen die they go to scheveningen, and this is certainly their heaven. to stand on the pier on a fine day during the season looking down on these long lines of wicker chairs, turned seaward, is an astonishing sight. they are shaped somewhat like huge snail-shells, and around these the children delight to dig in the sand, throwing up miniature dunes around one. perhaps no seashore in the world has been painted so much as scheveningen. mesdag, maris, alfred stevens, to name only a few of the artists, have found here themes for many paintings, and the scene is a wonderful one when the homing fleet of "boms," as the fishing-boats are called, appears in the offing to be welcomed by the fisherwomen. there are other smaller watering-places on the coast, but scheveningen is unique. in the little fishing town itself, the scene on the return of the men is very interesting. women and children are busily hurrying about from house to house, and everywhere in the little streets are strange signs chalked up on the shutters, such as "water en vuur te koop," that is water and fire for sale; and here are neatly painted buckets of iron, each having a kettle of boiling water over it and a lump of burning turf at the bottom. fish is being cleaned and the gin shops are well patronized, for it seems a common habit in this moist northern climate frequently to take "een sneeuw-balletje" of gin and sugar, which does not taste at all badly, be it said. all sorts of strange-looking people are met in the little narrow street, and all doing strange-looking things, but with the air of its being in no wise unusual with them. all in all, scheveningen is an entertaining spot in which to linger. delft[a] [footnote a: from "sketches in holland and scandinavia."] by augustus j.c. hare an excursion must be made to delft, only twenty minutes distant from the hague by rail. pepys calls it "a most sweet town, with bridges and a river in every street," and that is a tolerably accurate description. it seems thinly inhabited, and the dutch themselves look upon it as a place where one will die of ennui. it has scarcely changed with two hundred years. the view of delft by van der meer in the museum at the hague might have been painted yesterday. all the trees are dipt, for in artificial holland every work of nature is artificialized. at certain seasons, numbers of storks may be seen upon the chimney-tops, for delft is supposed to be the stork town par excellence. near the shady canal oude delft is a low building, once the convent of st. agata, with an ornamental door surmounted by a relief, leading into a courtyard. it is a common barrack now, for holland, which has no local histories, has no regard whatever for its historic associations or monuments. yet this is the greatest shrine of dutch history, for it is here that william the silent died. philip ii. had promised , crowns of gold to any one who would murder the prince of orange. an attempt had already been made, but had failed, and william refused to take any measures for self-protection, saying, "it is useless: my years are in the hands of god; if there is a wretch who has no fear of death, my life is in his hand, however i may guard it." at length, a young man of seven-and-twenty appeared at delft, who gave himself out to be one guyon, a protestant, son of pierre guyon, executed at besançon for having embraced calvinism, and declared that he was exiled for his religion. really he was balthazar gerard, a bigoted catholic, but his conduct in holland soon procured him the reputation of an evangelical saint. the prince took him into his service and sent him to accompany a mission from the states of holland to the court of france, whence he returned to bring the news of the death of the duke of anjou to william. at that time the prince was living with his court in the convent of st. agata, where he received balthazar alone in his chamber. the moment was opportune, but the would-be assassin had no arms ready. william gave him a small sum of money and bade him hold himself in readiness to be sent back to france. with the money balthazar bought two pistols from a soldier (who afterward killed himself when he heard the use which was made of the purchase). on the next day, june , , balthazar returned to the convent as william was descending the staircase to dinner, with his fourth wife, louise de coligny (daughter of the admiral who fell in the massacre of st. bartholomew), on his arm. he presented his passport and begged the prince to sign it, but was told to return later. at dinner the princess asked william who was the young man who had spoken to him, for his expression was the most terrible she had ever seen. the prince laughed, said it was guyon, and was as gay as usual. dinner being over, the family party were about to remount the staircase. the assassin was waiting in a dark corner at the foot of the stairs, and as william passed he discharged a pistol with three balls and fled. the prince staggered, saying, "i am wounded; god have mercy upon me and my poor people." his sister catherine van schwartz-bourg asked, "do you trust in jesus christ?" he said, "yes," with a feeble voice, sat down upon the stairs, and died. balthazar reached the rampart of the town in safety, hoping to swim to the other side of the moat, where a horse awaited him. but he had dropt his hat and his second pistol in his flight, and so he was traced and seized before he could leap from the wall. amid horrible tortures, he not only confest, but continued to triumph in his crime. his judges believed him to be possest of the devil. the next day he was executed. his right hand was burned off in a tube of red-hot iron; the flesh of his arms and legs was torn off with red-hot pincers; but he never made a cry. it was not till his breast was cut open, and his heart torn out and flung in his face, that he expired. his head was then fixt on a pike, and his body, cut into four quarters, exposed on the four gates of the town. close to the prinsenhof is the oude kerk with a leaning tower. it is arranged like a very ugly theater inside, but contains, with other tombs of celebrities, the monument of admiral van tromp, --"martinus harberti trompius"--whose effigy lies upon his back, with swollen feet. it was this van tromp who defeated the english fleet under blake, and perished, as represented on the monument, in an engagement off scheveningen. it was he who, after his victory over the english, caused a broom to be hoisted at his mast-head to typify that he had swept the channel clear of his enemies. leyden[a] [footnote a: from "holland and its people." translated by caroline tilton. by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, g.p. putnam's sons. copyright, .] by edmondo de amicis leyden, the antique athens of the north, the saragossa of the low countries, the oldest and most illustrious of the daughters of holland, is one of those cities which make you thoughtful upon first entering them, and are remembered for a long time afterward with a certain impression of sadness. i had hardly arrived when the chill of a dead city seemed to fall upon me. the old rhine, which crosses leyden, dividing it into many islets joined together by one hundred and fifty stone bridges, forms wide canals and basins which contain no ship or boat, and the city seems rather invaded by the waters than merely crossed by them. the principal streets are very broad and flanked by rows of old blockhouses with the usual pointed gables, and the few people seen in the streets and squares are like the survivors of a city depopulated by the plague. in the smaller streets you walk upon long tracts of grass, between houses with closed doors and windows, in a silence as profound as that of those fabled cities where all the inhabitants are sunk in a supernatural sleep. you pass over bridges overgrown with weeds, and long canals covered with a green carpet, through small squares that seem like convent courtyards; and then, suddenly, you reach a broad thoroughfare, like the streets of paris; from which you again penetrate into a labyrinth of narrow alleys. from bridge to bridge, from canal to canal, from island to island, you wander for hours seeking for the life and movement of the ancient leyden, and finding only solitude, silence, and the waters which reflect the melancholy majesty of the fallen city. in the spaniards, led by valdez, laid siege to leyden. in the city there were only some volunteer soldiers. the military command was given to van der voes, a valiant man, and a latin poet of some renown. van der werf was burgomaster. in brief time the besiegers had constructed more than sixty forts in all the places where it was possible to penetrate into the city by sea or land, and leyden was completely isolated. but the people of leyden did not lose heart. william of orange had sent them word to hold out for three months, within which time he would succor them, for on the fate of leyden depended that of holland; and the men of leyden had promised to resist to the last extremity.... the prince of orange received the news of the safety of the city at delft, in church, where he was present at divine service. he sent the message at once to the preacher, and the latter announced it to the congregation, who received it with shouts of joy. altho only just recovered from his illness, and the epidemic still raging at leyden, william would see at once his dear and valorous city. he went there; his entry was a triumph; his majestic and serene aspect put new heart into the people; his words made them forget all they had suffered. to reward leyden for her heroic defense, he left her her choice between exemption from certain imposts or the foundation of a university. leyden chose the university. how this university answered to the hopes of leyden, it is superfluous to say. everybody knows how the states of holland with their liberal offers drew learned men from every country; how philosophy, driven out of france, took refuge there; how leyden was for a long time the securest citadel for all men who were struggling for the triumph of human reason; how it became at length the most famous school in europe. the actual university is in an ancient convent. one can not enter without a sentiment of profound respect the great hall of the academic senate, where are seen the portraits of all the professors who have succeeded each other from the foundation of the university up to the present day. dortrecht[a] [footnote a: from "sketches in holland and scandinavia."] by augustus j.c. hare our morning at dortrecht was very delightful, and it is a thoroughly charming place. passing under a dark archway in a picturesque building of charles v., opposite the hotel, we found ourselves at once on the edge of an immense expanse of shimmering river, with long, rich meadows beyond, between which the wide flood breaks into three different branches. red and white sails flit down them. here and there rises a line of pollard willows or clipt elms, and now and then a church spire. on the nearest shore an ancient windmill, colored in delicate tints of gray and yellow, surmounts a group of white buildings. on the left is a broad esplanade of brick, lined with ancient houses, and a canal with a bridge, the long arms of which are ready to open at a touch and give a passage to the great yellow-masted barges, which are already half intercepting the bright red house-fronts ornamented with stone, which belong to some public buildings facing the end of the canal. with what a confusion of merchandise are the boats laden, and how gay is the coloring, between the old weedy posts to which they are moored! it was from hence that isabella of france, with sir john de hainault and many other faithful knights set on their expedition against edward ii. and the government of the spencers. from the busy port, where nevertheless they are dredging, we cross another bridge and find ourselves in a quietude like that of a cathedral close in england. on one side is a wide pool half covered with floating timber, and, in the other half, reflecting like a mirror the houses on the opposite shore, with their bright gardens of lilies and hollyhocks, and trees of mountain ash, which bend their masses of scarlet berries to the still water. between the houses are glints of blue river and of inevitable windmills on the opposite shore. and all this we observe standing in the shadow of a huge church, the groote kerk, with a nave of the fourteenth century, and a choir of the fifteenth and a gigantic trick tower, in which three long gothic arches, between octagonal tourelles, enclose several tiers of windows. at the top is a great clock, and below the church a grove of elms, through which fitful sunlight falls on the grass and the dead red of the brick pavement (so grateful to feet sore with the sharp stones of other dutch cities), where groups of fishermen are collecting in their blue shirts and white trousers. there is little to see inside this or any other church in holland; travelers will rather seek for the memorials at the kloveniers doelen, of the famous synod of dort, which was held - , in the hope of effecting a compromise between the gomarists, or disciples of calvin, and the arminians who followed zwingli, and who had recently obtained the name of remonstrants from the "remonstrance" which they had addrest eight years before in defense of their doctrines. the calvinists held that the greater part of mankind was excluded from grace, which the arminians denied; but at the synod of dort the calvinists proclaimed themselves as infallible as the pope, and their resolutions became the law of the dutch reformed church. the arminians were forthwith outlawed; a hundred ministers who refused to subscribe to the dictates of the synod were banished; hugo grotius and rombout hoogerbeets were imprisoned for life at loevestein; the body of the secretary ledenberg, was hung; and van olden barneveldt, the friend of william the silent, was beheaded in his seventy-second year.... through the street of wine--wijnstraat--built over stonehouses used for the staple, we went to the museum to see the pictures. there were two schools of dortrecht. jacob geritee cuyp ( ); albert cuyp ( ), ferdinand bol ( ), nicolas maas ( ), and schalken ( ) belonged to the former; arend de gelder, arnold houbraken, dirk stoop, and ary scheffer are of the latter. sunshine and glow were the characteristics of the first school, grayness and sobriety of the second. but there are few good pictures at dort now, and some of the best works of cuyp are to be found in our national gallery, [london] executed at his native place and portraying the great brick tower of the church in the golden haze of evening, seen across rich pastures, where the cows are lying deep in the meadow grass. the works of ary scheffer are now the most interesting pictures in the dortrecht gallery. of the subject, "christus consolator," there are two representations. in the more striking of these the pale christ is seated among the sick, sorrowful, blind, maimed, and enslaved, who are all stretching their hands to him. beneath is the tomb which the artist executed for his mother, cornelia scheffer, whose touching figure is represented lying with outstretched hands, in the utmost abandonment of repose. the zuyder zee[a] [footnote a: from "holland and its people." translated by caroline tilton. by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, g.p. putnam's sons. copyright, .] by edmondo de amicis this great basin of the north sea, which bathes five provinces and has an extent of more than seven hundred square kilometers, six hundred years ago was not in existence. north holland touched friesland, and where the gulf now extends there was a vast region sprinkled with fresh-water lakes, the largest of which, the flevo, mentioned by tacitus, was separated from the sea by a fertile and populous isthmus. whether the sea by its own force broke through the natural dikes of the region, or whether the sinking of the land left it free to invasion, is not certainly known. the great transformation was completed during the course of the thirteenth century. about the formation of this gulf there has collected a varied and confused history of cities destroyed and people drowned, to which has been added in later times another history, of new cities rising on new shores, becoming powerful and famous, and being in their turn reduced to poor and mean villages, with streets overgrown with grass, and sand-choked ports. records of great calamities, wonderful traditions, fantastic horrors, strange usages and customs, are found upon the waters and about the shores of this peculiar sea, born but yesterday, and already encircled with ruins and condemned to disappear; and a month's voyage would not suffice to gather up the chief of them; but the thought alone of beholding from a distance those decrepit cities, those mysterious islands, those fatal sand-banks, excited my imagination.... marken is as famous among the islands of the zuyder zee as broek is among the villages of holland; but with all its fame, and altho distant but one hour by boat from the coast, few are the strangers, and still fewer the natives who visit it. so said the captain as he pointed out the lighthouse of the little island, and added that in his opinion the reason was, that when a stranger arrived at marken, even if he were a dutchman, he was followed by a crowd of boys, watched, and commented upon as if he were a man fallen from the moon. this unusual curiosity is explained by a description of the island. it is a bit of land about three thousand meters in length and one thousand in width, which was detached from the continent in the thirteenth century, and remains to this day, in the manners, and customs of its inhabitants, exactly as it was six centuries ago. the surface of the island is but little higher than the sea, and it is surrounded by a small dike which does not suffice to protect it from inundation. the houses are built upon eight small artificial elevations, and form as many boroughs, one of which--the one which has the church--is the capital, and another the cemetery. when the sea rises above the dike, the spaces between the little hills are changed into canals, and the inhabitants go about in boats. the houses are built of wood, some painted, some only pitched; one only is of stone, that of the pastor, who also has a small garden shaded by four large trees, the only ones on the island. next to this house are the church, the school, and the municipal offices. the population is about one thousand in number, and lives by fishing. with the exceptions of the doctor, the pastor, and the school-master, all are native to the island; no islander marries on the continent; no one from the mainland comes to live on the island. they all profess the reformed religion, and all know how to read and write. in the schools more than two hundred boys and girls are taught history, geography, and arithmetic. the fashion of dress, which has not been changed for centuries, is the same for all, and extremely curious. the men look like soldiers. they wear a dark gray cloth jacket ornamented with two rows of buttons which are in general medals, or ancient coins, handed down from father to son. this jacket is tucked into the waistband of a pair of breeches of the same color, very wide about the hips and tight around the leg, fastening below the knee; a felt hat or a fur cap, according to the season; a red cravat, black stockings, white wooden shoes, or a sort of slipper, complete the costume. that of the women is still more peculiar. they wear on their heads an enormous white cap in the form of a miter, all ornamented with lace and needlework, and tied under the chin like a helmet. from under the cap, which completely covers the ears, fall two long braided tresses, which hang over the bosom, and a sort of visor of hair comes down upon the forehead, cut square just above the eyebrows. the dress is composed of a waist without sleeves, and a petticoat of two colors. the waist is deep red, embroidered in colors and costing years of labor to make, for which reason it descends from mother to daughter, from generation to generation. the upper part of the petticoat is gray or blue striped with black, and the lower part dark brown. the arms are covered almost to the elbow with sleeves of a white chemise, striped with red. the children are drest in almost the same way, tho there is some slight difference between girls and women, and on holidays the costume is more richly ornamented. the art of holland[a] [footnote a: from "holland and its people." translated by caroline tilton. by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, g.p. putnam's sons. copyright, .] by edmondo de amicis the dutch school of painting has one quality which renders it particularly attractive to us italians; it is of all others the most different from our own, the very antithesis, or the opposite pole of art. the dutch and italian schools are the two most original, or, as has been said, the only two to which the title rigorously belongs; the others being only daughters, or younger sisters, more or less resembling them. thus, even in painting holland offers that which is most sought after in travel and in books of travel; the new. dutch painting was born with the liberty and independence of holland. as long as the northern and southern provinces of the low countries remained under the spanish rule and in the catholic faith, dutch painters painted like belgian painters; they studied in belgium, germany, and italy; heemskerk imitated michael angelo; bloemart followed correggio, and "il moro" copied titian, not to indicate others; and they were one and all pedantic imitators, who added to the exaggerations of the italian style a certain german coarseness, the result of which was a bastard style of painting, still inferior to the first, childish, stiff in design, crude in color, and completely wanting in chiaroscuro, but not, at least, a servile imitation, and becoming, as it were, a faint prelude to the true dutch art that was to be.... after depicting the house, they turned their attention to the country. the stern climate allowed but a brief time for the admiration of nature, but for this very reason dutch artists admired her all the more; they saluted the spring with a livelier joy, and permitted that fugitive smile of heaven to stamp itself more deeply on their fancy. the country was not beautiful, but it was twice dear because it had been torn from the sea and from the foreign oppressor. the dutch artist painted it lovingly; he represented it simply, ingenuously, with a sense of intimacy which at that time was not to be found in italian or belgian landscape. the flat, monotonous country had, to the dutch painter's eyes, a marvelous variety. he caught all the mutations of the sky, and knew the value of the water, with its reflections, its grace and freshness, and its power of illuminating everything. having no mountains, he took the dikes for background; and with no forests, he imparted to a simple group of trees all the mystery of a forest; and he animated the whole with beautiful animals and white sails. the subjects of their pictures are poor enough--a windmill, a canal, a gray sky;--but how they make one think! a few dutch painters, not content with nature in their own country, came to italy in search of hills, luminous skies, and famous ruins; and another band of select artists is the result. both, swanevelt, pynaeker, breenberg, van laer, asselyn. but the palm remains with the landscapists of holland, with wynants the painter of morning, with van der neer the painter of night, with rusydael the painter of melancholy, with hobbema the illustrator of windmills, cabins, and kitchen gardens, and with others who have restricted themselves to the expression of the enchantment of nature as she is in holland. simultaneously with landscape art was born another kind of painting, especially peculiar to holland--animal painting. animals are the wealth of the country; and that magnificent race of cattle which has no rival in europe for fecundity and beauty. the hollanders, who owe so much to them, treat them, one may say, as part of the population; they wash them, comb them, dress them, and love them dearly. they are to be seen everywhere; they are reflected in all the canals, and dot with points of black and white the immense fields that stretch on every side; giving an air of peace and comfort to every place, and exciting in the spectator's heart a sentiment of patriarchal serenity. the dutch artists studied these animals in all their varieties, in all their habits, and divined, as one may say, their inner life and sentiments, animating the tranquil beauty of the landscape with their forms. rubens, luyders, paul de vos, and other belgian painters, had drawn animals with admirable mastery, but all these are surpassed by the dutch artists, van der velde, berghum, karel der jardin, and by the prince of animal painters, paul potter, whose famous "bull," in the gallery of the hague, deserves to be placed in the vatican beside the "transfiguration" by rafael. in yet another field are the dutch painters great--the sea. the sea, their enemy, their power, and their glory, forever threatening their country, and entering in a hundred ways into their lives and fortunes; that turbulent north sea, full of sinister colors, with a light of infinite melancholy beating forever upon a desolate coast, must subjugate the imagination of the artist. he, indeed, passes long hours on the shore, contemplating its tremendous beauty, ventures upon its waves to study the effects of tempests, buys a vessel and sails with his wife and family, observing and making notes, follows the fleet into battle, and takes part in the fight, and in this way are made marine painters like william van der velde the elder, and william the younger, like backhuysen, dubbels, and stork. another kind of painting was to arise in holland, as the expression of the character of the people and of republican manners. a people that without greatness had done so many great things, as michelet says, must have its heroic painters, if we call them so, destined to illustrate men and events. but this school of painting--precisely because the people were without greatness, or, to express it better, without form of greatness, modest, inclined to consider all equal before the country, because all had done their duty, abhorring adulation, and the glorification in one only of the virtues and the triumph of many--this school has to illustrate not a few men who have excelled, and a few extraordinary facts, but all classes of citizenship gathered among the most ordinary and pacific of burgher life. from this come the great pictures which represent five, ten, thirty persons together, arquebusiers, mayors, officers, professors, magistrates, administrators, seated or standing around a table, feasting and conversing, of life size, most faithful likenesses, grave, open faces, expressing that secure serenity of conscience by which may be divined rather than seen the nobleness of a life consecrated to one's country, the character of that strong, laborious epoch, the masculine virtues of that excellent generation; all this set off by the fine costume of the time, so admirably combining grace and dignity; those gorgets, those doublets, those black mantles, those silken scarves and ribbons, those arms and banners. in this field stand preeminent van der heist, hals, covaert, flink, and bol.... finally, there are still two important excellences to be recorded of this school of painting--its variety, and its importance as the expression, the mirror, so to speak, of the country. if we except rembrandt with his group of followers and imitators, almost all the other artists differ very much from one another; no other school presents so great a number of original masters. the realism of the dutch painters is born of their common love of nature; but each one has shown in his work a kind of love peculiarly his own; each one has rendered a different impression which he has received from nature and all, starting from the same point, which was the worship of material truth, have arrived at separate and distinct goals. the tulips of holland[a] [footnote a: from "holland and its people." translated by caroline tilton. by special arrangement with, and by permission of, the publishers, g.p. putnam's sons. copyright, .] by edmondo de amicis the word "tulip" recalls one of the strangest popular follies that has ever been seen in the world, which showed itself in holland toward the middle of the seventeenth century. the country at that time had reached the height of prosperity; antique parsimony had given place to luxury; the houses of the wealthy, very modest at the beginning of the century, were transformed into little palaces; velvet, silk, and pearls replaced the patriarchal simplicity of the ancient costume; holland had become vain, ambitious, and prodigal. after having filled their houses with pictures, hangings, porcelain, and precious objects from all the countries of europe and asia, the rich merchants of the large dutch cities began to spend considerable sums in ornamenting their gardens with tulips--the flower which answers best to that innate avidity for vivid colors which the dutch people manifest in so many ways. this taste for tulips promoted their rapid cultivation; everywhere gardens were laid out, studies promoted, new varieties of the favorite flower sought for. in a short time the fever became general; on every side there swarmed unknown tulips, of strange forms, and wonderful shades or combinations of colors, full of contrasts, caprices, and surprises. prices rose in a marvelous way; a new variegation, a new form, obtained in those blest leaves was an event, a fortune. thousands of persons gave themselves up to the study with the fury of insanity; all over the country nothing was talked of but petals; bulbs, colors, vases, seeds. the mania grew to such a pass that all europe was laughing at it. bulbs of the favorite tulips of the rarer varieties rose to fabulous prices; some constituted a fortune; like a house, an orchard, or a mill; one bulb was equivalent to a dowry for the daughter of a rich family; for one bulb were given, in i know not what city, two carts of grain, four carts of barley, four oxen, twelve sheep, two casks of wine, four casks of beer, a thousand pounds of cheese, a complete dress, and silver goblet. another bulb of a tulip named "semper augustus" was bought at the price of thirteen thousand florins. a bulb of the "admiral enkhuysen" tulip cost two thousand dollars. one day there were only two bulbs of the "semper augustus" left in holland, one at amsterdam and the other at haarlem, and for one of them there were offered, and refused, four thousand six hundred florins, a splendid coach, and a pair of gray horses with beautiful harness. another offered twelve acres of land, and he also was refused. on the registers of alkmaar it is recorded that in there were sold in that city, at public auction, one hundred and twenty tulips for the benefit of the orphanage, and that the sale produced one hundred and eighty thousand francs. then they began to traffic in tulips, as in state bonds and shares. they sold for enormous sums bulbs which they did not possess, engaging to provide them for a certain day; and in this way a traffic was carried on for a much larger number of tulips than the whole of holland could furnish. it is related that one dutch town sold twenty millions of francs' worth of tulips, and that an amsterdam merchant gained in this trade more than sixty-eight thousand florins in the space of four months. these sold that which they had not, and those that which they never could have; the market passed from hand to hand, the differences were paid, and the flowers for and by which so many people were ruined or enriched, flourished only in the imagination of the traffickers. finally matters arrived at such a pass that, many buyers having refused to pay the sums agreed upon, and contests and disorders following, the government decreed that these debts should be considered as ordinary obligations, and that payment should be exacted in the usual legal manner; then prices fell suddenly, as low as fifty florins for the "semper augustus," and the scandalous traffic ceased. now the culture of flowers is no longer a mania, but is carried on for love of them, and haarlem is the principal temple. she still provides a great part of europe and south america with flowers. the city is encircled by gardens, which, toward the end of april and the beginning of may, are covered with myriads of tulips, hyacinths, carnations, auriculas, anemones, ranunculuses, camelias, primroses, and other flowers, forming an immense wreath about haarlem, from which travelers from all parts of the world gather a bouquet in passing. of late years the hyacinth has risen into great honor; but the tulip is still king of the gardens, and holland's supreme affection. i should have to change my pen for the brush of van der huysem or menedoz, if i were to attempt to describe the pomp of their gorgeous, luxuriant, dazzling colors, which, if the sensation given to the eye may be likened to that of the ear, might be said to resemble a shout of joyous laughter or a cry of love in the green silence of the garden; affecting one like the loud music of a festival. there are to be seen the "duke of toll" tulip, the tulips called "simple precocious" in more than six hundred varieties; the "double precocious"; the late tulips, divided into unicolored, fine, superfine, and rectified; the fine, subdivided into violet, rose, and striped; then the monsters or parrots, the hybrids, the thieves; classified into a thousand orders of nobility and elegance; tinted with all the shades of color conceivable to the human mind: spotted, speckled, striped, edged, variegated, with leaves fringed, waved, festooned; decorated with gold and silver medals; distinguished by names of generals, painters, birds, rivers, poets, cities, queens, and a thousand loving and bold adjectives, which recall their metamorphoses, their adventures, and their triumphs, and leave in the mind a sweet confusion of beautiful images and pleasant thoughts. transcriber's note: the following typographical errors have been corrected: page : "from street to street we pass, viewing the wretched tenements, and more wretched inmates huddling together over a faint spark of fire ..." 'tenements' amended from 'temements'. page : "i am quite anxious to capture, by camera, not by force of arms, some of these rare types of strength and beauty, and observing two pretty young girls standing in the doorway of one of the houses, both perfect specimens of physical health, i think this an opportunity not to be neglected." 'two' amended from 'too'. page : "a halo of romance surrounds this region, and in the many excursions from this point, the lover of the weird and visionary will find his every step accompanied by imaginary maidens of rare grace and beauty, brave knights, crafty priests, wild huntsmen, cruel dragons, super-human heroes, and all the wonderful personages of legendary lore." 'weird' amended from 'wierd'. page : "just below are rhöndorf, honnef, rheinbreitbach, unkel, and erpel ..." 'rhöndorf' amended from 'rhondörf'. [illustration: the canal at monnikendam] odd bits of travel with brush and camera by charles m. taylor, jr. author of "vacation days in hawaii and japan" and "the british isles through an opera glass," etc., etc. profusely illustrated by the author philadelphia george w. jacobs & co. and south fifteenth street copyright, , by george w. jacobs & co to my wife preface. in almost every walk of life, even among artists and photographers, we find those who are enthusiasts, and who work with such ardor and perseverance as to overcome all difficulties; while there are others who seem to desire the hard and rough places smoothed down, and the obstacles removed from their pathways. in writing this volume, it has been my purpose to enlist the attention of both of these classes, and to bring before the ardent worker as well as the ease-loving, but no less interested, follower of art, places and scenes that afford unusual attractions for the brush and camera. it might truthfully be said that in one's city may be found innumerable subjects of interest to both the amateur and professional artist; but change of food, scene and atmosphere is beneficial to both mind and body, and it is ofttimes wise to pass to new scenes and broader fields of observation. the places described herein are not linked together by proximity of location and follow no regular line of travel; but are selected from various lands and from among widely differing peoples, for the sole purpose of locating scenes that teem with paintable and photographic subjects. i have endeavored to select nooks and corners where the artist and photographer will have suitable accommodations, and where the country with its fresh, pure air, and wholesome food may build up the health, while at the same time an opportunity is afforded for filling the portfolio with delightful bits of scenery and characteristic figure studies. it has also been my aim to tell of countries and places comparatively easy of access, and where those of limited means may find satisfactory accommodations. at times i digress in my pictorial descriptions and offer some bits of personal experience that have befallen me upon my journeys, which i trust may prove of interest and perhaps be of service to others travelling through the same places. it is with these purposes in view that the following pages have been written, and my hope is that they may serve to guide other lovers of the beautiful to some of the attractive spots and fascinating views which i have attempted to describe in these odd bits of travel. _philadelphia, ._ c. m. t., jr. contents page scenes of the present and relics of the past passing vessels--the ocean--sudden changes--taking photographs--the landing-stage at liverpool--new brighton--in the country--liverpool by night--salvationists--old taverns--chester--an english home--relics--the cathedral--the river dee--leamington--the river leam--warwick castle--an old mill--through kenilworth, coventry and stoneleigh--"the king's arms"--nature's pictures lights and shadows of london life the shadow side--the slums--the city by night--vice and misery--"chinese johnson's" opium den--the "bunco" man--an english guard--"the grand old man"--caution to tourists--great cities by night--the seven dials--derby day--the tally-ho--old robin hood inn--epsom hill--the races--exciting scenes--side shows--the close of the day scenes in the gay capital dover to calais--paris---the gay capital by night--boulevards--life in the streets--champs Élysées--place de la concorde--arc d'etoile--place vendome--louvre--opera house--palais royal--church of the invalides--versailles--notre dame--jardin mabille--the madeleine--the pantheon--the banks of the seine--french funeral ceremonies--la morgue--pere lachaise antwerp and the city of windmills from paris to antwerp--along the route--thrifty farmers--antwerp--dogs in harness--the river--old churches--chimes--an inappreciative listener--steen museum--instruments of torture--lace industry--living expenses--hospitality--the city of windmills--watery highways--a city of canals--the maas river--the houses on the canals--travel by boat--novel scenes--costly headgear--dutch costumes--powerful draught horses--no bonbons--chocolate candy--in the market-place--the belle of the market--photographs--wooden shoes--drawbridges--blowing the horn--ancient relics--the sword of columbus a city of many islands amsterdam--the people of holland--amstel river--merry excursionists--interesting institutions--origin of the city--source of prosperity--a cousin to venice--ninety islands--beams and gables--block and tackle--old salesmen--street markets--haarlem--railway travel at home and abroad--ancient buildings--historic associations--in the canal--groote kerk--the great organ--picturesque subjects--zandvoort--eau de cologne--the beach--dutch sail boats--seamen--hooded chairs--peddlers--music in holland and germany--gypsies--we meet an artist--hospitality--a banquet excursions to broek and the island of marken a charming journey--fellow-passengers--national costumes--the children--a lovely landscape--holstein cattle--windmills--irrigation--farmers--a typical dutch village--washing-day--the red, white and blue--suppose a bull should appear--a brilliant picture--drawing the canal boat--honesty and cleanliness--a thrifty and industrious people--farming and cheese-making--as evening falls--scenes for an artist--dead cities of holland--monnikendam--behind the age--city lamps--houses and people--the island of marken--an isolated wonderland--first impressions--rare holidays--the family doctor--absence of the men--the fishing--healthy and industrious population--the women of marken--pretty girls--they will not be taken--a valuable experience--photographs the ancient town of monnikendam marken homes--beds in the wall--family heirlooms--an ancient clock--precious treasures--quaint customs--betrothed couples--the hotel--its interior--a lack of patrons--costumes of a by-gone age--farewell to marken--remote districts--monnikendam--ancient houses--hotel de posthoorn--the postman of the past--a difficult stairway--we stroll about the town--our retinue--in front of the hotel--such curious children--supper--we visit the shops--pantomime--a novel experience--they cannot understand--no candles--we attract a crowd--the clothing store--a marken suit--"too high"--bargaining--a stranger to the rescue old customs and quaint pictures segars and tobacco--row boats--"gooden morgen"--the zuyder zee--by candle light--total darkness--the town by night--women and girls--shoes and stockings--the shuffling man--streets and sidewalks--the town crier--the daily news--a message to the people--draught dogs--milkmaids--the barber shop--drug stores--horretje--a street auction--selling curios--they leave their shoes at the door--an old grist mill--the holland draught girl a dutch cheese-making district a cheese-making country--edam cheese--a picturesque inn--an interesting interior--a thrifty farmer--at sunrise--in the cow stable--the pretty maid--stall and parlor--the cheese room--the process of making cheese--"i have listened and listened"--a trip to volendam--a fine country road--a charming day--muzzled dogs--the only street--a multitude of children--gay decorations--a united people--as a hen and her brood--their wealth is their health--in sunday dress--stalwart men and sturdy women--a higher type--"i have enough"--fishermen--the anchorage--a volendam suit volendam sights, and the oldest town on the rhine church is out--the promenade--"every man is a volume"--an old suit--his sunday clothes--"let him have it"--an obedient son--the silver buttons--the last straw--an uncommon action--the hotel--an artist's resort--an unfinished painting--good-bye--the ancient city of cologne--the cathedral--within the "dom"--a wonderful collection--foundation of the town--history--vicissitudes--public gardens--eau de cologne--the palace of brühl along the banks of the rhine bonn--the birthplace of beethoven--the museum--monument--a famous restaurant--college students--beer mugs--special tables--affairs of honor--königswinter--magnificent views--drachenfels--the castle--the dombruch--siegfried and the dragon--a desecrated ruin--the splendor of the mountains--many visitors--view from the summit--the students' chorus--german life--a german breakfast--the camera--old castles and lofty mountains--legends of the rhine--the waters of the rhine--vineyards from bingen on the rhine to frankfort-on-the-main vast vineyards--bingen--the hotel--the down quilt--a german maid--taverns--the mouse tower--rüdesheim--niederwald--the rheingau--the national monument--the castle of niederburg--wine vaults--the river--street musicians--a misunderstanding--frankfort-on-the-main--the crossing of the ford--a free city--monument of goethe--history--a convocation of bishops--the city monument of gutenberg--the house in which rothschild was born--luther a prussian capital and a fashionable resort we start for berlin--mountain and valley--harvesters--villages--a great city--unter den linden--kroll theatre and garden--the city streets--the brandenburg gate--potsdam--the old palace--sans souci--ostend--a fashionable watering-place--the promenade--the kursaal--on the beach--bathing machines--studies for an artist--the race-course--sunday--the winning horse--fickle dame fortune--the english channel--a bureau of information--queenstown--an irish lass--the last stop--the end of the journey list of illustrations. page canal at monnikendam (_frontispiece_) we feel the heart throbs of old neptune she proves to be a barkentine under full sail the sailors in the rigging are swaying to and fro amongst these are two typical products of the british isles, this is a fine field for the student of human nature wayside inn, new brighton typical english houses with their massive thatched roofs suburban residence white hall horse guards' barracks a short run of an hour the chalky cliffs of dover the largest and handsomest gothic church in the netherlands the place is intersected everywhere by canals in many cases the balconies of residences overhang the water the belle of the market the amstel river wicker chairs offer rest to the weary pedestrian the flat landscape is varied by herds of cattle most of the houses have a canal at the back the blue stream finds its outlet in the river all persuasions accomplish naught one old woman is fascinated with the camera we walk along the narrow streets sheep, grazing upon the green pasture lands, form a homelike scene hotel de posthoorn de hooflstraat, monnikendam there is a young man whose walk is all his own the streets and sidewalks are kept scrupulously clean the whole place is a succession of quaint and picturesque houses a street auction at the farthest end of the street stands an old windmill a beautifully shaded walk just outside the town land and water a good road for the bicycle this strange looking highway runs lengthwise through the town the houses are roofed with red tiles the delicate lace caps frame smiling faces as the congregation draws nearer we halt before the foremost group every man is a volume if you know how to read him goeden dag. tot weerziens palace of brühl lovely walks, and bowery avenues not far off stands the statue of the artist the great peak known as the drachenfels, or dragon rock how noble and defiant is the appearance of these venerable fortresses every turn of the river presents a different view now we behold the little church surrounded by picturesque houses approaching bingen we see vineyards covering the mountain side thousands of fashionably dressed people appear upon this promenade there are many odd and fantastic sights here one's portfolio might soon be filled with interesting subjects many typical irish characters come aboard our vessel several small boats are floating at our side beyond is all abyss, eternity, whose end no eye can reach scenes of the present and relics of the past. _scenes of the present and relics of the past._ passing vessels--the ocean--sudden changes--taking photographs--the landing stage at liverpool--new brighton--in the country--liverpool by night--salvationists--old taverns--chester--an english home--relics--the cathedral--the river dee--leamington--the river leam--warwick castle--an old mill--through kenilworth, coventry and stoneleigh--"the king's arms"--nature's pictures. we sight a steamer on our leeward side. a passing vessel is a great excitement on an ocean voyage. from the time when she first appears, a tiny speck on the distant horizon, every one is on deck watching her as she slowly climbs into full view, then draws nearer and nearer to our floating palace. how companionable she seems in the vast waste around us. we wonder to which line she belongs; what is her name; her speed, and whither she is bound: and now that she is within hailing distance, we await eagerly the result of the usual interchange of questions and answers by means of small flags and a certain code of signals, well understood throughout the nautical world. the following are some of the questions asked: "to what line do you belong?" "what is your port?" "have you seen any icebergs?" "met any wrecks?" "are you a tramp?" and so on, until both sides are satisfied, then away she speeds on her course, while the passengers and sailors on both ships gaze at one another through their glasses until they are lost in the distance. the excitement is over, and we all return to our former occupations, or stand looking idly out to sea until once more there is a cry: "a sail! a sail!" and we begin to hope that she too is coming our way. straining our eyes through the powerful field-glasses, we perceive that she is coming toward us, and will probably cross our line. larger and larger she appears as she steadily advances, until she attracts the attention of every one on deck. she is now quite close to us, and proves to be a barkentine under full sail. we shout a greeting to the crew, and wave our handkerchiefs as she passes, and the sailors smile in return and take off their caps. [illustration: "we feel the heart throbs of old neptune." (_see page ._)] the ocean air is delightful and invigorating, the sky a perfect azure, and the translucent waves with their foamy edges stretch away in long beautiful curves. we feel the heart throbs of old neptune, as the waters plash softly over the steamer's sides, and we speed steadily forward, with the rush and swish of the sea sounding in our ears with a wild sweet melody all its own. to fall asleep on deck amid these charming conditions is delightful indeed. but how quickly the scene changes. suddenly a shrill whistle from the quartermaster summons all hands to the deck. orders are rapidly given in quick sharp tones: "aloft. take sail in." "aye, aye, sir," is the swift response, in a twinkling the sure-footed sailors are up among the yards, perched in seemingly impossible places, reefing the flapping sails in preparation for the coming storm. dark clouds above are reflected in gloomy waves below, and heaving billows surround us, uniting with a furious wind that seems bent on the destruction of our noble ship. the sailors in the rigging are swaying to and fro, and the panic-stricken passengers in the cabins are telling each other with pale faces that belie their words that they are not afraid, for there is no danger; yet they listen anxiously for every sound from above, and will not allow their dear ones to move beyond reach of their hands. there is no music now in the rushing of the waves or the flapping of the sails. old neptune in his angry moods is not a desirable companion. but nothing lasts forever, and from storm and night and black despair the flower of hope arises, for there comes a lull, followed by a furious blinding onslaught, and then the spirit of the hurricane calls his followers and flies up, away, somewhere beyond our ken: the captain's face relaxes from its tense expression, and he looks proudly around his good ship which has come out victor in the struggle with the elements. one by one, the passengers appear on deck, the purple clouds, after a final frown of disapproval at things in general, break into smiles, life on shipboard resumes its everyday attitude, and all goes "merry as a marriage bell." life is full of contrasts. this is a picture for which neither brush nor camera is ready. he who would paint it must draw it from its recess in his memory, or from some sheltered nook on shore, and be cool and calm enough to follow his favorite occupation in spite of the consciousness that life and death are struggling for mastery in yonder thrilling scene that will make him famous if he can but truly portray it upon his canvas. [illustration: "she proves to be a barkentine under full sail." (_see page ._)] but there are many tableaux and picturesque situations here, very tempting to the traveller who carries with him his sketch book or camera, and i entertain my companions as well as myself by photographing many a little group both comical and interesting in the world around us. i invite our friends to the lower deck, where i wish to take pictures of some of the steerage passengers. amongst these are two typical products of the british isles--one a robust irishman of shillalah fame, and the other a bonny boy from scotland. i make known to them my desire to have their photographs, whereupon the quick witted irishman, without doubt knowing the quality of his face, which is one of the ugliest i have ever seen, begins at once to bargain with me for the privilege of transferring it to my camera. it is true i could have stolen a march on him by a snap shot, and he been all unconscious of the act, but wishing to keep up the comedy i asked at what price he values his face. he replies that if i will take up a collection from the passengers around us, he will accept that as full pay. my friends of the cabin enter into the spirit of the play, and quite a goodly sum finds its way into the horny hand of the hibernian athlete, who now, with a broad smile of satisfaction, intimates that he is ready to be "taken." these pictures too join the gallery of our yesterdays. swift has truly said: "it is the talent of human nature to run from one extreme to another." the long voyage is over, and all hearts rejoice in the sight of land, and now we are upon the landing stage at liverpool, amidst the throng of excited passengers, all moving hither and thither in search of baggage which seems hopelessly lost in the confusion of trunks, porters, policemen, drays and ubiquitous small boys. this is a fine field for the student of human nature. here are groups of inexperienced travellers looking anxiously about them, wondering how it is possible to extricate their belongings from the indistinguishable mass before them, and laboring under the dread that when found, a fierce and merciless custom-house official will seize upon trunks and boxes, and deaf to all protestations, dump the contents, from a shoe to a hat, upon the floor, to the everlasting confusion of the owners and the amusement of the spectators. the cool indifference of those who have crossed the ocean many times is in marked contrast to these panic-stricken, and really pitiable creatures. [illustration: "the sailors in the rigging are swaying to and fro." (see page .)] then there is the "happy-go-lucky" youth, who finds all this tumult a great joke, and who wanders carelessly about, with the serene confidence that "things" will turn out all right; which they generally do. here is the fashionable mother with her pretty daughters who evince a charming delight in everything that happens; the fussy mama who is sure that her baggage has not come ashore, or that the officers of the custom-house are in league against her; children separated from parents or nurses, shrieking wildly in their terror, while others, more venturesome and curious, are in every one's way. porters elbow their way through the crowd, cabmen shout in stentorian tones, policemen watch the masses, and now and then in sharp curt tones call a delinquent to order. a placid looking old gentleman with silvery hair and dignified demeanor stands in the midst of a picturesque party of young people, evidently his grandchildren. they all look so happy that it seems contagious, for the troubled countenances of their neighbors break into sympathetic smiles as they glance at this joyous family group. every shade of human expression may be observed in this motley throng, and he who has eyes to see will find many a charming tableau, many a pathetic scene or diverting situation that would enrich a sketch book, or prove a valuable addition to the collection made by the ready camera. the various changes of expression are worth studying, for where "luxuriant joy and pleasure in excess" appear at one moment, the next may behold an angry frown, and a struggle as if for life amid the surging tide of humanity. "now one's the better--then the other best both tugging to be victor, breast to breast yet neither conqueror, or is conquered." taking a small steamer which plies between liverpool and new brighton, one may for a few cents, after a half hour's ride, land at an attractive and much frequented watering-place upon the bank of the mersey river, opposite liverpool. this resort is the pleasure-ground of the middle classes, and is well worth a visit. upon a holiday many thousands flock to its shores which remind one of vanity fair, where numerous phases and conditions of life are represented. here is the indefatigable and annoying travelling photographer with his "four for a shilling. take you in two minutes. ladies and gentlemen, step in and see the finest pictures to be found in this country. bridal groups a specialty." [illustration: "amongst these are two typical products of the british isles." (_see page ._)] here are games of all kinds, pony and donkey riding, and all the shows to be found at the popular seashore resort. the "merry-go-round" is in full swing, with a crowd of spectators, among them many wistful children, watching the prancing camels and gaily caparisoned horses. the music here is quite inspiring, and the numerous small boys and maidens who lack the necessary pennies for this ravishing entertainment gaze at their more fortunate companions with woe-begone countenances. strains less animated, but more melodious attract us to a fine dancing hall, where the older lads and lasses are tripping about in a lively manner. the light dresses, colored ribbons and happy faces make a pretty picture. along the beach are beautiful views, worthy of a master hand, while out in the country the typical english houses with their massive thatched roofs and lovely surroundings of trees, lawns and gardens fair, cannot fail to captivate the artist's eyes. a stroll through the streets and byways of liverpool at night is a sad but interesting experience. alas for the misery and crime and want that exist in all the great cities! girls, young and pretty, but no longer innocent, may be seen in scores in every locality: children with poverty and depravity written on their faces boldly address one at the street corners: men and women, with sharp, pinched features and misery and despair in their voices, beseech one for alms, or with fierce cunning lie in wait for the unwary. sick at heart and with inexpressible pity we wend our way from one point to another. vice, crime, want, suffering meet our eyes on every side: and the old hopeless cry: why must these things be? rises up again in our souls. through the whole night long upon the curb stones, at the corners, lounging against the windows and doors of closed houses or shops, this lower stratum of life appears with its atmosphere of dusky gloom. when the daylight dawns upon the city, it seems to shrivel up and shrink into the mouths of the yawning black cellars and foul alleys whose very breath is a deadly poison. there are dozens of taverns scattered about the city, and within these rooms or stalls are partitioned off where sin may be screened from public view, for even those dyed deepest in crime sometimes fall so low that they dare not carry on their nefarious operations in the face of their everyday companions. these dens are countenanced by the authorities, and one may find within them criminals of every grade who prey upon each other for their sustenance: but in the long run, it is the proprietor who comes out with a substantial bank account. beggars, peddlers, musicians, singers of both sexes, and itinerant vendors of all kinds jostle each other in these haunts of sin, and great caution should be exercised in visiting them, for in certain localities, crimes of the most brutal character are of daily, i might say hourly occurrence. i would suggest that the tourist should at such times depend for safety upon the company of a first-class detective. let praise be given where it is due. the salvationists of europe have by their indefatigable labors reclaimed thousands of these men and women from their lives of sin and misery. you will meet these untiring workers everywhere, exhorting, praying, pleading with fallen humanity. these noble bands of christians enter fearlessly the most loathsome hovels, and, wrestling with filth and disease, in many cases come off victorious. they have been known to wash the clothing and cleanse the houses of fever-stricken families, and supply wholesome food and care for helpless infants, defied at every step by a drunken son or father. they fear nothing, knowing that their cause is god's cause, and that in the end almighty goodness shall win an eternal conquest. it is customary throughout england to close all the saloons on sundays until noon, after which time they open their doors, and remain open till midnight as upon week-days. of the many cities whose haunts i have visited at night, i think that without exception, unless it be london, liverpool leads in depravity and vice. the country from liverpool to chester abounds in attractive scenery, local in character and possessing the additional charm of novelty for the american tourist. along the route are scattered a number of old taverns, such as "the horn," "the green tree," and similar names. dismounting from bicycle or trap, the traveller who enters one of these ancient landmarks will find everything in "apple pie order": the floor clean and shining like a bright new dollar just launched from the mint. he will sit at a table within one of the three stalls on either side of the little room, and the landlord's wife will bring him a bumper of "good auld al," the effect of which will prove lasting and beneficial, if it corresponds with my experience. [illustration: "this is a fine field for the student of human nature." (_see page ._)] chester, oldest of english cities, is full of quaint residences and other ancient buildings. the old wall which surrounds the town is the only one in great britain which has been preserved entire. it forms a continuous ring, although in some places the earth has climbed so far above its base, that it appears no higher than a terrace. its rugged outer parapet is still complete, and the wide flagging forms a delightful promenade, with a fine view of the surrounding country. the earliest date which we find upon the wall is a. d. , when it was erected by the romans. twelve years later, marius, king of the britons, extended the wall. the britons were defeated under it in , and after a lapse of three centuries, it was rebuilt by the daughter of alfred the great. it has a long and eventful history, and the old cathedral whose edge it skirts, is one of the largest and most ancient in england. the sculptures in this magnificent edifice are worn smooth by the hand of time. the stained glass windows are marvels of art, the groined arches, dreamy cloisters, and antique carving upon seats and pews fill one with admiration mingled with awe. there are many fine mosaics here, and specimens of wood from the holy land. costly gems adorn the choir; here too is a bible whose cover is inlaid with precious stones. the massive gothic pillars are still in a perfect state of preservation, as well as the numerous ancient monuments and relics of the past. the vast size of the cathedral is a perpetual source of wonder to the stranger, who, wandering among its curious historic mementos, gazing upon its storied nave, transepts and choir, and upon the bible scenes pictured in these glorious windows, feels that he has been transported by some magician's hand into an age long buried in the past. the cathedral is said to have been founded in the year . its height within, from floor to the lofty dome lighted by these exquisite windows is from sixty to one hundred feet. the church of st. john the baptist rivals the cathedral in antiquity, but it is now a picturesque ruin covered with moss and ivy. chester itself contains many antiquities that are to be found nowhere else in the world. the houses, dating back to , or even earlier, are of every degree of shade and color, with little windows with diamond-shaped panes, and gable ends facing the streets whose sidewalks are on a level with the second stories. everything here seems to belong to the past, excepting the fine, modern station, ten hundred and fifty feet long, with its projecting iron roofed wings for the protection of vehicles waiting for passengers from the trains. this station is one of the longest in england. the famous chester rows are public passages running through the second stories of the houses facing the four principal streets. these arcades are reached by flights of steps at the corners of the streets, and contain some very attractive shops. the old timber-built houses of chester with their curious inscriptions are all preserved in their original ancient style, and nowhere in england can the artist or photographer find a more interesting spot, or one richer in ancient and mediæval relics than this little town. [illustration: "wayside inn, new brighton." (_see page ._)] the quaint old taverns carry one back, back, to the life of the past. drop in at the bear & billet inn some day, or the falcon inn, and yield yourself up to the charming mediæval atmosphere of the place. seat yourself at the little table beside the window, and look out upon the same scene which your english ancestors looked upon more than two hundred years ago. the landlord's wife will bring you a foaming tankard of ale. it is the same tankard from which your forefathers quenched their thirst, and if you are of a contented, philosophical temperament, you will experience the same comfort and enjoyment as they, in this truly english beverage. if you are not fired with enthusiasm by this old-time picture, wend your way to the banks of the river dee, where you may paint the greens in every variety of light and shade, with one of the picturesque old farmhouses which abound here in the foreground, and some "blooded" cattle resting quietly beneath the wide-spreading branches of the trees. or here is the single wide arch of grosvenor bridge crossing the river, with a span of two hundred feet. this is one of the largest stone arches in europe. or here is a bit of the old wall skirting the water, and the charming picture of the old bridge, which dates back to the thirteenth century; and here too are the vast mills of the dee, associated with the history and traditions of eight hundred years. with its surrounding country, and the succession of lovely gardens bordering the dee, surely chester is one of the choice spots in england for the lover of the quaint and beautiful. within the pretty residences of the suburbs may be found all the comforts and recreations of a happy prosperous family life, united with genuine english hospitality, and a cordial welcome for the stranger. the owner of one of these charming homes orders up his cart, and insists upon taking us for a drive through this delightful locality, and for miles and miles our hearts and eyes are captivated by lovely landscapes and enchanting bits of scenery. we wind up with a cup of good hot tea, thinly cut buttered bread, and other dainties. [illustration: "typical english houses with their massive thatched roofs." (_see page ._)] a decided change from the ancient and mediæval associations of chester is the prosperous city of leamington, a watering-place situated on the leam river, a tributary of the avon. the natural mineral springs discovered here in have proved the source of great benefit to this town, as the springs are highly recommended by physicians, and many invalids resort thither. but as health is not our object in coming, we do not follow the popular custom, but proceeding to the banks of the river leam, engage one of the many small boats which may be hired, and drift leisurely down the stream with the current, revelling in the wealth of beauty which surrounds us. hundreds of lovely nooks disclose themselves to our eager eyes--typical english scenes--and as we float along life assumes an ideal aspect under the witchery of this picturesque river. here are old farmhouses in the foreground, with their richly cultivated fields stretching away for hundreds of acres, and here are velvet lawns, with their dainty high-bred air, surrounding noble homes, stately and silent. now a group of merry children dance about the water side, and a great newfoundland dog dashes wildly into the stream after a ball or stick, swimming gallantly out until he seizes his prize. how the children scream and run away as he rushes joyously up to them, shaking the spray over their dresses and into their faces. oh fair river leam! these lofty elms and giant oaks that look down upon your waters love you, and we too, strangers from a foreign shore, here yield our tribute of loving praise for the happy hours we owe to you, lingering often, reluctant to leave some especially charming spot where the branches of the trees overhang the stream, and touch our faces with soft caressing fingers. "nature was here so lavish of her store, that she bestowed until she had no more." this scene too fades as we board one of the many tram-cars, and in a few moments are carried to the very gateway of the world-renowned warwick castle, which occupies a commanding position, overlooking the avon. this ancient pile is artistically poised, and presents grand effects of color, light and shade. upon the payment of a shilling for each person, the massive iron doors which for centuries have guarded this stately and historic stronghold, open as if by magic, and a passageway cut through the solid rock leads us to an open space, where we have a fine view of the magnificent round towers and embattled walls. a visit of two hours gives us opportunity to climb to the top of the ancient towers which for ages have loomed up as monuments of power and defiance in the face of the enemy. we are impressed with the vast size of the castle. the view from the towers and the windows is beautiful and romantic. in the spacious courtyard there are magnificent old trees and soft velvety turf, and the hand of time has colored towers and battlements a rich brown hue that blends harmoniously with the ivy creeping in and out wherever it can find a place. [illustration: "suburban residence." (_see page ._)] the gardens slope down to the avon, from whose banks there is a picturesque view of the river front of the castle, and here as well as in the park we see some fine old cedars of lebanon, brought from the east by the warwick crusaders. in the main castle we enter a number of the apartments which are furnished in a style of regal splendor. the great entrance hall, sixty two feet long and forty wide, is rich in dark old oak wainscoting, and curious ancient armor; and shields and coronets of the earls of many generations, as well as the "bear and ragged staff," of robert dudley's crest are carved upon its gothic ceiling. the gilt drawing-room contains a rare collection of the masterpieces of great artists. this room is so called from the richly gilded panels which cover its walls and ceiling. in the cedar drawing-room are wonderful antique vases, furniture and other curios, which would well repay a much longer inspection than we can give them. but all the rooms in this magnificent old feudal castle are filled with the finest specimens of works of ancient art in every line. the paintings alone fill us with despair, for they line the walls in close succession, and the artists' names are murillo, rubens, rembrandt, vandyke, sir peter lely, guido, andrea del sarto, and many others of like celebrity. what an opportunity for those who have the time to linger in this atmosphere of lofty genius! many beautiful old shade trees surround the castle, and the restful silence inspires one with the desire to be alone and yield himself up to the spirit of the place, hallowed by such wealth of associations and the presence of immortal art. a short distance from the castle, and outside the warwick enclosure, stands an old mill upon the bank of the avon. this ancient and picturesque structure was originally built for the purpose of grinding wheat, but the all-observing eye of the artist quickly discovered in it a mission of a higher order, and for years it has posed as the central figure in the romantic landscapes portrayed by the brush of the painter or the camera of the photographer. taking a drag and driving through kenilworth, coventry and stoneleigh, will give one delightful views of some of the most beautiful portions of england. the roads are macadamized, and in good condition. this is a fine farming country, and here we see the typical english farmhouses, built of brick and stone, surrounded by well-cultivated fields, stretching away into a peacefully smiling landscape. the fields are separated by green hedges, and the whole scene is one that can hardly be surpassed throughout "merrie england." from these lovely quiet homes, we pass through roads bordered with wild flowers to the ruins of one of the most magnificent castles in great britain. it is hardly necessary to say that kenilworth is inseparably associated with sir walter scott, and his graphic descriptions of the scenes and events that have taken place here in the days of its glory. this castle, one of the finest and most extensive baronial ruins in england, dates back to about a. d. it covered an area of seven acres, but is now a mass of ivy-covered ruins, from which one can form but a faint idea of its appearance in the height of its prosperity. yet the hand of nature has invested it with another kind of beauty, and in place of the pomp and majesty of power, the brilliant pageants of the court of queen elizabeth, we behold the clinging robe of ivy, the daylight illuminating the gallery tower in place of the hundreds of wax torches which flashed their lights upon the royal cavalcade, and a little country road where once a stately avenue led to the tower, and listened to the court secrets, lovers' vows and merry badinage uttered within its shades. the castle has passed through many changes, and experienced stormy days as well as those of prosperity and luxury, but the pen of scott has immortalized it on the summit of its glory, and though the ages may cast their blight upon its visible form, it will ever live in the soul of the artist, the poet, the lover of beauty, as a scene of splendor, of sorrowful tragedy, of magnificent design. but a few steps beyond the kenilworth grounds is an old english inn--the king's arms. it is so picturesque and romantic-looking, that i feel like rechristening it: "the entire royal family." let us enter its hospitable doors and enjoy its old-time atmosphere and many curious attractions. here the artist is in his element, for on every side are quaint corners, cozy nooks, and relics for which the lover of the antique would give a fortune; while outside the windows the beautiful english landscape beams upon one with inviting smiles. the landlady, with her cheerful bustling air and broad accent, imparts a pleasant thrill of anticipation, which is more than realized upon the appearance of the savory chops,--grown on the neighboring hillside, whose rich green pasturage is a guarantee for the flavor and quality of the meat,--the delicious hot cakes, and the unfailing tankard, or if one prefers it, the cup of fragrant tea. and so we sit and refresh the inner man, while the soul revels in the world of beauty around us, and picture after picture passes before the mental vision, connecting these scenes with famous historic characters, or wonderful events of legendary lore. so lovely are these views, that one could gaze for hours, and never weary of the "living jewels dropp'd unstained from heaven," for this picturesque country possesses a peculiar freshness, as though free from the touch of care and the hand of time, like the fair maiden who has received from the fountain of youth the gift of eternal life and beauty. lights and shadows of london life. _lights and shadows of london life._ the shadow side--the slums--the city by night--vice and misery--"chinese johnson's" opium den--the "bunco" man--an english guard--"the grand old man"--caution to tourists--great cities by night--the seven dials--derby day--the tally-ho--old robin hood inn--epsom hill--the races--exciting scenes--side shows--the close of the day. as nature derives much of its charm from the intermingling of light and shade, so in life there are many scenes of sharp contrast, and we often have a deeper appreciation of its beauties after beholding the reverse side of the picture. some one has said: "in actions of life, who seeth not the filthiness of evil, wanteth a great foil to perceive the beauty of virtue." what better opportunity of studying this phase of life can there be, than in the faces of those whose existence is passed amid associations of suffering, want and crime; who not only witness, but experience all these in their different shades and degrees. take with me a walk through the worst portions of the greatest metropolis in the world, and observe a few of the pictures in the localities where humanity is born and nourished in misery, filth and sin. guarded by three of england's best paid detectives, i follow closely in their footsteps, not daring to speak lest i rouse in his lair the slumbering lion of passion and revenge. from street to street we pass, viewing the wretched tenements, and more wretched inmates huddling together over a faint spark of fire, or vainly trying to impart to their little ones some of the natural warmth which still exists in their bodies, in spite of hunger, cold and fatigue. the crumbs from the tables of the rich would be a lavish feast to these poor creatures. clean water is as great a stranger to their stomachs as to their bodies; loathsome rags cover their emaciated forms, and the destroyer drink has left his signet upon their countenances. a little farther on is the vile dance house into which the inhabitants of this neighborhood crawl for the lowest stage of their degradation. a motley throng is assembled here, and the sound of a violin mingles with shrill laughter and drunken oaths. i am guarded so carefully that many times i am hurried away from a scene more quickly than i wish, the officers fearing that our presence may create a disturbance among these reckless characters. we enter a low saloon in a cellar dimly lighted by an old oil lamp: the atmosphere is gruesome, and one of the detectives warns me that the men who frequent this haunt are desperate fellows who would not hesitate to stab me for the sake of my clothing. old and grizzled habitués line reeking walls, with depravity written upon every countenance, and i fully realize that my life would not be worth a moment's purchase here should my attendants forsake me. now we are in a long narrow alley, as black as erebus, which gives one the feeling of being in a subterranean passage upon some mysterious mission. in a few minutes a light appears ahead--a dull glimmering bluish light, like that which is supposed to hover above graveyards--and we pause in front of a small frame house of two stories. a knock upon the door brings to the threshold a little dried up, wizened chinaman, made feeble by long dissipation, who in his broken language makes us welcome. the place is "chinese johnson's" opium den. how can i describe the scene that is before me? in this room are many small dirty cots filled with unconscious human beings, willing victims of the pernicious drug--a loathsome spectacle--and here on a small couch sits the proprietor of the establishment. this is his throne of state, and here he can smoke with impunity the deadly drug, which has no perceptible effect upon his depraved body. we are glad to end this experience and banish from our minds the unattractive picture of the chinaman in his elysian fields. we are not the only ones who have the privilege of viewing these scenes. any one who desires and possesses the necessary courage may invade the haunts and dens of the lower world, and be profited by the lessons here learned; but he must exercise great caution. the studies are not only for the brush and camera: they are food for the thoughtful mind which can apply the wisdom thus gained, and seek in these conditions for the solution of knotty problems. one can better appreciate, by reason of this contrast, the blessings of his own life; of purity, honesty and contentment as opposed to ignorance, poverty and vice. this evening, fatigued in mind and body by my experience in the slums of london, i enter the holborn restaurant, hoping to enjoy a good dinner, and at the same time be entertained by the delightful music of skilled musicians. i seat myself at a table on the second floor, and supposing myself free from intrusion, yield myself up to the charming melody, when a good-looking and well-dressed man approaches, and with many apologies asks if the seat opposite me is engaged. i assure him that i do not lay claim to ownership of any portion of the holborn, and that i can speak only of the chair upon which i am sitting. upon this he takes the opposite place and gives to the waiter an order for quite an extravagant supply of the dainties enumerated on the bill of fare. during the time intervening between the giving of the order and its delivery, no conversation passes between us, but i have an unpleasant consciousness of his presence, and occasionally feel his eyes resting upon me. the appearance of the epicurean repast seems to impart the confidence he requires, and he addresses me with the remark that i must pardon him for staring at me so impolitely, but he is sure he has met me before. am i not an american? to which i assent. "are you a new yorker?" is the next interrogation from this experienced catechiser. he can readily perceive that i am an american by my foreign accent. to the last question i also respond in the affirmative, and may heaven forgive the falsehood. "ah," he says, "do you frequent the races at sheepshead bay?" "yes, generally," i reply. (i have never seen the place.) "it is there, then, that i have met you. were you not there last summer?" "many times." (another breach of truth.) "will you kindly give me your name?" follows as a matter of course. i reach my hand into my pocket and draw out a card upon which is engraved simply my name, and extending it toward him, remark: "my name is charles m. taylor, jr., and i am associated with mr. ----, one of the chief detectives at scotland yard. my present mission is to look up some 'bunco' men from new york who have headquarters in london. here is my card." but the stranger does not take the card. he glances hastily at his watch, and rising hurriedly, says: "it is nine o'clock. i did not know it was so late. i must be off, as i have an important engagement." as he pushes back his chair, i quickly call a waiter, and tell him to collect the money for this gentleman's order, as i do not wish to be held responsible for it. he pays for the meal which he has not touched, and in his haste to depart forgets his manners, for he does not wish me "good-night." did he think i was a tender lamb? this hurts my pride somewhat. i am sorry, however, that i was obliged to deceive him so. one evening while discussing matters in general with an english friend, born and bred in the city of london, we touch upon the order and unswerving obedience of the soldiers, policemen and good citizens who dwell under the dominion of her gracious majesty, the queen, in the great metropolis; and my friend cites as an example, the guards who patrol nightly the white hall horse guards barracks, as adhering so strictly to their line of march that they will not turn out of their way one inch for any person or obstacle in their direct course. i accept the wager of a dinner at the holborn to be given by me if i do not succeed in inducing one of these guards to move out of his line of march. selecting a dark night for the one in which to make good my assertion, i approach the barracks, and espy the guard with bayonet at "carry arms," making a "bee line" toward me. i walk in his direction with head bent low, and come so close that there would be a collision were it not for the stern and firmly-uttered "halt" that comes from his lips. i halt face to face with this noble specimen of humanity, standing fully six feet one in his boots, and as straight as "jack's bean pole." "sir," i say, "you are in my way, will you please move out?" he makes no response. "will you please step aside and allow me to pass?" no response. "come, my good fellow," i continue in persuasive tones, "i have made a wager that you will move out of line for me, and if you do i will share the bet with you." no reply. but i see in the immovable countenance an inflexible determination to do his duty which all the bribes in christendom will not be able to change. i feel that death only can prevent his obedience to orders. "well," i conclude, "you are a good fellow, and the power you serve, be it queen, emperor, or president, is to be envied for having such a faithful subject. i respect your obedience to law and order. good-night." no response. it is needless to say that i pay the forfeit willingly, and my friend and i enjoy a good dinner at the holborn. [illustration: "white hall horse guards' barracks." (_see page ._)] strolling one morning about london, with nothing better to do than to take in "odd bits" that come in my way, i observe a large crowd of citizens assembled opposite the entrance to parliament, and going up to a policeman, i ask what has happened, or is about to happen? but the officer looks perfectly blank, and can give me no information whatever. i bethink suddenly of my remissness and the rules governing information sought from guards, cab-drivers, and omnibus whips in the city of london, and straightway putting my hand in my pocket, i produce several pennies which i give him for a mug of "half and half." a change comes over his countenance, his vanished senses quickly return, and with a courteous smile he remarks that gladstone is expected to appear in parliament for the first time after an illness of some weeks. and this obliging "cop" not only gives me the desired information, but escorts me to a good position in the crowd, just in time to behold the "grand old man," who, holding his hat in his hand, bows smilingly in response to the enthusiastic greetings which come from every side. he walks briskly along, and as he comes close to me, moved by an irresistible impulse, i step out from the throng, and extend my hand, saying: "i am an american, who wishes to shake the hand of the man who has so bravely fought a hard battle." the proud old face looks pleasantly into mine, his hand meets mine with a cordial grasp, and replying that he is glad to meet an american, gladstone passes on to the scene of his many conflicts and victories. the tourist who is bent on seeing the various sections of a great city, and especially those localities which are best observed by night, should be very cautious in visiting the haunts of vice and poverty: such for example as the old seven dials of london, as it used to be. i have had many unpleasant and untold encounters, and been placed in situations, not only trying, but extremely dangerous, while attempting to explore these hidden regions unattended and alone. experience has taught me that it is best to go "well heeled," that is accompanied by the best informed and most expert detectives, as what they may charge for their services is cheap in comparison with a mutilated head or body. one's own ready wit and shrewdness are all very well in some cases, but there are times when these fail, and the man at the other end, drunken, brutal, and excited, will make you wish you had "let sleeping dogs lie." it is well for travellers and others to visit the slums of large cities by night. here is food for comparison and reflection, and from these may perhaps arise a different feeling from that with which we are accustomed to regard the poor wretches who have lacked the advantages of birth, education and environment. in company with four detectives, i visited the "seven dials" of london, and the experience of those nights spent in scenes of horror, vice and degradation would fill volumes. picture to yourself a small narrow street, with low wooden houses of two stories on either side. there are dim glimmering lights at intervals of about fifty feet. the hour is two o'clock in the morning, as one tourist attended by four officers wends his way through an atmosphere filled with dread and horror. we enter some of the houses which present scenes of indescribable squalor and confusion. a perfect bedlam of tongues reigns here. men and women hurl abusive epithets at each other, from windows and doors, as well as from one end of the street to the other. the entire neighborhood enters into the quarrel, and the transition from words to blows is sudden and fierce. the street is filled in an instant with ragged, and almost naked beings, whom one can hardly call human, and the battle which ensues with clubs, knives and fists is beyond imagination. cut heads, broken limbs, bruised bodies, bleeding countenances appear on every side, and it is quite evident that many are scarred for life. the sight is loathsome, yet it makes one's heart ache. such scenes are of frequent occurrence in the slums of nearly every large city, where drink and depravity count their victims by thousands. in these vile abodes are the haunts of the thief, the smuggler, the fallen, and the pictures once seen, are indelibly impressed on the memory, with the long train of reflections awakened by such sights, and the inevitable query: why is not something done to render such scenes impossible in this age of civilization? at last the great derby day has arrived, and the whole atmosphere is filled with the importance of the occasion. the sprinkling rain does not dampen the ardor and enthusiasm of the true englishman, for i am told that the races have never been postponed on account of the weather. after breakfast we stroll to the street corner where stands our tally-ho in readiness for the day's excursion. having engaged our seats the previous day, we take our places and start forth, drawn by four spirited horses under the guidance of an experienced driver. the whip is cracked, the horn sends forth its musical signal, and away we go amid the cheers and applause of numerous spectators. swiftly we roll over the well paved streets, and the high spirits of the company, accompanied by the frequent winding of the horn, render the ride extremely pleasant. the race-course is about eighteen miles out of london, and our road is through a beautiful portion of the country. every lane and avenue is thronged with people, walking, driving, or on bicycles, but all going to the derby. we stop for refreshment at the old robin hood inn, an ancient hostelry, established, we are told, in . here we have a beverage, supposed to be soda water or milk, but which is in truth a stronger concoction, to brace us for the mental and physical strain of this exciting day. "all aboard," cries the coachman, and there is a general scramble for places. at last we are all seated, and proceed on our way, changing horses when half the distance is covered. we take the main thoroughfare within three miles of the epsom grounds, and now a wonderful sight bursts upon us. thousands of pedestrians of both sexes and every age are flocking toward the race course: hundreds of carriages, vans, dog carts, tally-hos, vehicles of every description throng the road. enormous trains are constantly arriving, bearing their thousands to the downs, now covered with a vast moving mass. london empties itself on this all-important day, and proceeds to epsom by every possible means of locomotion. the grand stand, a handsome and commodious structure, is quickly filled to overflowing. there are numerous other stands. the appearance of the downs, with the countless booths and the waving multitude which cover it as far as the eye can reach, is a spectacle that cannot fail to thrill the soul of the most phlegmatic. no other event in england can concentrate such an amount of interest and excitement as is found on the scene of the derby. every one is in high spirits: young and old, men, women and children all seem merry and happy, laughing, singing, dancing along on this one great day of the year. behold the party on our right. a large wagon contains ten or more men and women, who are singing and laughing in great glee, and who invite us to join them. here a group of a half dozen men with musical instruments at their sides are singing to their own accompaniment. the dust rises in clouds, and we are covered from head to foot with it as with a garment: we all wear veils pinned around our heads to protect our eyes. at last we reach epsom hill, and here we pay two guineas for the admission of our party and conveyance. we are also entitled to a place anywhere on the hill which overlooks the race-course. our horses are picketed after being taken from the wagon, and our two attendants spread before us a most sumptuous repast. coaches of every kind are so thickly jumbled together that for a vast distance the hill seems covered with a coat of dark paint. [illustration: "a short run of an hour." (_see page ._)] thousands and thousands of men, women and children are assembled upon this hillside, while tens of thousands fill the stands and encircle the race-course. it is estimated that no less than from one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand persons are massed together at these races. the race-course is not like those in the united states, but is a sodded strip extending about half a mile in a straight line. the ringing of a bell announces the commencement of the races, and the mass of humanity surges to and fro in great excitement. now is the book-maker's time, and he passes hither and thither, shouting his offers to the enthusiastic multitude, who accept or reject his propositions with eagerness or scorn, corresponding with their knowledge or ignorance of the horses ventured. gambling and betting are at their height: vast sums of money change hands at the conclusion of the races, and many inexperienced as well as reckless ones leave the field at night ruined men. meanwhile the confusion is indescribable. but these sounds drop away, and silence prevails as five slender well-shaped racers appear, ridden by jockeys, but when the wild mad race begins in which each endeavors to outdo the others, the excitement and tumult know no bounds: shouts, groans, cheers fill the air, and every eye is strained along the course: one could readily believe that a whole world of mad spirits has been let loose to fill the air with their hoarse discordant sounds. as the winning horse reaches the goal, a placard of large dimensions, on which his number is conspicuously painted, is raised within full view of the swaying crowd. the shouts and cheers burst forth afresh, and jubilee and pandemonium mingle their extremes in a scene to be imagined only by those who have experienced it. as the first excitement cools, bets are paid, and accounts squared. again the bell rings: another race, and a repetition of the previous scene, and so it continues for several hours. but the racing is not the sole attraction, as is evidenced by the crowds surrounding the refreshment booths and side tents, where for a small fee one may see the fat woman, the skeleton man, or the double-headed boy; or listen to the colored minstrels who charm the soul with plantation melodies; or have his fortune told in the gypsy tent by a dark-eyed maid in gorgeous attire, who will tell of a wonderful future which is "sure to come true." or you may have your photograph taken on the spot, and finished while you wait. here is a phonograph representing a variety entertainment, and the little group around it are laughing heartily at the jokes of the "funny man," the ventriloquist, and the story-teller. here are fine bands of musicians, and dozens of oddities, and curious tricksters: and the whole forms one grand panorama of human life, the counterpart of which is to be seen nowhere else in the world. at five o'clock, the horses are harnessed to our tally-ho, and with smiling but dusty and sunburned faces we bid farewell to the scene of gayety and start for home. every road and byway in the surrounding country is swarming with people, and the scale of pleasure, disappointment, grief, hilarity and fatigue is reflected in the countenances of riders and pedestrians. here is a group, overheated, weary, dejected, trudging slowly along the way, interchanging scarcely a word with each other: here a merry party, filled with life, singing, laughing, recounting the events of the day, as they wander on, arm in arm. now a little lame boy smiles in our faces from the tiny cart which his sister pushes cheerily forward, and now a gay belle dashes by in a carriage drawn by fast horses, holding the ribbons and whip in correct style, while her companion leans back, indolently enjoying the situation. the countenances of the men tell various tales, as the triumphs or failures of the day are expressed in their faces. some few wear a stolid, impassive air, while others talk, talk, talk, as though they have never had an opportunity till now. as we ride along amid the stupendous throngs, many thoughts are aroused, and many a picture is put away in the recesses of memory to be brought forth and pondered over on a future day. with the shades of night the curtain falls upon a scene of such magnitude that the brain is weary of contemplating it, and is glad to find temporary forgetfulness in "tired nature's sweet restorer." and so ends the great derby day. [illustration: "the chalky cliffs of dover." (_see page ._)] scenes in the gay capital. _scenes in the gay capital._ dover to calais--paris--the gay capital by night--boulevards--life in the streets--champs Élysées--place de la concorde--arc d'etoile--place vendome--louvre--opera house--palais royal--church of the invalides--versailles--notre dame--jardin mabille--the madeleine--the pantheon--the banks of the seine--french funeral ceremonies--la morgue--pere lachaise. we travel from london to dover by train, thence by steamer to calais. the chalky cliffs of dover with their high precipitous sides are a pleasant and restful farewell picture of the shores of old england. a short run of an hour or more lands us amid scenes so different from those of the past few weeks that we feel that the magician's wand has again been exercised and the "presto, change," has transported us to a region of maliciously disposed genii, who will not understand us, or allow us to comprehend their mysterious utterances; and the transformation scene is complete as we enter paris, the home of the light, the gay, the fantastic. let the lover of the bright, the gay, the jovial, visit the broad boulevards of paris by night, especially the avenue des champs Élysées, which seems to be the favorite promenade of the populace. upon both sides are groves of trees, brilliantly illuminated by myriads of colored lights, and here amid these bowers is to be found every variety of entertainment for the people. games of chance are played in the gay booths, punch and judy shows attract crowds of children, wonderful feats of horsemanship are performed, singers in aërial costumes draw many to the cafés chantants, and the lights of innumerable cabs and carriages flit to and fro in every direction like will-o'-the-wisps. here is fine military music, as well as exhibitions of skillful playing on almost every known instrument. the wide boulevards are long, straight and marvels of beauty, with their lovely gardens, handsome houses, and fine shops. there are strong contrasts in the lives of those one sees upon these streets under the gaslight. i think dante's three realms are pretty clearly represented along the avenues of paris, beneath the starry dome of heaven, and within these gayly decorated booths and cafés. here may be seen the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, the innocent and the hardened in guilt, the adventurer and his unsuspecting victim. and this heterogeneous throng, this careless pleasure-loving crowd, may be seen drifting from one point to another till the cock crows the warning of approaching dawn. the streets of paris by night afford abundant material for the artist, the photographer, the poet, author and clergyman; as well as the adventurer. here indeed, if anywhere, one may "read the human heart, its strange, mysterious depths explore. what tongue could tell, or pen impart the riches of its hidden lore?" the place de la concorde is the most beautiful square in paris. from its centre are magnificent views of the grand boulevards and many of the handsome public buildings, and here are the great bronze fountains marking the historic spot upon which stood the guillotine during the french revolution. the lovely walks, the sparkling waters, and the statues and monuments, the obelisk, the merry strollers, and picturesque tableaux seen at every turn are positively enchanting. up the broad vista of the champs Élysées the eye rests upon the wonderful arc d'etoile, one of the most conspicuous monuments in paris. it stands in the place d'etoile, one of the most fashionable sections of the city, and is surrounded by elegant residences and pleasant gardens. from this point radiate twelve of the most beautiful avenues in paris, and from the summit of the arch one can see for miles down these grand boulevards. the magnificent arch of triumph, commenced in by napoleon, was not finished until . it is a vast structure, rising one hundred and fifty feet from the ground. the great central arch is ninety feet high and forty-five feet wide, and is crossed by a spacious transverse arch. upon the outside of the arch are groups of splendidly executed statuary, representing scenes of conquest and allegorical figures. a spiral staircase leads to the platform on top, where one beholds this superb prospect which well deserves its world-wide celebrity. we come upon the place vendome through the rue de la paix, and here stands the great historic column, erected by the first napoleon in commemoration of his victories over the russians and austrians. the monument is constructed of twelve hundred pieces of cannon, captured in the campaign of . upon the pedestal and around the shaft which is one hundred and thirty-five feet high, are bas-reliefs representing warlike implements and the history of the war from the departure of the troops from boulogne to its end on the famous field of austerlitz. in front of the central entrance to the court of the tuileries, in the place du carrousel, is the arc de triomphe du carrousel, also erected by napoleon i., in , in imitation of the triumphal arch of severus at rome. in the garden of the tuileries, with its old-time atmosphere, its statues, fountains and pillars, its groves and terraces, its historic ruins, its lovely flower-beds, we find a quaint and charming picture of a past age; yet when these groves and paths resound with the hum of human voices, when the many chairs and benches are filled with joyous human beings, the link between the past and present is established, and we are in one of the favorite resorts of the parisians of to-day. between the tuileries and the louvre is napoleon's triumphal arc du carrousel--or rather between the courtyards of the two famous piles, which now form one continuous structure of magnificent architectural design, whose façade is adorned with corinthian columns, elaborate sculptures and lofty pavilions. groups of statuary, representing the most distinguished men of france, allegorical figures, floral designs and other decorations on a vast scale ornament these magnificent pavilions. the space enclosed by the old and new louvres and the tuileries is about sixty acres. some of the most beautiful of the architectural designs of the louvre were completed by napoleon i.,--to whom it owes much of its restoration,--from the drawings of perrault, the famous author of bluebeard, and the sleeping beauty. we cross a square and quickly find ourselves in the garden of the palais royal, once the palais cardinal, and the home of richelieu. the ground floor of the palace is occupied by shops. the garden which is enclosed by the four sides of the square, is about a thousand feet long and nearly four hundred feet wide. here is a quadruple row of elms, also long flower-beds, shrubbery, a fountain and some statues. a military band plays here in the afternoon, but the garden presents the gayest scene in the evening, when it is brilliantly illuminated, and the chairs under the elms, as well as the long walks are filled with gay pleasure-seekers. there is a magnificent opera house near the grand hotel, whose vast exterior is ornamented with beautiful statuary, medallions, gilding and other rich decorations. in the church of the invalides we find the tomb of napoleon i., who in his will expressed a desire that his ashes might rest on the banks of the seine, in the midst of the french people whom he had loved so well. the open circular crypt is beneath the lofty dome, whose light falls upon it through colored glass, and with a wonderful effect. the pavement of the crypt is a mosaic, representing a great crown of laurels, within which are inscribed the names of napoleon's most important victories; and twelve colossal figures symbolizing conquests, surround the wreath. the sarcophagus rests upon the mosaic pavement within the crypt, which is twenty feet in depth. this is an enormous block of red sandstone, weighing more than sixty tons, which surmounts another huge block supported by a splendid rock of green granite. the scene is solemn and grandly impressive, the faint bluish light from above, producing an effect wholly indescribable. in the higher of the two cupolas, directly over the crypt, is a painting, with figures which appear of life-size even at this great distance, of christ presenting to st. louis the sword with which he vanquished the enemies of christianity. here is versailles, with its "little park of twelve miles in extent, and its great park of forty," with its beautiful fountains and grottos, its wonderful groves and flower-beds. here are velvety lawns adorned with fine statuary, green alleys, shrubberies and terraces, in which art and nature are so cunningly intermingled that they are often mistaken for each other. the fountains are representations of mythological characters, and the figures are carried out in their immediate surroundings. apollo is in his grotto, served by seven graceful nymphs: while close by the steeds of the sun-god are being watered by tritons. again, the basin of this god appears surrounded by tritons, nymphs and dolphins, with neptune and amphitrite in the centre, reposing in an immense shell. latona, apollo and diana are represented by a fine group: the goddess is imploring jupiter to punish the lycian peasants who have refused her a draught of water, while all around her, in swift answer to her appeal, are the peasants, some partially transformed, others wholly changed into huge frogs and tortoises, condemned here to an endless penalty of casting jets of water toward the offended deity. here is the famous old cathedral of notre dame de paris with which victor hugo has made the world familiar. this grand gothic structure was commenced in the twelfth century, and finished in the fourteenth. we view its exterior from a position facing the fine west façade, with its wonderful rose window between the huge square towers. the three beautiful portals are ornamented with rich sculptures and imposing statuary. these doors form a succession of receding arches, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century. the central portion is a fine representation of the last judgment. the interior is vast and impressive with its vaulted arches and long rows of columns. the ancient stained glass of notre dame is represented by three magnificent rose windows. from the summit of the tower there is a glorious view of the seine and its picturesque banks and bridges: indeed one of the loveliest views in paris. another famous and beautiful edifice is the madeleine, or church of st. mary magdalene, which stands in an open space not far from the place de la concorde. it is in the form of a grecian temple, surrounded by corinthian columns, and the flight of twenty-eight steps by which one approaches the church, extends across its entire breadth. the great bronze doors are adorned with illustrations of the ten commandments. within, the walls and floors are of marble richly ornamented, and the side chapels contain fine statues, and paintings of scenes from the life of mary magdalene. the high altar is a magnificent marble group representing angels bearing mary magdalene into paradise. this whole interior is indescribably beautiful, and to enter into its details one would require a volume. from this sublime spectacle we pass to the church of st. genevieve, the protectress of the city of paris, familiarly known as the pantheon. this also is a magnificent structure, with three rows of beautiful corinthian columns supporting its portico. the handsome pediment above this portico contains a splendid group of statuary in high relief, representing france in the act of distributing garlands to her famous sons. the central figure is fifteen feet in height. the edifice is in the form of a greek cross, surmounted by a majestic dome, two hundred and eighty feet high. within the church the spacious rotunda is encircled by corinthian columns which support a handsome gallery, and he who ascends to the dome will have an opportunity of observing closely the wonderful painting, covering a space of thirty-seven hundred square feet, which represents st. genevieve receiving homage from clovis, the first christian monarch of france, charlemagne, st. louis, and louis xviii., while the royal martyrs of the french revolution are pictured in the heavenly regions above. in the gloomy vaults below we behold the tombs of a number of eminent men, among them those of rousseau, voltaire, and soufflot, the architect of the pantheon. in the middle of the vaults is an astonishing echo. the roll of a drum here would sound like the thunder of artillery; a board dropped upon the pavement is like the report of a cannon, and the reverberations are repeated over and over again as though these subterranean spirits are loth to resign the opportunity of speech so seldom afforded them. the tourist in paris rarely fails to spend at least one evening in the jardin mabille; that is the male tourist, who is curious to behold life in all its phrases, and whom the fame of the garden attracts as the candle draws the moth. this is a pretty spot, with bowery paths, gay flowers, sparkling fountains, arbors and sheltered corners where lovers and others may enjoy tête-à-têtes undisturbed, and refreshments may be ordered to suit purses of all dimensions. there is a good orchestra on the brilliantly illuminated stand, and here the soubrette is in the height of her glory, while the better class of the visitors are as a rule, only spectators. there is some pretty gay dancing here, but order is preserved. on certain nights fine displays of fireworks attract many spectators. but the great feature is the dance, and the proprietors generally employ some girls distinguished by peculiar grace, beauty, or other characteristics who serve as magnets to the light and pleasure-loving throngs. but why attempt to give even a faint idea of the innumerable attractions of the city whose abundant resources bewilder the tourist whose time is limited. it teems with life. it is overflowing with beauty, passion and love. wandering along its gay boulevards, whether in the bright sunshine, or beneath the starry vault of night, with picturesque mansions or gay shops on either side, or amid the bowery paths and bewitching avenues, the gardens, statues, music and laughter, one feels that he is in an enchanted land, where high and low, rich and poor share alike in the universal beauty and happiness. the charming banks of the seine offer endless attractions. here are many beautiful bridges, from which one may have picturesque views of the lovely gardens and palaces. these bridges are handsomely ornamented with statuary, bronzes, and reliefs, and bear interesting inscriptions. floating bathing establishments are to be seen along these banks, and swimming schools for both sexes. here are also large floats or boats capable of accommodating at least fifty women, who wash their clothing in the seine. it is quite interesting to watch these robust girls and women, as they pat and slap the heaps of muslin with the large paddles provided for this purpose. when a death occurs in a family of the middle class in paris, it is customary to drape the whole lower story of the house with black, and place the body of the deceased in the front room. holy water is placed at the head, also candles and a crucifix, and any one may enter and view the body, or sprinkle it with holy water, and offer a prayer for the soul of the departed. the men who pass a house so distinguished reverently uncover their heads: they also take off their hats on the appearance of a funeral, and remain so until the procession has passed. for him who is interested in such sights, the morgue presents a curious but sad attraction. here lie on marble slabs, kept cool by a continuous stream of water, the bodies of unknown persons who have met their death in the river or by accident. their clothing is suspended above their heads, and any one may enter and view these silent rows. after a certain period, if not identified, they are buried at the public expense. i behold many pathetic sights here, as broken-hearted relatives find their worst fears realized and lost and erring ones are recognized. sad, sad are the pictures to be seen at the morgue. here is a fair young girl, of not more than twenty years, resting peacefully upon her marble bed, her troubles in this world over forever. her body was found yesterday floating on the seine. "one more unfortunate weary of breath, sadly importunate, gone to her death. "touch her not scornfully; think of her mournfully, gently and humanly; not of the stains of her, all that remains of her now is pure womanly. "make no deep scrutiny into her mutiny rash and undutiful: past all dishonor, death has left on her only the beautiful." pere lachaise, once an old jesuit stronghold, is now the largest cemetery in paris. it is said that there are more than eighteen thousand monuments here. the older part is much crowded, and we find here famous names connected with every age and profession. here is a granite pyramid, here one of white marble, and here the love of a nation commemorates with flowers the grave of a man whose resting-place no lofty monument marks, but who "lives forever in the hearts of the french people." here a monument whose sides exhibit bas-reliefs of the fable of the fox and stork, and the wolf and lamb, is surmounted by the figure of a fox carved in black marble. this is the tomb of lafontaine. the little gothic chapel yonder is the tomb of abelard, whose effigy lies upon the sarcophagus within, and beside it is that of heloise. this double monument is very lovely, although the signs of neglect and decay are plainly visible. the military chiefs of napoleon's day sleep in this cemetery, and here lie the mortal remains of st. pierre, the author of paul and virginia, of the great painter, david, of pradier, the sculptor, the actress rachel, and hundreds of others with whose names we are all familiar. the grounds are picturesque with winding paths, and cypress groves, and wreaths and flowers everywhere testify to the loving remembrance in which the dead are held by the living. the elevated position of pere lachaise gives one a fine view of the city. the grounds when first laid out in , covered upward of forty acres; they now extend over more than two hundred acres, and it is said that $ , , have been expended in monuments since this cemetery was opened. antwerp and the city of windmills. _antwerp and the city of windmills._ from paris to antwerp--along the route--thrifty farmers--antwerp--dogs in harness--the river--old churches--chimes--an inappreciative listener--steen museum--instruments of torture--lace industry--living expenses--hospitality--the city of windmills--watery highways--a city of canals--the maas river--the houses on the canals--travel by boats--novel scenes--costly headgear--dutch costumes--powerful draught horses--no bonbons--chocolate candy--in the market-place--the belle of the market--photographs--wooden shoes--drawbridges--blowing the horn--ancient relics--the sword of columbus. the country between paris and antwerp is delightful, and very different from the lovely landscapes of england. farms, towns, villages, all present a novel aspect, and the people speak a language very strange to our ears. the great fields along the road are not fenced in but are only distinguished from one another by the difference in the appearance of the crops. in england, as i have said, there are beautiful hedges everywhere separating the fields and meadows. here are strong men and women working side by side in the fields. here are buxom country lasses, rope in hand, one end of which is attached to the horns of the leader of a herd of cattle. these are glowing pictures, and the clean farmhouses, fields and roads are abundant evidences of the industry and thrift of the people. antwerp may well be termed a city of charms and fascinations. it is the most attractive and interesting town in belgium, and at the same time one of the strongest fortresses in europe. our first impression of this place is of clean orderly streets, paved with the square belgian blocks which endure so well the wear and tear of constant travel. the houses and shops are of a quaint, ancient style of architecture, and very picturesque effect. during the middle ages, antwerp was a very important, as well as wealthy city, and its splendid docks, its wonderful cathedral, its magnificent paintings all testify that a period of exceptional prosperity has been granted to it in the past. a strange sight are the heavy freight wagons, with their broad wheels and various loads, drawn by large powerful dogs. in many cases the dogs, of which there are sometimes two or three, are strapped under the body of the wagon by a kind of leather harness, or, if the owner be too poor, rope is substituted. a man or woman assists in drawing the load, which is frequently so massive as to appear disproportioned to the combined strength of man and beast. the dogs are bred and trained for their peculiar vocation, and are never allowed to shirk their part of the burden imposed upon them. should they attempt to do so, they are quickly recalled to their duty by a small whip, hence the maximum result may be obtained from their labor. their muscular limbs show plainly that they possess great strength and endurance. large powerful draught horses with well defined muscles are also used. these horses must weigh fully from twelve to sixteen hundred pounds, and when four or six are harnessed abreast, tons of merchandise may be moved in one load. antwerp, a city of about , inhabitants, is one of the greatest seaports of europe, having splendid facilities for ships of every size, and huge warehouses for the landing and storage of immense quantities of merchandise. it is finely situated on the schelde, which is at this point one third of a mile wide and thirty feet deep, and serves as an outlet for the commerce of germany as well as belgium. the town was founded in the seventh century, and has passed through many vicissitudes, attaining the summit of its glory under the emperor charles v., about the close of the fifteenth century. at that period it is said that thousands of vessels lay in the schelde at one time, and a hundred or more arrived and departed daily. its decline began under the spanish rule, when the terrors of the inquisition banished thousands of its most valuable citizens, who sought refuge in other countries, especially in england, where they established silk factories, and assisted greatly in stimulating the commerce of the country. after scenes of war and frightful devastation, varied by brief seasons of prosperity, the tide of success once more returned to the old harbors about , and since then its commerce has increased in a greater ratio than that of any other european city. the flemish population predominates, and its characteristics are those of a german town. we enjoy many lovely views along the river frontage, where dozens upon dozens of ships lining the banks, offer a variety of pictures to the lover of water scenes, besides the fine prospect of the town from the river. [illustration: "the largest and handsomest gothic church in the netherlands." (_see page ._)] that the cathedral is the first attraction for the tourist goes without saying, and those are well repaid who climb far up into its magnificent spire, even beyond the great group of bells that captivate the soul with their wonderful sweetness and melody. at a height of four hundred feet, the vast prospect spread out before one is indescribably beautiful. this cathedral, the largest and handsomest gothic church in the netherlands, was begun in , but was not completed until about . the chimes consist of ninety-nine bells, the smallest of which is only fifteen inches in circumference, while the largest weighs eight tons. the chimes are rung every fifteen minutes, a musical reminder that the soul of man, no matter what his occupation, should be elevated by continual aspiration toward the living god. oh, these beautiful chimes! what wondrous harmony they peal forth, and what a multitude of loving thoughts they gather up and waft hourly to the very gates of heaven! a stranger in the town, and a traveller, made the remark to me that these bells must be very annoying, ringing at such short intervals, and especially at night. "it is worse than a swarm of mosquitoes," he said, "for one can escape the attentions of these insects by placing a net over his couch, but the piercing sounds of these monstrous bells penetrate one like the chill of zero weather." this reminded me of a man who shared our compartment in one of the french railway cars, who interrupted my enthusiastic remarks on westminster abbey, its exquisite associations, and the sacred atmosphere which impressed all who came within its hallowed walls, by an eager question regarding the luncheon to be served an hour later. the interior of the cathedral impresses one with its grand simplicity, and the long vistas of its six aisles present a fine effect. here is rubens' famous masterpiece, the descent from the cross, and his earlier painting, the elevation of the cross, both magnificent works, remarkable for the easy and natural attitudes of the figures. the high altarpiece is an assumption by rubens, in which the virgin is pictured in the clouds surrounded by a heavenly choir, with the apostles and other figures below. there are many other paintings here; also stained glass windows, both ancient and modern. the tower is an open structure of beautiful and elaborate design, from which lovely views may be seen during the journey to its summit. another interesting landmark is the "steen" originally forming part of the castle of antwerp, but in charles v. made it over to the burghers of antwerp. it was afterward the seat of the spanish inquisition. it is now occupied by the museum van oudheden, a collection of ancient and curious relics from the roman times till the eighteenth century. within this building one may view the identical instruments of torture so mercilessly used by the spanish inquisitors in the name of religion. it would not be difficult to photograph these diabolical inventions, for many of them are quite free from the surrounding objects, and not encased. in this collection we see also specimens of antique furniture, and a variety of ornaments, coins, costumes, tapestry curtains, ancient prints and engravings, and many other objects well worthy of observation. in antwerp we have the opportunity of seeing some exquisite laces and embroideries. a visit to one of the many establishments here cannot fail to interest the stranger. at one of the shops we are conducted to a room in which a dozen girls are at work upon a delicate piece of lace. they have been engaged upon this masterpiece for about three months, and the proprietor tells us that as much more time will be required to finish it. the design is a huge web, in the centre of which is the sly spider apparently watching the victims who have strayed beyond the line of safety. a number of handsome and rare specimens of this valuable handwork are exhibited in the shop window, and one's desire to possess them may be satisfied by a moderate expenditure of money. antwerp is the city of rubens. we find his tomb in the beautiful church of st. jacques, rich in carvings and noble paintings, not far from the fine altarpiece painted by his hand. he lies in the rubens chapel, and here too are monuments of two of his descendants. the house in which the illustrious artist died stands in a street named for him, and in the place verte, formerly the churchyard of the cathedral, stands a bronze statue of rubens, thirteen feet in height upon a pedestal twenty feet high. at the feet of the master lie scrolls and books, also brushes, palette and hat; allusions to the talented diplomatist and statesman, as well as to the painter. one need not feel alarmed as to his expenses in this charming old town, for comfortable accommodations and good board may be enjoyed at less than moderate rates. i love this dear city, not only for its magnificent cathedral, its rare paintings, its picturesque surroundings; but also for the remarkable hospitality of its people, their genial manner, their smiling faces. their candor and honesty win the admiration and the heart of the tourist, and the stranger is quickly at home, and able to enjoy most fully the many attractions which the place affords. [illustration: "the place is intersected everywhere by canals." (_see page ._)] but the time has come to bid it adieu; we take the train and in two hours find ourselves in the ever quaint and picturesque town of rotterdam, fitly named the "city of windmills." comfortable quarters may be found here at the maas hotel. rotterdam, whose population is something over two hundred thousand, is the second city in commercial importance in holland. among its numerous attractions are art galleries, parks, gardens, the markets, bridges and canals, without mentioning the many windmills which wave their arms in blessing over the city. the place is intersected everywhere by canals, all deep enough for the passage of heavily laden ships, and with such names as the oude haven, scheepmakershaven, leuvehaven, nieuwe haven, wynhaven, blaak, and haringvliet. our hotel is situated upon the bank of the maas river, and our windows overlook this body of water, which is in reality a highway. instead of wagons drawn by strong muscular horses, however, barges, schooners, sail boats, and every kind of small craft, overflowing with fruits, vegetables and other produce, traverse the river as well as the canals. looking over these watery roads, the mind is confused by the hundreds of boats which seem inextricably mingled in one great mass, and appear to form a blockade as far as the eye can reach. rotterdam might fitly add to its title of "city of windmills," that of the "city of canals." houses, stores and other buildings are built directly upon the banks, and in fact, the foundations of these form the sides of the canals. in many cases the balconies of residences overhang the water, and passages are made beneath, by means of which produce, freight and other articles are conveyed to and from the buildings by boats, much as the wagons deliver goods in our cities from the streets to the houses. all these novel sights impress the visitor with the great difference between the manners and customs of this nation and our own; the result of the peculiar environment of the two countries. a stroll about the city affords abundant opportunity for interesting observations. here one sees hundreds of dutch women in their costly headgear of gold and silver, heirlooms of many generations. these head ornaments sometimes cover the entire scalp, and have curious filigree additions extending over the ears and temples. the head is first covered with a scrupulously clean and beautiful lace cap, upon which the gold or silver ornament is placed. these heirlooms are valued beyond all price, and i have handled some which are two hundred years old, and which are held as sacred charges to be transmitted to posterity. as we traverse the streets of this quaint city, we feel indeed that fashion has stood still here for many years. the custom is universal throughout holland for the natives of the different provinces, as volendam, marken, brock, etc., to wear in public, and especially when travelling, the costume peculiar to their own province, and it is by no means uncommon to see many odd and quaintly dressed women in close proximity to one another, each one representing by some peculiarity, a different province or section of the country. for instance; when i see the skirt of blue homespun made in full folds, and worn with a jacket of striped red and white, and the peaked bonnet trimmed with red and white tape, i know that the wearer is a native of the island of marken. these various costumes, all gay and picturesque, are the source of great pleasure to the stranger, and add new life and interest to his travels in this country. here also we notice the huge, powerful draught horses, with their massive hoofs and shaggy legs, drawing strange looking wagons laden with curious boxes and furniture. the wooden shoes worn by the working classes also attract our attention and many other novel sights and customs give us the impression that we have chartered one of jules verne's original conveyances and wandered off to a country not located on this earthly planet. wishing to purchase some bonbons, we enter a candy shop and ask the fair maid behind the counter to put up a pound of this confection: our amazement is great when she replies that this form of sweetmeat is not to be found in rotterdam. "what," i exclaim, "no sweets for the sweet girls of holland?" "no, only chocolate candy." and this indeed is the only kind of bonbon to be had in rotterdam. the sweet chocolate is moulded into various shapes. it is delicious, excelling in purity and flavor that which is made in any other part of the world. [illustration: "in many cases the balconies of residences overhang the water." (_see page ._)] our guide is very attentive and energetic; and anxious to show us everything of interest about the town, he conducts us through the numerous market-places. at one of these some amusement is excited by my photographs and sketches of the market people and the buyers. the market man stands beside his wares with a happy, good-natured face that seems to say that the cares and worries of this world affect him not at all. the whole scene is like some vividly colored picture, and i think as i look upon it that this life bears with it pleasures of which we of the outside world know nothing. apparently the people of this country possess the rare blessing of contentment with the lot which god has bestowed upon them. an old man and woman are particularly anxious for me to photograph their daughter, who they assure me is the belle of the market. this assertion, i think, may be true without much compliment to the girl, for a homelier set of human beings it would not be easy to find. after some preliminaries relating to posing and keeping back the curious country people who crowd closely around me and the camera, i finally succeed in making a good picture of the belle of the rotterdam market, with her father and mother on either side. they are all as proud as punch of this performance, and seem quite "set up" by the occasion. one day being near to a manufacturer of the wooden shoes worn by the peasants, our party of four slips within the shop, and are fitted after trying on at least a dozen pairs, to the apparent delight of meinherr. it is necessary to wear a heavy woollen stocking to secure comfort in these shoes. the ordinary american stocking would soon be rubbed into holes by the hard surface of the shoe. indeed it is quite a feat to be able to walk rapidly and gracefully in this clumsy footwear. over many of the watery streets of the city drawbridges are built, which are opened at intervals to allow the streams of boats to pass. the incessant blowing of a trumpet or horn similar to that of the tally-ho notifies the watchman of the approach of boats. this sound may be heard at all hours of the day or night in any part of the city, and is at first, especially at night, rather disturbing to the stranger, but like other annoyances which are inevitable, the exercise of a little patience and endurance will enable one to eventually like the trumpet, or else to become as deaf to them as old "dame eleanor spearing." i know of no place in which the lover of the antique, whether he is a collector of ancient coins, jewels, china, furniture, or a seeker after rare curios and relics, can experience greater delight than in this old city of rotterdam. here are hundreds of shops, whose proprietors devote their whole lives to the accumulation of such objects, and it is needless to say that their stock is rich and unique, and possesses abundant variety. we visit a number of these establishments, and i succeed in gathering up a large assortment of old swords which please my fancy. one of these is said to have been owned by christopher columbus(?). the shopkeeper vouches for the truth of the statement, and as i am willing to believe it, in the absence of proof to the contrary, i label it as the sword of the great navigator who added a new hemisphere to our globe. the remaining swords have been the personal property of lords, generals or other warlike celebrities, and again i take comfort in the thought that if the records are not truthful, it is a minor consideration when taking into account the moderate prices which i have paid for the articles. the artist will find in rotterdam a wealth of material both for figure subjects, and odd and picturesque bits of landscape. here too are wonderful interiors, with all the quaint associations of a bygone age. here are scenes on the canals, the bridges, and the ever changing life on the river. by all means visit rotterdam if you desire original studies for your sketch book. [illustration: "the belle of the market." (_see page ._)] a city of many islands. _a city of many islands._ amsterdam--the people of holland---amstel river--merry excursionists--interesting institutions--origin of the city--source of prosperity--a cousin to venice--ninety islands--beams and gables--block and tackle--old salesmen--street markets--haarlem--railway travel at home and abroad--ancient buildings--historic associations--in the canal--groote kerk--the great organ--picturesque subjects--zandvoort--eau de cologne--the beach--dutch sail boats--seamen--hooded chairs--peddlers--music in holland and germany--gypsies--we meet an artist--hospitality--a banquet. amsterdam, the commercial capital of holland, is but a short ride from rotterdam, and like all the other "dam" cities of this region, possesses many attractions of its own, besides being the centre or hub from which radiate trips to many picturesque towns and other points of interest. these irreverent sounding terminations do not by any means imply that the cities so called are steeped in wickedness and crime. on the contrary they are remarkable as being towns of exceptional purity and honesty, possessing churches, libraries and schools which bear witness to the good and loving aspirations of a conscientious christian people. the natives of holland are kind and peaceable in disposition, and fair in their dealings with one another. they are personally very attractive on account of the natural simplicity of their everyday lives, and the high principle of honor and morality upon which they conduct their business transactions. they train their children in accordance with these principles, and the visitor cannot fail to appreciate their virtues, and rest securely in the confidence that he will receive fair and courteous treatment from both young and old. the amstel river, viewed from the windows of our hotel, presents a beautiful picture. upon the opposite bank are handsome residences, of substantial, square and regular architecture, while in slow, calm motion on the river may be seen boats of every description, many of them with a cargo of human beings; and the gay national flags and other brilliant bunting floating in the fresh breeze have a gala appearance as the boats steam or row past our hotel. merry songs and happy laughter drift back to our ears, and it seems as though we have at last reached a land exempt from the cares and sorrows of the everyday world. the dutch people are as a class happy and satisfied, with a cheerful manner, and a cordial and genuine welcome. amsterdam is indeed a great city, with numberless points of interest for the visitor, without mentioning its museums, art galleries, theatres, libraries, churches and other institutions; its botanical garden, university, parks and tramways. the town was founded by gysbrecht ii., lord of amstel, who built a castle here in , and constructed the dam to which it owes its name. in the fourteenth century it began to increase in importance, becoming at that time a refuge for the merchants who were banished from brabant. at the close of the sixteenth century, when antwerp was ruined by the spanish war, and many merchants, manufacturers, artists and other men of talent and enterprise fled from the horrors of the inquisition to holland, amsterdam nearly doubled its population, and the conclusion of peace in , and the establishment of the east india company combined to raise the town within a short time to the rank of the greatest commercial city in europe. its population in , excluding the suburbs, was , . amsterdam is generally at first sight compared with venice, which it certainly resembles in two points. both cities are intersected by numerous canals, and the buildings of both are constructed upon piles; but there the similarity ends. there are wide, bustling thoroughfares in amsterdam, traversed by wagons and drays which could have no place in the city of gondolas and ancient palaces. [illustration: "the amstel river." (_see page ._)] the canals, or grachten, which intersect amsterdam in every direction, are of various sizes, and divide the city into ninety islands; and these are connected by nearly three hundred bridges. there are four principal, or grand canals, which are in broad, handsome avenues, bordered with trees, and with sidewalks for pedestrians. the other canals intersect these and serve to connect one part of the town with another, as short streets cross wide highways and main thoroughfares in other places. rows of fine-looking houses line the banks of these watercourses, and as all the buildings are constructed on foundations of piles, the old quotation of "a city whose inhabitants dwell on the tops of trees like rooks," is not without considerable truth. the quaint old architecture of the stores and houses is of itself a source of great interest to the visitor. we have seen so many pictures of these odd gabled and tiled roofs overhanging the windows, that at first one has the impression of awakening from a dream to its reality. remarkable order and cleanliness prevail everywhere, adding to this feeling, for the wear and tear of daily living do not seem to affect the almost immaculate atmosphere of the place. windows are as clear as crystal, and the woodwork of the houses everywhere looks as if freshly scrubbed and sanded. projecting from the attic windows of many buildings may be seen a pole or beam, from which hangs a block and tackle used to hoist furniture and other heavy or bulky articles from the sidewalk to the upper stories. these things are not carried up the winding stairway, as with us, scratching and defacing the walls and paint, as well as the furniture, and resulting in much vexation and the utterance of unseemly swear words. all this is avoided by the methods of the people of holland, and the citizens of america would profit by adopting them, if only as a means of avoiding the temptation to express one's feelings in violent and irreligious language. among the thousand and one attractions of this interesting city, the curious-looking old junks, or salesmen and women stationed at various points on the streets, are not unworthy the notice of the photographer or artist. their wares consist of old scrap iron, rusty saws, perhaps toothless, hammers without handles, nails of every size, files, beds and other articles of furniture apparently dating back to scriptural ages. such markets, where odds and ends of every imaginable kind are gathered into piles and sold to the poorer classes of the people, seem to be sanctioned by the authorities, and sometimes present a very active and thriving appearance. they are not unpicturesque in their odd combinations of color, attitude and expression. the great windmills along the canal, with their huge revolving arms, and the boats with their loads of merchandise; the peasant women with their quaint costumes and elaborate yet funny head-dresses; the tall dutch houses with their red and yellow brick fronts and lofty tiles and gables, the beautiful avenues of elms along the grand grachten, the vast docks, with forests of masts, and countless ships from all parts of the world, and products of every country, the wonderful dikes, all form a succession of views of charming variety and individual beauty that are fascinating to the newcomer. many short trips may be taken from here either by boat or train, and he who would fill his portfolio with quaint and lovely pictures, will find his enthusiasm aroused, no matter in which direction he may venture, or whether his expedition be on land or water. interesting localities are always within easy reach, and the moderate rate for transportation and accommodation render all points accessible to the traveller whose purse is of the most slender dimensions. take with me the trip to haarlem and zandvoort. proceeding to the central railroad station, we purchase tickets which entitle us to the short ride in the usual compartment car. and here one may note the difference between railroad travel throughout england and on the continent, and the american system. instead of having one car into which passengers of all kinds, black and white, rich and poor, merchants and emigrants crowd as in free america, european trains are divided into three sections, viz: first, second and third class. although the more general experience is that the second class compartments are quite as comfortable, clean and attractive as the first class compartments, the price of the latter is nearly double that of the former, and the fare of the second class nearly double that of the third. in many sections of england, scotland and germany, the third class accommodations are by no means unpleasant: but do not take third class tickets when travelling in ireland, for should you do so, it is more than probable that just as you are waxing into lofty enthusiasm over the romantic and beautiful scenery around you, paddy with his wife and progeny, several pigs, and whatever other small live stock can be conveniently or inconveniently dragged along, will be planted by your side, or roam about you in such unpleasant proximity as to change all your romantic visions into the most unromantic prose. here we are in the quaint old town of haarlem, famous in past years for its tulips, and now noted for its well-kept gardens and avenues, as well as for the curious old houses of brick and stone which are the delight of all the visitors to holland. these lofty steeples and rows of ancient and picturesque houses have looked down upon many generations, and witnessed scenes of suffering and endurance that have been registered on the pages of history; for like leyden, haarlem sustained a long siege during the war for independence, and stories of the heroism of both men and women have come down through the long centuries to tell us of experiences of which these ancient structures, stately and silent, give no sign. so well cared for are the old buildings, that one can readily imagine that they will appear as they do to-day for many centuries to come. how we enjoy this historic old place! the very air we breathe seems laden with odors of the past. the flower-beds are wonderfully attractive, with their gay colors and delicious fragrance. whole fields of tulips, hyacinths, lilies, and other brilliant blooming plants in every shade of color are to be seen here, and this town supplies many of the largest gardens of europe with roots. the spaarne river winds through the town, which possesses the characteristic cleanliness of the other cities of holland. while driving along the bank of the canal here, our attention is attracted by the sound of loud, shrill cries which seem to come from the water. "what!" i say, "do the lurking spirits of the slain thus make themselves known to the living? are there still lingering 'pale gliding ghosts, with fingers dropping gore'?" whatever it may be, dead or living, ghost or mortal, i bid the driver halt, and alighting, hasten to the edge of the canal. looking into the dark muddy water, i see a lad of about twelve years, just able to keep his head above the stream, and screaming lustily for help. a young man reaches the spot at the same moment, and plunges instantly into the canal to the rescue of the boy who is too much frightened and exhausted to give any account of himself. the "groote" market is in the middle of the town, and here is to be seen one of the finest old buildings in this part of the country. this is the ancient meat market, built in , of brick and stone, and quaint and picturesque enough to charm the soul of an artist with an irresistible desire to carry it home upon his canvas. in the market-place also stands the groote kerk, an imposing and lofty structure, dating back to the end of the fifteenth century, with its tower of two hundred and fifty-five feet adding grace and beauty to the edifice. the interior will more than repay one for the time spent in examining it. the old walls are whitewashed to hide the ravages of time and cover the scars, many of which, history tells us, are the results of the spanish siege. here are odd and elaborate carvings, crude, primitive benches, and the crossbeams forming the ceiling alone would convince one of the antiquity of this relic of the middle ages. the organ, constructed in , was for many years looked upon as the most powerful in the world, and still ranks as one of the largest instruments in existence. it contains four keyboards, sixty-four stops, and five thousand pipes, the greatest of which is fifteen inches in diameter, and thirty two feet in length. we endeavor to persuade the rector to allow us to play upon this wonderful instrument, but he is beyond flattery, coaxing or bribery; faithfully adhering to the rigid rules, which decree that recitals shall be held only on certain regular days. how we long to hear the voice of this noble masterpiece which has uplifted the soul of man, and bidden him look to god in his times of tribulation, or fill this lofty dome with joyous notes of praise and thanksgiving in days of peace and prosperity. i think of the stories these old walls could tell of the cruelties of the spanish intruders; for here are marks too deep for paint to conceal, or time to efface. but one could write interminably of these old towns with their quaint and glowing pictures. at every turn a new and attractive scene presents itself, and we reluctantly tear ourselves away, only half satisfied, and proceed to zandvoort, a somewhat fashionable resort on the coast of the noord zee. at the railway stations and on the streets one can buy the cologne water in small glass bottles which is so popular throughout holland, and which is sold much as peanuts and pretzels are sold in our country. the quality is excellent, and the price is so moderate that the use of this perfume is really carried to excess by tourists, who find that it not only refreshes one after the fatigue of a journey, but cleanses the face from dust and cinders. we alight at a small unpretentious station, the terminus of this railroad, and walk a short distance to the beach. the pure salt air seems like a delightful tonic. this is a beautiful coast, sloping gradually to the water which is very deep. with the white sand for a carpet, we wander on for miles, feasting our eyes upon the lovely scene which at every turn presents a new attraction. here are old dutch sail boats drawn up on the beach, and the picture is enhanced by the groups of sailors waiting for the tide. their blue homespun jackets, rugged faces and not ungraceful attitudes are very suggestive to the artist. [illustration: "wicker chairs offer rest to the weary pedestrian." (_see page ._)] the season seems to be either early or late, for the people along the shore are scant in number. fresh looking wicker chairs, with large comfortable seats and sheltering hoods, stand in front of the hotels and at the water's edge, and at a trifling cost, offer rest to the weary pedestrian, and protection to the shy lovers who seek to escape the embarrassing gaze of the public. here is the ubiquitous and persevering fruit and cake or sandwich vendor, with basket suspended from the shoulder, pausing before the chairs, or waylaying passers-by with importunities to purchase grapes, plums, candies and various other dainties. close by us is a band of musicians with stringed instruments, who charm us with their delightful melodies. their music is superior to that which greets the ear in the streets of philadelphia. in truth, in holland and germany, one rarely hears anything but good music from these bands of itinerant players, and operatic selections of the higher class are frequently heard at the popular beer gardens of these countries. a short distance off are the wagons of a gypsy encampment, and the quick witted members of these roving tribes gain a livelihood by fortune telling. we are told that they are always to be found here during the summer season, and are quite popular among the young and the credulous, who willingly exchange their silver for a glimpse into the future, and the wonderful predictions of fame and fortune made by these glib tongued southerners. their gay dresses, in some of which are displayed all the colors of the rainbow, are beautiful in effect: and now i discover in one of the great hooded chairs a lady artist, with a well covered canvas, upon which she is painting the portrait of a handsome gypsy girl, while the wagons and the sea form a beautiful background. i enter into conversation with her, and learn that she is from amsterdam, and is filled with enthusiasm for the charms of this country. she says: "if one will but open his eyes, he will see delightful pictures in every corner of the province." and it is true. nature has indeed been lavish in her gifts to holland. here are scenes and subjects unlimited in number, and indescribably attractive. the citizens of amsterdam are most kind and hospitable. as an instance of their cordiality i mention a sumptuous banquet given in our honor by a townsman mr. l----, who says we must not return home without a glimpse of the social life of the city. the banquet is held at the largest and most popular banqueting hall (maison couturier), and besides our host and his family, a few intimate friends and some young people are present. at the appointed hour we are driven to a spacious and handsome building, and are conducted to a beautiful apartment with most attractive surroundings. the first floor of this hall is elegantly furnished, and lit by electric lights. flowers, palms, and other tropical plants adorn the halls and rooms. after a cordial welcome from our host, we are led to the banqueting hall, where we are dazzled by the light and beauty around us, and delighted by the artistic effect. covers are laid for sixteen guests. flowers, plants and fruits are picturesquely arranged, and even the electric lights exhibit various glowing designs. the feast is prepared under the direction of an experienced chef, and here we speedily become aware that the city of amsterdam is not one whit behind the great centres of the world in this line of achievement. after many toasts to amsterdam and its people have been responded to, the hospitalities are concluded with one to "america and its beautiful women," and we take our departure after three hours most delightfully spent in social intercourse with our friends. upon this occasion four languages, french, dutch, german and english are fluently spoken. excursions to broek and the island of marken. _excursions to broek and the island of marken._ a charming journey--fellow-passengers--national costumes--the children--a lovely landscape--holstein cattle--windmills--irrigation--farmers--a typical dutch village--washing-day--the red, white and blue--suppose a bull should appear--a brilliant picture--drawing the canal boat--honesty and cleanliness--a thrifty and industrious people--farming and cheese-making--as evening falls--scenes for an artist--dead cities of holland--monnikendam--behind the age--city lamps--houses and people--the island of marken--an isolated wonderland--first impressions--rare holidays--the family doctor--absence of the men--the fishing--healthy and industrious population--the women of marken--pretty girls--they will not be taken--a valuable experience--photographs. a beautiful trip is that to broek. we take the small steamer that lies in the river a short distance from our hotel, the amstel, and after a sail of three-quarters of an hour, are landed at an insignificant station on the opposite shore. here a little car with bare wooden seats running lengthwise, and a queer looking engine waits for passengers from the boat. and now we ride through a picturesque farming country, passing numerous small stations. this road terminates at edam, but we do not go that far. our fellow-passengers are most interesting. many of the women wear their gold heirlooms with the finely embroidered caps which are so quaint and becoming, and all wear the customary wooden shoes. the men have rugged brown faces, and sinewy arms: some of them wear the heavy wooden shoes, others slippers, while a number are barefooted. how they all stare at us, and it is just as impossible for us to withdraw our eyes from them. we are novel sights to each other. i wonder what they think of our appearance. their faces are impassive, but ours must surely express wonder, admiration and a strong desire on the part of one at least, to capture these studies in color and figure that surround us on every side. the children, with their rosy cheeks and round healthy forms, seem merry and happy, although none of them are sociable or talkative with us. they look at us in amazement. this is a delightful ride over a smooth velvety road, with rich pasture land on either side. now we pass great dikes which hold back the waters from these fertile fields; and now short canals with their little boats, on which perhaps the dutch vrow in her snowy cap and gold head-dress is seated beside her husband who smokes his pipe with a meditative air. the flat landscape is varied by innumerable herds of cattle, principally of holstein breed, with the great white bands encircling the bodies, which reminds me of the story of the yankee who used this band for a foundation upon which to paint his sign: "the finest milk and cream in the world within. price two cents per quart." [illustration: "the flat landscape is varied by herds of cattle." (_see page ._)] hundreds of windmills may be seen with their long wings gracefully moving at the touch of a gentle breeze, in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape. these mills have been used for many centuries in holland, which is their mother country, and serve for draining the land, or for manufacturing purposes. they are placed upon a substantial foundation of brick or stone, and their enormous sails describe a circle of over a hundred feet in diameter: some run saws that cut through logs of great thickness, while others are huge grain mills. the smaller windmills are made of wood like those seen in some portions of our own country. the system of irrigation by means of windmills is very complete in holland, thus it is that we see everywhere such beautiful fertile fields. many of the farms in this locality employ three or four, and even more windmills for this purpose. we see many farmers, with their wives and children, working in the fields, and they all stop for an instant as our train passes, to shout a merry greeting. here a milkmaid in her snowy cap passes along the road. flocks of sheep stand in the shadow of the trees, and armies of quacking ducks emerge from a marshy pool and spread themselves across the green. the average speed of our antediluvian express is from five to seven miles an hour, but it is perfectly satisfactory to these deliberate people; and as to ourselves, we are enjoying everything too much to wish it shortened by one minute. we arrive, however, at broek, which is celebrated as one of the cleanest towns in the world. it contains about sixteen hundred inhabitants, and its narrow streets are paved with yellow bricks which are kept scrupulously clean. the small frame houses have tiled roofs, and with their flower gardens, present an orderly appearance. the whole atmosphere of the place is one of primitive simplicity. some of the buildings are painted white, some green, and others of a variety of hues. they all wear an indescribable air of repose: and it is said that the front doors are not opened from the beginning to the end of the year, except on the occasion of a wedding or a funeral. the gardens are veritable curiosities, with their old-fashioned flower-beds, and box-bushes cut into various fantastic shapes, and all so diminutive that one feels as though he has fallen upon an animated edition of the noah's ark of his childish days. [illustration: "most of the houses have a canal at the back." (_see page ._)] most of the houses have a canal or small stream at the back, and close by, upon a washing-day, the garments of the family may be seen flying in the breeze, displaying to the stranger the prevailing colors of the community, which are red, white and blue. red predominates, however, since red flannel is universally worn by the middle and lower classes in holland. i think of the fine bull which we saw but a short time ago, grazing so peacefully in the meadow, and wonder what effect this exposure of tantalizing color would have upon his equanimity. should he be let loose among the back gardens of broek upon a washing-day, the order of this immaculate village would certainly receive a shock. for once in the history of the place, things would be topsy-turvy, and the excitement would doubtless surpass anything previously seen in this peaceful town. what beautiful and picturesque combinations are here! the varying shades of green and blue, mingled with harmonious tints of yellow, produce a scene for the impressionist, while the effect is enhanced by the streams and canals which wind in and out with many a turn and twist, apparently for the sole purpose of adding to the attraction of this quaint and unique locality. occasionally we see a canal boat of larger size drawn by a buxom dutch maiden and her brother; or not infrequently it is the old man and his wife, and sometimes the entire family all strenuously tugging the stout rope which is securely fastened to the bow of the boat, while the dilapidated old craft, laden with merchandise or produce creaks slowly on its way, breaking the placid surface of the water with a soft musical plash. honesty and truthfulness are unmistakably impressed upon the faces of all whom we meet in this section. the people hereabouts do not possess the shrewd business capacity of our wall street brokers, but they are mild and pleasant, with a wholesome appearance of health and good appetite. they are individually as clean and orderly as is their village. water is as cheap here as in america, but in this place there seems to be an extravagance in the use of it which far exceeds that of the same class in our country. there are no beggars or idlers here. the people are so thrifty and industrious that no portion of the day is wasted. every one seems to have an appointed task, even the small children, whom we see feeding the ducks and pigs. all are engaged in some useful occupation. farming and cheese-making are the principal industries, although other branches of business, such as stock-raising, fishing, boat-making, and the manufacture of wooden shoes, are carried on to some extent. our visit to the village naturally attracts some attention, as foreigners are rarely seen in these out of the way corners. as evening steals upon us, the scene grows indescribably lovely, for the sun in his descent illumines the whole landscape with vivid gleams of many colors. the blue stream which finds its outlet in the larger river, changes its sombre hue to one of dazzling gold, which throws out rich reflections of clouds and foliage. a fairy-like transformation seems to have taken place in the streets and houses; and, as we leave the village and the shades of night fall about us, my thoughts are with the artist, the photographer, the impressionist, who would feel the most exquisite delight in such an opportunity; for he who could do justice to this landscape either with brush or camera, would produce a picture worthy of place among the noblest works of art. we have heard so much of the "dead cities of holland," and especially of the secluded life on the island of marken, that we determine to see for ourselves what this term really signifies. on our way thither, we pass through the old town of monnikendam, in which we behold many strange and curious sights. people and buildings impress us with the idea that "father time" has forgotten this place altogether in his rounds of cutting down and making place for newcomers. the ancient and picturesque houses look as though coeval with time himself; but in truth they are only mediæval; it is the people who have stood still. the present age has no place in their lives. the population of the town numbers about twenty-three hundred, and this is largely made up of children, judging from the appearance of the streets. the main street is wide and attractive, but the side streets are narrow, and all are paved with hard bricks placed edgewise. at night the town is lighted by lamps balanced upon rude posts: coal is generally used for fuel, but some of the residents use gasoline, which also serves for light. the houses are primitive in construction, and the people seem odd and inquisitive, but simple and economical in dress and habit. as we expect to return in a short time, we direct our course without delay to the island of marken. [illustration: "the blue stream finds its outlet in the river." (_see page ._)] a good-sized yacht lies at anchor in the zuyder zee, beside the banks of monnikendam. the captain is a full-blooded "markenite," born and bred on the island. having made arrangements with him, we go on board and are soon on our way to the strange city: our hearts beat more quickly, and all eyes are eagerly strained toward it, when the distant island appears in the direction of our yacht's bow. after an hour's sail, we come to anchor in the harbor of this secluded wonderland. as we approach the town, the view from our boat seems to justify the title which has been given to it of "the dead city." it lies away from everything and everybody, and save the deep sea which surrounds it, and which supplies its inhabitants with food, the island of marken has for centuries known no association outside its own boundaries. no news is carried to or from this isolated region. at rare intervals an islander, by temperament more adventurous or enterprising than his fellows, makes the daring undertaking of a visit to monnikendam, or the bolder flight to amsterdam, although there are but few instances on record of such a reckless proceeding as the last. the place has a population of about thirteen hundred souls, and one may form an idea of the health of its inhabitants from the fact that one doctor, without an assistant, is the family physician for all the people on the island, and we are told that calls upon his professional attention are not sufficiently frequent to keep the cobwebs from forming on his medicine chest. the dutch language is spoken here, and it is so rare to find any one who understands english, that it is necessary to bring an interpreter as well as guide in visiting this secluded spot. the inhabitants look upon us as though we have dropped from the clouds, or sprung suddenly out of the earth. it is unfortunate that we have come here on monday, for on this day the men of the island go off in their fishing boats, and do not return till saturday night. only the old and crippled are left with the women and children. sunday is the one day in the week which the men may spend with their wives and sweethearts. fishing is the sole means of subsistence here. the native inhabitants are industrious and economical, but of a low type of intellect, rarely if ever displaying interest in literary attainments. health and good appetites seem to be their chief characteristics, and a more law-abiding, innocent and virtuous people it would be difficult to find. the women are large, muscular and well shaped, and appear fully able to protect and care for their households in the absence of the men. [illustration: "all persuasions accomplish naught." (_see page ._)] i am quite anxious to capture, by camera, not by force of arms, some of these rare types of strength and beauty, and observing two pretty young girls standing in the doorway of one of the houses, both perfect specimens of physical health, i think this an opportunity not to be neglected. what a fine picture they present with their erect forms, their firm round arms, rosy cheeks and bright eyes! they are well proportioned, and looking at their smiling faces one can readily understand that a physician in a locality whose residents are represented by such glowing life as that which is now before me, may easily find time to be absent from his duties a year or two. fired with enthusiasm, i approach the girls who are talking to a couple of old women, and am about to make a "snap shot" of the group, when suddenly perceiving my intention, they fly into the house like frightened deer, to the amusement of the old women, and the grief of the writer. determined not to be outdone, for now this picture beyond all others is the desire of my heart, i enter the house and learn that the young damsels have sought refuge in the loft, and are hiding, ostrich like, with their heads buried in a mass of clothing. all my persuasions, aided by those of the older women, accomplish nought, even the liberal offer of silver guilders is not sufficient to move these obdurate maids, and i am obliged to relinquish my desire. however, i have made a valuable discovery, and that is that it is better under some circumstances not to ask for the privilege, but to resort to strategy. i request one or more of our party to engage the proposed subject in conversation, while i retire to a suitable distance with my camera, focus the group, then fire away. this plan succeeds admirably, and my collection increases steadily and satisfactorily. [illustration: "one old woman is fascinated with the camera." (_see page ._)] however, upon better acquaintance with the townspeople and the repeated assurances of our skipper, who speaks some english, that our purpose is an innocent one, we are allowed to photograph the whole town freely, and all its valuable possessions. occasionally a guilder slipped quietly into the hand of one of the older women opens a new vein of good fortune, for they insist that "the gentleman shall be allowed to take the picture;" whether it be an old-fashioned interior with its quaint belongings, or a pretty maid too shy to hold her head up properly. one old woman is so fascinated with the camera that she asks me to take picture after picture of her homely wrinkled countenance. at first i do so to her extreme delight, but finally i only pretend to take her picture, and the last bewildering poses and bewitching smiles are all wasted upon an unimpressionable plate. the ancient town of monnikendam. [illustration: "we walk along the narrow streets." (_see page ._)] _the ancient town of monnikendam._ marken homes--beds in the wall--family heirlooms--an ancient clock--precious treasures--quaint customs--betrothed couples--the hotel--its interior--a lack of patrons--costumes of a by-gone age--farewell to marken--remote districts--monnikendam--ancient houses--hotel de posthoorn--the postman of the past--a difficult stairway--we stroll about the town--our retinue--in front of the hotel--such curious children--supper--we visit the shops--pantomime--a novel experience--they cannot understand--no candles--we attract a crowd--the clothing store--a marken suit--"too high"--bargaining--a stranger to the rescue. we walk along the narrow streets, some of which are paved with little footways, and now and then visit one of the whitewashed frame houses with their red tiled roofs. these houses are built after one pattern, and resemble each other so closely in their crude architecture, that a stranger might easily make a mistake, and enter the wrong door, without having previously taken anything stronger than a glass of water. the interior consists of four small rooms, which are kept scrupulously clean and orderly. one of these is used as a living-room, and one as dining-room and kitchen. the beds of the family are simply close, dark recesses in the wall, in which there are bunks or shelves, and on these the mattresses and bed clothing are placed, the occupants mounting by means of wooden steps to this ill-ventilated and most uninviting resting-place. we shudder as we glance into these dismal closets, and feel a touch of nightmare at the thought of sleeping in one of them. in every house there seems to be reserved a special apartment, as a storage-place for the family heirlooms, and here are preserved articles which have been handed down from generation to generation for centuries. dolls of various primitive shapes, broken and torn, with black, dusty clothing; clocks long since arrested in their career by age or accident; chairs of rude manufacture, with perhaps a broken leg or back; watches and jewelry of ancient design; odd furniture and pieces of china, besides other relics which would be useful only in an exhibition of the antique. all these things are sacred in the eyes of their owners, who would as soon think of parting with one of their children as of allowing one of these treasures to pass out of the family. at one of the houses i see stored among the heirlooms a clock, which the owner informs me has been in the family for two hundred and fifty years. i do not doubt the assertion, for it looks as though the dust of a _thousand_ years has silently but steadily accumulated upon its venerable face. i am about with my handkerchief to brush off some of this precious dust, in order to see the wood and brass in their peculiar coloring and design, but am quietly stopped by the hand of my host. there is a noticeable rivalry between the different families in regard to these treasures which are placed carefully away, as if too sacred for the light of day, and are shown to the visitor much as the guide employed in the mint allows one to touch a piece of gold or silver in the early process of coinage. each family tries to outdo the others in its collection, and in the ancient appearance of the hoard. it is amusing to watch their faces, when exhibiting the wonders: they seem very uneasy if the stranger offers to touch one of the pieces, as though in terror lest it should thus lose some of those precious particles which enhance its value. at another house i am allowed, as a great favor, to examine one of the dolls, and really the anxiety shown until the owner has placed it once more in its place in his collection is ludicrous. the most delicate human being, or a piece of frail egg-shell china could not be more tenderly handled. these people are quite as quaint in appearance as in their customs. the old-time costume of the island is worn as in other parts of holland, but here there is an intensity of ancientness, if i may use the expression, which must be seen in order to be fully appreciated. they really seem the remnants of a dead era, and in all their ways display a want of experience of the outside world, a lack of that perception which the men and women of to-day seem to inhale with the very atmosphere, which is truly astonishing. the marriage and betrothal customs are especially peculiar. we learn that an engaged couple cannot wed until five years have elapsed since the announcement of the betrothal; and should a death occur in either family in the meantime, it is considered such an ill omen that the engagement is broken off altogether: at the end of a year, however, a new engagement may be entered into, and after a second long period of waiting the wedding is consummated. [illustration: "sheep, grazing upon the green pasture lands, form a homelike scene." (_see page ._)] there are many rigid rules of etiquette connected with these engagements; for instance: should the young lover, upon each meeting, neglect to impress a kiss upon the cheek of every member of the family of his fiancée, the contract is annulled. one can readily believe almost any statement regarding these strange people who seem like a peculiar race stranded upon a desert island. still from ocular demonstration, we feel very certain that notwithstanding these stringent rules, there is no lack of weddings among the young people, for there is an overwhelming number of children upon the island. marken boasts of a hotel, and the owner and landlord tells us as he stands proudly upon its stoop, that this bold enterprise issued from his fertile brain, and that he is looking for a rich return for his venture. i respond with as much enthusiasm as i can gather upon this occasion, but fear he would receive but cold comfort from the true state of my mind on the subject. the building consists of six rooms which he pronounces quite modern. on the lower floor are a kitchen, ten feet by ten, and a dining-room, twelve by fourteen, which also serves as a barroom, sitting-room and smoking den, all rolled into one. here the guests are supposed to reach the acme of ease and comfort. a bare wooden table and six chairs comprise the furniture of the room, and there is nothing else visible save the snowy muslin curtains which hang at the windows. upstairs are three bedrooms, scantily furnished; here too the windows are curtained. the freshness of these rooms and their surroundings gives us the impression that they have never been occupied since the erection of the hotel a year ago, by any one of greater importance than the myriads of flies and mosquitoes which cling in lazy groups to the walls and ceilings. my sympathy goes out to these ignorant creatures who do not seem to have strength enough to get away, and seek their nourishment in other quarters. we find tolerably comfortable accommodations here, and view things very philosophically on account of the curious and interesting life by which we are surrounded. the men and women in their odd costumes are rare pictures. the clothing worn here is of a style worn hundreds of years ago, and there is no consciousness on the part of its wearers that there is anything unusual in its appearance. "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise," and it is more than probable that they will continue to wear this antediluvian garb for centuries to come. much of the washing is done in the little canal which flows through the town, and this is easily accomplished, as linen is not worn to any great extent, as in other places, and the coarse homespun garments are cleansed by a very simple process. sheep, grazing upon many of the green pasture lands, form a homelike, peaceful scene which is very attractive. the air is fresh, yet balmy, imparting tone and vigor to the sturdy natives. at last we bid adieu to this stationary spot upon the earth's surface, wondering if an earthquake or any other startling event will ever happen here to rouse it from its lethargy, and compel it to take its place in the march of the ages. if not, it will remain as of old, a boon to the artist, an infinite source from which he may draw quaint, ideal and most original studies of a people and an era whose counterpart has long since vanished from our everyday world. in our travels in the northern portion of holland, and away from the larger cities, as amsterdam and rotterdam, which are more visited by tourists, we find that our letters of credit extend over an astonishing space of time, for a little money goes a long way among these people. the regions seem to be too remote for the regular tourist, and as there is no great influx of capital from that source, there is no inducement for the people to change their simple and primitive mode of living, hence honesty, frugality and contentment reign here, and the visitor may enjoy to its full extent, the beautiful country and the pure, innocent life of its inhabitants. the quaint and simple town of monnikendam lies some fifteen or sixteen miles north of amsterdam, and here is a rich and rare scene of ancient associations. eyes, ears and brain are almost bewildered by the exquisite strangeness of our surroundings. here are houses with the date of their birth inscribed over the doorways, and the odd designs of bygone centuries still clinging to their walls. these ancient dates and the rich beauty of these aged tenements impress us with a feeling of awe, and we walk softly as we pass the hallowed ground upon which so many lives have risen, passed their little day, then vanished to make place for the next players. of the two hotels which the town supports, we choose the oldest, the hotel de posthoorn, which derives its name from the fact that at an early date the building was used as a post office station. in those days the postman carried a horn, which he blew when approaching a station, as a notice to the townfolk to have their mail ready for collection, that he might not be detained, as his route was long and wearisome. [illustration: "hotel de posthoorn." (_see page ._)] we are conducted to the second floor of the hotel by a steep and narrow stairway, which requires much ingenuity in the ascent, as the steps are constructed at such a peculiar angle that it is difficult to balance one's self upon them. we reach the top as gracefully as possible under the circumstances, and find two pleasant communicating rooms overlooking the main street. rooms, beds and all our surroundings are wonderfully clean, and filled with an atmosphere of the past, which is very charming. the rates charged here are seven dollars a week for each person, and this includes meals and attendance: the latter simply a pleasant fiction, with no meaning whatever. the sheets upon our beds are of homespun linen of good quality, but emitting such an odor of antiquity, that there is no doubt whatever in our minds that they are heirlooms of many generations, and we wish that this genuine, ancient and unpleasant smell could be scattered abroad, or adulterated in some way, even to the extent of a pair of modern sheets, for concentrated age is more attractive in sights than in odors. our hotel bears the date upon a fancifully carved tablet above the middle window, but the stadhuis tower is still older, dating back to . the proprietor, his wife and daughter are pleasant, hospitable people, who make our stay with them, both comfortable and enjoyable. before supper we stroll about the town, which consists of a main or central avenue, with small narrow streets diverging from it. as we walk along, a little crowd, composed chiefly of children, follows us closely. these young people stare at us, and laugh as though we are a freshly imported menagerie. on our return, we sit in front of the hotel where some chairs and small tables are placed for the convenience of those who wish to rest and sip their glass of beer or genuine holland gin in the open. the favorite beverages in holland are beer, porter and gin, the latter of an excellent quality, and genuinely "old." we are soon surrounded by a group of children, who watch our motions and by words and gestures freely express their wonder and amusement at the odd-looking stranger people. they seem greatly surprised that we do not understand their language: not even such simple phrases as "goeden avond," (good-evening), or "ja," (yes), and "nee," (no). when i make them understand that in english yes and no are the same as their ja and nee, they laugh immoderately, and repeat in their own broad accents, yes and no, as if greatly amused. after supper, which consists of cold fish, coffee, cheese, boiled potatoes and tea with a private nip of the real ancient holland gin, we walk out again without a guide, to do some shopping. we have a funny experience, as we are compelled to resort to pantomime in making the various purchases. entering a "general" store in search of candles, we at first ask for them in english: the good-natured shopwoman smiles and shakes her head. i repeat the word "candles," at the same time going through the motion of striking a match on the counter, and holding it up to the end of my forefinger. this strange proceeding attracts the attention of a young man and woman, who draw near the counter, followed by several other members of the family, but i cannot make them comprehend. we then try the french language, but this also proves a failure, so we are obliged to depart without our candles, although i am confident they have them somewhere in the store. scene after scene of this kind is gone through with in the different shops, and now our curious actions have attracted a large crowd of people who follow close at our heels, wondering what we will do next, and thinking, no doubt, that we are a very good kind of free show. such strange beings rarely visit their isolated town, and they are certainly enjoying their opportunity to its full extent. when we stop to look into a shop-window, they stop too, and follow our example like very shadows. the expression of wonder and merriment depicted on the countenances of both young and old is a fine study for an artist. as we saunter leisurely along, we espy a clothing store, which we enter, and find half-a-dozen men lounging about with long clay pipes in their mouths, and their hands in the pockets of their baggy trousers. their faces wear a peaceful, contented expression, which changes to a look of surprise as we approach them, and they scan our attire, as something wholly different from anything to which they are accustomed. the gaping throng outside besieges the doorway. as the men still gaze curiously at us, i draw near the one who appears to be the proprietor of the establishment, and in pantomime, aided by english, interspersed with a little french, ask for a marken suit of clothes. the man laughs and looks perplexed; his companions also shake their heads in token that they do not understand. with serious countenances and widely-opened eyes, they follow the motions of my lips and hands. uttering slowly the words: "marken suit," i point to my own trousers, coat and vest. their eyes follow my hands, first to my trousers, then to my coat and vest. it is a difficult position; but what a treat to watch their puzzled countenances, now smiling, now with a look of actual pain in their efforts to understand. [illustration: "de hooflstraat, monnikendam." (_see page ._)] at last my perseverance and their attention are rewarded, and the storekeeper takes from a shelf a dusty bundle, and carefully unfolds it. within the bundle is a marken suit: yes, the very kind i wish to possess, an entire woman's dress. i am anxious to purchase it at any reasonable figure. the garment is passed to us for inspection. we nod in indication that it is just what we desire. now for the tug of war; the price. "combien? combien?" finally thirty guilders is named as the price set upon the dress. we motion, "too high," and i point to the ceiling. the six weary men all look up in the direction of my finger: they smile, and think it is a good joke, and look at me as though saying: "what next?" they laugh heartily at my vain endeavors. alas! how can i make them understand? "fifteen guilders," i say. the proprietor seems to understand. "nee. nee. ik kan het niet doen." (no. no. i cannot do it.) after long deliberation, still holding the cherished suit in his hands, he turns to his companions, and seems to ask their opinion. several shake their heads and utter: "nee. nee," others say: "ja. ja." one suggests twenty-five guilders as the price; another twenty guilders. the bargaining goes on without drawing any nearer to a conclusion, when to our relief a gentleman enters the shop who understands the language of these people. he has learned from the outsiders that some americans are in the store trying to buy a suit of clothes. through the kindness of this stranger, matters are speedily adjusted, and the sale effected, as he speaks both dutch and english fluently. we purchase the complete suit for fifteen guilders, or about six dollars in the currency of the united states. these suits are rarely made for sale, but only when needed for immediate use. the natives of the island make them for personal wear, or for each other. every man and woman generally owns two suits: one to wear every day, and one for sundays. as we move toward the door to take our departure, after spending three-quarters of an hour over this transaction, we perceive that the throng around the door has increased in numbers. what an assemblage! and we are the curiosities. i count them, and find there are thirty men, women and children, all full of excitement at the presence of strangers in monnikendam. one young girl is so shy and timid, that as we advance toward her on our way out, she starts and runs hurriedly away, and gazes at us from a distance of some twenty feet, as though we are dangerous animals. we make several other purchases; partly because we desire the articles, but chiefly on account of our enjoyment of this novel mode of shopping. [illustration: "there is a young man whose walk is all his own." (_see page ._)] old customs and quaint pictures. [illustration: "the streets and sidewalks are kept scrupulously clean." (_see page ._)] _old customs and quaint pictures._ segars and tobacco--row boats--"goeden morgan"--the zuyder zee--by candle light--total darkness--the town by night--women and girls--shoes and stockings--the shuffling man--streets and sidewalks--the town crier--the daily news--a message to the people--draught dogs--milkmaids--the barber shop--drug stores--"horretje"--a street auction--selling curios--they leave their shoes at the door--an old grist mill--the holland draught girl. in holland, segars and tobacco of very good quality are sold at low prices: it is not uncommon to buy two segars for one cent (united states currency) and should you be detected smoking an article costing more than a penny, you are immediately stamped as a wealthy and extravagant personage. this reputation is easily acquired in a town of such thrifty habits as monnikendam, and here my fondness for a good smoke lays me open to both charges. a row boat may be hired for twenty cents a day, if you do your own rowing; with a man to row, the charge is forty cents. we find it convenient to hire a man, who also serves as guide and interpreter, and who rows us to many lovely nooks and out-of-the-way spots, which we would otherwise miss seeing. the inhabitants of the town are kind and hospitable, and we are charmed with their good, honest countenances. we are always greeted with a pleasant "goeden morgen," or "goeden avond," or it may be: "hoe staat het leven?" (how are you?), when we pass them on the street. the country about here is principally farm land, with rich and abundant pasturage. a short distance from us is the placid zuyder zee, with its shining waters stretching eastward for miles. from its picturesque banks may be seen boats of every size and kind, from the tiniest row boat to craft of many tons' burden, and it is interesting to observe from this point the busy life upon the water, as produce, farm implements and merchandise are carried to and fro. [illustration: "the whole place is a succession of quaint and picturesque houses." (_see page ._)] as i sit writing in my room, by the light of a homemade candle, i now and then pause in my occupation to look around with an ever increasing wonder, at the dark old furniture over which the light casts a ghostly gleam. the spirit of the past seems lurking in the corners, with their long forgotten history, and around yonder ancient cupboard and brass trimmed chest of drawers. i can almost feel upon my shoulder the touch of the hand which has carried this quaint old candlestick in those olden days, and in imagination, hear the rustle of her gown as she stands behind me waiting for her own. it is ten o'clock, and i walk to the window and draw aside the curtain, curious to see the life that is abroad in the town at this hour. to my astonishment there are no signs of life of any kind. the town lies in total darkness. there is not a glimmer of light anywhere, save the dim glow from a lantern dangling carelessly by the side of a pedestrian who moves slowly and quietly along the sidewalk. there is no other evidence of any living thing. even the frogs and crickets, which enliven a night scene at home, are not heard here. dead silence prevails, while "night, sable goddess, from her ebon throne, in rayless majesty now stretches forth her leaden sceptre o'er a slumbering world." even the stars are slumbering, or their sparkle has been engulfed by this all-devouring darkness. the light of my candle seems out of harmony with the peaceful repose around me: with a half-guilty feeling i extinguish it, and wrapping myself in sheets of holland linen, am soon slumbering with the rest of the world. in the morning, when seated at the breakfast table, my first question to our host is as to the reason for such all-pervading darkness, and the absence of the townspeople from the streets at night. he tells me that it is so rare for any one to be abroad after nine o'clock in the evening, that the street lamps, of which there are but few, are never lighted. at ten o'clock every one is supposed to be at home and in bed. the women and girls of this and the neighboring towns are thrifty and industrious. when resting after their daily labors, whether at noon or in the evening, they will invariably take from their deep side-pockets a ball of thread or yarn, and with the short knitting needle, or the long ones of steel, continue their work on an unfinished stocking, cap or other article of wearing apparel. the prevailing foot-covering for men, women and children is a heavy woolen stocking; this fits the foot snugly, and protects it from the hardness of the clumsy wooden shoe or clog as it is called. these shoes are carved from a single block of wood: when they are worn and shabby they are painted black, and a strap is placed across the instep. they are of all sizes, but only one style or pattern. in the larger cities, however, such as rotterdam, one can obtain from the manufacturers a painted wooden shoe, with buttons and stitches carved upon it as ornaments. but this variation is found only in men's shoes. in holland the ordinary american slipper is frequently worn by both men and women. the clatter of the wooden shoes is at first an unpleasant sound, especially when several persons are walking together, but the ear soon becomes accustomed to it, as to all other odd noises. there is a young man in this place, who walks with a peculiar shuffle, all his own. he is so strange looking altogether that i snap my camera on him one day as he innocently passes by me. the peculiar sound of his walk has taught me to know that he is coming long before his figure is visible. i sometimes feel like telling him in the words of byron, that "he has no singing education, an ignorant, noteless, timeless, tuneless fellow." the streets and sidewalks are kept scrupulously clean, as the women of each household scrub not only their sidewalks, but half-way across the street in front of their dwellings. one may thus imagine what a charming and inviting place this is for the pedestrian. in this peaceful town where the golden rule is not simply a precept to frame and hang upon the wall, it is not necessary to employ officials with such high sounding but meaningless titles as "street commissioner," "director of the highways," etc., etc. no, here each individual possesses sufficient honor and self-respect to accomplish his own share of municipal work, to the benefit and comfort of the whole community. there is one very ancient custom still existing here which interests and entertains us greatly. this is the old fashion of employing a town crier, who after beating a brass disk which is suspended by a cord from his shoulder, calls out in a loud, clear voice, the news of the day, events in foreign lands, transfers of property, sales and auctions which have already taken place or are to occur in the near future, lost and found articles and the like. for instance: he walks a distance of a block or two, then stops in the middle of the street, beats the brass disk vigorously with a small striker, and casting his head heavenward, utters the phrases which have been prepared and given to him in stereotyped tones. thus the town receives its news, and the crier keeps those who never stir from their homes as well as the business men of the city informed of the most prominent events of their own and other countries. what better method could be employed in the absence of newspapers? the community is kept in touch with the outside world and with its own members by means of this odd and ancient custom. [illustration: "a street auction." (_see page ._)] i have the pleasure of a personal association with the crier. our party is so much annoyed by the continual staring of the people, who seem unable to become accustomed to our appearance in the town, and who follow us constantly day and evening when we walk upon the streets, that i decide to try some means to stop it. the proprietor of the hotel, at my request, adds another sentence to the daily bulletin; it runs as follows: "the three americans now stopping at the posthoorn hotel must not be annoyed by the good people of this town. it is not good manners to stare at them and follow them, and it is unpleasant to these strangers." the day following my request, i listen anxiously for the voice of the crier, and his appearance in our neighborhood. here he comes; and the message is rolled forth in sonorous tones. i seek the landlord and ask him if the notice is to be circulated throughout the town; and he replies in the affirmative. in justice to the inhabitants, i must state that they heed the request, and hereafter go on their way without undue excitement or comment when we appear among them; much to our own comfort and enjoyment. few horses are seen upon these streets: wagons are drawn by two, three, or four huge draught dogs, trained for this purpose. men are also frequently harnessed to wagons, as well as women, and sometimes a woman and dog will appear together drawing a load of merchandise. milk is delivered by buxom young girls who carry on their shoulders a strong wooden yoke: from the ends of this the milk pails are suspended by ropes. vegetables and other provisions are delivered in the same manner. the milkmaid passes from door to door, rapping on each with the ancient brass knocker, and serving her customer with the milk as it is served with us. the whole place is a succession of quaint and picturesque houses. the shapes are various, and the heavy red-tiled roofs and many gables have a charming effect as they stand in rows on either side of the street. each house seems to possess an individual style of its own, and many are so old that they lean quite out of the perpendicular. [illustration: "at the farthest end of the street stands an old windmill." (_see page ._)] while travelling in holland one is constantly confronted with a sign in the form of a wooden arm stretched from a doorway, with a brass disk suspended from it containing the words: hier scheert en snyd men het haar, which signifies that here one can be shaved and have his hair cut: in other words, it is the sign of a barber, who in america designates his calling by the gayly-colored pole. the brass disks in front of these places are polished to a high state of brilliancy, and being suspended so that they swing loosely in the breeze, they cast dazzling reflections in all directions which cannot fail to attract the attention of the passer-by. another advertisement which differs greatly from those in our country is that of the drug store. while with us huge glass vases and globes of different colors are displayed in the window of the apothecary, in holland a wooden head of a man in great agony, with protruding tongue, indicates that here the sufferer can find relief and medicine for all his aches and pains. this head is conspicuously placed over the entrance to the drug store. another odd custom in this strange country is that of placing a large screen called a "horetje" in the front windows of private houses, or on the first floors. the screen is sometimes shaped like a fan, sometimes it is heart-shaped or oval, and is intended to protect the person seated at the door or window from the idle gaze of the pedestrian. indeed it often hides a charming picture of maiden grace and modesty. one day as i am sitting at the door of the hotel attempting to sketch some of the picturesque houses in the neighborhood, with many wondering eyes directed toward my canvas, i notice a crowd of people beginning to gather a short distance off. i do not see the centre of attraction, but seizing my camera, which is my constant companion, together with pencils and brushes, which are as close friends as robinson crusoe and his man friday, i hasten to the scene of action, feeling that probably something is going to happen which will add a new page to my experience. it is true: something interesting is about to take place; and that is a street auction, a common occurrence in this town. the auctioneer, perched above the heads of his audience upon an old wooden box, is calling out his sales in dutch. the articles which he is about to dispose of to the highest bidders are dress goods, linen and wearing apparel. much persuasion is necessary before a sale is effected, as the strong desire of the customers to obtain bargains is met by an equally strong determination on the part of the auctioneer to sell his stock at good prices. a funny sort of a seesaw is the result, which is the source of much merriment among the spectators. i join in some of these outbursts from pure sympathy, as most of the time i do not understand either the jokes or allusions. a lively business is frequently carried on at these auctions; but whether the purchaser really obtains more for his money than by the ordinary method of buying i cannot ascertain. i presume they think they have some advantage, or they would not flock to the sales in such numbers. [illustration: "a beautifully shaded walk just outside the town." (_see page ._)] an active branch of business here is the sale of curios, antique silverware, china, gold, jewels, and bric-a-brac; in fact ancient articles of every description. as we walk down the main street, admiring the clean highway and lovely old houses on either side of us, we observe many pairs of wooden shoes lying in front of the different residences near the doorways, and upon inquiry learn that when one person goes to call upon another, he leaves his heavy wooden shoes outside the door, and enters in his stocking feet. at the farthest end of the street stands an old windmill with its huge arms moving slowly and regularly in harmony with the gentle breeze which blows across the zuyder zee. as we draw nearer, we see that it is an ancient grist mill, and here is the owner, who invites us in to view the interior, and with whom we have a pleasant chat in our own colloquial style, adopted since our arrival in this city. dozens of windmills can be seen from this point, and, as i have already said, they are used for many different purposes. the foundation story is the home of the family, and in a number of these you will find quaint, delightful pictures of old dutch interiors, with their odd chairs and dressers, ancient clocks and brass bound chests, old-fashioned china, and tiled fireplaces. there is a beautifully shaded walk just outside the town, encircling the whole city. large trees here protect monnikendam from the heavy wind and rain storms which come from the zuyder zee, when old neptune rises in one of his dreadful tantrums. we enjoy this lovely walk, but what do we not enjoy in this town which surely has bound us by some magic spell; for the longer we stay here, the more loath we are to leave its borders. one day we take a boat and direct our course along one of the canals, on which there is considerable traffic. here we behold the pitiable sight of two young girls, harnessed like mules, and attached to a lead rope, pulling inch by inch, and foot by foot, a large canal-boat filled with merchandise. i can imagine no harder work than this, for the poor creatures are exposed to the intense heat of the sun, with no protection against its direct rays, and they have a long slow journey before them, ere the heavily-laden boat making its progress foot by foot shall reach its destination. the toil of the factory girl in america is play when compared with that of the draught girl in holland. [illustration: "land and water." (_see page ._)] a dutch cheese-making district. [illustration: "a good road for the bicycle." (_see page ._)] _a dutch cheese-making district._ a cheese-making country--edam cheese--a picturesque inn--an interesting interior--a thrifty farmer--at sunrise--in the cow stable--the pretty maid--stall and parlor--the cheese room--the process of making cheese--"i have listened and listened"--a trip to volendam--a fine country road--a charming day--muzzled dogs--the only street--a multitude of children--gay decorations--a united people--as a hen and her brood--their wealth is health--in sunday dress--stalwart men and sturdy women--a higher type--"i have enough"--fishermen--the anchorage--a volendam suit. to-day we take the train for edam, of world-wide fame as a cheese-making centre. this town, situated about five miles north of monnikendam, abounds in beautiful old trees which protect it from the heat of the sun, and render it very attractive. all of these towns seem to possess individual interest, and the traveller is constantly surprised in this region by new and unexpected scenes: but the imprint of truth and honesty upon the faces of the dwellers in every town, village and settlement in holland is observed as the common bond of union, and leads us to understand the happiness and prosperity for which this region is justly celebrated. it is hardly necessary to say that many cheese factories are scattered throughout this section of the country. at one of these factories, located on the bank of the canal, we see a large barge being loaded with five thousand of the delicious edam cheeses, intended for foreign markets. we stop for rest and refreshment at one of the many inns on the way. this house is a fine subject for an artist. the room in which our meal is served is in itself a masterpiece. the floor, composed of large stone flags, is spotlessly clean, and the walls are covered with odd pieces of china, evidently associated with family history: the woodwork is as white as soap and sand can make it, and the windows are as clear as crystal. in a corner stands the old dutch clock, with the moon, now nearly full, represented above its time-worn face, and on one side is the dark dresser, rich in ancient plates, and other quaint old-fashioned crockery. the table at which we sit is covered with a snowy cloth of homespun linen, and the blue and white dishes with the stories upon them which have been thus told for unknown ages almost charm us into forgetfulness of our luncheon itself, until a healthy cheerful country girl appears, and with deft movements and smiling face places before us the appetizing cheese, delicious bread, freshly churned butter, and new milk as well as buttermilk. for this but a trifling charge is made, but we feel that a glimpse into this quaint old dutch interior, the sight of these brass-bound chests and claw-footed chairs, and the picture of the cheerful holland maid are worth many times the cost of the meal. we are much entertained by our visit to a thrifty farmer whose home is about a mile from monnikendam. this well-to-do personage owns a large dairy farm, and learning that we are interested in this subject, invites us to be present at sunrise to witness the process of cheese-making. an early hour finds us on the way, and in good time a rap on the door of the farmhouse brings us into the presence of a bright middle-aged dutch vrow, who with a cherry "goeden morgen" bids us enter. we are first ushered into the parlor, which is a room of considerable size, immaculately clean, with comfortable chairs and sofas placed in various corners, and a supply of delft ware and shining brass candlesticks that fill our hearts with longing. in a few moments we are invited to the adjoining room, which we suppose to be the kitchen or dining-room, but to our surprise find ourselves in the cow-stable, a spacious, well lighted apartment, about seventy feet long and fifteen feet wide. a row of stalls runs along one side of the room, and here stand as many of the genuine, full blooded holstein cattle. they are handsome creatures, looking as sleek and clean as those which take the premiums at the state and county fairs at home. here they stand, patiently awaiting the appearance of the milkmaid; not however the milkmaid, "all forlorn" of nursery rhyme, but in truth the pretty maid with dress so clean, with shining pail and face serene, who milks the cows with happy smile, and sings her joyous songs the while. the stalls are as sweet, clean and orderly as is the parlor which we have just left, and snowy curtains hang above the windows over them, the only apparent difference between the stable and the parlor being that the cattle stand upon fresh, fragrant straw, instead of a clean carpet. from the stable we are conducted to an adjoining building, which is the cheese factory, and to the room in which are assembled the farmer, his wife and two servants. everything is in readiness: the fresh milk is poured into a huge iron kettle which stands upon the floor, and which is capable of holding about twenty gallons: a small quantity of rennet is put into the milk, and in perhaps twenty minutes a kind of sieve is passed quickly to and fro through the curdled mass. these sieves or curd-knives have handles by which they are held while the blades are drawn from side to side, cutting the curd into myriads of tiny cubes. then the farmer's wife rolls up her sleeves, exposing to view a pair of round, shapely arms which would be the pride of a city belle, and dips both hands and arms deep in the floating mass. she presses, and kneads and rolls this thickening body until it assumes the consistency of dough: the whey is bluish in color, and as thin as water. this is drained off, and water is poured over the mass several times, until the cheese is thoroughly cleansed of all the floating particles. it is now ready to be placed in five pound moulds made of wood: the moulds are put into a powerful press which shapes the cheese, and extracts any lurking remnants of water. after about eight hours in the press, the cheeses are salted and placed on shelves to dry. now for a month it is necessary to turn them every day, and after that, every other day for a month. they are also sponged with lukewarm water and dried in the open air, and the final process is a thin coat of linseed oil. it is a tedious operation; great care is necessary to keep the chamber in which they are shelved perfectly clean and dry, and of an even temperature. at last the articles are ready for shipment to all parts of the world. this is an enormous industry: in north holland alone, we are informed that twenty-six million pounds of cheese are produced per annum. the portion of the process witnessed by us occupies about an hour and a half: these cheeses are worth from the farmer's hands fifty or sixty cents apiece. there is a little boy ten or twelve years of age about here who seems to derive great pleasure from our society, although he cannot understand one word of english. one day, after sitting quietly for a long time, while we are conversing together, he repeats impatiently in his own language: "i have listened and listened to your talk, and i cannot understand one word. i do not think you are talking sense at all." alas, poor child! you are not the only one who has listened and listened, trying in vain to find a gleam of intelligence in the foreigner's gibberish. ignorance of the language of a nation causes it to appear to one like a vast sealed volume, which he knows only by the pictures on the title page. i have written at length of the island of marken, one of the most noted of the "dead cities of holland," and now, let us take a peep at the sister city of volendam, which lies four miles north of monnikendam. as we do not wish to visit this place when all the men are off on their fishing expeditions, we choose for our excursion a clear bright sunday, a day on which the men will surely be at home, and their sea horses at anchor in the harbor. procuring a large carriage and a powerful horse, a difficult thing to obtain at short notice, we direct our driver to jog along slowly that we may enjoy the beauty of the surrounding country. we drive over a fine road, level and well ballasted; a good road for the bicycle: in fact all the roads of holland, city and country, are kept in perfect condition. it is a charming day, and the balmy atmosphere and the refreshing breeze which sweeps over the zuyder zee have a soothing effect upon mind and body. this would be a great country for invalids, and those who seek rest and change from the demands of fashion and social life. there is no fashion here; only pure air and lovely peaceful beauty everywhere, with good wholesome food and kind hearts to extend a cordial welcome to the weary stranger. added to this is the very moderate cost of a sojourn in this delightful region. occasionally we pass a small cart or wagon drawn by dogs, the driver a young girl who is comfortably seated in the vehicle, now and then administering to the animals, by means of a short stick, reminders not to lag on the way. these dogs are not the ordinary house dog which is seen in our country; but are powerful and muscular creatures, as perhaps i have already said, and so cross and savage when roused, that to secure the safety of the persons near them they are closely muzzled. being ignorant of their peculiar traits, one day while admiring a couple of fine draught dogs which are resting near a wagon, i approach them too closely; my enthusiasm is suddenly cooled as one of them springs viciously at me, striking me heavily on the chest, and he certainly would have chipped a good sized piece of flesh from my body had his muzzle not prevented this catastrophe. hereafter i keep a distance of many feet between me and these animals, and others of their species. [illustration: "this strange looking highway runs lengthwise through the town." (_see page ._)] after a lovely drive of an hour, we arrive at the old town which is as wonderful and interesting as its sister city. it too is built upon the banks of the zuyder zee. we stand upon the only street in the place, which in appearance resembles the back bone of a whale, with small brick houses on either side. this strange looking highway runs lengthwise through the town. the street is narrow: horses and dogs are never seen upon it, but there are hundreds of children, who gather in great throngs around our horse, wondering at the strange animal, and declaring him to be a huge dog, for many of them have never seen a horse before. our appearance is also a great event to them, and the visit creates as much excitement on one side as the other. it is a "red letter day" for both the townspeople and ourselves. the houses are roofed with red tiles, which exhibit many different shapes and styles, and we perceive numerous flags floating from the windows, and decorations of gay bunting. upon asking the reason of this festive appearance in the isolated and usually quiet city, we are informed that they are in honor of a wedding which is to take place within a few days. a wedding in this town is an occasion of great rejoicing, and every household enters into the spirit of the entertainment with enthusiasm, as the whole community resembles one large family, and from the least to the greatest, they are all well known to each other. the affairs of one are the affairs of all, hence a single marriage becomes the festive occasion of the entire population. this is not strange when one recollects that the people have no other means of entertainment, such as theatres, concert halls or libraries, whist or euchre parties. they have nothing save the individual happenings in the domestic lives of the different families. a woman whose children are sitting quietly upon the curb stone near us, looks hurriedly around the door of her house, and seeing the commotion which our arrival excites, calls anxiously for her "kids" to come to her protecting arms, in mortal fear lest one of her brood should be carried off by these strange and unexpected visitors. as i look around, and behold the robust and muscular physiques of both men and women, i think any one would be daring indeed who would attempt to carry off a child or any other possession from these people in opposition to their wills. [illustration: "the houses are roofed with red tiles." (_see page ._)] the women and children here are richly endowed with the blessings of health and strength. the whole population of thirteen hundred people employ but one doctor, who has time to grow rusty in his profession, so few are the demands upon his skill. i suggest to him on the occasion of a meeting, that he adopt the chinese plan of remuneration, that is that the people pay him an annuity as long as they are well, and that when they are sick, they be entitled to his services gratis. the natives of holland are not inclined to excesses of any kind, and they thus enjoy the full benefit of naturally sound constitutions, and are able to transmit to their children perfect, unimpaired health. as we stroll along this backbone of a street without name or pretensions, we stop at many of the doorways to talk with the residents, and soon become impressed with the hospitality of the people, who are arrayed in all the glory of their sunday finery, and appear at the fronts of their homes happy in the consciousness that they as well as all their surroundings are in "apple pie order." we are as much interested in them as they are in us, and that is saying a great deal. the great, stalwart fellows with their broad shoulders and rugged faces are indeed true types of all that is brave and manly. a loose shirt and baggy trousers, with a small cloth cap is the ordinary costume of the men, many of whom wear wooden shoes; leather slippers are also worn. the women are equally brave and strong in appearance, and as large in proportion as the men. their sturdy forms and healthy faces are rare models for the artist's brush. their dress is of homespun linen, generally dyed blue, and is composed of several pieces; sometimes these are of various colors combined in a picturesque and effective arrangement. the head-dress is of lace and is pretty and becoming: indeed many of our fashionable belles might greatly improve their appearance by adopting the charming coiffure of these pretty and apparently unconscious holland girls and women. these people represent a higher type of humanity than the inhabitants of marken: their intelligence and refinement are more marked, but they have the sunny temperaments and contented dispositions characteristic of the hollanders, and though ignorant of the customs of the outside world, and limited in their lives to a narrow sphere, they are a happy and satisfied people. they seem in that happy state of mind, so rarely possessed, in which they can say _i have enough_. happiness consists not in possessing much, but in being content with what we possess. he who wants little always has enough. these men, like those in the neighboring island of marken, obtain their livelihood by fishing. they leave their homes in small boats or yachts every monday morning, and do not return until late saturday night, allowing them but one day in the week, sunday, to spend in their homes. close by us is the anchorage, so called from the fact that dozens of fishing boats anchor within its harbor. i suppose that fully a hundred of these yachts are lying there now, and, shifting from side to side as the wind stirs the waters of the zuyder zee, present the appearance of a city of masts in a hurricane. as we wander about it occurs to me that i should like to become the possessor of one of the odd and picturesque suits of clothing worn here; especially one of the better kind of the men's suits, for i know that this quaint and ancient dress would be interesting to a number of friends far away in dear america. filled with the idea, i stop many of the natives, and through our good and genial friend mr. l---- inquire if it is possible to purchase from one of them a suit of clothing, and suggest that if they have none themselves to sell, perhaps one of their comrades would part with a suit in exchange for my bright guilders. we talk to a great many men, but receive the same answer from all: that is that each possesses but two suits; a best or sunday suit, and a week-day or fishing suit, neither of which it is possible to sell for any price that i may offer. i ask again if there is not some one else among the men who may be willing to oblige me, and learn that most of the men and women are in church, but that if we will wait until the service is over, we can talk with them, and may succeed in our quest. volendam sights and the oldest town on the rhine. [illustration: "the delicate lace caps frame smiling faces." (_see page ._)] _volendam sights and the oldest town on the rhine._ church is out--the promenade--every man is a volume--an old suit--his sunday clothes--"let him have it"--an obedient son--the silver buttons--the last straw--an uncommon action--the hotel--an artist's resort--an unfinished painting--good-bye--the ancient city of cologne--the cathedral--within the "dom"--a wonderful collection--foundation of the town--history--vicissitudes--public gardens--eau de cologne--the palace of brühl. within a short time we perceive a large number of people slowly advancing in our direction. church is over, and it is customary after the service for every one to promenade up and down this street. here friends and relatives greet each other, exchange items of local interest and have their little gossips over family affairs. the sight is one long to be remembered. the round weather-beaten faces of the men, as they roll along in true sailor fashion, the merry chattering women and girls in their picturesque costume, the children running hither and thither, and the gayly decorated houses that line the long street are worthy the brush of an artist. truly these people seem to practice the golden rule, for no one appears to be thinking of himself, but every one cares for the comfort and happiness of his family, friends or neighbors. the delicate lace caps of the women frame smiling faces, and the maidens in their quaint homespun gowns look as though they are a part of a play at one of our theatres. as the congregation draws nearer, we halt before the foremost group, and having attracted their attention by our novel appearance, ask through our friend mr. l----, the oft-repeated question about the suit of volendam clothes, which we are anxious to carry home to show our friends in america. in an instant they all shake their heads in the negative, looking very serious at the idea of such a proposition. their manly and straightforward manner charms me. i look into the open countenances, in which there is much individuality, and say to myself: it is as true here as in the great cities of the world that _every man is a volume if you know how to read him._ there is a story in the heart of each one of these sturdy fishermen, whether it has seen the light of day or not, and many a noble deed and heroic action that in another town would receive a medal of honor, or at least the applause of the public, passes here as a common incident of everyday life. these people do not live for show: the only medals which they wear, and which they transmit to their children are the records of pure, honest lives which are proudly handed down from one generation to another. [illustration: "as the congregation draws nearer, we halt before the foremost group." (_see page ._)] meanwhile i stand before them watching the varying expressions and wondering if there is any prospect of obtaining my desire. at last one man says hesitatingly that he has an old suit at home that he no longer wears, and if we will accompany him to his house, a few doors away, he will show it to us. we turn and follow him, and a score or more of the people follow us. what must an old suit look like in this thrifty community where the men and women never discard anything until it is utterly hopeless as regards service? a suit which one of these is willing to dispose of must indeed be a peculiar object. i wonder if it has that "ancient and fish-like smell," described by shakespeare. the fates forbid! perhaps it is a relic of a beloved father or grandfather, handed down as a family heirloom. we enter the house, still surrounded by curious spectators, and our obliging friend takes from a closet a carefully-wrapped bundle, which upon being opened discloses a worn and aged suit: unfortunately its age does not add to its beauty or value as in the cases of old masterpieces in art, as a painting by murillo or rembrandt. the clothes are old, dirty, and faded, and only fit for the receptacle of the ragman, but they do not fail to serve their purpose, for while this young athlete holds them out, with an expression of pride and pleasure, a sudden thought fills me with hope. the suit which this young man wears is of the highest type of the volendam fashion, and is quite new. the flannel blouse with its gay undervest showing at the chest, and the baggy brown velveteen trousers form an ideal specimen of the costume of these people. i must have this suit. no other will answer my purpose. without preliminaries, i boldly propose to him to sell me the suit he wears, and put on the old one until he can procure another. his countenance falls, and with a look of positive fear, he draws back, shaking his head and repeating: "nee. nee. nee." then he moves farther away, as though in terror lest i then and there strip him of his garments. he cannot sell the suit, he says, especially as the wedding festivities of one of his neighbors are so soon to take place. in a corner of the room, quietly smoking a clay pipe, sits the old father, watching without a word the little drama taking place before him. as the boy reiterates his refusal, the man talks to him in expostulatory tones, and as we learn, says: "the gentleman from america is a good man. let him have the suit: you shall have another." at this advice the son, though looking rather sulky, yields, and withdrawing to the adjoining room, exchanges the suit he wears for the old one, and returns with the desire of my heart rolled up and wrapped in a clean paper. the evidence of good will on the part of the parent, and the obedience of the son charm me even more than the possession of the coveted garments. the boy is a noble lad. as we are about leaving, i suddenly espy the silver coin buttons which are such an ornament to the dress, and which are considered a mark of distinction, when worn by old or young. they are rare and valuable decorations, being buttons made of coins, and held together by a link, as our sleeve-buttons. they are worn in the bands of the trousers and shirts, serving the purpose of suspenders. the coins are brilliantly polished and present a striking appearance. they are generally heirlooms, and some of them are of very ancient date. in general they are cherished as treasures beyond price: these worn by the boy are exceedingly rare, and are more than a hundred years old, having belonged to his great-grandfather. the outer and larger coins are three guilder pieces, the smaller ones one guilder. to ask for these is indeed the "last straw," and when the father requests his son to put them in the bundle with the clothing, he bursts into tears, and his hands tremble as he gives them to me. for this final test of obedience i thank him heartily, and bestow upon him a liberal reward for the sacrifice, together with much praise. as he looks at the guilders with which i have filled his hand, his countenance brightens, and the rainfall is changed into radiant sunshine. the neighbors look on this scene with surprise, and many of them declare that this is a very uncommon occurrence in volendam, as they have never known any one heretofore to dispose of family heirlooms to a foreigner. it is unnecessary to say that i also value the coins beyond price, and treasure them for their association, and the interesting picture which they never fail to bring before me. [illustration: "every man is a volume if you know how to read him." (_see page ._)] there is but one hotel in the place, and thither we resort. it is a small building without pretensions, containing about ten rooms, of no great size, but clean and comfortable. we learn that board and accommodations may be had here for four guilders (one dollar) a day. this hotel has entertained artists from all parts of the world. the good-natured landlord will do everything in his power to make his guests comfortable. in the general sitting-room or parlor, there is abundant evidence that these efforts have been appreciated in the beautiful paintings presented to him by some of the most famous artists of our day. he is a loyal upholder of art and artists. his daughter, a fresh looking maiden, is so much pleased when i say that i too, am an artist and photographer, that she insists upon taking me up to the third floor to see the fine view from the windows which overlook the zuyder zee. she also shows me a room which was fitted up for a lady artist from new york. here is an unfinished picture upon the easel, of an old volendam woman, in her fancy cap and bright colored homespun costume. this secluded spot offers many attractions for both brush and camera in interesting studies of figures and landscape, as well as charming water scenes. we would gladly spend a longer time amid these delightful pictures, but it is impossible, so we take our departure amid a hundred good wishes, and as we drive away, the inhabitants who have gathered from all parts of the town to see the queer americans, call after us: "goeden dag," and "tot weerziens," (until we meet again). a dozen or more children run by the side of the carriage shouting and laughing for a considerable distance. and so we bid farewell to a hearty and attractive people and their quaint surroundings. let us take a somewhat hasty glance at cologne, the oldest city on the rhine, and one of the largest towns in the rhenish province of prussia. we cannot afford to miss this town, were it only on account of the great cathedral whose lofty towers rise heavenward to a height of five hundred and twelve feet. how one longs to find himself within these sacred walls, to stand and gaze upon the wondrous arches, pillars, and dome, the stained glass and statues, the frescoes and carving, the work of an endless succession of artists and artisans. next to st. peter's at rome, this cathedral is the largest church in the world. it stands upon the old roman camping ground, and more than six centuries have passed since its foundations were laid. the name of its architect is unknown, and even the original designs have been forgotten. its interior is four hundred and thirty feet long and one hundred and forty feet broad. the portion appropriated to divine service covers an area of seventy thousand square feet. it is useless to attempt to describe this vast structure whose buttresses, turrets, gargoyles, canopies and tracery are innumerable and bewildering. the gothic arches and countless pillars form a grand perspective. there are seven chapels which present a wealth of paintings, and relics. in the chapel of the three magi is a marvellous casket of crystal, whose cover is set with precious stones, which is said to contain the skulls of caspar, melchior and balthazar, the three wise men from the east who followed the star to the cradle of the infant christ. [illustration: "goeden dag. tot weerziens." (_see page ._)] in the great treasury of the cathedral are untold treasures. here are silver censers, paintings set in diamonds, shrines of silver, and rare and priceless relics of every description, besides gold and silver chalices, fonts, and other church vessels, and a collection of magnificent vestments. many are the vicissitudes through which this wonderful structure has passed, since its commencement in . at times it seemed abandoned to ruin, then again the work was taken up and vast sums of money contributed, and the masterpiece of gothic architecture was carried on toward completion, until once more the money was exhausted. it seems as though the old legend of the architect who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the plan of the edifice must have some foundation, for tradition relates that satan was finally outwitted by the architect, and in revenge vowed that the cathedral should never be finished, and the architect's name be forgotten. immense fortunes have been expended upon it by monarchs and others of the faithful. the great southern portal alone cost half a million dollars: the bells in the south tower, the largest of which was cast in , from the metal of french guns, weighs twenty-five tons. the combined efforts of twenty-eight ringers are required to set it in motion. the next two in point of size, cast in and , weigh respectively eleven and six tons. the magnificent stained glass windows were contributed by famous and royal donors, such as the emperor frederick iii., archbishop von daun, archbishop von hessen, king lewis i. of bavaria, emperor william i., and many others. a number of these were executed as far back as . few structures can compete with this in beauty, grace and elegance of form. how solemn is the atmosphere within these ancient walls! how impressive the picture of this apparently boundless interior! in one of the great pillars is a flight of one hundred steps, which leads to a gallery extending across the transept, and still nearly forty steps higher one reaches the gallery which makes the tour of the whole cathedral, and upon this one has a beautiful view of the city of cologne, the rhine and the surrounding country. within the church there is a corresponding gallery, from which the visitor may observe the interior decorations, and from the loftiest gallery of all, there is a vast and delightful panorama which includes river and country as far as the eye can see. what can be more beautiful than this scene? where can one find a grander, more solemn atmosphere than within these walls where the spirits and the hands of men have worked for ages? where can he experience more lofty aspirations toward "the glorious author of the universe who reins the minds, gives the vast ocean bounds, and circumscribes the floating worlds their rounds"? the city of cologne was founded by the ubii at the time when they were compelled by agrippa to migrate from the right to the left bank of the rhine, (b. c. ). in a. d. , agrippina, daughter of germanicus, and mother of nero, founded here a colony of roman veterans which at first was called colonia agrippinensis, and afterward colonia claudia agrippina. in constantine the great began a stone bridge over the rhine to deutz. from the end of the fifth century cologne belonged to the franks and was long occupied by the ripuarian kings. charlemagne raised the bishopric which had been founded here in the fourth century to an archbishopric, the first archbishop being the imperial chaplain hildebold who built the oldest cathedral church, and presented to it a valuable library which still exists. "the noble city has passed through many vicissitudes, and it was not until after under prussian rule that it began to enjoy a degree of permanent prosperity. the rapid progress of its steamboat and railway systems, and the enterprise of the citizens, many of whom possess great wealth, have combined to make cologne the centre of the rhenish trade, and one of the most considerable commercial cities in germany." the town is built with long narrow streets curving in semicircles toward the river. its sidewalks have the peculiarity of frequently dwindling away until only a few feet in width. the great cathedral tower may be seen for miles, reaching far above the surrounding buildings. cologne is a city of legends and relics: old and historic buildings dating back many centuries are scattered in all directions, and here the visionary, the lover of myth and legend, can find abundant food for his imagination. the great and valued possessions of the city are the bones of the eleven thousand virgins. this is the legend: fourteen hundred years ago, st. ursula and eleven thousand virgins went on a pilgrimage to rome, and returning were all slain by the huns. their bones were gathered together and brought to cologne, where they were buried, and later the church of st. ursula, now nearly nine hundred years old, was built over their tomb. within this church the bones of the virgins are enclosed in stone caskets, with apertures through which they may be seen. the skulls are covered with needlework and ornamented with pearls and precious stones. among other relics, is also to be found here the alabaster vase or rather one of the vases, in which the saviour turned the water into wine at the marriage in cana. the vase or jar is evidently a very ancient article: it is much cracked, and one handle is broken off. there are many points of interest in this old city, for here are museums, gardens, galleries and churches, and always the picturesque river with its countless views and pleasure trips. if one is weary of these legendary stories, or even of sightseeing itself, let him rest with me in one of the many public gardens, listening to the charming music of a good orchestra. there are skilled musicians in these gardens, and their selections are always well rendered. no loud or idle conversation is indulged in during these recitals. should any such breach of good manners occur, the transgressors are requested to observe the rule of the garden, and if the offence is repeated, they are ejected from the premises. the germans, being such lovers of good music, tolerate no other in their gardens. there is no admission fee, but the expenses are supposed to be met by the sale of beer, wine, pretzels and frankfurt sausages. before leaving cologne i must not forget to mention the refreshing perfume which has made this city famous all over the world. the celebrated eau de cologne is said to have been invented by jean antoine marie farina of domodossola in the year . one could almost bathe in the perfume here for the money it would cost to filter our muddy philadelphia water. there is an enormous quantity of it manufactured, and almost every store seems to have it for sale. [illustration: "palace of brühl." (_see page ._)] a short distance from cologne, or köln as the germans call it, is the almost forsaken station of brühl. i would advise the tourist to alight here, and take a close view of the imperial palace known as the palace of brühl, a handsome building erected about the year . as we advance toward the beautiful and spacious grounds, it is not difficult to imagine the magnificent structure looming up in the distance as the home of royalty. the approach to the palace is studded with marble statues, and the palace itself is a classic example of the french and german rococo style of architecture; from it radiate many lovely walks and bowery avenues which are adorned with fine statuary. here too are velvet lawns, noble trees and glowing flower beds, and should one wish to view the interior of this elegant palace, he will find that some of the rooms are open to visitors. our stay within is necessarily brief. retracing our steps to the station, we take the train, and are carried swiftly toward the old town of bonn. along the banks of the rhine. [illustration: "lovely walks and bowery avenues." (_see page ._)] _along the banks of the rhine._ bonn--the birthplace of beethoven--the museum--monument--a famous restaurant--college students--beer mugs--special tables--affairs of honor--königswinter--magnificent views--drachenfels--the castle--the dombruch--siegfried and the dragon--a desecrated ruin--the splendor of the mountains--many visitors--view from the summit--the students' chorus--german life--a german breakfast--the camera--old castles and lofty mountains--legends of the rhine--the waters of the rhine--vineyards. this town like its sister cities is of ancient foundation, having been one of the first roman fortresses on the rhine. it is the seat of a university which attracts students from all parts of the world. it is a prosperous looking place with pleasant villas on the river banks, and ancient picturesque houses. there are lovely shaded walks in the public gardens, and a fine view from the alte zoll, but the chief interest of the town for us lies in the fact that it is the birthplace of beethoven. in a small unpretentious house the great musician was born in , and here were composed many of those wonderful harmonies which have thrilled the souls of lovers of music all over the world. the room in which this noble genius first saw the light of day is in the top of the house, a garret ten feet by twelve in size, and contains no furniture whatever: nor is it necessary to remind those who enter it, by aught save the wreath of green which lies peacefully upon the floor, that the spirit whose earthly tabernacle dwelt here breathed forth the fire of heaven. "creative genius. from thy hand what shapes of order, beauty rise, where waves thy potent, mystic wand, to people ocean, earth and skies." in an adjoining room are stored some pieces of furniture which belonged to beethoven, and the piano used by him in the composition of some of his most famous sonatas. some of the ladies of our party are permitted to play upon this sacred instrument. do they hope to be inspired by the magic spell of the master's touch still lingering among the keys? the dwelling has been purchased by lovers of the celebrated composer, and fitted up as a beethoven museum. not far off stands the statue of the artist and the monument dedicated to him. before leaving bonn, we visit the famous restaurant which is the nightly resort of the students during the college term. the spacious rooms composing this café communicate with each other by a wide and lofty doorway. the furniture consists of bare wooden tables, a long counter, and dozens of shabby chairs which look as if they have seen hard service. the corpulent and jovial proprietor informs us that these rooms are filled to overflowing with both gay and serious students every night in the week, and that here, notwithstanding the ofttimes boisterous merriment, questions of grave import are often discussed, together with all the current topics of interest; and that speeches are made brilliant enough for publication in the daily papers. here the young orator first tests his powers, and in all his future career, he will find no more critical audience than this composed of his fellow-students. here too are nights given up to fun and jollity, to college songs and wild and reckless mirth, when there is not a serious countenance among the crowd. "he cannot try to speak with gravity, but one perceives he wags an idle tongue; he cannot try to look demure, but spite of all he does he shows a laugher's cheek; he cannot e'en essay to walk sedate, but in his very gait one sees a jest that's ready to break out in spite of all his seeming." hundreds of voices make the roof ring with tuneful harmony: choruses, glees and comic ballads follow each other, interspersed with jokes and puffs at pipes and sips of beer, for the german student is a "rare compound of oddity, frolic and fun, to relish a joke and rejoice at a pun." pounds of poor tobacco are smoked, and gallons of good beer consumed at these gatherings, and the landlord is always on the side of the boys when there is any trouble, and rejoices in all their collegiate honors and their success in every other line. upon the shelves above the tables are long rows of individual beer mugs, with the owners' names or crests conspicuously painted in gay colors upon them. these mugs vary in capacity from a pint to two quarts, and the host assures me gravely that many of the students drain even the largest ones nine or ten times in the course of an evening. i ponder, as he speaks, upon the wonderful power of expansion of the human stomach which performs this feat. [illustration: "not far off stands the statue of the artist." (_see page ._)] as a natural consequence of this enormous appetite for beer, one sees in the restaurants in many of the german cities an especial table constructed with a deep semicircular curve in the side, which allows the corpulent guest to drink his favorite beverage in comfortable proximity to the bottle. such as these must have been in shakespeare's mind, when he wrote: "he was a man of an unbounded stomach." the deep cuts and scars upon the faces of many of the students, are matters of great pride with them, as evidences of the number of "affairs of honor" in which they have been engaged. they look with scorn upon the fellow collegian whose countenance does not display one or more of these signs of bloody combat, and are always ready to seize an occasion of this kind for the exhibition of their bravery or their skill at arms. sometimes these duels are a result of the silliest arguments, at others they are sought by deliberate insult given by the one who wishes to fight. a glance is sometimes sufficient for a sanguinary meeting. will they ever learn that no stain can ever be washed out with blood, no honor redeemed by the sword, no moral bravery displayed by an encounter of this kind? it is falling to the level of the brute, with perhaps a little more skill evinced in the choice of the weapons of warfare. it cannot but detract from the dignity of the human being, and this is true to a far greater extent in the case of those who entertain themselves by witnessing such unnatural sports as prize fights, cock fights, and most degrading of all, but thank heaven a rare sight in civilized countries, the bull fight;--all relics of barbarism. let us leave this unpleasant subject, however, and allow ourselves to be spirited away to a veritable fairy land of beauty, and quaint legendary associations. the little town of königswinter nestles at the foot of the seven mountains, from which there are innumerable views of the rhine and the surrounding country. a halo of romance surrounds this region, and in the many excursions from this point, the lover of the weird and visionary will find his every step accompanied by imaginary maidens of rare grace and beauty, brave knights, crafty priests, wild huntsmen, cruel dragons, super-human heroes, and all the wonderful personages of legendary lore. the town is a thriving, modern looking place of about thirty-five hundred inhabitants, excluding the floating population of tourists who throng the hotels and scatter themselves among the private families. we arrive here early in the afternoon, and establish ourselves in a comfortable and attractive hotel. the day is clear and pleasant, and desiring to make good use of the hours of daylight before us, we determine to make the ascent of the drachenfels. there are a number of different routes or paths, by which one may reach the summit of this mountain on foot; or, should the tourist prefer to ride, he can use the mountain railway which approaches the top in a line almost straight. protected by stout shoes, carrying wraps, and armed with long and strong wooden staffs, we walk slowly along the mountain road, pausing at intervals to gaze upon the beautiful scenes which surround us in every direction. the great peak known as the drachenfels or dragon rock, in which from the river a vast cavern may be seen, owes its name to the numerous legends which are connected with it. in the cave, it is said, lived a terrible monster who daily demanded of the people the sacrifice of a young maiden, who was bound and decorated with flowers, and placed near the entrance to his lair. siegfried slew the dragon and by bathing in his blood, became invulnerable. the maiden whose life he thus saved was hildegarde, the beautiful daughter of the lord of drachenfels, whom he afterward married and bore to the castle whose crumbling and picturesque ruins seem to cling to the lofty crag, fifteen hundred feet above the rhine. this castle was once a mighty stronghold of the robber chieftains; its foundation is associated with arnold, archbishop of cologne at the beginning of the twelfth century, who in bestowed it upon the cassius monastery at bonn. it was held as a fief by the counts of the castle. henry, count of drachenfels, furnished the chapter of the cathedral of cologne with the stone for its construction from a quarry which from this fact still bears the name of dombruch, or cathedral quarry. in the thirty years' war the half-ruined castle was occupied by the swedes, but was besieged and taken from them by duke ferdinand of bavaria, elector of cologne, who completed its destruction. the cliff is now surmounted by a beautiful new castle, the drachenburg, built in for the baron von sarter. it is in the gothic style, and is elaborately decorated with frescoes and stained glass. the upper part of the mountain is covered with trees below the cliff, the lower part with grapevines, while along the banks of the rhine at its foot are picturesque cottages, nestling among trees and vines. the drachenfels is the loftiest of the seven mountains, and its summit commands one of the finest prospects on the rhine. in the ruins of the old castle, ingenious and progressive man has seen fit to ignore sentiment, and thrust a modern restaurant, where in spite of his shocked sensibilities, the weary traveller may in return for german marks, rest and refresh himself with sparkling wine which is famous for its fine quality and flavor, while the cool breezes fan his brow and soothe his excited brain. [illustration: "the great peak known as the drachenfels, or dragon rock." (_see page ._)] one lingers long, dazzled by the splendor of this superb view. mountains and valley, river and islands unite in a glorious picture which entrances the soul, and thrills the heart with gladness; while the pure, bracing mountain air, laden with the perfume of the grape, fills the lungs with "a perpetual feast of nectar's sweets." many tourists surround us, and we hear a perfect babel of tongues: french, english, german and other languages greet our ears, assuring us that visitors from all parts of the world are enjoying this magnificent panorama with us. what a pity the camera will not encompass the wonderful scene. "the castled crag of drachenfels frowns o'er the wide and winding rhine, whose breast of waters broadly swells between the banks which bear the vine; and hills all riched with blossom'd trees, and fields which promise corn and wine; and scatter'd cities crowning these, whose fair white walls along them shine, have strew'd a scene which i should see, with double joy wert thou with me." several of the siebengebirge are visible toward the east, the basaltic heights sloping toward the rhine. just below are rhöndorf, honnef, rheinbreitbach, unkel, and erpel; on the left bank of the river are remagen and the gothic church on the apollinarisberg, with the heights of the eifel and the ruin of olbrück castle on a height of , feet. in the neighborhood are oberwinter, the islands of grafenwerth and nonnenworth and the beautiful ruins of rolandseck with its surrounding villas and gardens. to the right, one may behold kreuzberg, bonn and even the city of cologne in the distance. it seems as though one could gaze upon this scene of grandeur and beauty forever. as twilight falls, the picture receives a new and entrancing sublimity. "the weary sun hath made a golden set," and silently the sparkling stars appear, one by one, while the deepening shadows blend the scene into a vast harmonious whole which seems to draw the soul up to the very threshold of heaven. we descend the mountain rather silently, unwilling to break the impression made by our journey, and slowly through the gloom make our way back to the hotel. while sitting upon the porch in the evening, surrounded by the majestic watch towers of the rhine, and expatiating on the pleasures of the day, we suddenly hear a rich full chorus, harmoniously sung by at least one hundred male and female voices. the singers are invisible, and the notes seem to float out from one of the neighboring mountain caves. we all listen with delight to the sounds, which now approaching nearer, convince us that the singers are not the denizens of another world, but are beings of flesh and blood like ourselves. in the distance we can discern a procession of gay and jovial students with their sweethearts at their sides. the young men are carrying lighted torches and lanterns which illuminate them and the road, and are merrily singing the popular glees and college songs as they wend their way to the boat landing close by. the party is returning from a german students' picnic, and as they board the little steamer, which immediately leaves her moorings, the air is rent by cheer after cheer, and we hear the gay laughter and happy voices long after the boat has disappeared from our eyes down the silent flowing river. such is the german student life, and such is the character of the german people: not averse to pleasure, sociable, jovial, kind and happy. we rise early this morning, and partake of a good german breakfast; and of what do you suppose a good german breakfast consists? dishes of greasy sausage or bacon swimming in its own gravy, kale or saurkraut, onions and hot sauces, potatoes soaked in lard; black bread which has also been soaked in lard to save the expense of butter: and all this washed down with innumerable mugs of beer or rhine wine, with a "thank heaven" when the unsavory repast can no longer offend our eyes or olfactories? no, my dear friend; our breakfast is a most agreeable contrast to the picture just drawn. we are served with deliciously cooked steak and chops, and the connoisseur of any nationality would not disdain these meats or the daintily prepared chicken, coffee and fresh rolls. the eggs are fresh and not underdone: one can find no fault with the butter or the sweet new milk, and it is with a feeling of great satisfaction that we rise from the table at the close of the meal, and exclaim that we have had a breakfast "fit for a king." a small steamer with an upper deck waits at the landing to convey passengers and a limited amount of freight from königswinter to bingen. it is ten o'clock when we step on this attractive little boat with our numerous wraps and parcels. we are well laden, for the camera occupies one hand, and is always ready for an unexpected shot at some picturesque figure, group, building or landscape. and i will here say to the tourist who wishes to illustrate his notes, that it is best to keep camera and sketch book handy, for you little know what fine opportunities are missed while you are stopping to unstrap your needed friend. let your sketching outfit hang over your shoulder, and as to the camera, have one which will respond to your touch within five seconds, or you will lose many a scene of beauty which otherwise would rejoice the hearts of friends at home. we are much amused at the bulky apparatus of a friend, which is always carried neatly strapped in its box, while mine hangs over my shoulder, ready to snap instantly to a demand upon it. the difference in the result of the two methods is that i have a collection of many valuable pictures, while our friend spends most of his time strapping and unstrapping his camera. the day is chilly and threatening, and as we leave the landing, we find ourselves in a heavy fog, much to my disappointment, for i have anticipated great pleasure in seeing and photographing the many beautiful ruins of old castles and the landscape along our route. however as the mist lightens now and then, i "shoot" away here and there with as much ardor as the circumstances will allow: not idly or carelessly, as the enthusiastic amateur, reckless of plates and results, but at unquestionably fine points, such as lofty castles and picturesque mountains, half fearing sometimes that in spite of my precautions the longed-for view will prove but a blur upon my plate. it is bold indeed to attempt to capture such sublime pictures with such faulty exposures. the country around königswinter is extremely beautiful. upon both sides of the rhine rise the lofty peaks of the wooded mountains, with in almost every case a ruined castle upon the summit. how noble and defiant is the appearance of these venerable fortresses with their eventful histories and wonderful legends. here near remagen within full view of the river is the church dedicated to st. apollinaris, at one time a great resort for pilgrims. it is said to be beautifully decorated with ancient and modern works of art; the view from the church tower so charmed the artist who first ornamented it that he painted his portrait upon the tower that his eyes might forever look upon the mountains and valleys and follow the winding course of the glistening river. near the church, at the foot of the mountain, is the celebrated apollinaris fountain, whose waters are bottled and sent to all parts of the world for their medicinal properties. [illustration: "how noble and defiant is the appearance of these venerable fortresses." (_see page ._)] at times the blue breaks through the clouds, and then the pictures are surpassingly lovely. the castles in their sorrowful majesty are very imposing: they are generally built of stone, are of fine architectural design, and are frequently the centre of charming old gardens, or are embowered in trees and shrubbery. here they stand year after year, looking down upon the ever youthful river. some of them are occupied, while others are desolate ruins. "high towers, fair temples, strong walls, rich porches, princely palaces, all these (oh pity), now are turned to dust, and overgrown with black oblivion's rust." one can hardly realize the grandeur of this scenery. every turn of the river presents a different view: it is an ever varying kaleidoscope of natural beauty. now we behold the mountains with their masses of foliage reaching to the very summits; now the charming village amid its vineyards, with its odd little church surrounded by picturesque frame houses with plain roofs and quaint gables. while sitting silently on deck gazing upon the old castles and ever changing scenes which border this beautiful body of water, i hear solemn tones proceeding from the belfry of an old church, and behold a little procession of mourners slowly following the hearse which is bearing the remains of some loved relative or friend to their final resting-place;--a pathetic little group walking sadly along through the drenching rain from the church to the burying ground. one is compelled to notice here the numerous signs with huge letters emblazoned upon them, informing the passers-by that here are bottled popular waters of medicinal qualities. the tottering establishments are, i observe, close to the water's edge, and whether or not the rhine contributes the greater part in the composition of these famous waters is an open question. however it may be, the waters, or mineral springs, of genuine virtue or otherwise, are the source of a considerable profit in this region. water as a beverage is seldom used by the germans, for the light rhine wines are to be had in perfection at a trifling cost. [illustration: "every turn of the river presents a different view." (_see page ._)] we glide along, passing island and vineyard, and castle crowned height, with now and then a wide curve in the river, which looks with its smiling face to-day much as it did centuries ago when the old strongholds reared up their piles of masonry in regal splendor, and noble retinues defiled down the narrow mountain paths to the water's edge. "thou, unchanged from year to year gayly shalt play and glitter here; amid young flowers and tender grass, thine endless infancy shalt pass; and, singing down thy narrow glen, shall mock the fading race of men." from bingen on the rhine to frankfort-on-the-main. [illustration: "now we behold the little church surrounded by picturesque houses." (_see page ._)] _from bingen on the rhine to frankfort-on-the-main._ vast vineyards--bingen--the hotel--the down quilt--a german maid--taverns--the mouse tower--rüdesheim--niederwald--the rheingau--the national monument--the castle of niederburg--wine vaults--the river--street musicians--a misunderstanding--frankfort-on-the-main--the crossing of the ford--a free city--monument of goethe--history--a convocation of bishops--the city--monument of gutenberg--the house in which rothschild was born--luther. after leaving königswinter, we pass vast vineyards on both sides of the rhine, and as we approach bingen we see them covering the whole mountain-side. among the vines may be seen what seem like steps encircling the mountain to its very summit, but which in reality are roads or paths through the vineyard. the sturdy and prolific vines grow close to these walks. in this section of the country the greatest care is given to grape culture, hence in bingen is to be found the finest wine made in the country. in this region are located great breweries and wine vaults extending into the mountain-sides for hundreds of feet. on arriving at bingen we proceed at once to the victoria hotel, a quiet house situated at a convenient distance from both railroad station and steamboat landing. the charges are moderate, and the accommodations good. upon entering our sleeping apartment, i observe upon the beds huge fluffy quilts stuffed with soft feathers, and forming a pile at least two feet in thickness, which covers the entire surface from bolster to footboard. this ominous appearance fills me with strange forebodings and wondering thoughts. i say to myself: "god made the country, and man made the town, but who on earth has manufactured these monstrous counterpanes, and for what purpose?" surely not for ornament, for they are the most unsightly objects i have ever beheld in the line of needlework, and look as if intended to smother hydrophobia patients. but as few dogs are seen hereabout, this does not seem probable. the appearance of a smiling innocent-faced chambermaid interrupts my meditations. she informs me that these great masses of feathers are used to keep the body warm at night. i conclude from this that the germans are a cold-blooded people, since such a slaughter of the "feathery tribe" is necessary to maintain their normal temperature when in a state of repose. as night advances, i summon up courage to crawl under this fluffy mountain, and in a few moments feel as if a great loaf of freshly-baked bread is lying upon me. the heat is intense, and makes me think of "eternal torments, baths of boiling sulphur, vicissitudes of fires." i cast it off, and as the nights are chilly, soon find myself too cool. but i will not allow the enemy to return and overpower me, for there is much to be seen hereabout on the morrow, and i know that overgrown spread would absorb all the strength reserved for the occasion. placing my steamer rug upon the bed, i am soon oblivious to all surroundings and happy in a land of pleasant dreams. [illustration: "approaching bingen we see vineyards covering the mountain side." (_see page ._)] this house is indeed delightfully located in the midst of a beautiful country. bingen is a lovely town at the entrance of the romantic nahe valley, looking out upon mountain, glen and river on every side, upon lofty castles and vine-embowered cottages. quaint narrow streets and ancient buildings, whose history is buried in the distant centuries, tempt the lover of the picturesque to linger in this neighborhood. the place was known to the romans, who erected a castle here, which was destroyed by the french in , but which has been restored and extended. there is a beautiful view from the tower, and footpaths ascend to it both from the nahe and the rhine. here are old historic taverns, whose floors are composed of large slabs of stone. the primitive chairs and tables are of rude workmanship, and devoid of paint or style, but heavy and strong enough to support the weary travellers who resort thither. we wander about, revelling in nature's enchanting pictures, and rejoicing in the mysterious atmosphere of the dense forests, which form the background. the smiling river, with its silver sheen beneath the moon, or its golden reflections of the setting sun, is ever an inspiration and a suggestion for some new trip or point of vantage. yes, here are scenes for the artist, and pictures ready for the camera. here too, on a quartz rock in the middle of the rhine is the mouse tower which is said to owe its name to the well-known legend of the cruel archbishop hatto of mayence. in the year , a protracted rain ruined the harvest in this region, and a terrible famine ensued among the poor people, who in their distress finally applied to the archbishop, as his granaries were overflowing with the harvests of former years. but the hard-hearted prelate would not listen to them. at last they wearied him so with their importunities, that he bade them assemble in an empty barn, promising to meet them on a certain day and quiet their demands. delighted with the prospect of relief, the people gathered on the appointed day in such numbers that the barn was soon filled. the archbishop ordered his servants to fasten all the doors and windows so that none could escape, and then set fire to the building, declaring that they were as troublesome as rats, and should perish in the same way. the following day, when the bishop entered his dining-room, he found that the rats had gnawed his recently finished portrait from the frame, and it lay in a heap of fragments on the floor. while he stood gazing at it a messenger burst into the room with the news that a great army of fierce looking rats were coming toward the castle. without a moment's delay the archbishop flung himself on a horse and rode rapidly away followed by thousands of rats all animated by the revengeful spirits of the starving population he had burned. he had scarcely dismounted and entered a small boat on the rhine, when the rats fell upon his horse and devoured it. rowing to his tower in the middle of the rhine, he locked himself in, thinking he had escaped his voracious foes; but the rats boldly swam across the bingerloch, and gnawed thousands of holes in the tower, through which they rushed to their victim. southey in his ballad, thus describes their entrance into the tower: "and in at the windows, and in at the door, and through the walls, helter-skelter they pour, and down from the ceiling, and up from the floor, from the right and the left, from behind and before, from within and without, from above and below, and all at once to the bishop they go. "they have whetted their teeth against the stones, and now they pick the bishop's bones; they knawed the flesh from every limb, for they were sent to do judgment on him." this is the old legend; but now comes the searcher after truth with the information that the tower was in reality erected in the middle ages as a watch tower, and the name is derived from the old german "musen," to spy. these ruins were again converted into a station for signalling steamers, which in descending the rhine are required to slacken speed here when other vessels are coming up the river. taking one of the small steamboats which run from bingen to the opposite bank, we land at the little town of rüdesheim which lies at the base of the mountain. this old town is one of the most famous on the river, not only for its wines but for the legend of the beautiful gisela, who was commanded by her father to become a nun in fulfillment of his vow made in palestine during the crusade against the saracens. the maiden had a lover, and finding that no entreaties could save her from her fate, gisela leaped from a tower into the river, and the fishermen declare that her spirit still lingers about the bingerloch, and her voice is often heard amid the rushing torrent. the first vineyards here are said to have been planted by charlemagne, who observed that the snow disappeared earlier from the hills behind the town than from other regions in the neighborhood. the rüdesheimer berg is covered with walls and arches, and terrace rises above terrace, to prevent the falling of the soil. we drive to the top of this charming hill whose sunny slopes are clothed with vineyards. upon the summit, as on most of the others in the neighborhood, there is a hotel with grounds prettily laid out, and here one may remain and enjoy the pure air and enchanting views, for a day, a week, or for the whole season. here, too, is the national monument, in describing which i will copy the words of my guide book: "the national monument on the niederwald, erected in commemoration of the unanimous rising of the people and the foundation of the new german empire in - , stands upon a projecting spur of the hill ( feet above the sea level; feet above the rhine), opposite bingen, and is conspicuous far and wide. it was begun in from the designs of professor schilling of dresden, and was inaugurated in in presence of emperor william i. and numerous other german princes. the huge architectural basis is seventy-eight feet high, while the noble figure of germania, with the imperial crown and the laurel-wreathed sword, an emblem of the unity and strength of the empire, is thirty-three feet in height. the principal relief on the side of the pedestal facing the river, symbolizes the 'wacht am rhein.' it contains portraits of king william of prussia and other german princes and generals, together with representatives of the troops from the different parts of germany, with the text of the famous song below; to the right and left are allegorical figures of peace and war, while below are rhenus and mosella, the latter as the future guardian of the western frontier of the empire. the fine reliefs on the sides of the pedestal represent the departure and the return of the troops." we visit many of the most noted breweries and wine vaults in the neighborhood. those of herr j. hufnagel are the largest in this section of the country. they are cut in the base of the mountain, and extend inward many hundred feet. here the choice wines are stored, many of the enormous casks containing upwards of twenty thousand quarts. hundreds of barrels and hogsheads are seen; in fact every nook and corner of the vault is filled, and so extensive is this subterranean apartment, that avenues are made from one part to another, and along these we walk, the guide bearing a lamp to light the way. after visiting these great storerooms, we are invited to the hotel of the proprietor, which is close by, and on the porch we are served with an enjoyable lunch flavored with choice german wine. there is a beautiful drive along the river bank, and if one is tired, he may stop at one of the inviting restaurants in this neighborhood, and while resting and refreshing himself, look out at the tourists and others passing along the wide airy street, or as is a common custom, he may have his luncheon served upon the porch, from which there is a delightful and extended view of the rhine. with plenty of shade and comfortable chairs, and the beautiful river before us, how swiftly the time passes! sometimes, in consequence of our ignorance of the language, laughable mistakes are made in the ordering of our meals, which seem to increase the jollity of both the waiters and our party. on one of these occasions, while eating our luncheon in the open air, a band of eight or ten street musicians station themselves upon the porch but a few feet from us. they are healthy, hearty-looking men, but contrary to our previous experience in this country, they play the most inharmonious airs. we endure this for a short time, then as the discordant sounds become more and more annoying, we bestow upon the leader a number of small coins, and entreat them to begone. they evidently misunderstand us, and think, from our liberal contribution, that we appreciate their efforts, for they continue their playing with increased vigor and--discord. we do not wish to leave our pleasant quarters, so resign ourselves to the situation. after repeating their repertoire, which seems endless, with profuse smiling bows and thanks they leave us at last to the peaceful enjoyment of the day. the niederberg is a massive rectangular castle whose three vaulted stories, belonging to the twelfth century, were joined to the remains of a structure of earlier date. it was originally the seat of the knights of rüdesheim, who were compelled to become vassals of the archbishop of mayence for brigandage. at rüdesheim begins the rheingau, which is the very "vineyard" of this country. here every foot of ground is cultivated, and the grape is the monarch of the land. all the hillsides are covered with the vines, and here in the midst of the verdure appears the picturesque villa of the planter or wine merchant. it is a rich and beautiful region. from bingen and rüdesheim we go to frankfort-on-the-main. this town which has witnessed the coronation of many of the german emperors, is noted for its ancient legends, and to one of these it is said it owes its name. this is the story: charlemagne, having penetrated into the forests to wage war against the saxons, was once compelled to retreat with his brave franks. a heavy fog lay over the country which was unknown to him. fearing that his little army would be cut to pieces if he lingered, and unable to see more than a few feet ahead of him, charlemagne prayed to the lord for help and guidance. the next moment the heavy fog parted, and the emperor saw a doe leading her young through the stream. he instantly called to his men, and they forded the river in safety. the fog closed behind them and hid them from the pursuing enemy. in commemoration of his deliverance, charlemagne called the place frankford (the ford of the franks), and the city which grew up shortly afterward retained the name. this, one of the important cities of germany, is said to have been a small roman military station in the first century, a. d. it is first mentioned as franconoford and the seat of the royal residence in ; and the following year charlemagne held a convocation of bishops and dignitaries of the empire here. the town attained such a degree of prosperity that in , at the death of lewis the german, it was looked upon as the capital of the east franconian empire. on the dissolution of the empire in , frankfort was made over to the primate of the rhenish confederation, and in it became the capital of the grand-duchy of frankfort. it was one of the four free cities of the german confederation, and the seat of the diet from to , in which year it passed to prussia. to-day we find it a handsome city of two hundred and twenty-nine thousand inhabitants, with beautiful streets, stately houses surrounded by lovely gardens, and fine stores, parks, monuments and many attractions for the tourist. here are churches, theatres, libraries and museums, and an opera house which will accommodate two thousand spectators. in the rossmarkt stands the monument of gutenberg, which consists of three figures, gutenberg in the centre with fust and schoffer on either side, upon a large sandstone pedestal. on the frieze are portrait heads of celebrated printers, and in the niches beneath are the arms of the four towns where printing was first practiced: mayence, frankfort, venice and strassburg. around the base are figures representing theology, poetry, natural science and industry. this monument was erected in . this is the birthplace of goethe, and here is the house in which the poet was born, with its inscription recording that event, (august , ). the handsome monument of goethe, erected in , twelve years after his death adorns the goethe-platz. the pedestal of the monument bears allegorical figures in relief in front, while on the sides are figures from the poems of the great writer. there are twenty-three thousand jews in frankfort, and in the quarter to which these people are limited, we are shown the house in which the senior rothschild was born. it is an unassuming brick building of three stories, in good repair. as i gaze upon this modest dwelling, i think of the man who from such unpromising beginning, became the founder of the greatest financial firm the world has known. there is a stone effigy of luther not far from the cathedral, in memory of a tradition that the great reformer preached a sermon here on his journey to worms. it is true that these associations are to be found in almost every european town; but none the less are we impressed as we stand before the monuments of the great ones of the earth--the men who have left their indelible marks--"footprints on the sands of time "--which the years have no power to efface. these men must have truly lived. "he most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." the cathedral of frankford is a conspicuous edifice towering above the other buildings, quaint and picturesque in spite of a lack of harmony in many of its details. from the platform of the tower, one may have a beautiful view of the city, with its thick border of trees, and of the fields and meadows beyond along the shining waters of the main. this church of st. bartholomew was founded by lewis the german in , and was rebuilt in the gothic style - . the different portions represent various periods. the tower, left unfinished in , now three hundred and twelve feet high, was completed from the designs of the architect which were discovered in the municipal archives. a prussian capital and a fashionable resort. _a prussian capital and a fashionable resort._ we start for berlin--mountain and valley--harvesters--villages--a great city--unter den linden--kroll theatre and garden--the city streets--ostend--a fashionable watering place--the promenade--the kursaal--on the beach--bathing machines--studies for an artist--the race course--sunday--the winning horse--fickle dame fortune--the english channel--a bureau of information--queenstown--an irish lass--the last stop--the end of the journey. the journey from frankfort to berlin is through a pleasant and interesting country. for many miles we look from the car windows upon an undulating landscape: hills and valleys follow each other in rapid succession as our train dashes along at the rate of a mile a minute. now and then we pass men and women in the fields; and now young girls with bare feet and short skirts busily raking the hay,--true pictures of "maud muller on a summer day." and here is a whole group of "nut brown maids" laughing merrily at their work, while over in a corner of the field is the belle of the countryside listening shyly to the stalwart young harvester who stands on the border of the adjoining meadow. "her tresses loose behind play on her neck and wanton with the wind; the rising blushes which her cheeks o'erspread are opening roses in the lily's bed." now we pass the harvesters at rest, sitting under the green trees and hedges with their dinner pails beside them. it is a pleasant, peaceful picture. here is a picturesque village with quaint looking houses, and a little gurgling brook in the foreground. an echo from the distant mountain answers the shrill whistle of our engine and we can see the silvery cloud of smoke that follows us wander off to the right, then fade away in misty fragments. in many of these settlements, there are shaded nooks where tables and chairs are placed, and here the villagers are sipping their beer, in happy social converse. the young people wave their hands and caps to us as we pass, and with their bright costumes animate the lovely scenes which, although so close to each other, are of such different character. at last we reach berlin, and our great iron horse stands puffing in the station, defying man to detect upon him any sign of exhaustion. in this large city entertainment can be found for people of every kind and taste. the street known throughout the world as unter-den-linden is a splendid avenue, one hundred and sixty-five feet in width, and takes its name from the double row of linden trees with which it is ornamented. it is the busiest portion of the city, contains handsome hotels, beautiful palaces, large shops, and many fine statues of celebrated men. the first day or two after your arrival in the city, engage a carriage and take in the general appearance of the city, its parks and suburbs; then visit the art galleries, museums, palaces and churches until the brain becomes accustomed to the bewildering array of subjects which demand attention. stroll quietly along unter-den-linden stopping now and then at one of the many stores which line this beautiful avenue. at one end of this thoroughfare is the celebrated brandenburg gate, a sort of triumphal arch. it is a fine structure, two hundred feet wide and seventy-five feet high, supported by doric columns. there are five entrances, the central one being reserved for the passage of members of the royal family. the kroll theatre and gardens are a popular resort for the people of berlin. these gardens are illuminated every evening by thousands of electric lights, arranged in various designs, as flowers, harps and other graceful forms, and this illuminated scene is the centre of a gay throng of pleasure seekers, who promenade the paths, or sit about in groups listening to the music of the fine orchestras stationed at each end of the spacious grounds. the entertainment is not over until a very late hour. there are a number of these gardens throughout the city, which are not, as may be supposed, frequented by the lower classes of the people, but by persons of every rank in society. one can hardly appreciate this scene without having passed an evening amid its light-hearted crowds. here may be seen officers of many honors, with conspicuous gold and silver badges, mingling with the groups gathered around the tables, or sauntering up and down the garden walks, as well as the private soldier in his regimentals happily quaffing his beer with his sweetheart by his side. title and rank here as well as elsewhere throughout germany, are honored and respected by all classes, and the salute is gracefully made whenever one of the army or navy men meets his superior officer. [illustration: "thousands of fashionably dressed people appear upon this promenade." (_see page ._)] berlin with its life and gayety, its grandeur and simplicity, its hospitality and good cheer, captivates our hearts, and we enter joyously into the many diversions it offers; as we sit among the honest and kind-hearted people, we feel the charm of their social atmosphere and wonder why other nations do not allow themselves more time for relaxation and the simple pleasures which abound here. the friedrichs-strasse is the longest street in the city: it is well laid out, and contains many handsome stores. wilhelms-strasse is a beautiful avenue, and is considered the most aristocratic street in berlin, as it contains the palaces of princes, ministers and other distinguished personages. a handsome square opens from this avenue, ornamented with flower-beds and fine statuary. the museums here are called the old museum and the new museum; they are connected by a passage gallery. the entrance to the old museum is adorned by handsome statuary, and the grand portico is beautifully painted with allegorical and mythological subjects: within, the walls are decorated with frescoes representing barbarous and civilized life, and in the great rotunda are ancient statues of gods and goddesses. from this one passes to the gallery of gods and heroes, the grecian cabinet, the hall of the emperors, and that of greek, roman and assyrian sculptures. but it is vain to attempt a description of this vast collection of paintings, and other works of art in the short space i have to devote to the subject. to appreciate a collection of this kind, one should visit it in person. the thiergarten is a great park, two miles long, beautifully laid out, and containing many splendid old trees, rustic paths, and artificial ponds and streams. the grounds are ornamented with statuary, and the fine zoölogical collection is in good condition and well arranged. but we must leave fascinating berlin, and pass on to other scenes. now we reach ostend on the coast of belgium, one of the most fashionable watering-places of europe. during the season it attracts thousands of visitors, especially from belgium and holland. it was originally a fishing station, but was enlarged by philip the good, and fortified by the prince of orange in . in the early part of the seventeenth century it sustained one of the most remarkable sieges on record, holding out against the spanish for a period of three years, and finally surrendering only at the command of the states general. [illustration: "there are many odd and fantastic sights here." (_see page ._)] to-day promenades take the places of the old fortifications, and handsome residences stand where the simple sturdy fisherfolk once dwelt in their cottages. the tide of fashion rolls where a simple people lived their daily life of care and toil. here congregate people of every nation, the old and the young; and the cosmopolitan character of the promenade is a source of great entertainment to the stranger. as we approach the digue or chief promenade, which is elevated fully a hundred feet above the beach, we are struck with the beauty of this grand esplanade, a hundred feet wide and extending miles along the shore. on the city side are many handsome buildings; residences, hotels, cafés and some stores. these buildings occupy a space fully a mile in length, but the promenade with its tiled pavement skirts the sea for many miles. chairs and benches are placed at convenient intervals for the use of the public, and every day, especially in the afternoon, thousands of fashionably dressed people appear upon this walk, rejoicing in the opportunity to display elaborate gowns; some by strolling to and fro before the benches and chairs, and others by more ostentatiously driving by in handsome equipages, with coachmen and footmen in appropriate livery. yet it is delightful to sit here on a clear evening, listening to the harmonious melody of the sea, as it mingles its voice with the strains of a fine orchestra, and watching the merry throng passing and repassing. the silent night afar out on the glistening waters seems like a brooding spirit. "thou boundless, shining, glorious sea, with ecstasy i gaze on thee; and as i gaze, thy billowy roll wakes the deep feelings of my soul." we extend our walk and take in the kursaal, a handsome structure of marble and iron built upon the side of the promenade. it covers a large area, and within its walls, the sounds of choice music are constantly heard. dances, concerts and many other forms of entertainment keep this fashionable resort in a whirl both day and night. on many of these occasions the dressing is the most important feature of the affair. the people who resort thither are families of considerable wealth, and can, when they choose, run to extremes in paying court to dame fashion. [illustration: "one's portfolio might soon be filled with interesting subjects." (_see page ._)] let us descend about noon, by the long low steps, from the promenade to the beach below, and here we will find a long unbroken line of wagons facing the sea. these wagons have large numbers painted conspicuously on their backs: upon one side is a window with a curtain carelessly drawn, and a pair of strong shafts is attached to each vehicle. the stranger will wonder what on earth these unsightly things are designed for, and why they thus mar the beauty of the beach. have patience; inexperienced stranger, and you will see these inanimate wagons suddenly break ranks and now one, now another be hauled rapidly forward, some to the water's edge, others into the ocean up to the hubs. in explanation of this i would state that when the bathing hour arrives, a horse is attached to each wagon, and the occupant or occupants, when it reaches the water's edge, open the door and spring forth a nymph and her companions, in their scant bathing robes, ready for the plunge. the costumes of both men and women are not such as find favor with fastidious mortals, and many of the scenes witnessed on this beach would not be tolerated at any of our american watering-places. it is quite common for men, women and children to remove their shoes and stockings and wade ankle deep in the surf. however, there are many odd and fantastic sights here, and many pretty tableaux on the beach which would delight the eyes of an artist, and i often think that one's portfolio might soon be filled with interesting subjects. as the races are to be held this afternoon at the course, a mile beyond the kursaal, and just off the promenade, we wend our way thither. the race-course is similar to those in england and france. as the appointed hour approaches, a throng of fashionable people seat themselves upon the grand stand, until every place is filled, and even the aisles are crowded with the élite of ostend. i forgot to mention the fact that the day is sunday, but this seems to make little difference to these gayety-loving people. the horses start, and now betting and excitement go hand in hand. "some play for gain: to pass time, others play for nothing; both do play the fool." i have the peculiar good fortune on this occasion, of predicting the winning horse a number of consecutive times in my conversation with one of our party who sits beside me. these lucky guesses attract the attention of a stranger who is on my other side, and considering them as so many evidences of remarkable judgment or knowledge, he resolves to profit thereby. accordingly before the next running, as the horses walk slowly before the spectators and the judges' stand, the man quietly asks me to name the winner in the next race. i quickly make a choice and mention the horse's name. the stranger bids me good-day and hastens away to place his "pile" with some bookmaker on the identical horse which i have named. [illustration: "many typical irish characters come aboard our vessel." (_see page ._)] with a rush of spirit and courage the noble animals fly over the course, and every jockey seated in a saddle looks determined to win. faster and faster they urge the flying steeds with spur and voice, and the animals themselves, with distended nostrils and steaming breath dash past the judges' stand in frenzied effort. the merry jingle of the bell proclaims that the goal is reached: the great sign-board with the winner's name upon it is visible to all. what has become of my luck? and what has become of the stranger who relied on my judgment a few moments ago? my horse has lost. goodness! i feel as though i have committed a crime, and i am very sure that dame fortune receives from me in private a score of epithets, not the most complimentary in the world for her unprincipled desertion. i feel sure that if i had my instantaneous camera, or pencil handy, this disappointed man's face would make a foreground in the picture that would surely be a "_winner_." we leave ostend on the steamer la flandre. the schedule time is : a. m. we go on board amid shouts of kindly farewell from our friends on shore. as it is a clear bright day with a delightful salt breeze, there is much pleasure in sitting on deck and enjoying the view. the english channel is generally a turbulent body of water, noted for its many victories over the unfortunates who trust themselves in its power, but to-day it is mild and calm, probably plotting mischief to the next boat load of passengers that shall come its way. indescribable confusion reigns in our hotel, at liverpool, for more than a hundred of its guests are on the point of sailing for america. innumerable packages, grips, umbrellas and walking sticks line the corridors. every one is moving to and fro in hot haste. one lady asks me if i know at what hour the steamer on which she has taken passage will sail: another wants information in regard to her steamer: a man with perspiration trickling down his face begs me to tell him how to send his five trunks and other baggage to the landing stage. these and many more annoying and importunate people make life a burden to me. i do not know why they choose me to share in their misery. do i look like a walking bureau of information, i wonder! if i do, i shall learn how to change my expression. but in truth the faces of these bewildered people are a study, and i am genuinely sorry for them. the steamer cuts loose from her moorings, and moves gracefully out into the great ocean. as we approach queenstown, we observe the small farms and dwellings close to the edge of the water. then the lighthouse and the forts which guard the entrance to the harbor come into view, and now we drop anchor and wait for passengers and the mails. a little steam tug becomes visible, and as she draws nearer, we learn that she is bearing the mails and passengers to our ship. at last she is close beside us, and when made fast, the transfer takes place. now is the time for the camera or sketch book, for many typical irish characters come aboard our vessel, with strange, half-frightened faces, and their worldly belongings carried on their backs, or clutched tightly in their hands. among the group i notice a middle-aged woman with a young pig nestling peacefully under her arm. whether it is a pet, or simply a piece of live stock to begin housekeeping with in the new country, i cannot say, but with a contented expression on both faces, bridget and her pig disappear into the special quarters which are reserved for the emigrants. this whole scene is very interesting. the old-fashioned black glazed oilcloth bag and trunk play a conspicuous part in the picture, and here and there are seen bundles tied in red bandanna handkerchiefs and carried on the end of a stick, which is slung over the shoulder, while the corduroy knee breeches, woollen stockings, heavy shoes and pea-jackets with caps to match give us a fine representation of the irishman on his native heath. several small boats are floating at our side: from one of these a rope is thrown to a sailor on our deck, and a bright and comely irish girl climbs nimbly up, hand over hand, and stands among the cabin passengers. with quick, deft movements she pulls up a basket filled with irish knickknacks, such as pipes, crosses, pigs, spoons and forks made of bog-wood; these, with knit shawls and similar articles, she displays on deck, and it would be difficult to find a prettier, wittier, more attractive specimen of old ireland's lasses than this. by means of her ready tongue she disposes of all her wares, and when the whistle warns all hands to leave the deck, she glides gracefully down the rope, and settling herself in her little boat, pulls for the shore. [illustration: "several small boats are floating at our side." (_see page ._)] this is our last stop until we reach new york. the anchor is pulled up, and away we go steaming on our homeward voyage. the little steam tug runs along beside us for a time, then the whistles of both vessels blow a farewell to each other, and our little comrade gradually fades from our sight. suddenly a heavy fog comes up, and the incessant blowing of the fog-horn is a tiresome sound: but the wind follows up the mist and scatters it far and wide, and now we have the boundless prospect of the ocean before us. "strongly it bears us along in smiling and limitless billows, nothing before and nothing behind but the sky and the ocean." as we gaze upon it day after day, its beauty and grandeur grow upon us more and more. i can think of no better words than those of childe harold which so beautifully express the thoughts the scene inspires. "roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll. ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; man marks the earth with ruin--his control stops with the shore; upon the watery plain the wrecks are all thy deeds, nor doth remain a shadow of man's ravage, save his own, when, for a moment, like a drop of rain, he sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined and unknown." then, as if by magic, the huge waves lessen in their angry murmurs, the surface becomes quiet and calm; evening creeps on, and the glow from a descending sun illuminates the scene. as i look upon this beautiful and restful picture, i think how true the words: "beyond is all abyss, eternity, whose end no eye can reach." _the reading of this book has no doubt been a pleasure and a profit to you. then why not recommend it to your friends? you will find cards on the inside of the back cover to assist you._ [illustration: "beyond is all abyss, eternity, whose end no eye can reach." (_see page ._)] by the author of odd bits british isles through an opera glass by charles m. taylor, jr. author of "vacation days in hawaii and japan." with full-page illustrations, principally from photographs. crown vo, about pages, deckle edge paper, cloth jacket, in box, $ . . what is said of "the british isles" mr. taylor has the knack of making the story of his journeyings entertaining to the public. the usual descriptions of time-worn scenes give place to charming personal narrative, and a wealth of incident and episode gives to the book an exceptional interest. the fine half-tones of english scenes liberally scattered through the work greatly enhance its charm.--_the philadelphia call._ it is a record of a pleasant tour by the less frequented paths of travel, not only in england, but in scotland and ireland. the author takes little from the guide books and their familiar histories, but notes many interesting details that attracted his own attention. furthermore he has illustrated his book with a large number of photographs, both of places and people, that are quite out of the common run, and the pictures alone would suffice to give the volume distinction.--_the philadelphia times._ the book is all the eye could wish, and as we turn the pages quickly from one to another of the forty-eight beautiful photographic illustrations a veritable panorama passes before us. the author is enthusiastic over what he saw in the british isles, and he is evidently desirous of sharing his pleasure with those who have not been privileged to see for themselves.--_the philadelphia american._ it is a luxurious volume that records the interesting travels of one who knows how to pen vivid word pictures of places where those who love travel would like to be.--_the bookseller._ mr. taylor traveled through the british isles with an observing eye, a ready note-book, and a camera which he used with discreet intelligence. the narrative is brightly written and abounds in anecdote, while the personal point of view is ever present and adds a touch of piquancy. the volume is beautifully made, and the photographs, about fifty in number, are particularly well reproduced in half-tones--_the philadelphia press._ for sale by all booksellers, or sent post-paid upon receipt of the price by the publishers george w. jacobs & co. - south fifteenth street philadelphia, pa. by the author of odd bits vacation days in hawaii and japan by charles m. taylor, jr. with over half-tone illustrations, principally from photographs. crown vo. pages, gilt top, uncut edges. with unique cover design. price, $ . . what is said of "vacation days" mr. taylor is a keen observer, who penetrated beyond the beaten track of the usual tourist, and his sketches of home life, natural beauties and every-day scenes, have individuality and charm.--_literary news._ the narrative is written in a clear, easy style, with an aptitude for giving just that kind of information concerning everyday life which people miss too often in books of travel.--_philadelphia press._ a very interesting feature of the book is the numerous pictures from photographs taken by the author of "japanese people," men, women and children, engaged at their ordinary vocations, also pictures of japanese scenery, shops, living rooms and temples. these illustrations are remarkable for their realism.--_indianapolis journal._ the book recounts the incidents of a recent tour through hawaii and japan. the special value of the narrative is that it covers points of interest in these specially interesting countries not usually recorded in the guide books and ordinary books of travel.---_the philadelphia call._ a four months' trip through hawaii and japan is narrated in this compact and entertaining volume. mr. taylor applies systematic methods to his sight-seeing. he is an appreciative observer as well. he was not content with well beaten paths and hence his record is clear, picturesque and fresh.--_the philadelphia ledger._ two conspicuous merits this capital travel book has over the average in its class; it describes new grounds and scenes, and the narrative ripples along with the ease and liveliness of a brook. without professing to be specially instructive, mr. taylor conveys a great amount of information such as we all enjoy when told in this pleasant way, blending the matter of fact with the entertaining.--_the philadelphia american._ for sale by all booksellers, or sent post-paid upon receipt of the price by the publishers george w. jacobs & co. - south fifteenth street philadelphia, pa.